Sam “SBF” Bankman-Fried, former CEO of FTX, had his bail revoked and was remanded to custody by a federal judge after allegedly sharing information with The New York Times (NYT) in an attempt to intimidate witnesses. Bankman-Fried’s bail was revoked during a hearing on August 11, with Judge Lewis Kaplan stating that Bankman-Fried’s intention was to “hurt and frighten” his former colleague and girlfriend, Caroline Ellison, the former CEO of Alameda Research. Bankman-Fried is likely to be held at the Putnam County Correctional Facility until his trial begins in October, after which he may be moved to the Metropolitan Detention Center in Brooklyn.
In other news, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has delayed its decision on whether to approve or disapprove the spot Bitcoin exchange-traded fund (ETF) proposed by ARK Investment Management and 21Shares. The SEC’s decision is now expected to be part of a larger batch of verdicts that include applications from BlackRock and Fidelity Investments.
The SEC is also seeking an appeal and stay in its court case against Ripple Labs. The commission believes that the ruling by Judge Analisa Torres, which stated that Ripple’s native token, XRP, is not a security when sold to retail investors, warrants a fresh look by an appellate court. The SEC has ongoing legal battles with several other crypto firms, including Binance and Coinbase, over alleged securities violations.
PayPal has announced the launch of a new stablecoin called PayPal USD (PYUSD). Built on the Ethereum network, the stablecoin is backed by U.S. dollar deposits and similar cash equivalents. PayPal plans to make PYUSD available for payment in various purchases and it will be redeemable for U.S. dollars and exchangeable for other cryptocurrencies on PayPal and Venmo.
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However, not all news surrounding stablecoins is positive. Eighteen leading venture capital investment firms, including Temasek, Sequoia Capital, Sino Global Capital, and SoftBank, are facing a lawsuit for their alleged involvement in a fraud scheme by the now-bankrupt crypto exchange FTX. The lawsuit accuses the firms of “aiding and abetting” the FTX fraud and claims they used their influence and deep pockets to grow FTX into a multibillion-dollar operation.
In the cryptocurrency market, Bitcoin is currently valued at $29,379, Ether at $1,842, and XRP at $0.63. The total market cap is $1.17 trillion. Among the top 100 cryptocurrencies, the biggest gainers of the week are THORChain (RUNE) with a 20.74% increase, Shiba Inu (SHIB) with a 20.16% increase, and dYdX (DYDX) with a 9.63% increase. The biggest losers of the week are GMX (GMX) with a 12.47% decrease, Mantle (MNT) with a 10.10% decrease, and XDC Network (XDC) with an 8.09% decrease.
In cybersecurity news, a report by cybersecurity platform CER reveals that only six out of 45 cryptocurrency wallet brands have undergone penetration testing to find security vulnerabilities. MetaMask, Zengo, and Trust Wallet were among the few wallets that performed tests on the latest versions of their products and were ranked as the most secure wallets on the market.
The U.S. Federal Reserve is expanding its oversight of banks involved in the cryptocurrency and blockchain industry. Under the Novel Activities Supervision Program, banks providing infrastructure to digital asset firms or working with companies using distributed ledger technologies will be regulated. Activities regulated under the program include custody, lending, trading, issuance, or distribution of cryptocurrencies, including stablecoins.
The SEC has announced a $24 million settlement with crypto trading platform Bittrex and its former CEO, William Shihara, for operating an unregistered exchange. Bittrex and Bittrex Global have agreed to pay disgorgement, prejudgment interest, and civil penalties to settle the legal dispute. The SEC had accused the platform of operating an unregistered national securities exchange, broker, and clearing agency.
In the prediction of the week, Bitcoin trader Daan Crypto Trades identifies a key level of support for Bitcoin. He states that the $29,500 to $29,700 range is strongly contested by both bulls and bears, and gaining control of this level is crucial for the bulls to gain momentum in changing the current market landscape.
In other news, a report by cybersecurity platform CER reveals that only six out of 45 cryptocurrency wallet brands have undergone penetration testing to find security vulnerabilities. This indicates that the majority of cryptocurrency wallets in the market may have potential security risks.
The U.S. Federal Reserve is expanding its oversight of banks involved in the cryptocurrency and blockchain industry. Under the Novel Activities Supervision Program, banks providing infrastructure to digital asset firms or working with companies using distributed ledger technologies will be regulated. These regulations apply to both insured and uninsured U.S. banks supervised by the Fed.
Finally, the SEC has announced a $24 million settlement with crypto trading platform Bittrex and its former CEO, William Shihara, for operating an unregistered exchange. The SEC had accused the platform of violating federal securities laws by engaging in the trading of unregistered securities.
