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SEC drops investigation into NFT marketplace OpenSea
The United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has concluded its probe into non-fungible token (NFT) marketplace OpenSea, according to its founder.
“The SEC is closing its investigation into OpenSea. This is a win for everyone who is creating and building in our space,” OpenSea founder Devin Finzer said in a Feb. 21 X post.
SEC drops OpenSea lawsuit shortly after clearing Coinbase’s:
It came just hours after the SEC agreed to dismiss its lawsuit against crypto exchange Coinbase, which accused the company of operating as an unregistered securities broker.
Finzer said that labeling NFTs as securities would have hurt the industry and stifled innovation.
The industry has reacted positively to the SEC closing its investigation into OpenSea, which began in August 2024 when the regulator issued a Wells notice alleging the NFT exchange had operated as a marketplace for unregistered securities. Read More
SEC Announces Creation of New Cyber and Emerging Technologies Unit (CETU) To Complement Crypto Task Force
Laura D’Allaird has been appointed chief of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission’s new crypto watchdog, said the SEC in a new announcement.
The SEC says the new Cyber and Emerging Technologies Unit (CETU) will replace the old Crypto Assets and Cyber Unit.
CETU says it will “combat misconduct” relating to securities in the areas of emerging technologies fraud, social media and dark web fraud, hacking, brokerage account takeovers, crypto fraud, cybersecurity compliance, and cybersecurity fraud.
D’Allaird is an attorney who has served as Senior Counsel in the SEC’s Cyber Unit Enforcement Division.
Said Acting Chairman Mark T. Uyeda of the new unit,
“Importantly, the new unit will also allow the SEC to deploy enforcement resources judiciously.
The unit will not only protect investors but will also facilitate capital formation and market efficiency by clearing the way for innovation to grow. It will root out those seeking to misuse innovation to harm investors and diminish confidence in new technologies.” Read More
Hackers Drain Bank Accounts in New Global Attack on Apple and Google Android Devices: Report
Hackers are reportedly draining bank accounts and stealing smartphone users’ credentials using a new and highly effective technique.
Cybersecurity researchers say criminals are now sending text messages that appear to be from banks and delivery services – with malicious PDF files attached, reports Samsung Magazine.
The PDFs either contain links that exploit security flaws and install malware or links that send users directly to fake bank websites, enticing people users to enter their login details.
Victims across the US, Germany, and the UK have already suffered financial losses after opening the fraudulent PDFs.
Researchers say people tend to trust PDFs more than links, and the method increases the chances of users falling for the scam. Read More
Grayscale XRP ETF Countdown Begins as Filing Hits Federal Register
The filing for Grayscale’s proposed XRP exchange-traded fund has officially hit the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission’s Federal Register, bringing it one step closer to becoming a reality.
The publication, which entered on Thursday, has triggered a 21-day comment period, with the regulator expected to approve, deny, or further review Grayscale’s filing by October 18.
If approved, the ETF would provide a regulated vehicle for exposure to XRP, one of the most talked-about cryptos in the market, amid optimism surrounding its legal and regulatory status.
Speaking to Decrypt, Saravanan Pandian, CEO and founder of crypto exchange KoinBX, said while the review process will involve assessing market risks, investor protections, and legal classifications, a potential approval could set a “transformative precedent for XRP and the broader crypto ecosystem.”
“In the long run, approvals of crypto-based ETFs, like Grayscale’s XRP ETF, could significantly impact the crypto community by legitimizing digital assets as a recognized investment class,” Pandian added. Read More
What is Hyperliquid (HYPE), and how does it work?
Hyperliquid is a decentralized perpetual exchange operating on its own high-performance layer-1 blockchain, HyperEVM. It specializes in perpetual futures trading, allowing users to speculate on crypto prices without holding the underlying assets.
The HyperEVM mainnet has been launched with smart contract capabilities while preserving its fast, low-latency trading.
A key feature of Hyperliquid is its onchain order book, which enables real-time, transparent trading with minimal latency. It supports a range of cryptocurrencies, including: Bitcoin, Ether. Avalanche, Solana, Sui.
It bridges the gap between centralized finance (CeFi) and DeFi and offers a seamless, high-speed trading experience tailored for modern decentralized finance (DeFi) users by addressing challenges like inefficient order matching and high latency.
Hyperliquid has adopted a community-driven approach, rejecting venture capital funding, allocating 70% of its tokens to users, and redistributing all revenue back to the community. As of Feb. 5, Hyperliquid has a market capitalization of approximately $8.92 billion. Read More
A New Crypto Category Has Emerged. What Impact Will it Have…Will It Evolve Into A Significant Narrative?
US-based cryptocurrency initiatives have historically been reticent about their origins. However, during Gary Gensler's tenure, they became vulnerable to aggressive scrutiny from the SEC, and numerous projects found themselves in the regulatory crossfire. Being a US-based project has often been a liability rather than a benefit in recent years.
The cryptocurrency industry has been electrified by the outcome of the U.S. Presidential election, with Donald J. Trump's victory sparking widespread anticipation. The regulatory shifts expected under Trump's leadership are poised to grant the crypto sector unprecedented freedom in the United States.
A new cryptocurrency category has surfaced amid this enthusiasm: "Made in the USA." This category includes cryptocurrencies that are closely linked to the United States, whether through headquarters located in the US or ties to notable American personalities. With Trump backing crypto, this category could see substantial growth, likely surpassing many others.
This has the potential to evolve into a significant narrative; thus, this article explicitly addresses cryptocurrencies based in the United States, the reasons this narrative could gain prominence, and the cryptocurrencies that may benefit from a Trump administration. To commemorate President Trump's inauguration, a newly established cryptocurrency category titled 'Made in USA' has been incorporated into price tracking platforms, including CoinMarketCap and CoinGecko. Read More
New Microsoft chip shortens timeline to make Bitcoin quantum-resistant: River
Microsoft’s new quantum computing chip could push up the timeline to make Bitcoin quantum-resistant, according to Bitcoin exchange River.
As reported by Cointelegraph, Microsoft launched its quantum computing (QC) chip Majorana 1 on Feb. 19, joining a suite of other companies pursuing the technology, including Google, which unveiled chip Willow in December.
In a Feb. 20 post on X, River said while a crypto-threatening quantum computing breakthrough is still many years away, the new chip may have shortened that timeline.
“The Majorana 1 chip is far from that scale now, but could reach the 1 million mark by 2027-2029 [...] When ran for several days to weeks, a 1-million qubit QC could potentially crack Bitcoin addresses via a long-range attack,” it said.
“This breakthrough shortens the timeline to make Bitcoin quantum-resistant. Even if it’s a decade away, addressing vulnerabilities early is crucial,” the platform said. Read More
SEC Launches New Crypto Crime Fighting Unit
The Securities and Exchange Commission is launching a new organization tasked with combatting crypto-related crime.
In a Thursday announcement, Wall Street’s top regulator said the new Cyber and Emerging Technologies Unit will work with the SEC’s crypto task force to “root out those seeking to misuse innovation to harm investors and diminish confidence in new technologies.”
It will replace the Crypto Assets and Cyber Unit and will be made up of around 30 fraud specialists and lawyers from across the SEC, the statement noted. SEC attorney Laura D’Allaird will lead the new unit.
Back in 2020, D'Allaird was one of the attorneys who worked on the SEC's case against messaging service Kik Interactive, which the SEC alleged offered its Kin digital tokens in violation of the federal Securities Act.
Back in 2017, Kik sold $50 million in Kin tokens as part of a private pre-sale to 50 investors. As part of this “Simple Agreement for Future Tokens,” or SAFT, investors understood they were getting in at a discount. They explicitly agreed that they were buying a security.
Now, D'Allaird's new crypto unit will work with the regulator's new crypto task force dedicated to working on digital asset regulation. Under the Biden Administration, the SEC cracked down hard on the space as its former Chair Gary Gensler repeatedly said that the vast majority of digital assets fell under the definition of a security. Read More
Franklin Templeton Launches EZPZ ETF for Weighted Bitcoin, Ethereum Exposure
What do you get when you combine EZBC and EZET? According to the launch of Franklin Templeton’s Crypto Index ETF, the result is EZPZ.
Representing the ticker name of Franklin Templeton’s newest crypto product listed on the Cboe BZX exchange on Thursday, EZPZ offers investors both Bitcoin and Ethereum exposure.
The product tracks price movements for the two top cryptocurrencies based on CF Benchmark’s Institutional Digital Asset Index, which debuted last year, and focuses on coins “recognized as being in conformance with major financial jurisdictions prevailing capital markets.”
That means that instead of targeting just one cryptocurrency, the index weights top coins by market capitalization. As a result, 82% of a dollar invested in EZPZ would be exposed to Bitcoin’s price, while 18% would be correlated to Ethereum’s performance.
EZPZ’s start follows Franklin Templeton’s introduction of spot Bitcoin and Ethereum ETFs last year. The financial giant, alongside its push into the digital assets space, first launched FOBXX, a tokenized money-market fund, on Polygon and Stellar in 2021. Read More
Chainalysis Develops System Enabling Law Enforcement To Trace and Seize Illicit Crypto Assets
The blockchain data analysis firm Chainalysis says it has developed an “integrated solution” designed to help law enforcement track stolen crypto.
The firm says the new solution relies on two primary tools.
The first is the firm’s preexisting blockchain investigation software, “Chainalysis Reactor,” which aims to help law enforcement officials track crypto across blockchains and identify on- and off-ramps.
The second part of the solution is a new development called “Wallet Scan,” which is designed to automate the discovery of derivation paths, according to Chainalysis.
Explains the firm,
“This eliminates the need to manually reconstruct wallets, allowing investigators to focus on recovering assets instead.”
Chainalysis also recently acquired Alterya, a fraud detection solution powered by artificial intelligence (AI). Read More
SEC Commissioner Hester Peirce Tells Memecoin Traders Not To Expect Government To Make Them Whole
Pro-crypto Hester Peirce, who serves on the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), is warning memecoin traders that they are on their own when it comes to losses.
In a new interview on the Bankless podcast, Peirce, who is leading the SEC’s new crypto task force, says memecoins may fall outside the federal regulatory agency’s purview.
She suggests that memecoin traders need to manage their risks and not rely on the government to bail them out if they suffer big losses.
“Just because something is out there and it’s popular does not mean that it will fit within the SEC jurisdiction. So I just caution people not to assume that there’s going to be an SEC regulatory backstop to everything…
I am a big believer in people having the freedom to be able to use their money in whatever way they want. But you should not assume that there is going to be a government agency there to set the rules for that or, at the end of the day when the price of something goes down, to make you whole. That just is not something you should expect.”
Peirce adds that memecoin traders should take responsibility for their own financial decisions. Read More
Disclaimer: These articles are provided for informational purposes only. They are not offered or intended to be used as legal, tax, investment, financial, or any other advice.
Featured Image Source: Pixabay
