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| Hey Insider! The week has kicked off with PayPal's new stablecoin marking the first time a major financial services company introduced its own stablecoin. The week's first Inside Cryptocurrency issue also covers some of the other biggest news from the crypto market, including Coinbase's new motion seeking the dismissal of a lawsuit filed by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), Elon Musk's statement on X's alleged plans to launch a crypto token, Miami Mayor Francis Suarez's decision to accept campaign donations in Bitcoin, and more. I hope you enjoy your reading! Doğa
p/dogayurduneri | |
| 1 | | Coinbase, the largest U.S. exchange, has officially asked the court to dismiss a lawsuit filed by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) against it. In its motion, the platform accused the agency of violating due process, abusing its discretion, and abandoning its own earlier interpretation of the securities laws. More: - Coinbase also said the SEC has no authority over its activities.
- The company cited U.S. District Judge Analisa Torres' recent ruling that payment protocol Ripple's native token, XRP, is not a security when sold to the general public to strengthen its arguments.
- The SEC filed a 101-page complaint against Coinbase over alleged U.S. securities law violations in June, labeling some tokens listed on the exchange as unregistered securities.
- In the lawsuit, the agency also claimed that Coinbase is unlawfully operating as an exchange, a broker-dealer, and a clearinghouse at the same time without registration with the agency, though it is subject to U.S. securities laws.
- In response, Coinbase argued that even if all the allegations in the lawsuit are true, they are beyond the SEC's legal authority, citing the SEC Chair Gary Gensler's testimony from 2021 when he said only Congress had the power to regulate the crypto industry.
Zoom Out: - Coinbase sought the dismissal of the SEC's lawsuit once more in June, describing the agency's complaint as an extraordinary abuse of process.
- Over the last several months alone, many other crypto exchanges, including Binance, Kraken, Gemini, and Bittrex, also came under increased scrutiny by the SEC.
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What the numbers say: The total value locked (TVL) on Seychelles-based crypto exchange Huobi has retreated to $2.45B, down from the $3.13B level at the beginning of July. Within one month, the platform saw a steady decline in the TVL. The popular crypto trading platform also experienced a $73.3M net outflow within the past week alone. Besides, outflows accelerated in the last 24 hours, reaching $32.9M. What it means: TVL refers to a metric used to measure the total value of digital assets locked or staked in a platform. The higher TVL causes a platform to be perceived as more trustworthy and healthy by investors. Relevance: The acceleration in Huobi's net outflows followed a Hong Kong-based media outlet's reports that at least three Huobi executives were taken into custody by Chinese police for investigation. The report and metrics also paved the way for the claims that the firm is insolvent or at least in a collapse phase. On the other hand, the company recently released its earnings report for Q2 2023, failing to report a profit. Brands that should care: The local media in Hong Kong also pointed out that Chinese police questioned the blockchain-based network Tron's employees, along with Huobi executives. | | | |
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| 3 | | The U.S.-based financial technology (FinTech) company PayPal has launched a new stablecoin pegged to the U.S. dollar (USD) to accelerate the mass adoption of digital assets in payments and transfers. The move marked the first time a major financial services company launched its own stablecoin. More: - The Ethereum-based stablecoin, PayPal USD (PYUSD), will be issued by Paxos Trust Co, which is also the issuer of Binance's stablecoin, Binance USD (BUSD).
- The token will be backed by USD deposits, short-term U.S. Treasuries, and similar cash equivalents.
- The company will gradually make PYUSD available to its customers in the U.S.
- PYUSD's availability on PayPal will be followed by the company's popular Venmo app.
- Holders can use PYUSD to make transfers between PayPal and external wallets, pay for goods and services, and convert them into other tokens.
- Users can exchange the stablecoin for other cryptocurrencies available on PayPal's network, such as Bitcoin (BTC), Bitcoin Cash (BCH), Ether (ETH), and Litecoin (LTC).
Zoom Out: - A stablecoin is a type of cryptocurrency whose value is pegged to another reference asset, mostly a fiat currency.
- Customers generally use these assets to trade with different cryptocurrencies without converting their funds back into fiat currencies.
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| 4 | | U.S. presidential candidate and Miami Mayor Francis Suarez has announced that he would accept campaign donations in Bitcoin (BTC), the largest cryptocurrency by market cap. The crypto-friendly politician said his supporters can donate a minimum of 0.00034 Bitcoin, accounting for $1, to his presidential campaign at FrancisSuarez.com. More: - Speaking to CoinDesk, Suarez implied that developing technologies, including crypto, would democratize opportunities for wealth creation and not be able to be manipulated by a human being's ulterior motives or political goals.
- The Republican candidate also criticized President Joe Biden's administration as not understanding crypto, saying it regulates the industry with enforcement mechanisms rather than setting the ground rules.
- Suarez pledged to ban the central bank digital currencies (CBDCs) if elected since they violate privacy rights and do not have anything innovative.
- Her announced his candidacy for U.S. president in June.
- In May, Robert F. Kennedy Jr. (RFK Jr.) became the first presidential candidate in U.S. history to accept campaign donations in BTC.
- RFK Jr.'s move was followed by Republican candidate Vivek Ramaswamy who also started accepting Bitcoin donations.
Zoom Out: - Suarez has long been an advocate for digital assets, especially Bitcoin.
- The Miami mayor also previously promised to make the city a Bitcoin hub, started accepting his salary in Bitcoin, and helped the launch of MiamiCoin (MIA) in 2021.
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| 5 | | Elon Musk has recently stated that X, formerly known as Twitter, does not plan to launch a crypto token, warning his followers about scam tokens. The confirmation came as a response to another post by an account with the username "DogeDesigner" on X. More: - DogeDesigner initially cautioned users about articles related to scam tokens claiming association with X, such as CryptoTwitter (CT), X (X), and TwitterDAO (TWITTER), underlining that both Musk and X have never launched a crypto token.
- In response, Musk said they would never introduce such a token.
- Since the renowned CEO bought Twitter with a nearly $44B deal last year, many claims regarding plans for a token launch or a crypto integration occurred.
- Those claims most recently came into the agenda again with a report pointing out that X was working on an in-app trading hub, which was then denied by Musk.
- Dogecoin (DOGE), most famous for the support it gets from Musk, saw a brief jump in price after the famous CEO said they would never launch a token.
Zoom Out: - DOGE also previously increased in value when Musk bought Twitter, when Twitter appointed Linda Yaccarino, who was following several DOGE-related accounts, as its new CEO, and once Musk briefly shifted the Twitter logo to the DOGE symbol.
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| 6 | | The Singapore Red Cross, a humanitarian aid and community services charity in Singapore, has started accepting donations in cryptocurrencies. The organization has added Bitcoin (BTC), Ether (ETH), Tether (USDT), and USD Coin (USDC) to the list of accepted forms of donation. More: - Supporters can also send donations through their Binance digital wallets.
- The move mainly aims to give supporters the option to donate anonymously.
- To enable the new form of donation, the charity has partnered with Triple-A, the first crypto payment gateway licensed by the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS), the region's financial market regulator.
- Triple-A will convert all donations in crypto into fiat currency and settle them through a bank transfer within one business day.
Zoom Out: - Singapore Red Cross' decision came nearly two weeks after the High Court of Singapore classified crypto as private property in a case involving Seychelles-based crypto exchange Bybit, putting digital assets into the same status as fiat currencies in principle.
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- Google's parent company, Alphabet, has sold 90% of its Robinhood shares as the popular trading app's crypto trading revenue showed a steady decline. NOTE: Inside.com founder and CEO Jason Calacanis is an investor in Robinhood.
- Crypto mining company Core Scientific has appointed its former president, Adam Sullivan, as its new CEO.
- A U.S. court has denied a motion by the bankrupt crypto lender Celsius Network's former CEO, Alex Mashinsky, who sought the dismissal of a lawsuit filed by New York's Attorney General (AG), Letitia James.
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Term of the Day Cash burn: Cash burn is defined as the amount of cash a company utilizes to meet its expenses in a specific period. Question of the Week Do you think the 9-to-5 workday still relevant in today's modern workplace? Join the conversation |
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 | 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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