#SEC

European crypto-related exchange-traded products (ETPs) experienced a boost in net inflows during June and July, breaking a nearly three-month trend of global ETP outflows. Europe-based ETPs saw inflows of €150 million in June and €60 million in July. The trend change might be attributed to BlackRock's spot bitcoin ETF application. However, recent data indicates a downturn in August, possibly due to the SEC's delay in deciding.

Statistics from Coinglass indicate liquidations of $1 billion in the last 12 hours, with $483 million in BTC and $300 million in Ethereum. Some market analysts are identifying potential incidents that may have instigated this downfall: The Wall Street Journal has noted that SpaceX liquidated $373 million in Bitcoin across 2021 and 2022, and Tesla has divested more than 30,000 BTC (75% of its stake) for $936 million in Q2 of 2022. The investment holding company China Evergrande Group has filed for bankruptcy. It was rumored that Tether had backed a portion of its USDT using commercial papers from this entity. Sellers sprang into action shortly after. With Bloomberg announcing that the SEC is slated to approve the first-ever Ethereum-based ETF futures by October, Ethereum's market value promptly surged by 11%.

Ripple contends that there is no justification for the SEC to appeal its partial loss while the case remains unresolved. Ripple’s legal team has presented three primary arguments in response to the SEC’s appeal request: Аn appeal requires a pure question of law and that the SEC’s request raises no new legal issues that need to be reviewed. SEC’s argument that the court ruled incorrectly on the matter is not sufficient. An immediate appeal will not advance the termination litigation proceedings.

Amid the unresolved dispute between Coinbase and the SEC, a number of esteemed legal academics have weighed in, penning a court statement in support of the cryptocurrency exchange. Their stance is clear: an asset should only be deemed an investment contract if it promises profits, earnings, or assets from investments. Scholars assert that the court must strictly follow this legal definition, otherwise, it may jeopardize belief in existing securities laws.

This Sunday (August 13) marks the first deadline for the SEC to weigh in on ARK 21Shares' Bitcoin ETF application. Weekend deadlines are tricky, but some analysts suggest the decision could drop today. Analyst James Seyffart puts the odds of approval at less than 5%. Keep an eye out for the next milestone: BlackRock's Bitcoin ETF deadline is September 2.

The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has leveled charges against 11 Wall Street companies, alleging violations in the handling and retention of electronic communications. The cumulative fines have reached $289 million, with Wells Fargo and its subsidiaries contributing the largest amount of $125 million.These companies are now obligated to seek the expertise of independent consultants for policy checks.

The founder of CryptoLaw, John Deaton, argues that certain crypto enthusiasts might be overly buoyant about how XRP's price would respond to the court's verdict in the SEC dispute. XRP has indeed grown by a whopping 85% this year, but Deaton asserts that a fresh peak price would likely coincide with Bitcoin's bull run. "Until Bitcoin breaks it’s ATH, I don’t expect anything else to," he shared.

The XRP correction has offset the entire growth seen after Ripple’s victory over the SEC. The token had skyrocketed by 73% within just 8 hours of the court decision, setting a new annual high.

The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission has received permission from a U.S. judge to request assistance from the South Korean government in questioning Daniel Shin, co-founder of Terraform Labs. Officials plan to question Shin in connection with their own lawsuit against Do Kwon and to obtain documents related to Chai Corporation, a secondary company that was also used in the illegal scheme.

Grayscale Investments is gearing up for a potential positive outcome in its lawsuit with the SEC, as it begins hiring for its ETF team. The firm is on the lookout for a "Senior Associate, ETFs" to bolster its ETF business development. This move comes as the crypto community eagerly awaits a court decision on Grayscale's proposal to convert its GBTC fund into a spot bitcoin ETF. The outcome could set a precedent for other asset managers seeking approvals for spot bitcoin funds, influencing the future of crypto ETFs.

US House Financial Services Committee members, led by Chair Patrick McHenry, are seeking clarity from the SEC and FINRA about how Prometheum secured a special purpose broker-dealer (SPBD) license. They're probing if the SEC used Prometheum as a model firm to support Gary Gensler's stance that existing laws suffice for crypto regulation in the U.S. Despite Prometheum's claims of being pivotal for regulated digital asset offerings, the lawmakers pointed out that the firm hasn't served any customers yet. Also they raised concerns about potential ties between Prometheum and the Chinese Communist Party. The committee has requested related documents and communication records by Aug. 22.

John Reed Stark, ex-chief of the SEC's Office of Internet Enforcement, believes the current SEC won't approve a Bitcoin spot ETF due to various reasons. However, Stark suggests that if a Republican wins the 2024 presidential election, the SEC might ease its crypto-enforcement and be more open to a Bitcoin spot ETF. He also speculates that SEC chair Gary Gensler might resign, potentially paving the way for Hester Peirce, known as "Crypto Mom", to take a leading role.

US District Judge Analisa Torres in New York had previously indicated that XRP sales to sophisticated investors fulfilled the criteria for an investment contract under federal securities law However, this characterization didn’t extend to programmatic investors, which pertains to the general public buying crypto through exchanges.

She now believes that the SEC may approve multiple spot-Bitcoin ETFs simultaneously, instead of approving them one by one. This comes after her earlier expectation that her firm would be among the first to receive approval for a Bitcoin ETF. Bloomberg ETF analyst James Seyffart also shares the same opinion, stating that the path of least resistance for regulators is to approve multiple spot bitcoin ETFs at once or possibly all of them together.

During its second-quarter 2023 earnings call on August 3, Coinbase’s Chief Legal Officer, Paul Grewal, expressed confidence that the exchange would win the court case, stating, “We do think we can win. We expect to win.” In terms of their financial performance: Coinbase reported a net loss of $97 million on $708 million in revenue for the second quarter of 2023. Trading volume fell by 37%, and operating expenses were down nearly 50% year over year, partly due to a 30% reduction in headcount.

Terraform Labs was looking to the positive verdict in the "SEC versus Ripple" litigation as a precedent for its own safeguard against allegations from the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. Yet, Judge Jed Rakoff has dashed such hopes. The crux of the matter is a substantial divergence in the judge's view concerning the Howey Test, which assesses whether an asset is a security. Terraform Labs' token purchases were clearly carried out by users with profit expectations - a paramount criterion for securities. Therefore, it renders the precise method of purchase irrelevant. The dichotomy between the two judges' decisions underscores the persisting uncertainty in the landscape of cryptocurrency regulations.