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| Hey Insider! Welcome back to the Inside Cryptocurrency newsletter! Shiba Inu's (SHIB) new Layer-2 blockchain network, Shibarium, hit the headlines earlier in the day, though issues with bridging followed the launch, causing a sudden drop in SHIB's price. Today's issue also covers several other thrilling stories from the crypto market, such as Polygon Labs' partnership with South Korean mobile carrier SK Telecom, Ripple's opposition to a recent move from the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), a class-action lawsuit naming the centuries-old auction house Sotheby's as a defendant, and more. Enjoy your reading, and if you find this newsletter useful, please share it with your friends and colleagues! Doğa
p/dogayurduneri | |
| 1 | | Bankrupt crypto exchange FTX and the bankrupt crypto lender Genesis have reached a deal to settle the disputes in their Chapter 11 bankruptcy cases. As part of the deal, FTX made only a $175M claim from Genesis on behalf of its sister company Alameda Research. More: - The deal will also see Genesis waiving its parallel claims against FTX.
- The agreement represents a significant reduction from FTX's initial claim of $3.9B.
- The settlement deal is expected to help the two parties repay their creditors waiting for the disputes in the bankruptcy case to be settled to receive their deposits back.
- FTX's new CEO, John J. Ray III, also said the agreement is fair and serves FTX's best interest, eliminating legal uncertainties about the claims.
- The settlement agreement was first announced in July without revealing full details.
- The deal has been submitted to the judges of the bankruptcy cases of the two companies for approval.
- The hearings related to the agreement were scheduled for Sept. 6 and 13.
Zoom Out: - FTX and Genesis filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in November 2022 and January 2023, respectively.
- FTX's downfall followed the claims that the former CEO Sam Bankman-Fried (SBF) used customer funds in the firm to compensate for losses at Alameda Research.
- Genesis' bankruptcy, however, mainly stemmed from its exposure to the collapse of FTX.
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What the numbers say: The popular meme coin Shiba Inu (SHIB) recently saw a sudden drop in price. The value decrease in the token for a 24-hour period reached almost 10%. Bone (BONE) and Leash (LEASH) tokens in the same ecosystem as SHIB also experienced significant declines in price. Relevance: The price decline in the Shiba Inu ecosystem tokens came shortly after the developers behind SHIB officially launched the ecosystem's long-awaited Ethereum Layer-2 blockchain network, Shibarium. The public launch was welcome with strong enthusiasm among the community. The team behind the project said the network, aimed to make transactions faster and cheaper on Ethereum, focuses on metaverse, NFTs, and gaming applications. The developers also underlined that the Layer-2 solution would use SHIB, BONE, and LEASH tokens as fees for the applications built on the blockchain, which is expected to increase their prices as demand rises. However, following the launch, many users reported bridging issues on Shibarium while trying to transfer their tokens from a different network. Issue reports caused transactions on the network to halt for several hours, leaving funds stuck. Users were also blocked from sending messages on a community forum on Discord. The ecosystem tokens reacted to these issues on the network with a strong price decrease. Brands that should care: Most recently, the largest U.S. crypto exchange Coinbase also opened its own Ethereum-powered Layer-2 blockchain network, Base, to the public. The move made the firm the first publicly-traded company to launch its own decentralized blockchain. However, following the public launch, the increased network activity similarly caused users and developers to have issues with the Coinbase app's user interface and experience. Hence, Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong promised that they would improve the user experience on the app, admitting the problems in a Twitter post. | | | |
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| 3 | | Ripple Labs, the firm behind the payment protocol Ripple, has responded to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission's (SEC) move seeking an interlocutory appeal to a recent ruling regarding the case against the company. The firm's chief legal officer, Stuart Alderoty, said they filed an opposition to the SEC's request, adding that there is currently no extraordinary situation that would require departing from the rule. More: - The response came nearly 10 days after the SEC asked the permission of U.S. District Judge Analisa Torres to seek immediate review from the appeals court for one of her recent rulings.
- In the ruling, Torres determined that Ripple's native token, XRP, is not a security when sold to the general public.
- Torres' ruling was considered a partial victory for Ripple since the SEC classified XRP as a security in a lawsuit filed in December 2020.
- In the case, the agency accused Ripple and some of its executives of the unregistered sale of nearly $1.3B of XRP tokens, which it labeled as securities.
- Torres' ruling also contradicts SEC Chair Gary Gensler's argument that all crypto assets other than Bitcoin (BTC) are securities.
- The SEC first needs to receive approval from the district court and the appeals court to move its request to the Second Circuit, which would look into the interlocutory appeal.
Zoom Out: - Whether cryptocurrencies are securities has long been a major issue in terms of determining the agency with jurisdiction over the crypto industry in the U.S.
- Within the last several months alone, many crypto exchanges, such as Binance, Coinbase, Kraken, Gemini, and Bittrex, faced increased scrutiny by the SEC over alleged securities law violations.
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| 4 | | Centuries-old auction house Sotheby's has been sued by a group of investors of Bored Ape Yacht Club (BAYC) NFTs in a class-action lawsuit over an auction in 2021 along with more than 30 other defendants. The plaintiffs claimed that Sotheby's misled investors by promoting NFTs and collaborated with Yuga Labs, the firm behind the BAYC NFTs, to artificially inflate the digital collectibles' prices. More: - Some celebrities promoting the BAYC NFTs, such as Paris Hilton and Justin Bieber, were also named defendants in the lawsuit.
- In the online auction in September 2021, Sotheby's sold more than 100 BAYC NFTs to a single buyer for over $24M, surpassing the pre-sale estimates of $12M to $18M.
- The class-action lawsuit was originally filed in December 2022, but Sotheby's was recently added to the list of defendants with the claim that the 2021 sale was deceptive.
- The plaintiffs also said the auction house was hired by Yuga Labs to generate interest and hype around the BAYC NFTs among investors.
- Besides, the lawsuit pointed out that Sotheby's created the impression that the NFT market reached a mainstream audience by representing the undisclosed buyer as a traditional collector.
- In response, Sotheby's defined the allegations in the lawsuit as baseless, adding that it is prepared to vigorously defend itself.
- The lawsuit similarly named several famous brands collaborating with Yuga Labs for the BAYC NFTs, such as sportswear giant Adidas and the crypto trading platform MoonPay, as defendants.
Zoom Out: - BAYC is a 10,000-piece NFT collection launched in April 2021 on the Ethereum blockchain.
- The BAYC NFTs can currently be bought for as little as $51,000, while the floor price of the collection was over $400,000 in May last year.
Q: Do you think the investor group is right in its allegations against Sotheby's? Share your thoughts with us in the comments box. | | | |
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| 5 | | The U.S.-based crypto trading platform MoonPay has obtained a virtual asset service provider license in Ireland, registering with the country's central bank. The license will allow the company to offer its exchange services between fiat currencies and digital assets, including cryptocurrencies and NFTs. More: - The firm confirmed that it currently has an office and a team in Ireland without specifying the number of employees working in the country.
- The platform also said it plans to increase its headcount in Ireland in parallel with business demands, reiterating its commitment to remaining compliant with local regulatory obligations.
- Also, the company underlined that the new registration applies only to Ireland and has no general validity for other European countries.
- MoonPay, launched in 2019, raised over $86M in funding last year from 60-high profile celebrities, including Justin Bieber, Snoop Dogg, Paris Hilton, Ashton Kutcher, Maria Sharapova, Matthew McConaughey, Bruce Willis, and Steve Aoki.
- The trading platform became most famous after it was used by celebrities to buy NFTs from the popular Bored Ape Yacht Club (BAYC) collection.
Zoom Out: - Over the last year, several other crypto trading platforms, such as Coinbase and Gemini, also received a crypto license in Ireland to offer their virtual asset services to Irish customers.
- Gemini became the first crypto exchange to register with the Central Bank of Ireland in July 2022.
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| 6 | | Polygon Labs, the firm behind the popular Polygon network, has partnered with South Korea's leading mobile carrier SK Telecom to develop a new Web3 ecosystem. The partnership deal was signed by the two companies at SK Telecom's headquarters in Seoul. More: - As part of the collaboration, SK Telecom's NFT marketplace, TopPort, will start supporting the Polygon blockchain.
- The partnership will also see the two firms discovering promising Web3 startups for incubation.
- Polygon Labs CEO Marc Boiron said they see their partnership with SK Telecom as an important step in offering Web3 experiences to more consumers.
Zoom Out: - Polygon Labs is considered one of the most popular Web3 and blockchain startups.
- Over the last several months, the firm has entered into strategic partnerships with many other famous brands, including Google Cloud and Warner Music Group.
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- Asset manager Valkyrie has filed an application for an Ether (ETH) futures exchange-traded fund (ETF) with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).
- New financial documents have revealed that former U.S. President Donald Trump is an Ethereum (ETH) whale with $2.8M of holdings as opposed to the previous documents reporting $250,000 to $500,000 of assets.
- Bitcoin (BTC) has reached a new all-time high in Argentina after Bitcoin-advocate candidate Javier Milei won the primary presidential election in the country.
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INSIDE CRYPTOCURRENCY LEADERBOARD (30 DAYS) |
 | Staff Writer | | Doga is a tech and science editor who has been writing news for nearly 10 years. She worked for leading tech platforms and mainstrem media channels as an editor and presenter throughout his career. Then, she carried her know-how to more than one platform. She is a part-time cat lover and binge-watcher, and also fond of science, space, and emerging tech. She always has a story to tell. She is a bit addict to the laughter and -unfortunately- the '90s culture. | | This newsletter was edited by Aaron Crutchfield | |
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