1.21Shares announces application for Solana spot ETF
Following VanEck, 21Shares announced its application for the Solana spot ETF. Coinbase serves as custodian. The document states that current and future legislation, SEC and CFTC rulemaking, and other regulatory developments may affect how SOL is classified and cleared. In particular, in the future the CFTC may classify SOL itself as a "commodity interest" under the CEA, making all transactions in SOL subject to full CFTC regulation. Alternatively, in the future SOL may be classified as a "security" under the U.S. federal securities laws by the SEC or one or more federal courts - in fact, at least one federal court has ruled that the SEC has grounds to charge that SOL was offered and sold to investors without registration in transactions that amounted to "investment contracts" (and therefore securities) in violation of the Securities Act.
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2. US judge allows SEC to proceed with most of the lawsuit against Binance
A U.S. District Judge in the District of Columbia dismissed part of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission's (SEC) lawsuit against cryptocurrency trading platform Binance and its founder CZ, allowing the SEC's initial coin offering and ongoing sales of BNB, BNB Vault, staking services, unregistration, and fraud charges to proceed. The judge granted Binance and CZ's motion to dismiss charges related to secondary market BNB sales and Simple Earn. Judge Jackson said that the nature of a token can evolve over time, and even if a token is initially conceived as a security, it does not mean that it will always remain a security. This case significantly increases the clarity of secondary market sales of crypto assets. Lawyers for Coinbase, Consensys, and Kraken can all cite the ruling in the case to solidify their positions in the litigation.
3. Source: The US SEC has returned the S-1 form to the ETH spot ETF issuer for further revision
The SEC has returned the S-1 form to the potential Ethereum spot ETF issuer with a small number of comments. The issuer has been asked to address these comments and resubmit by July 8. This means that at least one more round of filings is required before the ETF can finally start trading.
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4.SEC sues Consensys for offering and selling securities through MetaMask
The SEC filed a lawsuit against Consensys in federal court in Brooklyn, New York on Friday, alleging that the company “engaged in the offering and sale of securities” and “acted as an unregistered broker” through the MetaMask digital asset wallet. The SEC’s lawsuit also targets Ethereum staking services Lido (LDO) and Rocket Pool (RPL), a third-party platform that MetaMask uses to power its staking functionality. The SEC pointed out that Consensys sold Lido and Rocket Pool’s staked securities in unregistered transactions through the MetaMask Staking platform, acting as an intermediary and transferring investors’ ETH and newly issued stETH or rETH.
5. Wu Shuo Zhou’s Selection: VanEck applies for Solana spot ETF, Ethereum ETF may be launched before July 4 and News Top 10
Top 10 News of the Week
1. VanEck announces first Solana ETF filing in the U.S. link
VanEck announced the first application for Solana spot exchange-traded fund (ETF) in the United States. VanEck believes that Solana is a commodity whose blockchain has high throughput, low fees and strong security, suitable for a variety of applications such as payment, trading, games and social networking. VanEck also emphasized that Solana combines historical proof and proof of stake mechanisms, supports thousands of transactions per second, and provides a better user experience than Ethereum. As early as 2021, Grayscale has launched its sixteenth product, the Solana Trust Fund, which is aimed at institutional investors and high net worth investors.
The document states that the trust, the sponsor, the SOL custodian, or any other person associated with the trust shall not directly or indirectly engage in any use of any portion of the trust's SOL to earn staking rewards, earn additional SOL, or generate income or other benefits. However, SOL faces some difficulties in applying for a spot ETF. For example, it does not have a futures ETF like Bitcoin and Ethereum. In addition, the SEC once determined that SOL is a security, which led to Robinhood's delisting of SOL.
A 2023 VanEck report on Solana sparked widespread discussion, stating that by 2030, the SOL token price is expected to rise to as high as $3,211.28 (Ethereum's target price is $11,800), and Solana may be the first blockchain to host applications with more than 100 million users.
Bloomberg analyst James Seyffart said it is unclear whether the first Solana ETF application in the United States will trigger follow-up from other issuers. If there is a new management at the White House and the SEC, the Solana ETF may not have a chance to launch until sometime in 2025, and even then there is no guarantee.
GSR released a report assessing the potential impact of the Solana spot ETF on the SOL price. If the inflows of the Solana spot ETF account for 2%, 5% and 14% of the Bitcoin inflows in the bear market, benchmark and ideal scenarios respectively, and Solana's market value accounts for an average of 4% of Bitcoin's market value over the past year, then SOL may increase by 1.4 times in a bear market, 3.4 times in a benchmark scenario, and 8.9 times in an ideal scenario.
2. Reuters: SEC may approve the launch of spot Ethereum ETF before July 4 link
The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) may approve the launch of a spot Ethereum ETF by July 4. Currently, negotiations between asset management companies and regulators have entered the final stage. Executives from both companies said that the process of revising the offering documents has progressed to the point where only "minor" issues need to be resolved. A lawyer working with one of the issuers said that only the "final touches" are left and approval "may not take more than a week or two." 21Shares submitted an Ethereum spot ETF securities registration application (Form 8-A12B) to the U.S. SEC on June 28. The submission of the Form 8-A document means that the issuer can trade on the exchange once the product is approved.
3. Trump plans to speak at Bitcoin 2024 conference link
Former U.S. President Donald Trump is in talks to speak at the Bitcoin 2024 conference in Nashville in late July. The Bitcoin 2024 conference will be hosted by Bitcoin Magazine and is scheduled to take place from July 25 to 27. Trump is not the only U.S. presidential candidate scheduled to speak at the conference, as former U.S. presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr. is also scheduled to speak there. Representatives for Bitcoin Magazine did not respond to requests for comment.
4. The Biden administration rehired its former cryptocurrency advisor Carole House link
The Biden administration has rehired its former cryptocurrency adviser, Carole House, as a special adviser to the White House National Security Council, focusing on critical infrastructure policy and cybersecurity. House advised President Biden on his 2022 executive order on cryptocurrencies and digital assets. Previously, House served on the Commodity Futures Trading Commission and the National Security Council and has been moderately supportive of cryptocurrencies, but has also emphasized the need for "strengthening law enforcement."
5. Nomura Securities: 54% of Japanese institutional investors plan to invest in cryptocurrencies in the next three years link
According to the latest survey by Nomura Securities, 54% of institutional investors in Japan plan to invest in cryptocurrencies in the next three years, with the main motivation being diversification and fighting inflation. Despite obstacles such as regulations and market volatility, the market is positive about mainstream cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin and Ethereum, and if the cryptocurrency ETF is lifted in Japan, the market is expected to become more active.
6. Bolivia lifts ban on Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies link
Bolivia has lifted its ban on Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies, which had been in effect since December 2020. The Central Bank of Bolivia (BCB) officially announced on June 26 that banks can now conduct cryptocurrency transactions. Although cryptocurrencies can now be traded through authorized electronic channels, the BCB reminds citizens that cryptocurrencies are not considered legal tender. This means that businesses are not obliged to accept them as a form of payment.
7. Turkish Parliament passed the Capital Markets Law Amendment Act link
The Turkish Parliament passed the Capital Markets Law Amendment, which stipulates that unauthorized crypto asset service providers will face 3 to 5 years in prison. Service providers must be authorized by the Capital Markets Committee (SPK) and comply with TUBITAK standards. Violators will face severe penalties, including up to 22 years in prison and heavy fines. SPK will be responsible for regulating transactions involving crypto assets, ensuring market transparency and stability, and taking measures to prevent market manipulation.
8. Binance: Someone purchased a large amount of KYC to obtain Megadrop rewards in batches, and 297 main accounts were confirmed and banned. link
Regarding the Binance Megadrop account ban, Binance Web3 responded to Wu that some people purchased a large number of KYCs to obtain Megadrop rewards in batches, and after being controlled by the system, they tried to collect the funds into one account in an attempt to escape, thus triggering the risk control again and being frozen. According to statistics, there were more than 1 million participants in the Megadrop Lista event, of which 102,000 accounts were identified as fraudulent accounts by risk control (this number is still being updated). After the team further identified the account collection actions and other behaviors, the platform finally confirmed and banned 297 main accounts, one of which even collected up to 9,000 KYC accounts.
Binance also stated that the funds recovered from the freezing of malicious witch accounts will continue to be used for project activities to give back to real users. Malicious witches will continue to be dealt with with high pressure and will never be compromised. In addition, the platform's risk control measures are only for accounts identified as fraudulent. Real users do not need to worry.
9. Bybit has recently undergone a large-scale replacement of internal executives link
Wu said that recently, Bybit has undergone a large-scale replacement of its internal executives. The top leaders of almost all business departments, including spot, derivatives, customer service, and VIP, have been replaced for unknown reasons. Bybit’s current managers include CEO Ben and COO Helen, who is in charge of business departments such as HR.
Earlier, Bybit had already experienced a major turmoil in its management after the Notcoin delay incident, with several executives "voluntarily resigning". Bybit's sudden launch of Chinese user registration also caused panic among some employees.
Helen responded to Wu that the current leadership changes are a routine arrangement for organizational development. The company is still expanding into multiple regions with the goal of focusing on stronger localization and providing the most relevant products to regional users.
10. Mt. Gox will begin repaying creditors in BTC and BCH in early July 2024 link
Mt. Gox issued an official announcement stating that relevant preparations have been completed and that it will begin repaying creditors in BTC and BCH in early July 2024. To ensure compliance, relevant technical and financial regulatory measures have been implemented. The repayment will be completed through necessary transactions and verifications with cryptocurrency exchanges, and the specific implementation details will take some time to wait.
Key financing events
Vitalik-backed new blockchain MegaETH raises $20 million in seed round link
Ora announces $20 million funding round led by Polychain link
Rollup deployment platform Conduit announces $37 million Series A funding link
Berachain’s Liquidity Staking Protocol Infrared Receives Investment from Binance Labs link
Web3 entertainment and gaming platform Redacted announces $10 million in strategic funding link
Crossover Markets Completes $12 Million Series A Funding, Wintermute and Others Participate in Investment link
Chain abstract intent engine ENSO announces completion of $4.2 million in financing link
Swedish blockchain carbon removal company Net Zero Company completes $5.5 million seed round link
Security startup PQShield announces $37 million Series B funding link
SoSoValue announces completion of $4.15 million seed round of financing link
Allora Labs Completes $3 Million Strategic Financing link
Decentralized Proof-of-Stake Network NovaNet Announces $3 Million in Funding Link
Covalent Network announces $5 million in strategic financing link
Golf blockchain project GolfN successfully completes $1.3 million pre-seed financing link
Bitcoin analytics startup Rebar raises $2.9 million in seed funding link
Decentralized oracle network developer AnchorZero announces $8 million in seed funding link
For more industry financing events, please visit crypto-fundraising.info.
