Explain Yourselves, Commissioners 🏛️
Plus, 🪙 Ethereum steps up its socials, 🌍 Tether heads to a new home, 💸 $700M wiped in BTC volatility, and more!
Terrific Tuesday to all! I’m Juan Aranovich, managing editor of Unchained.
In today’s edition:
🔍 SEC called to account over lack of crypto clarity
🌟 Look out for more Ethereum posts
📜 Trump eyes rules that squeeze crypto firms
🌎 Tether plants its flag in Bitcoin country
📉 Bitcoin dip hits traders where it hurts
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What’s Poppin’?
By Sage D. Young and Tikta
SEC Ordered to Give Coinbase Reasons for Denying Rulemaking Petition
A U.S. federal appellate court yesterday ordered the Securities and Exchange Commission to explain its decision to deny a petition filed by Coinbase for clear cryptocurrency regulations.
In a ruling on Monday, a three-judge panel at the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit determined that the SEC’s order had acted in a way that had been “arbitrary and capricious,” granting Coinbases’s petition in part and and remanding the matter to the SEC for a “more complete explanation.”
Coinbase petitioned the SEC in July 2022 to provide clarity on how securities laws apply to digital assets and to develop regulatory frameworks for the crypto industry.
Although the court did not order the SEC to implement new crypto-specific rules, the ruling was largely considered a win for the digital asset industry.
“The SEC repeatedly sues crypto companies for not complying with the law, yet it will not tell them how to comply,” the court said. “That caginess creates a serious constitutional problem; due process guarantees fair notice.”
Gripes Spur Ethereum to Post More on Social Media
After Ethereum community members criticized the network’s lack of online marketing, namely on X, the Ethereum Foundation — the non-profit organization of teams supporting the Ethereum ecosystem — announced a new approach to the network’s “social layer,” a.k.a. its social media presence.
On early Monday, not only did the foundation unveil a new X account — @EthereumFndn — but the handle @Ethereum, which rarely writes its own posts, tweeted: “hello world computer.”
@EthereumFndn aims to share updates from the foundation’s teams on projects and grants, and disclosures about treasury movements, while the @Ethereum handle will be more active as a general account, the foundation announced on X, adding that the changes had also been launched on other social networks such as Farcaster, Lens, and Bluesky.
Trump Likely to Repeal Crypto Policies on Day One of Term: Report
Incoming president Donald Trump is expected to undo some controversial measures that “secretly de-banked” several crypto firms last year.
Trump is looking to sign executive orders on the first day of his presidency to address issues such as de-banking, according to a report by the Washington Post.
The president-elect is also considering a repeal of a crypto accounting policy that requires banks holding digital assets to count them as liabilities, an unnamed source told the Post.
Industry watchers have taken aim at the Biden administration for cutting off the crypto industry’s access to banking services, labelling it a coordinated effort dubbed “Operation Chokepoint 2.0.”
Tether Finalizes Move to El Salvador
Tether, the company behind the world's biggest stablecoin, USDT, is set to complete all the formalities for relocating its headquarters to El Salvador.
The move comes after Tether obtained a digital asset service provider license and approval as a stablecoin issuer in the country.
Tether cited El Salvador’s “forward-thinking policies, favorable regulatory environment, and a growing Bitcoin-savvy community” reasons for the move.
Tether also plans to establish its first physical headquarters in El Salvador and aims to hire 100 Salvadorans in the coming years.
Bitcoin’s Dip Below $90,000 Triggers $700M of Liquidations
Bitcoin dipped to an intraday low of $89,260 on Monday as economists pared back expectations of a Federal Reserve interest rate cut.
The original digital asset had recovered to around $94,800 at the time of writing, marking a gain of around 0.73% over the previous 24 hours.
Monday’s volatility triggered more than $700 million of crypto liquidations. Those betting on a higher bitcoin price felt the most pain, with long traders clocking liquidations of $516 million, according to data from crypto futures trading platform CoinGlass.
The funding rate across major exchanges, which serves as an indicator of market sentiment, was marginally positive on exchanges such as Binance and OKX as of press time.
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⚖️ The U.S. Supreme Court denied Binance’s petition to review a ruling enforcing U.S. securities laws on its operations, asserting jurisdiction based on services provided to American clients.
🎮 Sony launched Soneium, a layer 2 blockchain using Optimism’s OP Stack, designed to bridge Web2 and Web3 audiences for applications in gaming, finance, and entertainment.
🚫 However, the Soneium blockchain faced backlash for blacklisting memecoins over intellectual property concerns, sparking debate on the balance between permissionless networks and IP enforcement.
💰 MicroStrategy acquired 2,530 BTC for $243 million at an average price of $95,972 per bitcoin, boosting its holdings to 450,000 BTC worth more than $40 billion, with purchases funded through share sales and debt offerings.
💎 Digital anime brand Azuki announced its ANIME token, allocating 50.5% to the community, spiking Azuki NFT prices by 9.1%, with plans for an AnimeDAO to fund initiatives and launch a dedicated animecoin platform.
📊 Celestia’s blob sizes surged 10 times to 11.4 GB, driven by NFT mints and integrations with Eclipse and RARI, while daily transactions rose 60% to 71,000, highlighting growing ecosystem activity.
Today in Crypto Adoption...
💱 BlackRock’s Canadian Bitcoin ETF, trading as IBIT (CAD) and IBIT.U (USD), launched to simplify Bitcoin exposure for investors, offering holdings through tax-advantaged accounts and linking to the U.S. iShares Bitcoin Trust ETF.
🏦 Italy’s largest bank, Intesa Sanpaolo, purchased 11 BTC worth $1 million, marking its first bitcoin acquisition and further integrating digital assets into its proprietary trading operations.
The $$$ Corner…
💳 Crypto trading platform MoonPay acquired Solana-based Helio in a $175 million all-equity deal, aiming to expand its crypto payment services and integrate e-commerce payment solutions such as Helio’s Shopify plugin.
🛡️ Chainalysis acquired Israeli fraud detection startup Alterya for $150 million, combining their tools to expand capabilities for identifying and preventing crypto-related scams.
🌟 Sygnum Bank raised $58 million, achieving unicorn status with a valuation of more than $1 billion, aiming to expand bitcoin-focused financial products and strengthen its global regulatory footprint.
🌐 Dubai-based Sigma Capital launched a $100 million Web3 fund focused on DeFi, tokenization, and blockchain infrastructure, leveraging the UAE’s status as a global crypto hub to attract innovative startups.
What Do You Meme?
📈 Your Market Update 📉
BTC is up 5.6%, trading at $95,970
ETH is up 4.3%, trading at $3,183
BTC dominance: 54.89%
Crypto market cap: $3.46T
*All data as of today, 08:00 am ET. Source: CoinGecko
Recommended Reads
The Block: Mid-tier crypto exchanges gain ground amid $3 trillion market cap milestone
DL News: These six non-crypto firms are copying MicroStrategy and gobbling up Bitcoin
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