The U.S. District Court for the District of Utah has dismissed the Securities and Exchange Commission’s (SEC) case against Digital Licensing, operating under the name Debt Box.

The judge has also ordered the SEC to pay approximately $1.8 million in attorney and receivership fees.

SEC Ordered to Pay $1.8 Million in Fees

In a post on X dated May 28, Debt Box confirmed the dismissal, stating, “The U.S. District Court for the District of Utah has officially dismissed the SEC’s case against us without prejudice. This means the case is closed, and any future action by the SEC would have to go through Judge Shelby.”

As outlined in a May 28 filing, Judge Shelby has ordered the SEC to pay approximately $1.8 million for attorney fees and costs and $750,000 for receiver fees and costs. This ruling coincided with the dismissal of the case without prejudice.

The decision stems from a March ruling in which the court found the SEC guilty of “bad faith conduct” regarding a temporary restraining order and freezing of Debt Box’s assets. This came after the SEC initiated legal proceedings against Debt Box in July 2023, alleging involvement in a $50 million illegal crypto scheme.

Debt Box countered the SEC’s claims by filing documents asserting inaccuracies in the commission’s information, leading to the threat of sanctions. The sanctions against the agency required it to cover “all attorney fees and costs arising from the improvidently entered ex parte relief.”

However, the regulator tried to evade penalties by contesting the accusation of acting in bad faith. In January, the SEC attempted to terminate the case, asserting that penalties were unwarranted. In a previous ruling, Judge Shelby determined that the SEC’s legal representatives purposefully presented inaccurate information, fully aware that they couldn’t obtain the restraining order and asset freeze otherwise.

Regulatory Overreach

This case started discussions within the cryptocurrency community, with many viewing it as an example of regulatory overreach. The SEC has ongoing legal battles with several crypto firms, including Binance, Kraken, Ripple, and Coinbase.

Amidst these developments, several lawmakers in the U.S. Congress have advocated for regulatory clarity concerning digital assets and pushed for legislative measures.

We have some fantastic news to share with our D.E.B.T. Box community today!

The U.S. District Court for the District of Utah has officially dismissed the SEC’s case against us without prejudice. This means the case is closed, and any future action by the SEC would have to go… pic.twitter.com/aGiNVxMYbz

— D.E.B.T. (@TheDebtBox) May 28, 2024

Debt Box’s team celebrated the court’s decision, referring to it as a “monumental victory” for their company, the entire industry, and their community. They emphasized the importance of integrity and fairness in regulatory practices.

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Riot Platforms Inc., a leading crypto mining company, has announced its intention to acquire Bitfarms Ltd., another significant player in the Bitcoin mining industry.

Riot has already acquired a 9.25% stake in Bitfarms and plans to make a public takeover offer despite the company’s board’s recent rejection.

Global Bitcoin Mining Giant

Riot has proposed an acquisition price of $2.30 per share in cash and stock, valuing Bitfarms at approximately $950 million in equity. Riot’s Executive Chairman, Benjamin Yi, emphasized the strategic importance of this merger, stating, “A combination of Bitfarms and Riot would create the premier and largest publicly listed Bitcoin miner globally, with geographically diversified operations well-positioned for long-term growth.”

According to Riot, the proposed deal will create the world’s largest Bitcoin miner, with a combined power capacity of 1 gigawatt (GW) and a mining capacity of 19.6 exahashes per second (EH/s). By the end of the year, the capacity is projected to reach 1.5 GW and 52 EH/s.

This deal would also offer strategic and financial benefits, including enhanced growth potential and better access to equity markets. The new entity would operate 15 facilities across the US, Canada, Paraguay, and Argentina.

Riot’s strong financial standing, with minimal debt, over $700 million in cash, and 8,872 Bitcoin, is a key factor in the proposed acquisition. Riot expects this will support Bitfarms’ growth and offer better access to equity markets.

Riot submitted its offer to Bitfarms’ board on April 22, but the latter turned it down without engaging in “substantive dialogue.” According to the terms, Bitfarms shareholders would hold approximately 17% of the merged company.

Riot also intends to call for a special shareholder meeting to discuss the appointment of new independent directors following Bitfarms’ annual meeting on May 31.

Consolidation Pressure Post-Halving

The proposed acquisition comes at a critical time for the Bitcoin mining industry, which is experiencing rapid consolidation following the halving. The event, which halves the rewards for mining Bitcoin, poses revenue challenges for miners and has caused larger companies to seek mergers and acquisitions to enhance their competitive edge.

While larger miners like Riot have thrived post-halving with substantial cash reserves, smaller miners struggle due to limited negotiating power and capital access. For example, Stronghold Digital Mining Inc. is exploring strategic options, including a potential sale.

Riot operates North America’s largest Bitcoin mining facility in Texas, with a 700 MW capacity and plans for a new 1 GW site. Despite powering 200,000 Texas homes, mining operations face risks from Texas’ extreme weather and rising energy prices. Meanwhile, Bitfarms has been expanding its operations globally, particularly in South America, where electricity costs are lower.

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In May 2024, the stablecoin ecosystem rebounded, achieving a market capitalization of $161 billion, marking a 0.63% increase from the month’s outset.

According to CCData, this marks the highest level since April 2022, following eight months of steady growth.

Tether Dominates as Stablecoin Market Rebounds

While the stablecoin market has been surging, its dominance slightly dropped from 7% in March to 6.07% this month. The fall was due to crypto assets recovering in price after the unexpected spot Ethereum ETF approval in the United States.

In addition, on May 23, the stablecoin trading volumes on centralized exchanges (CEXs) were at a low of $829 billion. The report noted that after the April Bitcoin halving event, CEXs’ trading activity, in general, has been historically low.

The largest of the cohort – Tether (USDT), achieved a record market cap of $111 billion as of May 29, boosting its dominance in the stablecoin industry to 69.3%.

Among the top ten stablecoins, Athena USDe’s market cap increased for the fifth month, growing by 11.6% to $2.61 billion. CCData attributes this rise to its expanded use as collateral for perpetual trading on Bybit.

BlackRock’s tokenized fund, BUIDL, surged 19.6% to $448 million, making it the largest treasury fund and surpassing Franklin Templeton’s BENJI. Notably, BUIDL represents a share in BlackRock’s USD Institutional Digital Liquidity Fund.

The report also highlights Circle’s USDC market capitalization increase for the sixth consecutive month, reaching $32.6 billion in May. This rise coincides with increased demand, as USDC pairs recorded an all-time high monthly trading volume in March. USDC’s market share by trading volume increased for the second month to 8.27%.

In addition, Circle’s stablecoin has benefited from heightened on-chain trading activity on networks like Base and Solana. The percentage of USDC supply on these chains rose to 9.29% on Base and 7.78% on Solana.

Stablecoin Market’s Recovery Amid Regulation Uncertainty

The report highlights the stablecoin market recovery following losses due to the collapse of the Terra Luna ecosystem and the de-pegging of algorithmic stablecoin TerraClassicUSD (USTC), initiating a seventeen-month downtrend.

In addition, it notes recent developments regarding the potential delisting of USDT pairs from platforms like Kraken due to upcoming MiCA regulations. While concerns arose about MiCA compliance, Kraken clarified that there were no immediate plans to delist USDT.

However, European exchanges like OKX announced intentions to phase out USDT pairs in response to MiCA regulations, including transaction limits under €200 million.

As for Central Bank Digital Currencies (CBDCs), the report stated that while the US House passed a bill prohibiting the Federal Reserve from issuing CBDCs, Brazil’s DREX digital currency pilot program was postponed to 2025 due to privacy concerns. Also, Nigeria’s adoption of e-Naira CBDC remains lackluster, with only marginal transaction increases since its October 2021 launch.

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This year saw an explosion of meme coin launches, many of which have questionable ties.

In fact, Lookonchain’s data effectively highlights the perils of trading meme coins, especially those endorsed by celebrities, with the latest spotlight on American celebrity Caitlyn Jenner’s JENNER, which was launched on the Solana blockchain.

JENNER Memecoin Pitfall

Despite several market participants questioning the legitimacy of the token, some traders still went on to buy and trade JENNER tokens. One trader, who had previously turned a massive profit by converting 2,620 SOL into 21,159 SOL (worth approximately $3.7 million) within five days by trading the BOME token, saw his fortune take a major hit with JENNER.

Investing 1,208 SOL into JENNER, the trader managed to recover only 423 SOL, resulting in a loss of 785 SOL, equivalent to around $133.4K, in just one day, as per Lookonchain’s latest tweet.

Initially, market participants disregarded Jenner’s post regarding the token, fearing it might be a hack, as similar incidents involving celebrity accounts promoting coins or crypto protocols falsely have occurred in the past. Typically, such compromises are swiftly detected and addressed by security teams.

However, Jenner’s account continued to promote the token hours after its initial launch, raising concerns. Later, Jenner clarified in a tweet that her account was not hacked.

In a follow-up tweet, Jenner said that if the namesake token on the Ethereum blockchain hits a $50 million market cap, she promised to donate to former President Donald Trump’s campaign from the tax revenues generated. The former Olympic gold medal-winning decathlete also championed the cause of protecting cryptocurrency, dubbing it “ULTRA MAGA.”

‘D-Tier’ Celebs and Dubious Meme Coins

Meme coin hype appears to be far from fading, but their rapid proliferation has many experts worried who believe that these tokens have a detrimental impact on the industry and even end up overshadowing the efforts of hardworking teams dedicated to developing legitimate products.

Prominent on-chain sleuth ZachXBT also addressed the broader issue of meme coin scams, particularly those endorsed by “d-tier” celebrities who often have histories of promoting dubious schemes, such as Davido’s involvement with RapDoge, Echoke, and Racksterli – a notorious Nigerian Ponzi scheme.

Despite their past, these figures continue to attract support whenever they launch new projects, often resulting in pump-and-dump scenarios. The detective cautioned that these celebrities are primarily motivated by easy financial gains, offering minimal effort and value in return.

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TL;DR

Polkadot has introduced the Join-Accumulate Machine (JAM) upgrade to replace the Relay Chain and launched a 10 million DOT prize to encourage development.

The protocol improved block validation efficiency after a vital upgrade and formed a strategic partnership with the Founder Institute to launch its first Web3 cohort.

The Recent Advancements

Polkadot keeps holding center stage thanks to the developments surrounding its ecosystem and some strategic partnerships. Most recently, founder Gavin Wood revealed that the community has ratified the Join-Accumulate Machine (JAM) Gray Paper as “its next major protocol evolution with a near-unanimous governance vote.”

This technical upgrade is designed to replace the existing Relay Chain (the central chain of the network) with a more modular and minimalistic architecture. It combines elements of Polkadot and Ethereum, supports existing parachains, and aims to enhance network stability and scalability​. 

Last month, the team announced the JAM Implementer’s Prize, a 10 million DOT reward pool to encourage diverse development efforts and foster innovation within the ecosystem.

Enabling Asynchronous Backing on the Polkadot network is also worth mentioning. The upgrade represents “an optimized approach for how parachain blocks are validated by the Relay Chain.” 

The team disclosed that blocks are produced twice as fast, while available blockspace was increased by 6-10 times following that advancement.

Last but not least, Polkadot inked an important deal with Founder Institute (a leading business incubator that turns ideas into fundable startups). The latter described the collaboration as “strategic,” explaining that it marks the beginning of “an exciting chapter” related to the launch of the first Web3 cohort in its Core Program.

The start of the initiative was scheduled for May 28 and it will be guided by leading experts from the Polkadot community.

DOT Price Outlook

Polkadot’s native cryptocurrency witnessed an uptick in the past few days, rising to as high as $7.70 on May 27. However, it could not keep the momentum, plunging to its current level of approximately $7.06 (per CoinGecko’s data).

DOT Price, Source: CoinGecko

Despite the recent drop, though, many analysts are optimistic that DOT can reach new peaks in the near future. The X user Block Diversity claimed that the asset’s latest pullback resulted from following BTC’s footsteps. Recall that the primary cryptocurrency briefly dipped to nearly $67,000 today (May 30). The analyst maintained that DOT remains in a bullish mode as long as it trades above the critical resistance level of $6.90.

Altcoin Sherpa chipped in, too, predicting a possible price pump for the token. However, they don’t think it will outperform the rest of the market, advising investors to cash out their DOT holdings during the next resurgence.

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The significant rally of the frog-themed meme coin Pepe (PEPE) has put the majority of its holders in profit.

According to a tweet by IntoTheBlock, more than 96% of crypto users holding PEPE are currently at the money.

Thanks to an impressive 90% return this month, over 96% of $PEPE holders are now in profit. This positions $PEPE as the most profitable among major memecoins! pic.twitter.com/4BJkjDtha2

— IntoTheBlock (@intotheblock) May 30, 2024

Majority of PEPE Holders in Profit

In the past month, PEPE has repeatedly recorded new all-time highs. The meme coin has been on a roll this past week, rallying and recording minimal losses.

Data from CoinMarketCap disclosed that PEPE is up 116% in the past month and 7.7% in the past week. However, the asset’s trajectory in the past 24 hours has been different. It has slumped more than 3% since yesterday and was changing hands at $0.00001455 at the time of writing.

Regardless of the slight drop in Pepe’s value, IntoTheBlock said the cryptocurrency is currently the most profitable among major meme coins, as almost all of its holders are in profit.

Pepe’s Roaring Success

PEPE began the year with a market cap of roughly $500 million. However, that figure had increased to $6.11 billion at the time of writing. Two weeks ago, the token’s market cap stood at $5 billion as it hit an all-time high of $0.00001096. Interestingly, all of the token holders were in profit at some point, but the crypto market’s volatility has caused the number of PEPE investors at the money to fluctuate.

Three days ago, PEPE hit a new all-time high of $0.00001717, and its market cap surged to $7 billion. The asset became the 21-largest cryptocurrency by market cap, while its market cap flipped well-known altcoins like Polygon and Litecoin. In addition, the asset’s then 24-hour trading volume hit $1.8 billion, surpassing its rivals Dogecoin (DOGE) and Shiba Inu (SHIB), which had market caps hovering a bit above $1 billion.

Pepe’s roaring success over the past months has driven it up the meme coin list, making the token the third-largest in the sector, behind DOGE and SHIB. The meme coin is also one of the best-performing assets this month, and analysts have predicted that its current rally is nowhere near its end. Hence, the token’s value could see more growth, and all PEPE holders may be in profit again.

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Blockchain analysis firm Nansen has identified DBS Bank, one of Singapore’s largest banking institutions, as a cryptocurrency whale.

According to Nansen, a crypto wallet reportedly owned by DBS Bank holds 173,753 Ether (ETH), valued at around $650 million at the current market price.

DBS Sitting on a $200M Profit?

Nansen’s analysis states that the address, flagged on May 30, has already generated a paper profit of $200 million from its Ether holdings.

We’ve identified this $650m $ETH Whale holding 173.7k ETH as DBS, the largest bank in Singapore with assets totaling S$739 billion as of 31 Dec’23

This address has made over $200m by holding ETH…

Track the address on Nansen here: 0x9e927c02c9eadae63f5efb0dd818943c7262fb8e pic.twitter.com/2rkM3cZ6gJ

— Nansen (@nansen_ai) May 30, 2024

While DBS Bank has not officially confirmed ownership of the ETH, a community member suggested that the assets might belong to its digital exchange, which caters to accredited investors. They speculated that the bank holds the ETH on investors’ behalf rather than it being direct bank assets.

DBS Bank is no stranger to the cryptocurrency sector. It offers various services, including digital asset custody, a trading exchange for security tokens, and a portfolio management app that integrates traditional and crypto assets.

In 2020, DBS Bank launched a crypto trading and custody service and a platform for conducting security token offerings. At the time, the bank emphasized that it would not hold any assets on the exchange but would provide custody services for investors. “All digital assets are kept at DBS Bank, which is globally recognized for its custodial services,” the bank stated. The services supported major cryptocurrencies, including Bitcoin, Bitcoin Cash, Ethereum Classic, and Ether.

DBS’s Digital Currency Initiatives

Since then, DBS Bank’s crypto sector has witnessed significant growth. In 2022, it reported a four-fold increase in Bitcoin purchases on its digital exchange, doubling total trades between April and June 2022. In 2023, it reported an 80% increase in Bitcoin trading volume, attributing this growth to the market instability following the crypto collapses of 2022.

DBS has broadened its digital currency efforts beyond cryptocurrencies, engaging in government-related Web3 projects in Singapore like Project Guardian. This initiative successfully acquired tokenized Singapore dollars using tokenized Japanese yen.

Additionally, DBS is involved in Project Orchid for government vouchers and conducted a cross-border e-Chinese yuan transaction test for shipments between Singapore and India.

Furthermore, its Chinese subsidiary, DBS Bank China, introduced an e-CNY merchant solution for businesses to accept payments in the central bank digital currency (CBDC). The bank also provides trading exchanges for security tokens and a portfolio management app catering to traditional and DeFi assets.

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TL;DR

Shiba Inu (SHIB) experienced a significant price spike earlier this week, briefly surpassing Cardano (ADA) in market cap and becoming a top trend in the crypto community.

However, its price soon dropped amid an overall market correction.

SHIB’s Latest Achievement

The price of Shiba Inu (SHIB) spiked by double digits on May 29, turning into one of the best performers in the sector. Its market cap temporarily crossed the $17 billion mark, and the asset briefly flipped Cardano (ADA) to become the 11th biggest cryptocurrency. 

The rally could be one reason the self-proclaimed Dogecoin (DOGE) killer topped a key ranking. According to the market intelligence platform Santiment, SHIB became the top-trending cryptocurrency, sharing the first spot with another meme coin – dogwifhat (WIF).

Despite that success, the entity warned about the infamous volatility of those assets, arguing that traders “can expect to see big FOMO tops and big FUD bottoms.”

SHIB’s resurgence has indeed been short-lived, with its price plunging by 7% (per CoinGecko’s data) in the past 24 hours. Its market capitalization dipped below $16 billion, making the asset the 12th biggest in the crypto industry.

It is worth noting that Shiba Inu is not the only coin in the red today, with the entire market was bleeding at one point. Bitcoin (BTC) tumbled to as low as $67,100 but bounced off quite positively, while Ethereum (ETH) declined to approximately $3,700 before going back to $3,800.

The situation in the meme coin realm is even worse. Pepe (PEPE), Floki Inu (FLOKI), and Bonk Inu (BONK) are among the poorest performers, witnessing double-digit losses.

SHIB’s Next Possible Target

While the second-largest meme coin in terms of market cap is among the hottest topics in the crypto space, it also often becomes the subject of price predictions. One such forecast came from the early Bitcoin (BTC) investor Davinci Jeremie. 

Earlier this week, he envisioned that SHIB’s value could break out above the resistance zones of $0.000025 or $0.00003 and rally “all the way” to $0.00006, a 130% increase from the current level. 

This is not the first time he touches upon the token. In March, he claimed that SHIB is a digital asset investors should have exposure to.

Davinci Jeremie is a well-known individual across the crypto community, often highlighting the merits of BTC. Over a decade ago, he urged people to invest just $1 into the leading digital asset, outlining the chances of an astronomical price rise in the future. 

Observing One Important Metric

On-chain indicators related to Shiba Inu’s ecosystem should also be considered when trying to figure out the asset’s next move. One example is the Market Value to Realized Value (MVRV), which hints at whether SHIB is overvalued or undervalued.

The metric’s ratio above one signals that the market value is higher than the realized value, suggesting that investors are in profit and the asset might be overvalued, resulting in a possible price correction. The latest data shows that SHIB MVRV stands at 1.43.

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Ripple’s price has been consolidating on both the USDT and BTC pairs, failing to move decisively in any direction.

This has led to many market participants getting frustrated as XRP fails to follow other large-cap cryptocurrencies.

By TradingRage

The USDT Paired Chart

On the USDT paired chart’s daily timeframe, XRP’s price has been moving rangebound inside a symmetrical triangle pattern. The $0.5 level is currently holding the price, preventing it from dropping lower. Yet, the market has also failed to rally toward the 200-day moving average located around the $0.6 resistance zone.

If the asset finally breaks above the triangle, investors can be optimistic that a rise above the 200-day moving average and toward the $0.7 resistance level would be probable.

The BTC Paired Chart

The XRP/BTC pair demonstrates even lower volatility, as the price has been practically moving horizontally. The market has been hovering around the 800 SAT level for almost two months now. Yet, with the long-term trend being bearish and the Relative Strength Index still showing values below 50%, an even deeper decline seems probable at the moment.

Ripple vs. SEC

XRP’s price lastly charted impressive gains when the company behind the token notched a few important victories in its legal spat against the US Securities and Exchange Commission. As such, the recent calmness in that direction could be attributing to the lack of massive movements for XRP.

It’s worth exploring what has been happening on that front, and the latest update, as reported earlier today, suggests that Ripple had further supported its motion to seal data related to the regulator’s request for judgment and remedies.

The regulator believes this information is crucial to the case, while the company asserted that it has no relation to it.

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London-based financial technology company Ramp has expanded its crypto-to-fiat off-ramp services to include SEPA money transfers across Europe, creating a network of seamless and instant cashing out among users.

According to an official announcement sent to CryptoPotato, Ramp has added more than 35 local currencies to its Visa and Mastercard payout options. This expansion would enable users in supported countries to sell their crypto assets and have the appropriate amounts added directly to their credit and debit cards.

Ramp Expands Payout Currency Support

The new fiat currencies added to Ramp’s payout options include the Mexican peso, the Brazilian real, and the Malaysian ringgit. Users can now avoid the high exchange fees associated with transacting with banks by trading cryptocurrencies in their local currencies.

Ramp’s users will not just skip high transaction fees but also explore a two-way path to the web3 ecosystem, onboarding into the space with their local currencies and swapping their crypto assets back to the same currencies when needed.

“At Ramp, we understand that many of our users still need to use traditional fiat currencies in their daily lives. That’s why we ensure seamless cashing out by allowing users to choose their preferred payment method and currency,” commented Ramp CEO Szymon Sypniewicz.

With time, Ramp will introduce support for additional localized payment and payout methods targeting users in the United States, Latin America, Europe, and other regions.

“Ramp’s off-ramp has long been the benchmark for coverage, transaction speed, and pricing in the market, and we’re committed to maintaining this standard by staying closely connected and relevant to our users’ needs all over the globe,” Sypniewicz added.

Driving Mainstream Crypto Adoption

Ramp claims to be a leader in the crypto-to-fiat off-ramp space, with support for more than 40 tokens and a reach spanning 130 countries. The company said it is focused on driving the mainstream adoption of crypto assets by maximizing the number of supported payment options for users.

The company insists it was the first major off-ramp platform to introduce real-time payments in the United States and pioneer Visa and Mastercard global payouts. With the inclusion of SEPA in its services, the firm will offer cost-effective real-time cross-border payouts for European users.

Meanwhile, Ramp’s payment methods go beyond credit and debit cards and include bank transfers, Apple Pay, Google Pay, and the Brazilian instant payment ecosystem known as PIX.

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Large investors have been actively accumulating Bitcoin during market downturns, potentially viewing them as buying opportunities and then selling during periods of market revival or anticipation of increased institutional adoption.

Data shows that the collective holdings of Bitcoin wallets containing at least 10 BTC have increased significantly in the past five months. In fact, this cohort was found to have added 154,560 BTC during the same period.

According to the latest analysis by Santiment, big “shark” (also known as the large investors) and “whale” accumulation began amidst a market decline in October 2019, continuing past the COVID scare and through early 2022. This subsequently pushed the asset’s price above a new all-time high above $60,000.

Mid-2022 witnessed the start of mass dumping as US interest rates wreaked havoc on all markets and dragged BTC down below $17,000.

This period lasted until December 2023, after which aggressive sharks and whales started accumulating, likely in anticipation of increased institutional investment. This was just before spot Bitcoin ETF approvals in January this year.

The addition of 154,560 more BTC over the past five months leading up to late May 2024 indicated significant accumulation by large investors during this period.

Typically, when these large Bitcoin holders accumulate more, it tends to precede a bullish phase with rising market prices.

On the other hand, when these holders begin to offload their BTC stash, it often indicates the onset of a prolonged bear market.

Moreover, 50% of BTC’s total supply from another group of long-term holders, holding BTC for 1-2 years, has remained inactive for more than a year, suggesting reluctance to sell their tokens for quick gains.

These observations indicate that bitcoin could be poised for a fresh peak in the near term, with some experts predicting this could happen between October 2024 and March 2025.

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TL;DR

Ripple filed to seal data related to the SEC’s motion, arguing that its financial statements are irrelevant to the case, while the regulator claims they are crucial.

The watchdog sued the firm in 2020 for raising $1.3 billion in unregistered securities. The lawsuit is now in trial, with Ripple having secured some partial court wins.

The Latest Development

After a period of relative inactivity, the legal battle between the United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and Ripple escalated again. Most recently, the company filed a reply letter in further support of its motion to seal data related to the regulator’s motion for judgment and remedies. Initially, Ripple sought to seal and redact some evidence and financial documents, but the SEC opposed the move. 

“The Court should deny Ripple’s request to conceal financial and securities sales information because that information constitutes “judicial documents” as it is at the heart of the arguments the parties have presented in support of their remedies motion and could, therefore, tend to influence the Court’s remedies decision,” the agency stated earlier this month.

America’s securities regulator insists that such data could give more clarity about Ripple’s XRP sales from years ago and play a key role in the legal process. According to the company, though, historical contracts have “no continuing relevance” because it has enforced certain amendments on its XRP sales procedures:

“Ripple is no longer selling XRP through over-the-counter transactions with the characteristics that the Court determined were “Institutional sales” at summary judgment. Ripple’s current sales of XRP to customers for use in connection with Ripple’s ODL product do not have any of the relevant terms of over-the-counter contracts, such as discounts offered to sophisticated counterparties.”

A Brief Summary of the Lawsuit

The legal spat between the entities started in December 2020 when the SEC accused Ripple of illegally raising more than $1.3 billion in an unregistered securities offering by selling XRP. The battle passed through numerous developments in the following years, reaching its trial phase in April 2024.

Both parties presented necessary documents and briefs to magistrates, and according to American lawyer Jeremy Hogan, they now await the judge’s ruling.

Some believe Ripple has the upper hand in the lawsuit due to securing three vital (yet partial) court wins last year. XRP’s price rallied after each triumph, meaning a decisive victory for the company may positively impact the asset. If you are curious to learn more about the case and its potential influence on XRP’s valuation, please check our dedicated video below:

 

The post Important Ripple v. SEC Lawsuit Update May 30: Details appeared first on CryptoPotato.

BlackRock has submitted a revised registration statement for its proposed spot Ethereum ETF. The updated S-1 filing also included details about the company’s seed capital investor.

Now, analysts suggest that U.S. spot Ether exchange-traded funds (ETFs) could launch by late June.

BlackRock Reveals Seed Capital Investor Information

The world’s largest asset manager submitted an amended S-1 registration statement nearly a week after the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) approved 19b-4 forms for eight Ethereum ETFs, including its proposed iShares Ethereum Trust. Both filings need approval before the ETF can begin trading.

In the updated one, BlackRock disclosed information about its seed capital investor, who committed to acquiring $10 million worth of shares on May 21, 2024. The investor ultimately received 400,000 shares priced at $25.00 each. The asset manager also said the shares will be listed and traded under the ticker symbol “ETHA.”

Eric Balchunas offered insights on the development, expressing optimism about its significance. He anticipated others to follow soon, likely accompanied by another round of fine-tuned comments from Staff. While Balchunas suggested an end-of-June launch as feasible, he emphasized higher approval odds around July 4, regarding an earlier approval as a “long shot.”

Good sign. Prob see rest roll in soon. Then prob one more round of fine-tune comments from Staff. End of June launch a legit possibility altho keeping my o/u date as July 4th https://t.co/WymshkTvat

— Eric Balchunas (@EricBalchunas) May 29, 2024

Bloomberg ETF analyst James Seyffart remarked that BlackRock’s updated S-1 is “almost certainly the engagement we were looking for on the S-1s following the 19b-4 approvals. Issuers and SEC are working towards spot Ethereum ETF launches.”

Hashdex Withdraws Spot Ethereum ETF proposal

This development comes the same day as a filing showing Hashdex recently withdrew its proposal for a spot Ether ETF, a day after its competitors, including BlackRock and seven other issuers, received approval for it.

No information has been provided regarding the reasons for Hashdex’s decision or whether it plans to resubmit its proposal. According to its initial September 2023 filing, Hashdex’s proposal for a spot Ethereum ETF combined spot Ether holdings with Ether futures contracts within the same product to reduce potential manipulation risks.

Hashdex also aimed for its spot Ether ETF to reflect daily changes in the Nasdaq Ether Reference Price to address regulatory concerns about market manipulation.

Competitors like Fidelity, ARK 21Shares, and Franklin Templeton have focused solely on spot-based Ether ETFs, making late amendments such as removing support for ETH staking in response to SEC feedback.

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Bitcoin was stopped at just over $70,000 earlier this week and has been unable to resume its bullish momentum since then, as it even dipped toward $67,000 yesterday.

The alternative coins are also in retreat, with SHIB, DOT, DOGE, PEPE, and WIF losing substantial percentages of their USD value overnight.

BTC Shaky at $68K

The spot Ethereum ETF news from last week sent the primary cryptocurrency on a wild ride that included a massive surge to almost $72,000 and a subsequent rejection and nosedive to $66,400 just a few days later.

However, once those financial products were indeed greenlighted on Thursday, BTC started to recover some ground and spent the weekend at around $69,000.

Monday was even more promising as the bulls initiated a leg-up that saw bitcoin skyrocket to a multi-day peak of just over $70,500. However, this is where the trend changed, and the cryptocurrency started losing value rapidly. Just a few hours later, it slumped to under $67,500.

Another bounce-off followed, but the scenario repeated, and BTC slipped to a multi-day low of $67,200 late last night. It has been unable to recover most losses and now sits way beneath $68,000 once again.

Bitcoin’s market cap has dropped to $1.330 trillion, but its dominance over the alts has risen by 0.5% in a day to 50.2%.

Bitcoin/Price/Chart 30.05.2024. Source: TradingView PEPE, WIF on the Decline

As reported a couple of days ago, the two top-performing assets were from the meme coin niche – PEPE and WIF. The former kept rising and charted yet another all-time high, while the latter had gained momentum with a double-digit surge.

The landscape is entirely different now as PEPE has dumped by 14% in a day, while WIF is down by more than 11%. Other larger-cap alts deep in the red include SHIB (-7%), DOT (-5%), DOGE (-4.5%), SOL (-3%), NEAR (-4.5%), and more.

Binance Coin lost the $600 level after a 1% daily decline, while ETH has slipped by 2% to $3,750.

The total crypto market cap has seen over $60 billion gone overnight and is down to $2.650 trillion on CG.

Cryptocurrency Market Overview. Source: QuantifyCrypto

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TL;DR

BTC’s price has been fluctuating recently between $67,200 and $70,000, currently at $68K. Analysts predict a major pump, with some forecasting it could reach $150,000, driven by the impact of Bitcoin ETFs.

Ripple’s XRP is trading around $0.524, with expectations of a significant surge. Key targets are $1.20 to $1.50, with a critical breakout point at $0.70 – $0.75.

Dogecoin faces significant resistance between $0.166 and $0.171 but could potentially double if it overcomes this barrier.

BTC Price Outlook

The primary cryptocurrency experienced some turbulence in the past few days, ranging from $67,200 to over $70,000. Currently, it hovers at the $68K level, registering a 1% decline on a daily scale.

Numerous analysts believe BTC is gearing up for another major rally, with some envisioning new all-time highs. The popular X user Lark Davis recently forecasted that the asset’s price will explode to $150,000 while Ethereum (ETH) will tap $15,000.

He argued that BTC’s bull run will be fueled by the Bitcoin ETFs, which attract “hundreds of millions” of dollars in inflows daily.

“Imagine the scenes when retail is here, and the bull market is at its peak. When countries, wealth managers, pension funds, and retail will be buying billions of dollars worth of ETFs daily,” he added.

Another bullish analyst is Crypto Rove,r who claimed that BTC’s supply “available to the masses” is gradually decreasing, assuming that an “enormous bull market is imminent.”

On that note, it is important to mention one major mechanism that is integral to Bitcoin’s supply system and has a direct impact on its inflation rate: the BTC halving. It occurs approximately every four years and slashes the miners’ block rewards in half, with the latest one happening a month ago. 

Following the event, the BTC production is slowed down by half, making the asset scarcer and potentially more valuable in time (should demand rise or remain the same). Historically, the process has been a precursor of a massive bull run for the leading digital currency and the entire crypto market. Those curious to learn more about the halving, feel free to take a look at our dedicated video below:

Where Is XRP Headed?

Ripple’s native token has been relatively steady as of late, with its price varying between $0.52 and $0.53. Currently, it stands at around $0.524 (per CoinGecko’s data), a 2% increase on a monthly basis. Despite the consolidation, multiple industry participants expect significant resurgence in the near future. 

The X users EGRAG CRYPTO and JAVON MARKS are two examples. The former shared a price chart indicating that XRP’s recent performance is “aligning perfectly” with prior expectations and the Fib 0.702 – 0.786 levels. The analyst predicted the coin’s next target to be between $1.20 and $1.50, highlighting the $0.70 – $0.75 range as a “critical break-out point.”

“Although a retest of the break-out might be in the cards, a MEGA RUN for XRP is on the horizon. Yes, my target is double digits,“ EGRAG CRYPTO added.

JAVON MARKS claimed the asset is poised for a rally because it is nearing “a major converging point” and has “an RSI Pattern currently indicating underlying momentum in prices.”

The Relative Strength Index (RSI) tracks the velocity and magnitude of price changes, ranging from 0 to 100. A ratio above 70 indicates that the asset might be overbought and could face a price correction. XRP’s RSI is currently at 40, following a notable decline over the past week.

What About DOGE?

Last but not least, we will touch upon the biggest meme coin in terms of market capitalization – Dogecoin (DOGE). Many analysts recently put the asset on their watch list, envisioning fresh peaks under certain conditions.

The X user Ali Martinez maintained that DOGE faces “significant resistance“ between $0.166 and $0.171, where 75,000 addresses have accumulated approximately 10 billion coins. 

“However, once this barrier is overcome, DOGE has the potential to double, with the next key resistance around $0.322,“ he claimed.

Nebraskangooner chipped in, too, predicting a “meme-pump action soon“ as long as DOGE stays above the critical resistance level of approximately $0.16. Currently, its price is just above that mark.

The post Bitcoin (BTC) Price Ahead of Big Move, Ripple (XRP) Predictions, and More: Bits Recap May 30 appeared first on CryptoPotato.

Bitcoin’s price has been sensitive to changes in inflation data – Consumer Price Index (CPI) – relative to the previous month, according to a May 29 market report from 10x Research analyst Markus Thielen.

He said that higher-than-expected CPI has been bearish for the cryptocurrency, while lower-than-expected CPI has been bullish.

Correlations With CPI Data

Additionally, spot Bitcoin ETF inflows closely followed CPI data releases, as they resumed or accelerated when CPI data showed lower inflation compared to the previous month.

The analysis plotted BTC price over the past six months against U.S. inflation data released, noting that when CPI was higher, the asset was bearish, and when the figure was lower than expected, it was bullish.

“Traders who know how Bitcoin reacts to CPI should have confidence in trading in the opposite direction of the CPI change relative to the previous month.”

Bitcoin changes direction based on CPI higher/lower than the previous month – 10x Research.

The research predicts that Bitcoin ETF inflows will likely remain strong over the next two weeks leading up to the June 12 CPI data release, potentially pushing BTC to new all-time highs.

The pricing model projected a small decline when consensus expected another higher disappointing inflation print for May 15. Looking forward to the next two months, it predicts that inflation may hover around a similar level, “with a downward bias soon occurring.”

“If inflation prints 3.3% or lower, bitcoin should make a new all-time high.”

The analysis suggests that inflation is no longer a concern and will likely turn into a tailwind for Bitcoin as the summer progresses. U.S. inflation based on CPI data was 3.4% for April.

Additionally, core personal consumption expenditures (PCE) price index data, which is also the Federal Reserve’s preferred measure of inflation, is due on Friday, May 31.

BTC Price Outlook

Bitcoin is currently trading down 1% on the day at around $68,000. It dropped to an intraday low of $67,122 but managed to recover during the Thursday morning Asian trading session.

BTC has been relatively flat for the past fortnight and is down 7.7% from its mid-March all-time high as the consolidation continues.

The majority of the altcoins are seeing larger losses today, with markets retreating 1.3% to $2.68 total capitalization.

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On May 28, ENS Labs proposed that the Ethereum Name Service expand to layer-2 scaling protocols in an effort called “ENSv2.”

“We’re not just migrating core parts of the ENS protocol,” the team said in a blog post before adding that it is taking knowledge from the last seven years at the frontier of Web3, aiming to “re-envision the architecture from the ground up.”

Introducing ENSv2: The Next Generation of ENS

ENS Labs is excited to announce our proposal to extend the ENS protocol to a Layer 2 network. This move isn’t just about migrating parts of the protocol; we’re re-envisioning the architecture from the ground up! pic.twitter.com/3xM6owTpKk

— ens.eth (@ensdomains) May 28, 2024

Ethereum Domains Faster and Cheaper

The Ethereum Name Services has millions of .eth names registered and thousands of integrations, including dapps, wallets, top-level domains, and browsers, the team stated.

By expanding to layer-2s, ENS will become more accessible and cheaper to use for a wider range of users. However, ENS Labs has yet to select a specific layer-2 network for the migration.

The primary goals of the expansion, which was mulled in July 2023, aim to make ENS more decentralized, enable new use cases and integrations, and overcome constraints of the Ethereum mainnet.

Moreover, moving to layer-2 offers some major benefits, including lower gas fees for registering and renewing .eth names, more control and customization through a hierarchical registry system, and improved multi-chain interoperability by connecting .eth names across networks.

“The release of EIP-4844 has made layer 2 networks based on Ethereum vastly more affordable and scalable, which was a big driving factor for ENS’s proposal,” said Head of Product and Strategy at ENS Labs, Eskender Abebe.

ENS Labs will put forward an executable proposal to request an annual budget increase of 4 million USDC from the ENS DAO to hire additional developers and cover infrastructure costs related to development and deployment. The proposal was put forward for discussion on the ENS DAO before it goes for a governance vote.

The layer-2 ecosystem recently hit a total value locked all-time high of $47.7 billion, coinciding with the ETH price pump, according to L2beat.

ENS Price Outlook

The Ethereum Name Service native token didn’t react to the announcement and was trading flat on the day at around $26 at the time of writing.

ENS has almost doubled in price over the past fortnight; however, it has surged from around $14 in mid-May to hit a three-month high of just under $28 earlier this week.

ENS spiked to $80 when it was airdropped to domain holders in November 2021 but remains down 69% from that peak.

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Gemini’s bankrupt crypto lending arm has successfully recovered virtually all of its customers’ digital assets, marking one of the most successful industry recoveries from insolvency to date.

The crypto exchange, founded by billionaire entrepreneurs Cameron and Tyler Winklevoss, announced on Wednesday that Gemini Earn customers had “received $2.18 billion of their digital assets in kind.”

Gemini Earn’s Full Recovery

“This means, for example, that if you had lent one bitcoin in the Earn program, you will receive one bitcoin back,” Gemini explained over Twitter. “And it means that you will receive any and all appreciation of your assets since you lent them into the Earn program.”

The announcement was well received by the online crypto community, who applauded the exchange’s leadership for acting responsibly after losing their customers’ funds within Genesis Global. “Solid commitment from Tyler and Cameron where Gemini itself has filled a $50m gap caused by losses by DCG/genesis, to make all their earn users whole,” wrote Blockstream CEO Adam Back in response.

Both Genesis and Gemini collapsed in the contagious aftermath of FTX and Alameda Research’s fallout in late 2022. Last week, Genesis received court approval on its bankruptcy plan to repay over $3.5 billion to its creditors.

One of those creditors was Gemini, which would lend customer assets within its Earn program to Genesis to generate returns.

The latter’s collapse led to a tumultuous back and forth of fraud accusations and lawsuits between Gemini, Genesis, Digital Currency Group, and a $2 billion settlement deal with New York Attorney General Letitia James last week.

Less Successful Crypto Bankruptcies

Gemini’s recovery stands out against those of other fallen crypto firms in 2022, which have only managed to recover a fraction of their customers’ stolen assets.

At most, firms like FTX and Celsius promised to reimburse customers 100% in cash instead of crypto terms, representing a massive opportunity cost for investors whose assets would have massively appreciated since the time of each firm’s insolvency.

By contrast, Gemini said its repayment is $1 billion in excess of when it froze withdrawals, marking a 232% asset recovery in USD terms.

After the successful recovery, Gemini maintained that Genesis was solely responsible for its bankruptcy.

“The Genesis bankruptcy was not a crypto problem,” the company said. “It was old-fashioned financial fraud compounded by a lack of regulatory clarity.”

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Long-term Bitcoin holders – those holding BTC for over 1-2 years – tend to sell portions of their holdings during bullish price phases when bitcoin’s price is rising. This selling behavior was observed from early 2024 through April.

However, holders with Bitcoin UTXOs (unspent transaction outputs) older than 3 years continued to accumulate more BTC supply, indicating strong long-term bullish sentiment among this cohort.

Diverging Behavior Among Long-Term Bitcoin Holders

According to the latest findings by CryptoQuant, over 50% of BTC’s total supply has remained inactive on the blockchain for over a year, suggesting conviction among long-term holders about bitcoin’s future value proposition despite price fluctuations.

As the price of the world’s largest cryptocurrency recovered from the recent correction to $56,000, the 1-year and 2-year holder cohorts transitioned from a distribution (selling) phase to a holding one, signaling renewed confidence in bitcoin’s upside potential.

The asset’s technical outlook is at a critical juncture, testing significant support levels. The behavior of long-term holders, combined with key on-chain metrics, suggests an underlying bullish sentiment, as per CryptoQuant.

A similar observation was made by Glassnode, which noted that a certain group of long-term Bitcoin holders, who had been selling portions of their holdings for multiple months since December 2023, have started re-accumulating or buying BTC again.

The market intelligence firm’s report indicates that after bitcoin’s price approached its all-time high, long-term holders have transitioned from a selling phase to an accumulation phase over the past week. This pattern suggests that significant volatility may be needed to trigger another wave of sell-offs from these long-term holders.

However, CryptoQuant noted that a break below the daily Ichimoku cloud could shift market sentiment bearish, potentially leading to a retracement towards $64,000.

When Next Peak?

During every bull market cycle, LTH typically starts selling or distributing their Bitcoin holdings as the price moves to new highs, which was observed during the current cycle as well, according to another analysis by IntoTheBlock.

Generally, the LTH balance reaches its lowest point shortly after the market peak. In the 2017 bull run, it took around 270 days after LTHs started selling for their balance to hit its lowest, which coincided with the market cycle peak.

In the last bull market, there were two peaks. The first peak occurred 210 days after LTHs started selling, while the second peak took place 410 days after the initial decrease in their balances. In the current cycle, LTHs started selling again, with late December 2023 identified as the starting point for this distribution phase.

Based on the timeframes observed in previous cycles, IntoTheBlock estimated that the next market peak could occur within the next 140 to 260 days after LTHs started selling, which translates to a potential peak window between October 2024 and March 2025.

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Former FTX co-CEO Ryan Salame was sentenced yesterday to 90 months in prison, according to Damian Lewis, the United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York.

Salame previously pled guilty to conspiring to make illegal political contributions and defraud the Federal Election Commission and to conspiracy to run an unlicensed money-transmitting business before US District Judge Lewis A. Kaplan, who handed down today’s sentence.

Ryan Salame’s Sentencing

As per the official press release, Salame served as the co-CEO of FTX Digital Markets, the company’s Bahamas-based subsidiary, from 2019 to 2021.

His legal representatives argued that he should be sentenced to no more than the minimum term of 18 months. They advocated for leniency by citing that he was the first FTX exec to notify Bahamian authorities about potential fraud in late 2022, just before the company’s bankruptcy filing.

The US probation authorities, on the other hand, recommended an even more severe punishment – a 10-year prison sentence.

Commenting on the sentencing, Williams said,

“Ryan Salame agreed to advance the interests of FTX, Alameda Research, and his co-conspirators through an unlawful political influence campaign and through unlicensed money transmitting business, which helped FTX grow faster and larger by operating outside of the law.

Salame’s involvement in two serious federal crimes undermined public trust in American elections and the integrity of the financial system. Today’s sentence underscores the substantial consequences for such offenses.”

Allegations Against Salame

Filngs and statements made during court proceedings revealed that Salame collaborated with Bankman-Fried and others to run an unlicensed money-transmitting business, using FTX, Alameda Research, and “North Dimension” to transmit customer funds without proper licensing.

They also allegedly made false statements to US banks to sustain these illicit activities. Additionally, from around 2020, Salame, Bankman-Fried, and FTX executive Nishad Singh conspired to donate campaign contributions in a manner that concealed SBF’s involvement.

These donations aimed to boost Bankman-Fried’s reputation in Washington, D.C., enhance FTX’s visibility, and gain favor with candidates that are favorable to their interests. This involved over 300 unlawful political contributions totaling tens of millions of dollars, made under pretenses and leading to incorrect reporting to the Federal Election Commission.

In addition to the prison term, the 30-year-old former FTX exec received three years of supervised release. He was also slapped with over $6 million forfeiture and ordered to provide restitution exceeding $5 million.

Earlier this year, Bankman-Fried received a 25-year prison sentence after being found guilty of using billions of dollars in customer deposits to cover risky investments made by his hedge fund, Alameda Research.

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