SEC seeks appeal over Ripple, crypto prices plunge, EU Bitcoin ETF

top stories of the week

Judge Grants SEC’s Request for Appeal Motion in Ripple Case

Judge Analisa Torres has granted the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) a motion to allow an interlocutory appeal in the case against Ripple Labs. The decision allowed the SEC to file a motion on Aug. 18 seeking permission to proceed with the US Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit. Ripple can also file an objection to the motion. Torres ruled on July 13 that Ripple’s XRP token was not a security in public sales, but the ruling held that XRP was a security in institutional sales. The case against Ripple has been ongoing since December 2020, when the SEC sued Ripple and its executives for offering unregistered securities.

Bitcoin, Ether Price Plunge Leads to Crypto Carnage, $1 Billion in Liquidations

Bitcoin and ether prices slumped on Aug. 18, with the two cryptocurrencies falling to two-month lows and triggering a series of liquidations for thousands of derivatives traders. The cryptocurrency carnage has led to the liquidation of hedge positions worth billions of dollars, with some traders losing millions of dollars on a single trade. A total of 176,752 traders were liquidated within hours, according to data from CoinGlass, a sign of the rapid rise in price volatility days after BTC and ETH posted their lowest daily volatility in years. The price function of the crypto market is attributed to a variety of factors, including the SpaceX Bitcoin writedown and macroeconomic factors.

Bitcoin-friendly El Salvador sees bond returns soaring to 70% in 2023

El Salvador, which adopts bitcoin as legal tender in 2021, has outperformed most emerging markets on its dollar bonds, returning 70% in 2023. The sharp rise in the bond has now attracted interest from several institutional giants, including JP Morgan, Eaton Vance and PGIM Fixed Income President Nayib Bukele said: “I’ve been told You.” In addition to the institutional giants, Lord Abbett & Co LLC, Neuberger Berman Group LLC and UBS Group AG have also increased debt guarantees since April. El Salvador paid off its $800 million debt in full at maturity earlier this year, again boosting confidence in the country’s bonds.

First EU Spot Bitcoin ETF Listed on Euronext Amsterdam

Following the long-awaited launch of Jacobi Asset Management’s Jacobi FT Wilshire Bitcoin ETF, Europe has welcomed its first-ever spot Bitcoin ETF. The London-based digital asset manager announced that its new investment product will list on Euronext Amsterdam on Aug. 15, more than a year later than its original 2022 launch date. The new ETF will trade under the symbol BCOIN. Its launch is a milestone for Europe, while U.S. regulators have yet to approve many similar spot bitcoin ETF applications from major asset managers such as BlackRock and Fidelity. The new ETF trades under the symbol BCOIN.

Coinbase Receives NFA Approval to Offer Bitcoin and Ether Futures in the US

Cryptocurrency exchange Coinbase has been approved by the National Futures Association (NFA) to offer investments in cryptocurrency futures to eligible customers in the United States. The approval enables Coinbase to launch bitcoin and ethereum futures contracts through a derivatives exchange regulated by the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC). After the decision was made, the exchange’s website displayed a link to join the early access waitlist. Coinbase claims that the global cryptocurrency derivatives market accounts for 75% of the global cryptocurrency trading volume.

winners and losers

Bitcoin this weekend (bitcoin) lie in $26,031Ether (Ethereum) exist $1,660 and Ripple exist $0.50.total market cap $1.05 trillion, according to to CoinMarketCap.

Among the 100 largest cryptocurrencies, the top three altcoins this week are Sei (yes) 1948.54%, Thor Chain (runes) 42.10%, and Akash Network (AKT) 25.80%.

The three altcoins that fell the most this week were Conflux (CFX) -28.05%, composite (Compare) -23.83%, Litecoin (LTC) was -22.99%.

For more on cryptocurrency prices, be sure to read Cointelegraph’s market analysis.

most memorable quote

“We trade every day, we work for money, we save money, but no one teaches us that. People and families need to understand money if you want to make a difference.”

Roman MartinezBitcoin Beach Community Leader

“Canadian regulators have been cooperative and helpful. (…) There is a clear regulatory pathway. This allows us to invest in the country.”

Mark GreenbergManaging Director, Kraken Canada

“[X’s community note is]the closest thing we’ve seen to an instance of ‘cryptocurrency value’ in the mainstream world.”

Vitalik ButerinCo-Founder of Ethereum

“Not only are we seeing growing demand for regulated custody solutions in the US, but we’re also seeing demand globally.”

mike belshCEO of BitGo

“Evidence is mounting that we are in the early stages of a new cycle. Risk assets like stocks (and) cryptocurrencies have been sniffing this out all year.”

Kevin KellyCo-founder of Delphi Digital

“Two important catalysts are supporting bitcoin and ethereum prices heading into year-end: possible SEC approval of (…) bitcoin ETF and ethereum’s EIP-4844 upgrade.”

Henrik AndersonChief Investment Officer of Apollo Crypto

forecast for the week

Bitcoin Price Nears $26,000, Warns Bitcoin Selling Pressure Could ‘Double’

When Wall Street opened on Aug. 18, bitcoin held near two-month lows as markets embraced extreme liquidation.

Data from Cointelegraph Markets Pro and TradingView shows that BTC price action is trending sideways after a single-day candle inflicted an 8% loss. The largest cryptocurrency saw a spate of liquidations in the derivatives market, which accounted for a “huge” majority amid relatively weak spot sales.

For popular anonymous trader and analyst Rekt Capital, the outlook is bleak – BTC/USD forming a double top in 2023 and completely lacking support from trendlines and moving averages during the crash.

“BTC forms higher highs around $31,000 on rising volume. But price forms second half of double top on falling volume,” he wrote, warning that capitulation may not yet be linked Matched the previous sell-off. “In fact, the current number of sellers may need to double to reach the level of seller exhaustion that led to price reversals in early and late March and mid-June.”

The most talked about FUD this week

Shibarium denies bridge problem, calls it ‘FUD’

The team behind the newly released Shibarium mainnet Denied reports of bridge problems and asset losses, saying screenshots circulating in the cryptocurrency community were fake. Shytoshi Kusama, co-founder of the Shiba Inu ecosystem, said the influx of transactions and user activity caused Shibarium to experience technical difficulties, but funds in the protocol remained safe. Concerns about Shibarium first emerged in the crypto community after screenshots reportedly captured internal conversations indicating that the team was allegedly unable to recover assets connected to the recently launched Shibarium network.

SwirlLend Rug Appears on New Coinbase Layer 2 Base, Lots of Scammers Report

Base, Coinbase’s new layer 2, has seen a large number of bad actors. In the latest incident, cryptocurrency lender SwirlLend has apparently taken action. PeckShield reported that SwirlLend transferred tokens from Base and Linea, bridging the cryptocurrency to Ethereum. It then created a new token and laundered 253.2 ETH through the Tornado Cash crypto mixer. SwirlLend has shut down its social media accounts and website. The total value locked on Base has dropped from $784,300 to $49,200. Crypto trade monitoring firm Solidus Labs also found more than 500 scam tokens on Base.

FBI Seizes Nearly $2M in Crypto Assets in 3 Months

According to a public document released by the FBI, law enforcement agencies seized approximately $1.7 million worth of digital assets from March to May. In particular, the FBI seized $147,000 in Bitcoin (BTC), $800,000 in Ether (ETH), $307,000 in Tether (USDT), $469,000 in Dai (DAI), and $20,000 in Monero (XMR). Assets were confiscated from multiple sources, including Binance exchange wallets. According to the FBI, the assets were seized due to various violations of federal regulations.

Should we ban ransomware payments?It’s an attractive but dangerous idea

Paying ransom to cyber attackers can save lives and prevent huge losses. But it also encourages further attacks.

Crypto projects and holders face tough sentences in China, a digital yuan airdrop to revive the local economy, and the latest twist in the 3AC saga.

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editorial staff

Writers and reporters at Cointelegraph Magazine contributed to this article.