The Daily: SEC's Paxos probe ends, Trump to speak at Bitcoin conference, Hamster Kombat and more

Happy Thursday! In today's Daily, the SEC drops its investigation into the BUSD stablecoin, Donald Trump is set to speak at Bitcoin 2024, the German government now holds fewer than 5,000 BTC and more.

 

Meanwhile, U.S. lawmakers  failed to override President Biden's veto of a legislative measure to overturn a controversial crypto accounting bulletin.

 

Let's get started.

SEC drops investigation into BUSD following Paxos probe

• Paxos said it received a "formal termination notice" from the SEC on July 9, confirming the end of the investigation without enforcement action.
• Paxos said the development would "unlock a new wave" of adoption for well-designed stablecoins with strong consumer protections and "transform the financial system in payments, settlement and remittance use cases."
• The SEC initially issued a notice to Paxos last year regarding its involvement with BUSD, later suing crypto exchange Binance, labeling BUSD as a security.
• The SEC's decision leaves uncertainty about the agency's stance on whether or not it considers stablecoins as securities.
• SEC Chair Gary Gensler previously compared stablecoins to money market funds and other securities.
• Meanwhile, lawmakers in the U.S. are working on legislation to regulate stablecoins, with debates surrounding who should be the primary regulator for stablecoin issuers.

Donald Trump to speak at Bitcoin 2024

• Trump has expressed strong support for the crypto industry over the past few months, gaining the backing of prominent figures like Gemini founders Cameron and Tyler Winklevoss, Kraken co-founder Jesse Powell and Ark Invest CEO Cathie Wood.
• Trump has pledged to advocate for bitcoin mining, support self-custody, free Silk Road creator Ross Ulbricht and stop Central Bank Digital Currencies (CBDCs) if he becomes president.
• Other U.S. politicians at the event include independent presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr., Trump VP pick contender Vivek Ramaswamy and Republican Senators Bill Hagerty and Marsha Blackburn.

German government now holds fewer than 5,000 BTC

• The latest moves follow Wednesday's transfers of more than 10,853 bitcoins ($637.7 million), though the German government received back 2,422 bitcoins ($142 million) last night — presumably unsold as part of a sale agreement.
• These transfers are part of a strategy to offload 50,000 bitcoins German authorities seized from the film piracy site Movie2K in January.
• The German government began sending bitcoin to exchanges on June 18 and currently has 4,925 bitcoins remaining in its possession, valued at around $283 million.
• Meanwhile, CryptoQuant analysts  said  short-term holder trading activity, rather than the German government, was driving a bitcoin exchange reserves surge.

Celer Network warns of potential DNS hijacking attack targeting crypto websites

• It advised users to avoid accessing its front-end websites, Celer.network and cbridge.celer.network due to the threat.
• The warning follows a report from a Compound Finance contributor about a similar hijacking attempt on its own website, compound.finance.
• Data from  who.is  indicates that the compromised websites are registered with domain registrar Squarespace.
• Attackers can exploit issues in DNS to attempt nefarious activities, such as redirecting the official website to a malicious one.
• However, no loss of funds has been reported from today's incidents.

Hamster Kombat founders reveal game's origins, plans for a second airdrop

• Hamster Kombat’s anonymous founders said their team has been working in crypto since 2013, drawing inspiration from Notcoin, meme stocks and social media games in developing their own creation.
• They also announced plans for a second airdrop following the first one set to be distributed on the TON blockchain this month, hoping to enhance the game's longevity and community value.

In the next 24 hours

 

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