The biggest crypto news and ideas of the day |
Were you forwarded this newsletter? Sign up here. Don't want this newsletter? Unsubscribe |
|
|
Do Kwon’s extradition from Montenegro has been delayed yet again. Just last week, the Balkan country’s appellate court issued what seemed to be a definitive decision to extradite Kwon to his native South Korea. But like past extradition decisions in Kwon’s case, it has been postponed by Montenegro’s Supreme Court at the request of the country’s top prosecutor, Minister of Justice Andrej Milović, according to local media reports. Montenegro has unexpectedly found itself at the center of a diplomatic tug-of-war over the Terraform Labs co-founder. Both South Korea and the U.S. want to try Kwon for civil and criminal charges tied to the $40 billion implosion of the Terra/LUNA ecosystem in May 2022. Both countries have issued competing extradition requests to Montenegro, where Kwon has been in custody since March 2023, when he was arrested for using a fake Costa Rican passport en route to Dubai while on the run. Kwon wants to be tried in his native South Korea, which has lighter penalties for financial crimes, and successfully fought earlier decisions to extradite him to the U.S. last year. But the country’s courts – and apparently its prosecutors and government officials – are split over which request to honor. |
|
|
Defunct crypto exchange FTX and trading firm Alameda Research will pay $12.7 billion to creditors as a New York judge officially approved a consent order on Wednesday, ending a 20-month-long lawsuit from the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC). United States District Judge Peter Castel passed the approval on August 7, a filing shows. It did not seek a civil monetary penalty. The order doesn't include civil penalties but bans FTX and its sister concern, Alameda, formerly a heavyweight crypto market maker, from trading digital assets and acting as intermediaries in the market. FTX filed for bankruptcy in late 2022 destroying billions of dollars in investor wealth. Subsequently, the CFTC filed a lawsuit against FTX and Alameda, claiming both committed fraud and misrepresentations by publicizing FTX as the digital commodity asset platform. Sam Bankman-Fried, who founded both companies, was sentenced to 25 years in prison and ordered to forfeit $11 billion in March. He was earlier convicted of seven counts of fraud, conspiracy, and money laundering. |
|
|
Catizen: Cultivating TONs of NextGen Web3 Users The future of crypto is being built on The Open Network (TON) and Catizen is creating the playbook for engaging gamers through web3. According to TONStat, TON has more than 10.78 million activated wallets (i.e. wallets with at least one outgoing transaction)—a +1400% increase in just the last year—and a peak of over 5 million monthly active wallets over the past six months. Through its unique integrations with Telegram, TON projects gain access to Telegram’s over 900 million users, making the TON ecosystem one of the most visible blockchain ecosystems to date. Continue reading. |
|
|
XRP surged 17% to lead market-wide gains after a U.S. judge made a milestone ruling in the long-running case between the closely related Ripples Labs and the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). Crypto traders widely expected a settlement in the case throughout July, with the tokens drawing outsized attention from South Korean markets and beating gains in major tokens on several days, as reported. On Wednesday, a federal judge ordered Ripple to pay $125 million in civil penalties and imposed an injunction against future securities law violations. Although the case is said to have reached its end, SEC is expected to appeal the ruling – likely extending legal matters. Markets positively reacted to the ruling as prices of XRP zoomed to 65 cents from 50 cents after the ruling, with trading volumes jumping to $4.2 billion in the past 24 hours from Tuesday’s $1.2 billion. As such, there were just $6 million in short liquidations on XRP-tracked futures, suggesting the movements were spot driven. Meanwhile, open interest—or the number of unsettled futures contracts—on XRP-tracked futures rose by $200 million in the wake of the ruling, indicative of new money entering the market. Data shows that over 60% of these traders have a long bias and expect prices to increase further. XRP was one of the few major tokens in the green during the Asian morning trading hours amid a flat market. |
The Brazilian Securities and Exchange Commission (CVM) has approved a Solana-based exchange-traded fund (ETF), the agency disclosed in its central database on Wednesday. It is the first product of its kind in Brazil and among the first Solana-based exchange-traded products (ETPs) globally. The first was launched by Switzerland-based investment product provider 21Shares on the SIX Swiss Exchange in June 2021. According to CVM’s database, the Solana-based ETF is in a pre-operational stage, so it has yet to be approved by the Brazilian stock exchange, B3. Exame, a local news organization, added that the product would follow the CME CF Solana Dollar Reference Rate, created by CF Benchmarks with the support of the Chicago Mercantile Exchange (CME). Brazilian asset manager QR Asset will offer the ETF, while Vortx, a local fintech focused on capital markets, will serve as its manager, the report stated. “This ETF reaffirms our commitment to offering quality and diversification to Brazilian investors. We are proud to be global pioneers in this segment, consolidating Brazil's position as a leading market for regulated investments in crypto assets,” said Theodoro Fleury, manager and chief investment officer of QR Asset, in a statement, the report added. |
|
|
|