Bitcoin Price: US$ 26,568.08 (-2.05%)
Ethereum Price: US$ 1,583.94 (-2.36%)
Binance, its U.S. affiliate Binance.US, and Changpeng ‘CZ’ Zhao have filed to dismiss the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) lawsuit against them, arguing that the SEC’s allegations of securities-related violations lack plausibility and that the regulator is attempting to extend its authority to encompass digital assets without explicit congressional authorisation. The SEC’s lawsuit, which was initiated in June, accuses Binance and its executives of unlawfully listing unregistered securities in the form of various cryptocurrencies for trading and investment by U.S. investors. Meanwhile, cryptocurrency markets experienced a decline as Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell’s hawkish remarks on maintaining tight financial conditions and high interest rates for a longer period were digested. Bitcoin fell to around $26,600, and Ethereum dropped below $1,600, while high interest rates raised concerns about borrowing costs and refinancing for crypto firms. Additionally, there is competition among technology providers, including Polygon Labs and Optimism’s OP Stack, to provide technology for the Celo blockchain’s migration into a Layer-2 network on Ethereum, highlighting the race to establish dominance in Ethereum’s growing ecosystem of interconnected Layer-2 networks.
Stablecoin issuer Tether is diversifying into artificial intelligence (AI) through a subsidiary jointly owned with bitcoin miner Northern Data Group, investing €400 million ($427 million) in Nvidia GPUs for AI applications. This expansion showcases Tether’s strategic shift beyond its stablecoin business, with recent investments in BTC mining and payment processing. Meanwhile, Binance has issued a warning about potential large-scale delistings of stablecoins in Europe due to upcoming European Union regulations (MiCA) set to take effect in June 2024, causing concerns for decentralised and foreign issuers. Cryptocurrencies like Binance Coin (BNB) and XRP saw declines, while Bitcoin displayed limited enthusiasm following a one-year delay in Mt. Gox’s repayments, now scheduled for October 31, 2024.
The Optimism Foundation has conducted a private token sale of 116 million OP tokens, valued at $157 million, to seven different buyers, using tokens from its unallocated treasury. This sale allows the buyers to delegate the tokens to third parties for participation in blockchain governance. Meanwhile, Chainlink has integrated with Ethereum layer-2 scaling protocol Arbitrum, launching the Chainlink Cross-Chain Interoperability Protocol (CCIP) on Arbitrum One, providing developers with access to Chainlink’s solutions and unlocking cross-chain use cases. Additionally, cryptocurrency brokerage eToro has received a Crypto Asset Service Provider (CASP) registration from the Cyprus Securities and Exchange Commission (CySEC), allowing it to offer regulated crypto services to all EU countries once the Markets in Crypto-Assets Regulation (MiCA) is enforced in December 2024, expanding its services in Europe.
Decentralised exchange Pancakeswap has integrated Transak as a provider in its “buy crypto” feature, allowing users to onboard with over 20 different payment options based on global needs, including debit cards, Google Pay, Apple Pay, and bank transfers. This integration aims to simplify and facilitate entry into decentralised finance (DeFi) protocols for users. Pancakeswap operates on multiple blockchain networks, including BNB Chain, Ethereum, Base, Polygon zkEVM, and more, and has over $1.3 billion locked in its contracts, with a daily trading volume exceeding $150 billion. In a similar vein, Uniswap has launched Uniswap University in partnership with blockchain education-focused DoDAO to provide structured learning pathways, courses, simulations, and quick guides for users interested in Uniswap v3. The platform covers various topics, from understanding decentralised exchanges (DEXs) to advanced strategies for liquidity providers.
Source:
https://cointelegraph.com
https://coindesk.com
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