The biggest news in the cryptoverse on Feb. 17 was that Terra-related tokens lost some of their value when the US SEC declared them securities. Meanwhile, Binance saw the market cap of its BUSD stablecoin decline and denied rumors that it would delist other assets, such as USDC.
Top CryptoSlate Stories
Terra-related tokens are dumped when the SEC labels them as securities
Terra-related tokens lost an average of 5% in the last 24 hours after the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) charges against Terraform Labs and Do Kwon, according to data from CryptoSlate.
On the 16th of February complaintthe SEC alleged that Terra's failed algorithmic stablecoin, TerraUSD (USTC), far โformerly Terra Lunaโ and Wrapped LUNA Classic (WLUNC) were securities under US securities laws.
The financial regulator further argued that Terraform Labs violated securities law with the launch of the Mirror Protocol (MIR). MIR allowed users to create mAssets, which constitutes a security-based exchange, according to the SEC.
The SEC added that the wrapped version of Luna was also a security: "wLUNA is also a security because it is a receipt for a security."
Do Kwon allegedly cashed out 100 million BTC through Swiss Bank
The US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) alleged that Terraform Labs and its founder do kwon transferred more than 10,000 BTC to a cold wallet and cashed out around $100 million through a Swiss bank.
The regulator filed a complaint on February 16 alleging that the defendant offered unregistered securities and operated a fraudulent scheme.
Further analysis of the filing with the SEC revealed that Do Kwon and Terraform Laboratories transferred more than 10,000 BTC to a cold wallet and subsequently converted some of the assets into cash.
CZ: 'The landscape is changing', following a 15% drop in BUSD market cap
Binance CEO Changpeng Zhao (CZ) said the โlandscape is changing,โ regarding stablecoin movements triggered by recent regulatory pressures.
The CEO of Binance tweeted details of the changes in the valuations of the three major stablecoins. He said BUSD's market capitalization had fallen by nearly $2.5 billion to $13.7 billion, a 15% decline, sinking to a 14-month low.
USDC's market capitalization also declined, albeit to a lesser extent, falling 1.7% to $41.5 billion.
Tether is the winner in all of this, posting a 3.5% rise in market capitalization to $70.1 billion, posting a 15-month high in the process.
CZ denies claims that Binance will delist US-based projects.
Binance CEO Changpeng "CZ" Zhao on February 17, described reports that his firm was considering delisting US-based crypto projects as โfake.โ
Bloomberg reported on Feb. 17 that Binance was reconsidering its relationships with its US trading partners, citing a person familiar with the matter, due to ongoing issues with its partners in the country.
The report added that the CZ-led exchange could delist Circle's USD Coin (USDC) stablecoin, and the firm was reassessing its venture capital investments in the US.
Meanwhile, C.Z. saying:โWe withdraw some potential investments, or offers in bankrupt companies in the US for now. Ask permission first.
Two Traders Earned Over $200k From Binance's Gain Network Listing
Blockchain researcher Lookonchain has identified two crypto addresses that accumulated over $200,000 from Gains Network GNS token sales after they were listed on Binance.
lookonchain saying the first address purchased 26,881 GNS tabs on the 1-inch exchange for $208,335 and sold it for a profit of $106,747 within hours of its listing on Binance.
Another wallet accumulated $500,000 worth of GNS at an average price of $7.38. The wallet started buying on February 8 and bought more tokens 20 minutes before the Binance announcement.
Gemini will be a qualified custodian under the SEC's proposed rules
crypto exchange Gemini would be considered a qualified custodian if the proposed expansion by the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) became official, according to the Gemini co-founder Tyler Winklevoss.
Winklevoss posted a thread on his Twitter account and said: โGemini Trust Company, LLC, is a New York trust company and has been a fiduciary and qualified custodian under New York Banking Law since 2015. This will continue to be the case under any new SEC rule that goes into effect.โ
FTX Warns Against Justin Sun-Backed FUD Tokens
Bankrupt crypto exchange FTX has warned its creditors against sponsoring unauthorized debt tokens, including the Justin Sun-backed FTX User Debt Token (FUD).
FUD is a debt token issued by Debt DAO with the claim to issue FTX users' debt as a bond token. At launch, around 20 million FUD was minted, with plans underway to mint additional tokens as soon as FTX confirmed the debt amount.
FTX tweeted on February 17 to disassociate itself from the project and warned creditors not to deal with such unauthorized schemes.
BlockFi Files to Dismiss SBF Startup Bankruptcy Case
Bankrupt crypto lender BlockFi has asked the court to dismiss a bankruptcy case filed by Sam's startup tech company Bankman-Fried (SBF) over a dispute over control of 55 million shares of Robinhood.
FTX's disgraced founder, SBF, owned 90% of the shares in Emergent Technology, a company he co-founded with Gary Wang solely to buy Robinhood shares.
NBA Hall of Famer Paul Pierce to Pay SEC $1.4 Million for Undisclosed EMAX Promotion
Former NBA player Paul Pierce has agreed to pay $1.409 million to the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) as penalties for his undisclosed promotion of the unregistered security token EthereumMax (EMAX), according to a February 17 statement.
The second saying the NBA star received more than $244,000 in EMAX tokens to promote the tokens on Twitter. The financial regulator added that the NBA star made false and misleading promotional claims about the crypto asset.
'Communist Bitcoiners' Exposed By Ordinals As Control Freaks
Peter McCormack was outspoken in calling out "communist bitcoinists" for their adverse reaction to ordinals.
Host of the What Bitcoin Did podcast saying The best thing about Ordinals is how it "angers" Bitcoin fans. He said the fallout exposed those who seek absolute control and hate anyone who makes money.
featured research
Research: Public Bitcoin Miners Are in Better Financial Health Despite 12.1% YoY Drop in BTC Holdings
Glassnode data analyzed by CryptoSlate It shows that Bitcoin miners are beginning to enjoy some respite in the current year after struggling in 2022.
As of January 2022, Bitcoin miners held 36,003 BTC, and mining companies like Core Scientific, Riot, Hut8, Marathon, and Bitfarms held over 30,000 coins.
However, the picture seems to have changed in the current year, as Hut 8, Marathon, and Riot are now the dominant miners, holding 87% (27,760 BTC) of miners' BTC holdings, according to CryptoSlate investigation.
Bitfarms and Core Scientific parted ways while struggling in 2022; the latter requested bankruptcy while the first took care debt obligations.
cryptomarket
In the last 24 hours, Bitcoin (BTC) rose 0.76% to trade at $24,902.40, while Ethereum (ETH) rose 0.88% to $1,715.85.
Biggest winners (24h)
- Filecoin (FIL): 30.5%
- Internet Computer (ICP): 25.04%
- Klaytn (KLAY): 22.16%
The biggest losers (24h)
- FLOKI (FLOKI): -20.06%
- Onyxcoin (XCN): -12.94%
- Immutable X (IMX): -12.41%
