It’s been a wild ride for crypto this week! From Gensler calling basically every crypto except Bitcoin as ‘securities’, to Yuga Labs hopping on the Bitcoin NFT wave and Coinbase introducing Base layer-2 protocol – crypto has definitely got us buzzing.
Gensler Gives Altcoins ‘Securities’ Label But Lawyers Shoot It Down
In a recent New York Magazine interview, SEC Chair Gary Gensler stated that “everything other than Bitcoin” falls under the Commission’s remit. He claims other crypto projects are securities due to the public anticipating profits from them.
But not so fast! According to lawyer and Blockchain Association policy lead Jake Chervinsky, Genser’s opinion “is not the law.” Until the SEC demonstrates its jurisdiction token-by-token in court, the agency lacks authority over the market. Logan Bolinger also chimed in, noting it’s not a legally dispositive call.
Gabriel Shapiro, General Counsel at Delphi Labs, pointed out on Twitter that the enforcement being proposed would be a logistical nightmare — 12,300 tokens, worth $663 billion, would all have to be analyzed and — if determined to be unregistered securities — each token creator would face a lawsuit.
It’s a tall order for the Commission, and one that has crypto enthusiasts asking some tough questions. According to Shapiro, the SEC’s enforcement tactics have been to issue fines and require tokens to be registered — if not, be destroyed, delisted, and forgotten.
Going Bananas! Ape-Parent Yuga Labs Is Sprouting NFTs On The Bitcoin Blockchain!
Yuga Labs is hopping on the Bitcoin NFT wave with a splash! The collection is called TwelveFold and it’s a unique twist on generative art.
It features 300 NFTs minted on the Ordinals protocol and placed in a 12×12 grid – a clever visual representation of data on the Bitcoin blockchain. Plus, these artworks have 3D elements and hand-drawn features to make them special!
Good News! Shibarium Is ‘Almost Here’
It’s go time, Shiba Army! The team building Shiba Inu’s (SHIB) much-hyped layer-2 blockchain Shibarium has just launched a portal dedicated to giving its adoption a major boost.
SHIB lead developer Shytoshi Kusama has introduced the ‘Join Shibarium’ portal – a hub for developers, content creators, business owners and job seekers to lend their skills to the Shiba Inu ecosystem. Kusama hopes the new site will make it easier for anyone wanting to build on Shibarium to find the resources and collaborators they need.
No No! This Is Not BASE Token
Coinbase has officially jumped into the Ethereum Layer-2 party, and unfortunately for some crypto traders, not with a token of their own! BASE Protocol’s BASE tokens saw an unprecedented 300%+ surge… only to then experience a swift correction when it became clear that the crypto giant had no plans to release a token for their new scaling product, Base.
In other words, crypto traders were quick to jump on anything with a very remote relation to a trending topic in hopes of turning profits – instead, they were met with a disastrous rug-pull. Ah, the stories we can tell!
So if you’re ever feeling the temptation of getting overly FOMO-ological, keep in mind the legendary wink-and-smile of the most famous crypto exchange as a reminder to stay vigilant and not get too swept away in the buzz.
Is the Crypto Queen Really Dead?
Nature, they say, abhors a vacuum – and news, it seems, abhors one even more! What could be better for a Week in Crypto than a deliciously lurid update on the OneCoin scammer, Ruja Ignatova?
We all remember the stories that went around about ‘the Cryptoqueen’, from her allegedly luxe $13 million penthouse in London to her rumored sex-change op. Well, now the rumor mills are churning with possibly the wildest story yet – that Ruja was killed on a yacht in Greece, with her body tossed into the sea.
The Bureau for Investigative Reporting and Data has apparently seen documents as evidence – but some media outlets aren’t convinced, pointing out that the FBI doesn’t usually add dead people to its Most Wanted list. In the meanwhile, we can all be content to wonder if these rumors are really as fishy as they seem.
Knight Watch Ft. Van De Poppe
It’s been a wild ride for crypto traders this week – a roller coaster of highs and lows! Bitcoin hit the high of $23,400 midweek, only to lose 6% in the last 7 days – ouch! Not to be left out, Ether lost 4.16% to finish off at $1,628 – a definite swat to the face! In other words, it’s been a case of ‘what goes up must come down’!
Analyst Michaël Van de Poppe believes that BTC is consolidating and retesting crucial levels during this process. If prices stay above the $22,300 mark, we can expect a continued bullish trend. But on the other hand, if prices dip below this level and bounce back, this could be a warning sign that the trend may be reversing southwards.
The analyst advises to keep an eye on the $22,300 area, as the prices breaking through this resistance. So stay focused, as this could be the moment to reap the rewards!
Honorable Mentions
The crypto community was abuzz when the wave of more than 150,000 Ether was staked with Lido Finance’s liquid staking protocol in a single day. A closer look revealed that it was the work of none other than Tron founder H.E. Justin Sun. In response to the phenomenal amount of activity, Lido Finance activated their staking rate limit as a safety measure. But don’t worry folks, Justin made sure to spread out the fun with three deposits of 50,000 each and one of 100,000, making sure not to shortchange himself or the crypto community.
Last but not the least, Drake – the talented Canadian musician – put his money where his mouth was, backing his close friend Jake Paul in his boxing match against Tommy Fury with a whopping $400,000 worth of Bitcoin! Had Paul emerged victorious, the singer would have come out with a million bucks in BTC! Drake was confident that his friend would knock out his rival and bring home the victory – but sadly, it just wasn’t meant to be.
