Grayscale Investments, a major cryptocurrency investment firm, has filed a new application with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) for a spot Bitcoin exchange-traded fund (ETF). The filing is part of Grayscale’s ongoing effort to convert its Grayscale Bitcoin Trust into a spot Bitcoin ETF. This news comes after Grayscale recently won an SEC lawsuit for its spot Bitcoin ETF review, with a court of appeals ordering the SEC to explain why it rejected Grayscale’s application in June 2023. Grayscale has also filed with the SEC to list an Ether futures ETF in September.
In other news, the New York Attorney General has filed a lawsuit against cryptocurrency firms Gemini, Genesis, and Digital Currency Group (DCG) for allegedly defrauding more than 23,000 investors through the Gemini Earn investment program. The lawsuit claims that Gemini misled investors by assuring them that the program was low-risk, while investigations by the New York State Attorney General’s office found that Genesis’ financials were actually risky. The lawsuit also charges Genesis’ former CEO and its parent company’s CEO with defrauding investors by attempting to conceal over $1.1 billion in losses. The lawsuit seeks to ban Gemini, Genesis, and DCG from operating in the financial investment industry in New York.
In another development, Nishad Singh, the former engineering director at now-defunct crypto exchange FTX, faces up to 75 years in prison for charges related to defrauding users of the exchange. Singh pleaded guilty to fraud charges as part of his cooperation agreement with U.S. prosecutors. During his testimony, Singh revealed that when liquidity issues at FTX began in November 2022, he felt “suicidal for some days” while dealing with alleged inconsistencies between the exchange’s public statements and its activities behind the scenes. Singh also claimed that FTX’s CEO had the habit of making purchasing decisions through Alameda Research by himself.
Furthermore, Binance has announced that it will be shutting down its Visa debit card services in the European Economic Area in December. This is the latest setback for the exchange, which recently had its euro deposits and withdrawals suspended for a month after payments processor Paysafe dropped them. Binance is also still not onboarding new users in the United Kingdom due to the loss of a third-party service provider.
In a collaborative effort, Elon Musk, Mark Cuban, and others have submitted a shared amicus brief to the Supreme Court of the United States, raising concerns about the SEC’s approach to conducting internal proceedings without the inclusion of juries. This legal challenge is centered around the SEC vs. Jarkesy case, in which George Jarkesy argues that the SEC’s internal adjudication process contradicts his Seventh Amendment rights. Jarkesy claims that the process lacks a jury and is overseen by an administrative law judge appointed by the commission, effectively resulting in a single entity fulfilling the roles of judge, jury, and enforcer.
In the cryptocurrency market, Bitcoin (BTC) is currently at $29,590, Ether (ETH) at $1,607, and XRP at $0.52. The total market cap is at $1.12 trillion. Among the top three altcoin gainers of the week are Bitcoin SV (BSV) at 59.00%, Stacks (STX) at 25.91%, and MX TOKEN (MX) at 25.26%. The top three altcoin losers of the week are Conflux (CFX) at -8.03%, Frax Share (FXS), and Sui (SUI) at -6.35%.
Overall, this week has seen significant developments in the cryptocurrency industry, including Grayscale’s filing for a spot Bitcoin ETF, the New York Attorney General’s lawsuit against Gemini, Genesis, and DCG, the legal troubles faced by a former FTX executive, Binance’s decision to shut down its Visa debit card services in Europe, and the collaboration between Elon Musk, Mark Cuban, and others to contest the SEC’s trial strategies. The cryptocurrency market also continues to experience fluctuations in prices, with Bitcoin reaching a two-month high and altcoins showing both gains and losses.
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