The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has filed a lawsuit against three individuals and five companies for their involvement in a fraudulent scheme known as "pig butchering."

- The scammers built trust relationships through social media and convinced victims to invest in fictitious crypto platforms.
- Two of the SEC lawsuits allege that the scammers created false crypto ecosystems to deceive investors.
- One lawsuit alleges that the NanoBit platform defrauded 18 investors of nearly $1 million.
- Another lawsuit alleges that the CoinW6 platform defrauded 11 investors of $2.2 million.
- The SEC warns of a growing threat of such scams.

### Cryptocurrency News

- **Memecoins**: Pump.fun platform hits $100 million in revenue in 217 days, but 99% of memecoins die in the first week. The collective market cap of memecoins on CoinGecko is $40 billion.

- **Stablecoins**: The market cap of stablecoins has reached $175 billion. They are important for emerging markets, helping to avoid hyperinflation and high transfer fees.

- **Infrastructure**: Mastercard and Mercuryo allow spending cryptocurrency at 100 million merchants. PayPal and Venmo integrate Ethereum Naming Service to simplify transfers.

- **Helium Network**: 113,000 people have signed up for a mobile network, preferring it to traditional carriers.

- **Messengers**: Telegram and LINE have integrated cryptocurrency features, allowing users to easily transfer funds.

- **Tokenization**: BlackRock has launched a BUIDL fund aimed at tokenizing assets with over $500 million in capital.

- Experts have debunked rumors that Coinbase is allowing BlackRock to take bitcoins without collateral.

- Analyst Tyler Durden has accused Coinbase of manipulating the market by issuing bitcoin IOUs.

- Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong and other experts have quickly refuted these allegations.

- Armstrong has clarified that all ETF transactions are processed within one business day.

- Analysts are calling for more transparency, including public disclosure of digital wallet addresses.

**Cryptocurrency News:**

• At the Token2049 conference in Singapore, crypto blogger "Professor Crypto" announced that he had won the "Best Content Creator" award at the KOL Awards.
• It was soon revealed that his popularity had been artificially created using purchased followers and bots.
• The case highlights the risks of the KOL model, which relies on paid and often undisclosed recommendations.

Global accounting firm Prager Metis has agreed to pay $745,000 to settle misconduct allegations brought by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) related to its botched audit of FTX before its collapse in November 2022.

- As part of the agreement, the firm will also pay $1.2 million for violating auditor independence rules in its audits of more than 200 companies from 2017 to 2020.
- The SEC charged Prager Metis with negligent fraud and failure to comply with auditing standards.
- The firm agreed to permanent injunctions and to retain an independent consultant to evaluate its audit and control policies.

**Cryptocurrency News**

- **Ether (ETH) Under Pressure**: Despite successful tech upgrades and the approval of spot ETFs, Ether’s price has underperformed investors’ expectations over the past two years.

- **Market Uncertainty**: The overall market situation remains volatile amid recession fears and rumors of a major Bitcoin sell-off.

- **Liquid Supply Declining**: Ether inventories on exchanges remain at historically low levels, which could lead to higher prices if demand increases.

- **Stakes Rising**: Staking deposits continue to rise despite the price decline, indicating investor confidence in Ether’s long-term potential.

- **Peer Comparison**: Ether has lagged significantly behind Bitcoin and Solana in price growth, which could change as market conditions improve and institutional investment increases.

- **Possible growth by the end of the year**: Positive economic conditions and regulatory support could be a catalyst for Ethereum price growth.

Bitcoin hit $61,000 on Tuesday, leading crypto gains ahead of expected Fed meeting.

- BTC hit a three-week high at $61,330, then eased slightly.
- The CoinDesk 20 Index rose 3%, with ETH, SOL, XRP, ADA, and AVAX all up 2%-4%.
- Significant sell orders between $61,000 and $62,500 could limit further gains.
- The Fed is expected to cut rates, which could impact the crypto market.

Two leading U.S. lawmakers pushing for cryptocurrency regulation, Rep. Patrick McHenry (R-N.C.) and Sen. Cynthia Lummis (R-Wyo.), remain hopeful of passing legislation before the end of the year.

- Lummis said efforts in the Senate Agriculture Committee could lead to a bipartisan agreement.
- If regulation is delayed until the next session of Congress, it could be pushed back to late 2025.
- McHenry said the bill, co-sponsored by 71 Democrats, has shown “significant momentum.”
- The legislation will likely be tied to a spending package that requires congressional approval this year.

Circle has announced that it has connected its USDC stablecoin to corporate payment systems in Brazil and Mexico through integrations with leading banks.

In Brazil, businesses can use USDC through the PIX system, run by the Central Bank of Brazil. In Mexico, USDC is accessed through the SPEI system, run by the Bank of Mexico.

The move is part of Circle’s expansion into Latin America and other networks, including the Sui Network blockchain.

USDC is the second-largest stablecoin after USDT, with a market cap of $35.50 billion and a daily trading volume of $6.51 billion.

Stablecoin adoption is growing in Brazil and Mexico, as evidenced by recent initiatives by major companies like Mercado Pago and Tether.

The U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) will continue its fight against Kalshi's election contracts despite a recent court defeat. CFTC Chairman Rostin Behnam said the agency believes such activity is illegal. A federal judge ruled that the CFTC overstepped its authority in barring Kalshi from offering political prediction markets.

BlackRock's iShares Bitcoin Trust (IBIT) raised $15.8 million on Monday, breaking a 13-day streak of negative or no flows.

Since Aug. 27, 10 U.S. spot Bitcoin ETFs have lost $770 million.

IBIT saw net outflows of $23.1 million during the losing streak, a small amount compared to the fund's more than $20 billion in assets under management.

USDT token has increased its market share to 75% from 55% over the past two years, according to Token Terminal data.

- USDT supply has grown to $118 billion from $65 billion.
- Major competitors are struggling.
- USDT now accounts for nearly 75% of the stablecoin market.

USDT holds $97 billion in U.S. Treasuries and repo agreements.

Competitors like USDC and BUSD have struggled, helping USDT grow.

- Howard Winklevoss donated $4 million in Bitcoin to Grove City College, where he attended in the 1960s.

- This is the first Bitcoin donation to the college, and the funds will be used to fund new business programs.

- Winklevoss first learned about the principles of "sound money" and the Austrian School of Economics at the college.

- His interest in cryptocurrencies began in 2013 after he was introduced to Bitcoin.

**Cryptocurrency News**

- Donald Trump, who has previously criticized cryptocurrencies, announced the launch of World Liberty Financial, a new DeFi protocol.
- The project, unveiled on September 16, offers decentralized borrowing and lending platforms based on Aave and Ethereum.
- The initial token distribution was controversial, but has been revised.
- The project is led by Trump's sons and 18-year-old Barron Trump.
- The technical development is entirely outsourced, raising security concerns.
- The inclusion of cryptocurrencies on the political agenda is a testament to their importance in the modern financial and political world.

CoinDesk Indices has released its daily market update.

- The CoinDesk 20 Index is trading at 1835.62, up 1.4% (+24.75) from yesterday's close.
- Three of the top 20 are trading higher.
- Gainers: NEAR (+4.8%) and UNI (+3.3%).
- Losers: DOT (-0.8%) and ICP (-0.2%).

The CoinDesk 20 Index covers a broad market and is traded on multiple platforms around the world.

Limitless Network has raised $3 million in a pre-seed funding round led by 1confirmation.

Paper Ventures, Collider, and Public Works participated. Limitless is building a marketplace on Base, a second-layer network created by Coinbase.

The company specializes in short-term markets, such as betting on the price of a stock or cryptocurrency at the end of the trading day.

Daily markets attract traders because of the quick turnaround time. The average user spends about four hours a week on the platform.

Limitless processes over $200,000 in daily transactions, while Polymarket volumes reach tens of millions.

The company also offers user-created markets, which users can earn from.

**Cryptocurrency and DeFi News**

- According to an OMFIF survey, 92% of market participants believe that financial markets will experience a significant degree of tokenization within three years.
- 65% of respondents believe that bonds will be the main target of tokenization.
- The UK and the Bank for International Settlements have completed pilot phases on tokenization and central bank digital currencies.
- 42% of respondents believe that blockchain will become the dominant form of financial infrastructure.

**Latest Crypto News**

**Prices**
- CoinDesk 20 Index: 1,838.51 (+0.82%)
- Bitcoin (BTC): $59,071.10 (+0.46%)
- Ethereum (ETH): $2,310.05 (+0.23%)

**Highlights**
- Bitcoin is back above $59,000, up 0.7% in the last 24 hours.
- CoinDesk 20 Index is up 0.65%.
- Traders are looking ahead to the FOMC meeting, where the first interest rate cut in four years could be announced.

**ETFs & Funds**
- BlackRock Bitcoin ETF (IBIT) saw its first inflows in three weeks, up $15.8 million.
- Overall, U.S. spot Bitcoin ETFs saw net inflows of $12.9 million.

**Projects & Tokens**
- Donald Trump-backed crypto project World Liberty Financial launches governance token WLFI.
- The token will only be sold to accredited investors under the SEC’s Regulation D exemption.

**Chart of the Day**
- ETH/BTC price ratio fell to its lowest since April 2021, indicating investor preference for Bitcoin over Ethereum.

dYdX Launches Prediction Market Futures

• Decentralized cryptocurrency exchange dYdX has announced plans to launch perpetual prediction market futures.
• dYdX Foundation CEO Charles d'Aussy noted that this will give DeFi a unique opportunity to gain attention.
• The new feature will allow users to bet on the outcome of binary events using leverage.
• The launch is part of the dYdX Unlimited update, which is expected later this year.
• The platform is also considering expanding into foreign exchange and index markets.
• Users will be able to propose new markets by depositing USDC into MegaVault to provide liquidity.

- Bhutan, a small Himalayan country, has amassed more than $780 million in Bitcoin through mining operations run by state-owned Druk Holdings.

- These operations are linked to Bitdeer, which is expanding its capacity to 600 megawatts by 2025.

- Investing in digital assets is part of Druk Holdings' revenue diversification strategy.

- Recent wallet activity shows significant transactions with exchanges including Kraken.