Planet Daily | The US SEC formally appealed the Ripple case ruling; Morgan Stanley holds a Bitcoin spot ETF worth $272.1 million (October 18)

Headlines

US SEC formally appeals Ripple case ruling

The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has formally appealed the XRP ruling made by Judge Analisa Torres. On Thursday, the regulator filed a Form C with the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit. The legal battle over whether the cryptocurrency trading platforms XRP sales qualify as securities has been reignited. The regulator has questioned key aspects of the courts ruling, including the acquittal of Ripple executives and the distribution of XRP in non-cash form. The outcome of the case could have a significant impact on future cryptocurrency regulation.

Morgan Stanley holds $272.1 million worth of Bitcoin spot ETF

According to Bitcoin Magazine, the latest US SEC documents show that Morgan Stanley holds Bitcoin spot ETFs worth US$272.1 million.

The number of initial jobless claims in the United States for the week ending October 12 was 241,000, which was expected to be 260,000. The previous value was revised to 260,000.

The number of initial jobless claims in the United States for the week ending October 12 was 241,000, in line with expectations for 260,000. The previous value was revised from 258,000 to 260,000.

The four-week average of initial jobless claims in the United States for the week ending October 12 was 236,250, and the previous value was revised from 231,000 to 231,500.
The number of people continuing to claim unemployment benefits in the United States for the week ending October 12 was 1.867 million, in line with expectations of 1.865 million. The previous value was revised from 1.861 million to 1.858 million.

U.S. retail sales rose 0.4% in September, reinforcing expectations of a 25 basis point rate cut by the Federal Reserve

U.S. retail sales rose slightly more than expected in September, supporting the view that the economy maintained strong growth in the third quarter. U.S. retail sales rose 0.4% month-on-month in September, compared with an unrevised increase of 0.1% in August. Signs of economic recovery may not prevent the Federal Reserve from cutting interest rates again next month, but will strengthen expectations of a 25 basis point cut.

ECB cuts interest rates by another 25 basis points

The ECB cut its deposit facility rate to 3.25% from 3.5%, in line with market expectations. It also adjusted its main refinancing rate and marginal lending rate to 3.4% and 3.65% from 3.65% and 3.9%, respectively. Traders bets on a rate cut by the ECB remained steady, with a 25 basis point cut expected in December.

Industry News

Bitcoin was surpassed by Meta and temporarily fell out of the top ten global asset market capitalization rankings

According to 8 Marketcap information, Bitcoin has been surpassed by Meta and has temporarily fallen out of the top ten global asset market capitalization rankings. The current market capitalization of Bitcoin is approximately US$1.327 trillion, and the market capitalization of Meta has reached US$1.468 trillion.

BlackRock has bought more than 10,000 BTC in the past two days, and currently holds more than 380,000 BTC

According to Lookonchain monitoring, BlackRock bought 5,802 BTC yesterday, equivalent to US$390.2 million. In the past two days, BlackRock has bought a total of 10,126 BTC, worth US$681 million, and its holdings have reached 380,972 BTC, worth approximately US$25.62 billion.

The hacker suspected of participating in the previous attack on the US SEC X account has been arrested by the FBI

The U.S. Department of Justices official website announced that Eric Council Jr., a hacker who previously participated in the attack on the U.S. SECs X account, was arrested by the FBI. It is reported that the hacker is an Alabama man who took over the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) X account without authorization in January 2024 and released false news from the SEC chairman (Bitcoin ETF has been approved), resulting in a short-term surge of $1,000 in the price of Bitcoin (BTC). Shortly after the relevant unauthorized content was released, the U.S. SEC regained control of its X account and confirmed that the relevant information was unauthorized and its X account was attacked due to a security vulnerability. After this corrective disclosure, the price of BTC fell by more than $2,000.

Eric Council Jr. has been indicted on charges of conspiracy to commit aggravated identity theft and access device fraud, according to an indictment unsealed yesterday.

Bitcoin ETFs’ total net inflows exceed $20 billion for the first time

According to Bloomberg ETF analyst Eric Balchunas, the total net inflows of Bitcoin ETFs exceeded US$20 billion for the first time (this is the most important number in the ETF field and the most difficult indicator to grow. In comparison, it took gold ETFs about 5 years to reach the same number). The previous week, the value of this indicator for Bitcoin ETFs was US$1.5 billion.

CEX Bitcoin reserves hit a record low of about 2.68 million

Cointelegraph published an article stating that the amount of Bitcoin reserves held by cryptocurrency trading platforms is currently reported at about 2.68 million, a record low.

IntoTheBlock: 95% of Bitcoin addresses are currently profitable

According to IntoTheBlock, market sentiment is high and 95% of Bitcoin addresses are currently profitable.

Galaxy Digital: Cryptocurrency industry received $2.4 billion in venture capital in Q3, down 20% from the previous quarter

According to a new report from Galaxy Digital, venture capital firms invested $2.4 billion in cryptocurrency startups in 478 deals in Q3. The amount of funding fell 20% compared to Q2, and the number of deals fell 17%.

In the first three quarters of this year, the industry received $8 billion in investment, a far cry from 2021 and 2022, when the industry received more than $30 billion in investment each year across 3,000 deals.
“(Institutional) investor interest in crypto venture and venture capital more broadly has declined from previous years,” said Alex Thorn, head of research at Galaxy Digital.

Project News

Worldcoin rebrands to World Network and announces that World Chain has launched mainnet

Sam Altman-backed Worldcoin has officially changed its name to World Network (World for short), and its Layer 2 network World Chain mainnet has been launched. Optimism, Alchemy, Uniswap, Safe, Dune and Etherscan will support the launch of the blockchain. The blockchain is built using OP Stack, and World Network said that user transactions account for about 44% of OP Mainnet activity, making it the largest application on the network.

Polymarkets US presidential election betting exceeds $2 billion

On Polymarket, the amount of money betting on who will win the 2024 presidential election, Harris or Trump, has exceeded $2 billion. Historical information shows that the figure hit $1 billion on September 24, increasing by another $1 billion in just 24 days.

As of October 17, Trumps betting amount on Polymarket was close to $608 million, with a winning rate of 62.3%; Harriss betting amount was approximately $405 million, with a winning rate of 37.5%.

Avalon Labs announces deployment of DePIN modular platform IoTeX

According to official news, BTC ecological lending protocol Avalon Labs announced yesterday that it will be officially deployed on the DePIN modular platform IoTeX to expand service support for DePIN assets. Avalon Labs has previously received investment from SNZ capital, Martrixport and other institutions, and the current TVL in the Avalon protocol has exceeded US$700 million.

ZKsync releases its first governance proposal ZKsync Ignite

ZKsync has released its first governance proposal, called ZKsync Ignite, which plans to transform ZKsync Era into the liquidity center of Elastic Chain through this project. To this end, 300 million ZK tokens will be distributed to DeFi users in the next 9 months. The proposal has been announced on the ZK Nation forum and aims to promote the further development and expansion of the ZKsync ecosystem.

Decentralized storage and data availability protocol Walrus launches public testnet

Walrus, a decentralized storage and data availability protocol launched by Mysten Labs, announced the launch of a public testnet. Walrus, suitable for blockchain applications and autonomous agents, has released a developer preview to collect feedback. The main advantages provided by the protocol include: cost-effective Blob storage, high availability and robustness.

Orderly Network announces integration with Solana to support cross-chain shared order books for perpetual contract trading

Orderly Network announced that it will integrate with Solana and deploy a treasury, becoming the first full-chain order book platform that supports both EVM and non-EVM, allowing users from different public chains to trade perpetual contracts through Orderly Networks unified cross-chain shared order book. Orderly Networks total trading volume recently exceeded US$83 billion. Currently, it has covered multiple mainstream blockchains, including Arbitrum, Base, Mantle, Ethereum mainnet, Optimism and Polygon. The platform provides traders and decentralized exchanges with more than 50 trading markets, realizing full-chain integrated liquidity and trading infrastructure.

After the successful deployment of the treasury on Solana, Solana users can now deposit assets on the Orderly platform and trade with counterparties on other supported chains without cross-chain. The testnet has been integrated and is expected to be integrated with the mainnet in November.

Renzo Protocol: First EigenLayer Restaking Rewards Distribution Completed

Renzo Protocol, a re-staking protocol, announced that the first EigenLayer re-staking reward distribution has been completed. Renzo has automatically compounded the staking rewards, including:

- ezETH generated 769.01 ETH (593,727.31 EIGEN) between August 15 and October 8;
- ezEIGEN generated 1,731.05 EIGEN between October 1st and October 8th.

Kraken launches Kraken Wrapped Bitcoin (kBTC)

According to official news, cryptocurrency exchange Kraken launched Kraken Wrapped Bitcoin (kBTC), which aims to unlock the potential of Bitcoin in the network.

kBTC is a fully backed, cross-network compatible ERC-20 token, each kBTC token is fully backed by an equal amount of Bitcoin at a 1:1 ratio and is securely held by Kraken.

Ethereum stakers earned $174 million in September, down 30% from March peak

Ethereum stakers earned a total of $174 million in September, down 30% from the March peak of $247 million.

Despite the decline in revenue, the validator base continues to expand. Ethereum currently has 1.09 million validators, indicating increasing participation in network security. Despite the reduction in individual rewards, the number of validators is still increasing, indicating that people still have confidence in Ethereums long-term prospects.

Investment and Financing

Drop Protocol Completes $4 Million Seed Round, Led by CoinFund

Liquidity staking protocol Drop Protocol announced the completion of a $4 million seed round of financing, led by CoinFund, with participation from CMS Holdings, Anagram, Interop Ventures, Cosmostation, as well as angel investors such as Lido DAO co-founder Vasiliy Shapovalov, Celestia Labs co-founder Mustafa Al-Bassam, and Abacus Labs CEO and Hyperlane core contributor Jon Kol. The new funds are intended to promote new economic possibilities in the Interchain.

zkPass Completes $12.5 Million Series A Financing, Animoca Brands and Others Participate

Privacy-preserving data verification protocol zkPass has completed a $12.5 million Series A financing round, with a valuation of $100 million. Dao 5, Animoca Brands, Flow Traders, Amber Group, IOBC Capital, Signum Capital, MH Ventures and WAGMI Ventures participated in the investment. It is reported that zkPass plans to launch tokens in the first quarter of next year.

Bitcoin protocol layer Surge completes $1.8 million Pre-Seed round of financing, with participation from Vamient Capital and others

Bitcoin protocol layer Surge announced the completion of a $1.8 million Pre-Seed round of financing, with participation from Autonomy, Gerstenbrot Capital, Double Peak Group, Sats Ventures, Vamient Capital, Samara AG, and angel investors including Rushi Manche of Movement Labs, Coingecko co-founder Bobby Ong and TM Lee. The new funds will drive the development of its MetaLayer to fully tap the potential of Bitcoin as the global currency base layer. It is reported that Surge plans to launch its testnet soon.

On-chain DA project Hyve completes $1.85 million seed round of financing, led by Lemniscap

On-chain data availability (DA) project Hyve announced the completion of a $1.85 million seed round of financing, led by Lemniscap, with participation from Paper Ventures, Frachtis and others. It is reported that Hyves solution HyveDA is a completely permissionless data availability layer that currently supports 1 GB of throughput per second.

Financial services firm Euroclear invests in Singaporean blockchain firm Marketnode

According to official news, financial services company Euroclear announced its investment in Singapore blockchain company Marketnode, specifically acquiring a strategic stake in Marketnode for an undisclosed amount. Euroclears investment aims to modernize financial market infrastructure using blockchain, with a focus on simplifying fund management and reducing settlement time through distributed ledger technology. It is reported that Marketnode was founded in 2021 by SGX Group and Temasek.

Regulatory trends

Tennessee reaches multimillion-dollar settlement with GS Partners

Tennessee, U.S., reaches a multi-million dollar settlement with GS Partners involving misleading crypto assets and metaverse investments. Affected investors can submit claims within 90 days starting in November, and are expected to return all deposited funds or cryptocurrencies. According to previous news, several U.S. states have ordered GS Partners to cease operations and accused GS Partners of defrauding investors in multiple cryptocurrency schemes.

Chainalysis: Stablecoin adoption in the U.S. slows in 2024 compared to global markets

In its latest report on North American cryptocurrency adoption trends, Chainalysis said that stablecoin adoption in the United States slowed in 2024 compared to global markets. This year, there has been a major shift in stablecoin activity in the U.S. market, with the share of stablecoin trading on U.S.-regulated exchanges falling from about 50% in 2023 to less than 40% in 2024. In contrast, the share of stablecoin trading on non-U.S. regulated platforms has grown significantly since 2023 and will exceed 60% in 2024.

Chainalysis stressed that this shift does not necessarily indicate a sharp decline in U.S. stablecoin activity, but rather reflects the rapidly expanding role of stablecoins in emerging markets and non-U.S. jurisdictions. Chainalysis said that as more countries develop regulatory frameworks to encourage the adoption of stablecoins, U.S. policymakers are under increasing pressure to take action.

Character Voice

MARA CEO: The current AI development environment is similar to the Internet bubble at the beginning of this century

Fred Thiel, CEO of bitcoin mining company MARA (formerly Marathon Digital), warned that the current AI development environment is similar to the Internet bubble in the 2000s. Many companies may over-build infrastructure in the absence of sufficient demand. Successful bitcoin mining companies will integrate AI components in the long run and use low-cost energy to provide services for AI data centers.

It is reported that MARA plans to expand its Bitcoin mining capabilities while acquiring customized chip technology through cooperation with Auradine, and hopes that 50% of its revenue will come from non-Bitcoin mining business in the next four years.

Lawyer: Indias harsh crypto tax stems from lack of understanding of the technology

At the 2024 Peer-to-Peer Financial System Symposium, legal practitioner Amit Kumar Gupta presented a research paper on crypto taxation in India. Gupta said that Indias heavy taxation on the crypto industry and blockchain sector, but the lack of regulation, reflects their lack of understanding of the technology, as they believe that these technologies are only used for illegal purposes such as money laundering and terrorist financing.

Arthur Hayes responds to Zhu Su: The only real information is that we both worked at Deutsche Bank, but I will not participate in behind-the-scenes transactions

In response to Zhu Sus previous post involving Arthur Hayes, Arthur Hayes responded to Zhu Su: The only true information in your post is that both of you worked at Deutsche Bank. When you are ready to work with the BVI liquidator, please do so as soon as possible and stop making creditors pay legal fees. BitMEX will accept the ruling that the court deems appropriate, but I will not participate in behind-the-scenes shady transactions like you did with CoinFlex, Hodlenaught, Ox, etc.

It is reported that Zhu Su previously posted that most of the work he did was for Arthur Hayes. The two worked together at the same bank counter at Deutsche Bank in Hong Kong and may have 20 to 30 close mutual friends. Zhu Su claimed that he provided Arthur Hayes with many ways to cooperate, causing many creditors who suffered losses to seize these opportunities. Earlier this year, Zhu Su revoked the Expedited Protection Order against Arthur Hayes after Arthur Hayes said that this affected his ability to conduct business.

CryptoQuant analyst: Teslas reasons for transferring BTC may involve compliance, internal audits, wallet management, etc.

Arkham Intelligence data shows that Tesla has transferred its Bitcoin reserves for the first time in more than two years, which has caused panic among some Bitcoin traders. CryptoQuant community analyst Maartunn said that he speculated that Tesla may transfer BTC for the following reasons:

1. Compliance or internal audit: Tesla may transfer Bitcoin to meet accounting or legal obligations related to reporting or internal audits;
2. Wallet management: Tesla may use multiple wallets for operational purposes, but this seems unlikely;
3. Restructuring Funds: Part of a strategy to restructure Bitcoin holdings to prepare for future sales or loans.
It is reported that the relevant bitcoins have not yet been transferred to the exchange wallet and there is no sign of sale.

ECB President: The decision to cut interest rates was unanimous, and inflation may fall to the target level next year

ECB President Christine Lagarde said the rate cut was unanimous and inflation could fall to target next year. There are still two-way risks in the current inflation forecast, and the downside risk to inflation is greater than the upside risk.

ING: The Fed may cut interest rates by 50 basis points in the rest of this year

James Knightley, chief international economist at ING, said the Federal Reserve could cut interest rates by 50 basis points for the rest of the year. Knightley explained that the Feds current approach focuses on risk management. Unlike most central banks, which have a single goal of getting inflation down to 2%, the Fed has two main goals: price stability and full employment. If the Fed is confident that it can achieve its inflation target, it may shift its focus to supporting employment. Knightley said it would be very appropriate for the Fed to cut interest rates by 25 basis points in November, followed by another cut in December. He also predicted that the Fed could cut interest rates to around 3%-3.5% by the summer of 2025.

CryptoQuant founder: Bitcoin-Tether futures market is becoming over-leveraged

Ki Young Ju, founder and CEO of CryptoQuant, wrote on the X platform: “The Bitcoin-Tether futures market is becoming over-leveraged. The calculation method is to divide the BTC-USDT open interest by the USDT reserves of major exchanges. This includes ETH and TRON-based USDT, which together account for 97% of the USDT market value, so it is quite accurate.”

Shenyu: The industry should adopt a delayed execution mechanism to ensure the safety of funds

In response to the previous Radiant Capital security incident, Shenyu (@bitfish 1) replied: When it comes to sensitive permissions, especially the ability to use funds, why didnt you adopt the industry standard practice of time lock (delayed execution mechanism) to ensure security?

Murad: Meme Coin is a sign of the maturity of the crypto industry

Meme coin KOL Murad wrote that Meme coin is a sign of the maturity of the crypto industry. In the past decade, altcoins have basically been speculative tools (or gambling chips), and Meme coin will absorb most of the speculative premium from altcoins.

U.S. CFTC Commissioner: Markets work best when regulators don’t interfere

U.S. CFTC Commissioner Summer Mersinger and former CFTC Chairman Chris Giancarlo mentioned the SECs regulatory style at the BlockTower Investor Conference. Mersinger said: We wont necessarily say we know better than all of you, but we will tell you how things work. We recognize that markets work best when regulators do not intervene arbitrarily.

Ripple Chief Legal Officer: Only leadership changes will lead to a change in the SECs attitude

Ripple Chief Legal Officer Stuart Alderoty believes that the U.S. Supreme Court’s reversal of the Chevron USA Inc. vs. Natural Resources Defense Council case in June 2024 will have little impact on the SEC’s strategy of pursuing crypto compliance through enforcement.

Alderoty emphasized in an interview that only a change in leadership would lead to a change in the SECs posture. I think that under this leadership, the SEC has done tremendous institutional damage to what was once a very respected institution.

Tim Draper: Donated roughly equal amounts to both Harris and Trump campaigns, supports both candidates

Billionaire American venture capitalist Tim Draper clarified on X: I have donated roughly equal amounts to both Harris and Trumps campaigns, which has enabled my wife and I to meet both candidates and make a more informed decision. Both candidates have the right starting points, and although they will set different paths for the United States, I am optimistic that either path will be a positive step. I support both candidates.

Lead Bank Lianchuang: Regulatory transparency and cooperation between regulators are crucial for banks to get involved in the crypto space

Lead Bank co-founder Erica Khalili said at the Ripple Swell conference that banks need to invest a lot of money to enter the encryption field and maintain close relationships with regulators, which is not easy for the encryption banking industry.

Khalili said that the number of new banks entering the industry makes regulatory transparency and inter-institutional cooperation between banking regulators essential. Although digital assets bring efficiency improvements to the capital market, banks must have a strategy to deal with regulation and remain patient to adapt to changing rules. Khalili emphasized that getting involved in the field of crypto banking requires a deep understanding of products, technology and talent, and it is difficult to succeed by simply testing the waters.

Zerocap Chief Investment Officer: Bitcoin will break through $70,000 in the next few weeks

Jonathan de Wet, chief investment officer at Zerocap, said in an investor note on Wednesday that Bitcoin’s upward momentum remains strong. “We expect (Bitcoin) to reach $70,000 in the coming weeks,” de Wet said, noting that the technical breakthrough provides a solid foundation for its further rise.

Andy Lian, an intergovernmental blockchain expert, said that Trumps plan to create a Bitcoin reserve may mark a turning point in crypto regulation. Such political support may lead to a more favorable regulatory environment, boosting investor confidence and demand. Lian believes that driven by global monetary policy, Bitcoin will reach an all-time high next week, and news such as major central banks sharp interest rate cuts may boost risky assets including cryptocurrencies.