Today's News Highlights:
The U.S. SEC appeals the ruling in the Ripple case, claiming it conflicts with Supreme Court precedents.
Ripple can file a counterclaim against the U.S. SEC within 14 days, with its Chief Legal Officer stating they are evaluating the situation.
Gurbir S. Grewal, a senior enforcement official at the U.S. SEC, resigns after 21 years in office.
EigenLayer faces criticism from community members for staking rewards received by early investors being exempt from token lock-up restrictions.
OpenAI completes a funding round of just over $6.5 billion at a valuation of $150 billion.
In the past two days, short-term holders have sold $3 billion worth of Bitcoin at a loss.
The FTX bankruptcy management team plans to sell 22.3 million locked WLD tokens at a discount.
Regulatory News
Argentina's Vice President Consults El Salvador's President on Bitcoin
According to Bitcoin Archive, El Salvador's President Bukele stated in a media interview that Argentina's Vice President recently consulted him regarding Bitcoin-related issues.
U.S. SEC Appeals Ruling in Ripple Case, Claims It Conflicts with Supreme Court Precedents
According to The Block, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission is appealing a previous ruling by the U.S. Second Circuit Court of Appeals regarding web3 payment company Ripple. "We believe the district court's ruling in the Ripple case conflicts with decades of Supreme Court precedent and securities law, and we look forward to litigating in the Second Circuit."
On August 7, the judge ordered Ripple to pay a civil penalty of $125 million, significantly lower than the $2 billion initially sought by the SEC. The ruling also partially granted and denied the SEC's preliminary remedial motion regarding Ripple's sale of XRP tokens.
On July 13, 2023, the same judge ruled that while Ripple's programmatic sales of XRP did not violate securities law, direct sales of XRP to institutional investors were considered securities. The SEC sued Ripple in 2020, claiming that Ripple's sale of XRP violated securities law because the asset was an unregistered security, and the company raised over $1.3 billion through unregistered securities sales.
Ripple's Chief Legal Officer Stuart Alderoty stated on the X platform that the SEC's decision to appeal is disappointing but not surprising. This will only prolong the agency's already embarrassing situation. The court has dismissed the SEC's claims of Ripple's reckless behavior, and there are no fraud allegations, nor are there any victims or losses. The SEC has not faithfully enforced the law but continues to litigate against the crypto industry under the leadership of its chair. We are evaluating whether to appeal. In any case, the SEC's lawsuit has been unreasonable and misleading from the start, and we are prepared to prove this again in the appellate court. Coincidentally, the SEC's enforcement director announced his resignation about an hour before this incident?
In response, FOX reporter Eleanor Terrett stated that if Ripple files a counterclaim, they have 14 days to submit the application, starting from tomorrow.
Previously, the U.S. SEC appealed the ruling in the Ripple case, claiming it conflicts with Supreme Court precedents. Gurbir S. Grewal, a senior enforcement official at the SEC, resigned after 21 years in office.
U.S. SEC Senior Enforcement Official Gurbir S. Grewal Resigns After 21 Years
According to The Block, Gurbir S. Grewal, the director of the enforcement division at the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, will resign after 21 years in office. The division's deputy director, Sanjay Wadhwa, will serve as acting director, and chief legal advisor Sam Waldon will serve as acting deputy director.
Gurbir S. Grewal served as the enforcement chief under Gensler for three years and will officially step down on October 11. As the chief cop of the securities regulator, Grewal has initiated enforcement actions against several of the most prominent U.S. cryptocurrency companies, including Coinbase, Kraken, and Ripple Labs, as well as numerous international entities like Binance. During Grewal's tenure, the agency approved over 100 enforcement actions against cryptocurrency companies.
Insiders: Musk Has Secretly Funded a Conservative Political Group in Recent Years
According to Jin10, four insiders revealed that Tesla CEO Elon Musk has secretly funded a conservative political group in recent years, indicating that the billionaire entrepreneur had been covertly supporting right-wing causes even before he endorsed Trump's re-election campaign in July. Two insiders stated that Musk's donations to the organization "Building a Future for America" began in 2022, totaling millions of dollars and significantly boosting the group's morale. However, the exact amount and timeline of the donations remain unclear, and no documents linking Musk to the organization's finances have been found. Earlier on Wednesday, reports indicated that Musk had also funded other pro-Republican groups.
Uruguay Passes Cryptocurrency Law, Recognizing Cryptocurrencies as Virtual Assets in the Country
According to Bitcoin.com, after more than two years of discussion, Uruguay has enacted a cryptocurrency law. The law, proposed two years ago, recognizes cryptocurrencies as virtual assets in the country and establishes the Central Bank of Uruguay as the regulator and supervisor for companies seeking to provide cryptocurrency services. This law positions Uruguay among the leading Latin American countries that have incorporated cryptocurrencies into their regulatory framework.
The Central Bank of Uruguay will regulate virtual asset service providers (VASPs) and must issue operating licenses for such organizations. The issuance of these licenses will consider "legitimacy, opportunity, and convenience." Similarly, the Financial Services Regulatory Authority (SSF) must identify exchanges, wallets, and even miners that fall under the VASP category.
The law amends existing anti-money laundering and counter-terrorism financing regulations to include virtual assets under the control and supervision of existing enforcement agencies. Additionally, the law reforms securities law by introducing the concept of decentralized securities, which are "issued, stored, transferred, and traded electronically through distributed ledger technology."
According to Cointelegraph, Coinbase has requested a federal court to compel the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) to hand over all communications with several cryptocurrency token issuers to aid its defense against the SEC's lawsuit. According to a motion filed on October 1, Coinbase seeks communications related to 12 cryptocurrency issuers that the SEC alleges are unregistered securities sold by Coinbase. It also requests documents regarding the "respective regulatory scope of the two agencies over digital assets, including market uncertainty on the subject." Coinbase claims this information is "crucial for Coinbase's ability to defend against the allegations in the SEC action," as it can review whether the 12 cryptocurrencies alleged to be securities meet the definition.
Project Updates
Lamborghini Partners with Animoca and Motorverse to Bring Cars into Web3 Gaming
According to Cointelegraph, Lamborghini has partnered with Web3 gaming company Animoca Brands to launch the first blockchain-based interoperable digital car, marking its official entry into the Web3 gaming space. This collaboration will be realized through a platform called "Fast ForWorld," where players can buy, sell, and drive Lamborghini cars in games within the Motorverse ecosystem, including Torque Drift 2 and REVV Racing.
Animoca stated that the platform will go live on November 7 and will feature a 3D wallet function, allowing users to store and use their digital cars. This collaboration is part of Lamborghini's exploration of new ways to engage with the Web3 brand.
According to The Block, the FTX bankruptcy management team is auctioning 22.3 million locked Worldcoin (WLD) tokens at a significant discount, currently valued at approximately $37.7 million. This auction is part of FTX's ongoing efforts to recover funds for creditors. Interested buyers must submit bids by 8 PM Eastern Time on Wednesday, with discounts potentially ranging from 40% to 75%.
These WLD tokens will be unlocked daily until 2028, and the auction marks FTX's continued efforts to manage its assets following the sale of Solana and Metaplex tokens. The FTX estate currently holds approximately $594 million in assets, most of which are illiquid FTT tokens.
According to Coindesk, EigenLayer has faced criticism after it was revealed that staking rewards received by early investors are not subject to token lock-up restrictions. Investors and community members have complained about the lack of transparency regarding the supply of EigenLayer tokens. The total supply of EIGEN is fixed at 1.68 billion, with a circulating supply of 186 million, an FDV of $5.8 billion, and a market cap (excluding uncirculated tokens) of $650 million. Many of the questions raised by community members stem from a portion of these locked tokens, which belong to early investors who purchased them in heavily discounted funding rounds.
Investors who bought in EigenLayer's $14.4 million seed round, $50 million Series A, and the latest $100 million funding round in February can now stake their locked tokens for rewards. Currently, a total of 130 million EIGEN tokens are staked. Many believe these are part of the claimed tokens, but in reality, 70 million of those tokens belong to this small group of early investors. EigenLayer investor TardFiWhale.eth wrote on X that the project recently updated its documentation, stating that "the staking of Eigen Labs investors is unrestricted," and rewards are not subject to lock-up restrictions. The X post claims this information was not included in the archived documents from mid-September.
After the launch of the EIGEN token, it initially rose to $4.39, then fell over 20% to $3.57.
FTX Bankruptcy Management Team Plans to Sell 22.3 Million Locked WLD Tokens at a Discount
According to The Block, the FTX bankruptcy management team plans to sell 22.3 million locked WLD tokens at a discount, currently valued at approximately $37.7 million. This sale is part of FTX's ongoing efforts to recover funds for creditors. Two sources indicated that the discount on WLD tokens could be 40% to 75% lower than the current spot market price. The FTX asset management company appears to have sold most of its tokens and currently holds about $594 million in remaining assets. However, a significant portion of these assets (approximately $541 million) exists in the form of FTX's FTT tokens, which have extremely low liquidity and may be unsellable.
Binance to Conduct System Upgrade on October 8 at 14:00, Expected to Last 15 Minutes
According to an official announcement, Binance will implement a planned system upgrade starting at 14:00 (UTC+8) on October 8. The upgrade is expected to take approximately 15 minutes. The main optimizations of this upgrade include improvements to overall system performance and stability. During the upgrade, users can continue to place new spot, futures, and options orders, or cancel existing orders, and can access all Binance products as usual. However, certain services and features may be affected during the upgrade, including services like deposits and withdrawals.
Sonic Labs CTO Andre Cronje stated on the X platform that he just saw a project with a $1 billion TVL and $1 billion FDV that adopted his open-source code (based on GPL3) and attached a BUSL license. He can accept not being recognized, can accept them removing his name from the code, can accept that they do not mention him or the original project anywhere on their website or documentation, and have gone to great lengths to reshape certain concepts to avoid any association. However, it is disheartening to take something from open source, make it restrictive, and earn a lot of money from it; the changes in this field are much greater than he imagined.
Funding News
OpenAI Completes Funding Round of Just Over $6.5 Billion at a Valuation of $150 Billion
According to Jin10, OpenAI's latest funding round raised just over $6.5 billion, completing the round at a valuation of $150 billion. Microsoft invested approximately $750 million in OpenAI's latest funding round, while Cathie Wood's ARK Invest will invest at least $250 million in OpenAI. After completing the $6.6 billion funding round, OpenAI will allow employees to sell shares.
Important Data
Bitcoin Spot ETF Saw a Net Outflow of $91.76 Million Yesterday, with an ETF Net Asset Ratio of 4.64%
Ethereum Spot ETF Saw a Net Inflow of $14.44 Million Yesterday, with an ETF Net Asset Ratio of 2.27%
In the Past Two Days, Short-Term Holders Sold $3 Billion Worth of Bitcoin at a Loss
According to Coindesk, as geopolitical tensions in the Middle East escalated, Bitcoin prices fell 3.7% over the past two days, with short-term holders selling approximately $3 billion worth of Bitcoin at a loss to exchanges.
Reports indicate that between September 30 and October 1, Iran launched 200 ballistic missiles at Israel, causing Bitcoin prices to decline and marking the worst start to October on record. Glassnode data shows that short-term holders (investors holding Bitcoin for less than 155 days) sent approximately 64,000 Bitcoin (about $4 billion) to exchanges over the past two days, with $3 billion sold at prices below their average cost.
In contrast, long-term holders only sold 100 Bitcoin at a loss during this period, showing stronger holding confidence.
According to Bloomberg reporter Walter, Federal Reserve official Barkin stated that a 0.5 percentage point rate cut in September was reasonable, as the then-current interest rate levels were inconsistent with the declining trend in inflation and the unemployment rate approaching sustainable levels.
Arthur Hayes Transferred PEPE and MOG to CEX 5 Hours Ago, Facing a Loss of About $40,000 if Sold
According to on-chain analyst Yu Jin, BitMEX founder Arthur Hayes bought $250,000 worth of PEPE (24.39 billion tokens) and $250,000 worth of MOG (167.51 billion tokens) after expressing optimism about Memecoin on September 27. Five hours ago, these PEPE and MOG tokens were transferred to CEX, with their value having dropped to $460,000. Selling them would realize a loss of $40,000.
A Trader Missed Out on Over $25 Million in Profits by Selling HIPPO Too Early
According to The Data Nerd, a trader bought 1.8 billion HIPPO with 258 SUI (about $433) five days ago. A day later, he sold all of the HIPPO for 6,299 SUI (about $11,000). If he had held onto them until now, the HIPPO he bought would be worth $25.84 million.
免责声明：本文章仅代表作者个人观点，不代表本平台的立场和观点。本文章仅供信息分享，不构成对任何人的任何投资建议。用户与作者之间的任何争议，与本平台无关。如网页中刊载的文章或图片涉及侵权，请提供相关的权利证明和身份证明发送邮件到support@aicoin.com，本平台相关工作人员将会进行核查。
