XRP is not a security
The US Federal Court on July 13 ruled that Ripple’s sale of XRP on exchanges doesn’t constitute an offer of investment contract. The move marks a major win for the company, as the case has been ongoing for more than 3 years.
After this news, XPR has surged by more than 70% from $0.46 to $0.87, and now is trading around $0.78 on CoinMarketCap. Major exchanges like Gemini and Coinbase have also announced to relist XRP for spot and derivatives trading.
However, the SEC still left the door open for a possible appeal of the decision. In a statement, an agency spokesperson said that the markets regulator will “continue to review the decision” and touted other parts of the judge’s ruling that went in the agency’s favor.
Furthermore, Judge Analisa Torres of the Southern District of New York ruled that ignorance of securities law was not a sufficient defense. Torres found that over $700 million worth of XRP sales were unlawful and ordered a trial to determine personal liability for Ripple CEO Brad Garlinghouse and Executive Chairman Chris Larsen.
Dapper Labs lays off 51 employees as NFT market continues to struggle
Dapper Labs CEO Roham Gharegozlou confirmed on Twitter that the company has laid off 51 employees amid the prolonged crypto winter in the NFT market. This is the third round of layoffs Dapper Labs has gone through in less than a year. In February 2023, the company announced the first round of layoffs in which it made a 20% cut in employees. Earlier in November 2022, 22% of employees were also laid off.
Dapper Labs is the company behind two popular NFT projects in crypto: CryptoKitties and NBA Top Shots. However, given the gloom of the NFT market, Roham Gharegozlou believes restructuring is necessary to make the company’s business more lean and efficient.
Polygon proposes to replace MATIC with POL token
Polygon recently announced a proposal to upgrade its native token – MATIC – to a new token called POL. POL was introduced as a next-generation protocol token that aims to become a major driving force for the coordination and growth of the ecosystem, positioning it as the Value Layer of the Internet.
POL will serve as he native token of Polygon and replaces the previous MATIC token. POL holders can participate in governance frameworks, and at the same time become validators who can validate any chain or network on the Polygon ecosystem.
If the proposal is approved, the migration process from MATIC to POL will require holders to send MATIC to an upgraded smart contract, which will automatically convert it into the equivalent amount of POL tokens. Polygon Labs has assured token holders that they will have ample time, potentially four years or more, to complete the migration.
Just 3 minutes after the announcement, MATIC jumped 2.6% to $0.747.
Argentina’s first Bitcoin futures contract Officially goes live
Bitcoin futures contract is developed by the cryptocurrency company Mercado Bitcoin and has been approved and registered by the Argentine Commodity Exchange (Rofex). This contract allows investors and users in Argentina to participate in Bitcoin futures transactions and bet on the value of this cryptocurrency.
Launching Bitcoin futures contract is a significant step for Argentina in promoting development and adoption of cryptocurrencies. It opens new opportunities for investors and users, as well as for the growth of the crypto market in this country.
Former Celsius CEO Alex Mashinsky was arrested, the company agreed to pay a $4.7 billion settlement
A year after Celsius filed for bankruptcy, the company is still being sued with a series of allegations related to market manipulation and securities fraud. The SEC sued Celsius and former CEO Alex Mashinsky, alleging that the company defrauded investors of billions of dollars through fraud and unregistered offers.
According to the SEC, Mashinsky and his company “misrepresented” the company’s “central business model and the risks to investors” to manipulate the market. In addition to the SEC, Celsius also received charges from the US National Trade Commission (FTC) and was fined $4.7 billion. According to a complaint filed by the FTC in federal court, Mashinsky, Leon and Goldstein marketed the platform as a safe place for consumers to deposit their cryptocurrency, claiming in online videos and other forums that its platform was safer than banks because “we have less risk, we have much less risk.”
Celsius CEO Alex Mashinksy was arrested and charged with seven criminal counts, including securities, commodities and wire fraud.
Nexo in court with a co-founder Shulev over $12M in missing assets
According to the court judgment by the London’s High Court on June 27, Nexo and its co-founder Georgi Shulev are disputing the whereabouts of a Ledger hardware wallet containing some of the company’s crypto holdings.
Nexo is a company that provides crypto trading, lending and custody services. Shulev founded the company Nexo in 2019 with Antoni Trenchev, Kosta Kantchev and Kalin Metodiev. Shulev left Nexo in 2019, and then the dispute began to take place from 2022.
Earlier, the parties had been fighting for control over a BitMEX account that was opened by Shulev in his name but on behalf of Nexo, according to the filing. Since Shulev was terminated by Nexo in 2019, and lost access to his corporate email, he and Nexo have both been trying to take over the account. BitMEX ended up freezing the funds but ultimately releasing them to Nexo after the court decision last August.
Now, Nexo and Shulev continue to dispute over another part of the company’s crypto treasury, which reportedly is a Ledger hardware wallet holding more than $12 million. The wallet is now missing.
Bitwise ETF crosses $100M in assets
Bitwise ETF or Bitwise Asset Management’s Crypto Industry Innovators ETF (BITQ) was launched in May 2021. It is the first US ETF to have “crypto” in its name. It now manages roughly $108 million in assets and becomes the first crypto ETF to surpass the $100 million mark. Top 5 investors holding BITQ are Riot Platforms, MicroStrategy, Coinbase, Hive Digital Technologies and Hut 8 Mining. Year-to-date, BITQ has increased by 204%, while Bitcoin has only increased by 85%.