Main topic: Coinbase's motion to dismiss SEC lawsuit
Key points:
1. Coinbase claims it does not offer "investment contracts" and therefore the SEC has no authority over its operations.
2. Coinbase cites a separate SEC case involving Ripple Labs' XRP, where a judge ruled that it was not considered a security when sold on exchanges.
3. A different judge disagreed with the Ripple ruling in a case against Terraform Labs, allowing the SEC to proceed with claims involving sales made on exchanges and allegations of fraud.
The hacker who stole $570 million from Binance last year had a portion of their stolen funds liquidated after the Venus community voted in favor of a governance proposal enabling the liquidation, and the attacker's position was manually liquidated for $52.3 million when the price of Binance Coin dropped.
Tornado Cash developers Roman Storm and Roman Semenov have been charged with money laundering and sanctions violations, with Storm already being arrested, as the US Department of Justice alleges that over $1 billion in transactions passed through the privacy mixer, including funds for North Korea's Lazarus Group.
The founders of Tornado Cash, a Russian cryptocurrency mixing service, have been charged with conspiracy to commit money laundering, sanctions violations, and operating an unlicensed money transmitting business. The charges stem from the platform's involvement in over $1 billion worth of alleged money laundering transactions, including funds stolen by a North Korean cybercrime organization.
Coinbase Assets will suspend trading for six cryptocurrencies, including BarnBridge, DerivaDAO, Jupiter, Multichain, Ooki, and Voyager, due to falling short of the exchange's listing standards, resulting in price plunges for the delisted assets.
Summary: Coinbase and Circle have dissolved the Centre Consortium due to regulatory clarity issues surrounding stablecoins, with Coinbase taking an equity stake in Circle and Circle assuming enhanced responsibilities for the USD Coin (USDC) stablecoin; Binance.US partners with MoonPay to use Tether (USDT) as its new "base asset" for transactions, while Binance faces challenges with fiat withdrawals in Europe; Shopify now accepts USDC payments on its platform, and Solana Pay plans to add additional altcoins; China launches a blockchain-powered data exchange with over 300 participating enterprises.
The US SEC has filed lawsuits against Binance and Coinbase, accusing them of various regulatory violations, leading to intense discussions about cryptocurrency classification as securities and causing a negative impact on the prices of many altcoins mentioned in the lawsuits.
Tornado Cash co-founders face charges of money laundering and sanctions violations, FTX founder Sam Bankman-Fried struggles in prison, and the identity of a Bitcoin whale holding $3 billion is revealed.
One of the founders of crypto mixer Tornado Cash, Roman Storm, has been released on bail after being charged with money laundering $1 billion, and his case could have implications for all software developers.
Digital Currency Group and its subsidiary Genesis Global have reached a tentative agreement to resolve bankruptcy issues with unsecured creditors, potentially recovering 70%-90% for creditors and 65%-90% for customers depending on the denomination of digital assets, but the deal does not include customers of its investment program or former partner Gemini.
Creditors of bankrupt crypto lender Genesis Global Capital have criticized a proposed $175 million deal with FTX, accusing Genesis of vote-buying and manipulating the bankruptcy process, further complicating Genesis' efforts to wind up its affairs and return money to customers.
The SEC's denial of Grayscale's spot Bitcoin ETF application has been reviewed by a judge due to the SEC's failure to provide a coherent explanation, while the SEC also delayed verdicts on several Bitcoin spot market ETF applications, including BlackRock's, causing prices to rally; in other news, Circle's USDC stablecoin has experienced a significant decrease in market cap, SEC Commissioner Hester Peirce criticized the SEC's attempt to bring crypto exchanges under its jurisdiction, a lawsuit against Uniswap was dismissed by a New York judge, StarkWare zeroed all user balances on old wallets, Vivek Ramaswamy celebrated Grayscale's win over the SEC, the SEC delayed its verdict on multiple ETF applications including BlackRock's, and Chinese courts considered cryptocurrencies legal property protected by law.
Collapsed digital asset exchange FTX has been approved by a judge to sell $3.4 billion in crypto assets, including Solana, Ethereum, and Bitcoin, to repay creditors and recover from bankruptcy.
The collapsed crypto exchange FTX has been granted permission to liquidate its digital assets to repay creditors, including Bitcoin, Ether, and Solana, amounting to around $3.4 billion. The founder of FTX, Sam Bankman-Fried, is facing charges of fraud and conspiracy, with his bail being revoked last month.
Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong advocates for decentralized finance (DeFi) protocols and suggests legal action to establish a legal precedent, while MakerDAO's founder believes decentralized stablecoins could dominate the crypto market, and Polygon CEO acknowledges the success of their $1 billion investment in zero-knowledge proof rollups. Additionally, market surveillance firm Solidus Labs reveals that decentralized exchanges have become a hotspot for wash trading, and a DeFi advocacy group petitions to stop a patent troll from targeting DeFi protocols. Despite a mixed week for the top 100 DeFi tokens, the total value locked into DeFi protocols remains above $49 billion.
Bankrupt cryptocurrency exchange FTX has reopened its customer claims portal with enhanced security measures, allowing claimants to submit claims for their assets held on the exchange before it went insolvent. The breach did not affect account passwords or funds, and the claims portal is available to users of various FTX platforms. The Delaware Bankruptcy Court has also granted approval for the sale of FTX's digital assets, with certain restrictions.
FTX's sale of tokens held by the bankrupt crypto exchange will not cause a market shock, as liquidations are limited and there are strict controls and restrictions in place, according to a research report by Coinbase.
Coinbase's layer 2 blockchain Base has achieved a record-high number of daily transactions driven by the decentralized social network platform Friend.tech, while the sale of tokens held by bankrupt exchange FTX will not cause a market shock due to controlled liquidations, according to Coinbase.
Crypto exchange FTX has filed a lawsuit against the parents of its founder and former CEO, Sam Bankman-Fried, seeking to recover millions of dollars in fraudulently transferred funds and alleging misappropriation and malicious conduct. The filing accuses Bankman's parents of using their expertise in law to enrich themselves and divert funds from FTX, and also claims that Bankman attempted to sell the exchange to Binance. Bankman-Fried is currently in jail awaiting trial, and his parents have not responded to the lawsuit.
The bankruptcy estate of FTX has sued the parents of founder Sam Bankman-Fried, alleging that they fraudulently transferred and misappropriated millions of dollars from the cryptocurrency exchange, while also playing a role in covering up allegations of fraud. The estate is seeking to recover the funds as part of the bankruptcy process.
The volatility in Bitcoin remains low, similar to the stability in US stock and bond markets, and is expected to continue after the Federal Reserve rate decision.
The filing from FTX's bankruptcy estate reveals that Sam Bankman-Fried's father, Joe Bankman, was paid a $200,000 salary by FTX's US division but expected to receive $1 million annually.
Binance's Bitcoin trading volumes have decreased significantly due to lawsuits and regulatory scrutiny, while Coinbase's volumes have increased.
TON coin has replaced Solana's SOL token as the 10th largest cryptocurrency by market capitalization.
Bankrupt crypto exchange FTX has filed a lawsuit against former employees, accusing them of fraudulently withdrawing $157.3 million in assets leading up to FTX's bankruptcy, with allegations that they exploited their connections to prioritize themselves over other customers.
Bitcoin traded slightly downward, Toncoin and Chainlink's LINK token were top performers, FTX sued former employees to recover $157.3 million, and Binance and Zhao filed to dismiss a SEC lawsuit in Thursday's cryptocurrency news.
