Things continued to look up, with regulatory issues (slightly) decreasing. Adoption continued to improve amid (rising) scams.
The headlines:
- The SEC let go of Solana and Cardano in its Binance battle;
- Senator Cynthia Lummis (R-WY) submitted her Bitcoin reserve bill;
- Stablecoins continued to win in July;
- Genesis Global is out of bankruptcy;
- Plus, Morgan Stanley is (officially) in the Bitcoin ETF game;
- And much more!
As always, these are your decentralized diaries!
Bitcoin is at $54k
From a $67,386.45 high, Bitcoin slid to a $49,121.24 low. Currently, Bitcoin is at $54,610.71 (as of 8/5/24).
The altcoins (also) moved in tandem. Ethereum (ETH) is at $2,437.20, Solana (SOL) is at $130.18, Avalanche (AVAX) at $19.64, Polkadot (DOT) at $4.23 and Chainlink (LINK) at $9.43.
SEC–Solana and Cardano Are Not Securities
In a victory for the crypto community, the SEC amended its (ongoing) lawsuit against Binance. The regulator adjusted the securities’ classification status of ten tokens, including Solana (SOL) and Cardano (ADA).
Consequently, the SEC (also) informed the defendants about its intentions to amend the complaint brought against Binance and its American trading arm.
Senator Lummis Introduced Her Bitcoin Reserve Bill on Capitol Hill
Following her presentation of legislation at the “Bitcoin 2024 Conference 2024” in Nashville, Tennessee, Sen. Cynthia Lummis (R-WY) put forward her Bitcoin reserve bill on the Senate floor on Capitol Hill.
The July 31 bill also reached the Senate Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs for (further) consideration. Similarly, supporters sent (over) 2,200 letters to Senators, urging them to co-sponsor the bill with Lummis.
CleanSpark Acquired a Bitcoin Mine
NASDAQ-listed Bitcoin miner CleanSpark (CLSK) revealed the acquisition of a Cheyenne, Wyoming-based facility. The 30MW operation will contribute over two exahashes per second (EH/s) (once it gets online).
CleanSpark (also) announced the execution of 75 MW worth of power contracts. Additionally, the firm indicated that operations start before the end of the year.
CCData–Stablecoin Market Capitalization Reached $164 Billion in July
According to crypto information services firm CCData, the 10-month stablecoin streak continued in July, with market capitalization reaching $164 billion. Furthermore, USDCoin (by Circle) gained momentum, with the total stablecoin growth rising by 2.11% in the same month.
Similarly, Tether’s dominance rose by 1.61% to $116 billion.
In related news, stablecoin issuer Circle’s (privately held) stock (reportedly) hovers between $5 billion and $5.25 billion in value as it prepares for its IPO.
The SEC Charged BitClout‘s Founder with Fraud
On July 23, the SEC filed charges against crypto startup BitClout’s founder, Nader Al-Naji, with fraud and offering unregistered securities. The regulator (also) alleged that Al-Naji raised over $257 million in crypto tokens using a pseudonymous identity.
Consequently, the SEC alleged that Al-Naji spent over $7 million on personal expenses for himself and family members.
Genesis Completed its Bankruptcy Restructuring Processes
The creditors of shuttered crypto lender Genesis Global can (now) heave a sigh of relief. According to a July 2 press release, the firm indicated the completion of its bankruptcy restructuring processes. Subsequently, the firm announced the distribution of $4 billion worth of crypto assets and US dollars to creditors.
The FBI Issued a Crypto Exchange Scam Warning
Bad actors and scammers are at it again. This time, they target crypto exchange holdings. According to an August 1 alert by the FBI, scammers (now) pose as crypto exchange staff to (falsely) alert their targets about supposed intrusion attempts. The scammers then try to convince the would-be victims to click on links to recover their accounts and wallets.
David Solomon-Bitcoin is a Store of Value
The adoption conversation continued, this time with input from Goldman Sachs CEO David Solomon. In a July 30 CNBC interview, Solomon iterated that Bitcoin could “very well” be a store of value like gold.
Additionally, Solomon indicated that though Bitcoin does not have practical utility at present, Blockchain technology was “interesting” and could have a role to play in the financial system’s digitization.
The CFTC Issued a Repeated Fraud Warning
Scammers (may) target their victims several times. According to a recent warning from the CFTC, scammers may go after their victims again with different ruses.
The scams (often) include implied relationships with victims. Pig butchering schemes, relationship fraud, and crypto trading scams are some of the means scammers (may) use to retarget their victims.
Coinbase Revealed an Identity Tool for its Base Native Blockchain
Cryptocurrency exchange blockchain took things up with an identity tool for its Base blockchain. At the exchange’s BaseCamp Summit on August 1, the Base development team introduced “Basenames,” a tool that converts alphanumeric addresses on the Base blockchain into readable ones.
Furthermore, users will (soon) be able to connect several wallets to the product, including Coinbase Wallet, Rainbow, and (the famous) MetaMask. Basenames will be (publicly) available in a few weeks.
Morgan Stanley to Enable Access to Bitcoin ETFs
Finance giant Morgan Stanley will give investors within its ecosystem access to Bitcoin ETFs this week. According to an August 2 CNBC report, Morgan Stanley plans to enable access on August 7.
Its 15,000-plus advisers can reach out to investors who may have an interest in two Bitcoin ETFs. Additionally, Morgan Stanley approved BlackRock’s iShares Bitcoin Trust and Fidelity’s Wise Origin Bitcoin Fund for investor access.
