Ripple received a $125 million fine, while Bitcoin slumped below $50,000 for the first time in six months amid market-wide turmoil. Also, Vice President Kamala Harris’s team began efforts to woo crypto voters. In South America, Brazil approved the first Solana ETF.
Final ruling concludes Ripple v. SEC
Judge Analisa Torres made the final decision in the Ripple v. SEC lawsuit on Aug. 7, imposing a $125 million fine on Ripple for its violations of securities laws from XRP sales to institutions. This ends the 45-month lawsuit in the absence of any appeals.
The fine was 94% lower than the $2 billion proposed by the SEC, but 12x more than the $10 million suggested by Ripple. Still, Ripple considered it a partial victory, with XRP skyrocketing toward $0.65 shortly after.
Two days after the ruling, Ripple revealed that it had begun private beta testing of its proprietary Ripple USD (RLUSD) stablecoin on the Ethereum and XRPL mainnets.
Bitcoin drops below $50,000
Last week, Bitcoin (BTC) and the rest of the crypto market witnessed the largest widespread decline yet this year. On Aug. 5, BTC collapsed underneath $50,000 for the first time in six months. Liquidations across the market surpassed $1 billion.
Meanwhile, Bitcoin whale accumulation took shape, with reports confirming the purchase of $23 billion in BTC within 30 days.
BTC eventually recovered the $60,000 level as the market rebounded. CryptoQuant’s Ki Young Ju suggested Bitcoin could still reach a new ATH if it holds above $45,000.
Harris looks to the crypto industry
Last week, Democratic presidential candidate Kamala Harris’s team made efforts to woo crypto voters. On Aug. 6, Harris picked Minnesota Governor Tim Walz as her running mate.
Following this move, the Democratic candidate’s odds of winning the elections shot up from 3% to 46% on Polymarket. Shortly after, Harris overtook Republican Donald Trump in the polls.
Further reports confirmed that Democratic stakeholders launched a campaign dubbed “Crypto for Harris” to engage crypto industry leaders on pro-crypto policies.
A virtual crypto roundtable meeting occurred on Aug. 8. However, Harris didn’t attend, baffling Gemini co-founder Tyler Winklevoss.
Brazil approves Solana ETF
In Brazil, the country’s SEC approved the launch of the first Solana ETF last week. However, the product remains in the pre-operational state. The reports confirm that the ETF needs to secure approval from Brazil’s stock exchange B3 to officially launch.
FTX to pay $12 billion to creditors
Judge Peter Castel ruled that FTX and Alameda Research would pay $12.7 billion to creditors in its settlement with the CFTC, and cease providing any services related to crypto trading.
Crypto venture capital
Several startups secured significant funds last week, including Andrena ($18 million), Vessel ($10 million), Cartridge ($7.5 million) and Pentagon Games ($6 million).
CEHV founder Adam Cochran discussed in detail how “VCs have slowed investing in crypto by a lot.” “Most of them have LPs that just want to beat index fund returns,” he wrote on X.com. Too many investors are reluctant to make early-stage bets and “don’t actually pursue moonshots, they just throw capital at breakout trends.”
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