NFT News Daily Today TheBitTimes.com

Ripple Labs, Inc. secured another legal victory over the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) as the court denied the SEC’s request for an interlocutory appeal against the San Francisco-based blockchain company. In an order issued on Oct. 3, U.S. District Judge Analisa Torres dismissed the SEC’s motion, rejecting the claim that there was a “substantial ground for difference of opinion.” The judge also disagreed with the SEC’s assertion that the appeal would “significantly expedite the ultimate conclusion of the legal proceedings.” “The SEC’s motion for certification of interlocutory appeal is denied, and the SEC’s request for a stay is denied as moot.” U.S. District Judge Analisa Torres You might also like: Ripple CEO calls US one of the worst regions for crypto startups While the recent court ruling may appear to be another positive development for the cryptocurrency market, Ripple’s leg...

The SEC settled with Nashville-based Linus Financial, Inc. for not registering its crypto lending product, appreciating its cooperative stance and swift corrective measures. The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) settled charges against Linus Financial, Inc., stemming from its failure to register offers and sales related to its crypto lending product, the Linus Interest Accounts. The regulator opted against imposing civil penalties, citing Linus Financial’s cooperation and immediate rectification steps. In March 2020, Linus Financial introduced the Linus Interest Accounts in the U.S., allowing investors to exchange U.S. dollars for a promise of interest. These funds were converted into crypto currency assets, with Linus Financial pooling them and overseeing their utilization to generate revenue for both the company and the interest payments for investors. The SEC determined these accounts were marketed and sold as securities, making their offers and sales liable for SE...

Bloomberg’s top exchange-traded fund (ETF) analysts, Eric Balchunas and James Seyffart, now see a higher likelihood of the United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) approving a Bitcoin spot ETF In an Aug. 30 tweet, they revealed that the approval chances have risen to 75% in 2023, up from 65%. They also noted a 95% likelihood for the SEC to approve the derivative product in 2024. Timelines will not matter much After the SEC’s loss, the ETF analysts said the unanimity and decisiveness of the ruling were were beyond expectations. Specifically, Seyffart said the SEC now has “little wiggle room”. NEW: @JSeyff & I are upping our odds to 75% of spot bitcoin ETFs launching this yr (95% by end of '24). While we factored Grayscale win into our prev 65% odds, the unanimity & decisiveness of ruling was beyond expectations and leaves SEC w "very little wiggle room" via @NYCStein pic.twitter.com/IyEGmWjuHa — Eric Balchunas (@Eri...

Brad Garlinghouse stressed Ripple’s unchanged commitment to transparency but hinted that future reports might undergo some changes. Ripple CEO Brad Garlinhouse on Aug. 2 expressed his disapproval of the United States Securities and Exchange Commission for utilizing Ripple’s quarterly XRP (XRP) Markets Report, designed to enhance transparency in the cryptocurrency industry, as evidence against the company in the ongoing lawsuit .  Garlinghouse stated that the company initiated the report s with the intention of voluntarily offering updates on its XRP holdings. However, the CEO said these report s were later “used against” the company in the SEC’s lawsuit . Garlinghouse reiterated the company’s commitment to transparency but hinted that future report s might undergo some changes. We began these reports to voluntarily provide updates given our XRP holdings. Sadly, they were used against us in the SEC lawsuit - however, we remain steadfast in our commitment to transparency but I suspect t...

Brian Armstrong claimed SEC staff said all cryptocurrencies but Bitcoin are securities and requested the exchange delist all other cryptocurrencies. Crypto exchange Coinbase was once told by the United State securities regulator to delist all cryptocurrencies on its platform except for Bitcoin (BTC), according to CEO Brian Armstrong. In a July 31 interview with the Financial Times, Armstrong revealed that the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission wanted the exchange to delist the nearly 250 tokens on its platform prior to it filing a lawsuit against the exchange. At the time, the SEC reportedly said it believes “every asset other than Bitcoin is a security,” said Armstrong. “We said, well how are you coming to that conclusion? Because that’s not our interpretation of the law,” Armstrong added. He recounted that the regulator said “we’re not going to explain it to you, you need to delist every asset other than Bitcoin.” It’s a similar view held by SEC chair Gary Gensler who claime...

Coinbase has asked the court to dismiss the lawsuit filed against the company by the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), stating that the tokens mentioned in the lawsuit are not “investment contracts” and therefore do not qualify as crypto asset securities.  Coinbase refutes the SEC label of digital assets on its platform  U.S. crypto exchange giant Coinbase filed a 177-page response to the SEC’s complaint on June 28, stating that the SEC lacked the regulatory power to oversee digital assets. In June, the SEC sued Coinbase for operating as an unregistered broker, national securities exchange, and clearing agency. The lawsuit also mentioned Coinbase’s staking program along with 13 tokens including DASH, NEXO, FLOW, SOL, and ADA, labeling them as securities .  You might also like: Sen. Cynthia Lummis lambasts SEC over enforcement actions against Coinbase Meanwhile, the document claimed that Coinbase’s business remains ...

Bitcoin margin and futures markets display strength as institutional appetite surges after multiple spot ETF requests. After a failed rally above $31,000 on June 23, Bitcoin (BTC) has sustained the $30,300 resistance for the past three days. Curiously, this happened while gold reached its lowest level in three months, trading at $1,910 on June 22, down from a $2,050 peak in early May. Investors now question how solid Bitcoin’s $30,000 support is. So analyzing what caused the recent price rally is essential to understanding how traders are positioned on BTC margin and futures markets. Why did BTC price break above $30,000?  Some analysts attribute Bitcoin’s recent 21.5% gains in 11 days to BlackRock’s spot Bitcoin exchange-traded fund (ETF) filing. But other events might have fueled the cryptocurrency gains. For instance, on June 26, HSBC Bank in Hong Kong reportedly introduced its first local cryptocurrency services using three listed crypto ETFs. Moreover, the ProShares Bitcoin Strat...

Binance, Binance US, and Changpeng Zhao (CZ) have been sued by the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) in a case that alleges they offered and sold unregistered securities, failed to register their functions with the SEC, wash-traded tokens, mishandled customer funds, and used Binance US as a shield to attract regulatory attention. This follows a similar case launched by the Commodities and Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) several weeks ago. Earlier reporting by Forbes examined the “Tai Chi” documents, which were created for Binance by a consultant, and recommended setting up a US-based entity to attract the attention of regulators and distract from other violations. The SEC case alleges that CZ followed this plan in establishing Binance US. Binance’s chief compliance officer (CCO) is quoted in the complaint as saying, “We do not want [Binance].com to be regulated ever.” This same executive also suggested that “on the surface, we cannot be se...