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Ripple General Counsel Calls SEC “Bouncing Regulator” For Shifting Stance On Hinman Speech

Mark Brennan
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Ripple General Counsel Calls SEC “Bouncing Regulator” For Shifting Stance On Hinman Speech

Alderoty describes the SEC as “the bouncing regulator.”


In a tweet on Sunday, Ripple General Counsel Stuart Alderoty highlighted the continuous shift in the US Securities and Exchange Commission’s claims during the two-year legal battle, describing the SEC as “the bouncing regulator.”

In the tweet, Alderoty highlights two quotes from the SEC, the first asserting that the Howey test decided what constitutes an investment contract and the second implying that the Hinman speech should serve as guidance for market participants.

It is worth noting that the documents relating to the draft of the controversial William Hinman speech in 2018 have been hotly contested in the legal battle. Hinman, an SEC director at the time, asserted that Bitcoin and Ethereum are not securities. The SEC initially dismissed the speech as Hinman’s personal opinions and not indicative of the SEC’s stance.

However, Ripple believed otherwise, requesting that the regulator hand over emails and documents related to the drafting of the speech. Notably, after multiple refusals to requests by Judges Sarah Netburn and Analisa Torres, arguing attorney-client privilege, the regulator finally handed over the documents to Ripple.

Alderoty confirming the development in October, asserted that Ripple’s case had received a big boost. Now, per the SEC’s redacted reply to Ripple’s response to its motion for summary judgment, as quoted by Alderoty, the SEC appears to have shifted its stance on the significance of the Hinman speech.

It bears mentioning that Alderoty confirming that Ripple had filed its reply to the SEC’s response to its motion for summary judgment, sub-tweeted the SEC implying that the regulator has failed to be forthcoming with the court.

Notably, all that’s left in the two-year-long legal battle is for Judge Analisa Torres to give her ruling. As previously reported, pro-Ripple attorney James Filan expects this ruling on or before the end of March 2023.

Ripple chief Brad Garlinghouse commenting on the case’s progress, asserted that the firm remains committed to fighting for clear guidelines for the crypto industry. Notably, a win for the SEC could see the regulator expand its reach in crypto enforcement using the Ripple case as a precedent without a need to establish clear guidelines despite the calls from industry participants.

In response to Alderoty’s tweets on Sunday, several XRP holders and Ripple supporters highlighted that it was a clear example of how the regulator continuously shifted the goalpost.

What You Need To Know About Crypto Loans Before You Apply

Andrew MacGill
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What You Need To Know About Crypto Loans Before You Apply

Cryptocurrencies can be viewed as a distinct asset class. And, like other assets such as a stock, house, or car, your crypto can be used as collateralized loan crypto. Today, you can get a crypto loan from one of several new lenders, with the collateral being your existing cryptocurrency. Before obtaining a loan, you must hold cryptocurrency.

These loans feature cash availability, same-day funding, cheap interest rates, and no credit checks. The drawback? You may be required to pledge additional cryptocurrency if the coin’s net value declines. A lender may initiate direct debits or liquidate your cryptocurrency account if you fail to make a payment.

Even though there are challenges, a crypto loan can be a lifesaver if you need funds for transactions but don’t want to sell your crypto.

What are crypto loans?

A crypto loan is a secured loan wherein your crypto assets are employed as collateral to obtain liquidity from a lender, which you would repay in installments. Cryptocurrency is returned at the end of the loan term if all payments have been made and the loan amount has been compensated in whole.

The amount of your cryptocurrency loan will often be determined by the LTV (loan-to-value) ratio of the digital currency you use as collateral. You can borrow up to 50% to 90% of the value of your cryptocurrency from lenders. Bitcoin and Ethereum are the most prominent cryptocurrencies accepted as collateral by some lenders, while others accept more than 40 altcoins.

The duration of a loan might range from a week to a year or longer. Interest rates are modest relative to personal loans and credit cards, as lenders offer rates ranging from 0% to 13.9%.

Crypto loans appeal to holders who anticipate their crypto assets’ long-term worth will rise yet require cash for immediate spending. However, crypto loans have inherent hazards, such as the need for more security if the worth of your cryptocurrency falls and steep fines for missing payments.

Types of crypto loans

Crypto loans can be classified into two types: CeFi and DeFi.

  • The first type is the Centralized Finance or CeFi loan. These are custodial cryptocurrency loans in which a lender retains control of your cryptocurrency during the payback period. CeFi is the umbrella under which most crypto loans fall.
  • Decentralized Finance, or DeFi, loans use smart contracts to assure loan compliance. You retain ownership of your crypto assets, but a lender may take automated action against your account if you fail or skip a payment. DeFi crypto loans may have a higher interest rate than CeFi crypto loans.

What can a crypto loan be used for?

Like a personal loan, a crypto loan can be utilized at your discretion and typically without limits from the lender. The loan proceeds can be used for substantial expenses such as a down payment on a house, a car, tuition, debt consolidation, or starting a new business.

A crypto loan might make logical sense if a person has a significant amount of cryptocurrency and needs liquidity without being obligated to sell.

Vechain Extends Its Partnership With Association of Tennis Professionals

Albert Brown
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Vechain Extends Its Partnership With Association of Tennis Professionals

VeChain has extended its partnership with ATP to promote brand awareness in Europe.

VeChain’s aim in partnering with the ATP is to project its brand image to the European market and attract industry-leading firms who wish to leverage blockchain for sustainability initiatives. These firms will be looking to use VeChainThor.

VeChain Foundation is securing a multi-year partnership with the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP) to develop sustainability initiatives within Europe and promote further brand awareness. The move follows a previous collaboration that saw VeChain debut as a silver partner of the Nitto ATP Finals last month.

VeChain disclosed the exciting development during its week at the Nitto ATP Finals, which were held between November 13 and November 20. The VeChain team echoed the reports in a summary of their experience at the event through a LinkedIn post published yesterday.

According to VeChain, following the just-concluded Nitto ATP Finals, it plans to extend its partnership with ATP until 2025. This will allow VeChain to utilize ATP’s large annual viewership of an audience of over 1 billion individuals as it secures a platform through which it promotes brand awareness and develops sustainability initiatives in Europe via an expansion in the continent.

In the LinkedIn post, VeChain noted that its brand awareness technique exposed it to the multiple guests who graced the event, as numerous advertising boards featured the VeChain brand in several media presentations, including image and video content. Penetrating the heart of Europe through a brand presence at the ATP is a strategic move toward European expansion.

Speaking on the recent development, a member of the VeChain board, Renato Grottola, highlighted the significance of the partnership, as it allows VeChain to present itself as the go-to option for global brands seeking to develop digital sustainability initiatives.

“VeChain recognises this sponsorship as a global platform to share evolving and fresh ideas of developments within the blockchain realm alongside pioneers, business leaders and universities in Italy and beyond,” the team concluded.

VeChain’s Recent Development Efforts

Recall that, on October 18, VeChain previously announced the start of its partnership with ATP as it revealed a feature at the Nitto ATP Finals week in the Italian city of Turin. According to the team, this will give the VET project more publicity and provide an appropriate marketing opportunity and a chance to network with several notable brands across the globe.

Barely a week after that, the VeChain Foundation unveiled a VeChain x Nitto ATP Finals digital collectibles collection dubbed “VeBounce” in collaboration with World of V, and ExPlus. In addition to the collection, VeChain disclosed that it would concurrently launch a lottery event powered by blockchain.

Furthermore, during the Nitto ATP Finals, VeChain finalized its mainnet upgrade at block 13815000 on November 17, 8:10 (UTC), as recently highlighted by The Crypto Basic. According to VeChain, the upgrade was accompanied by the implementation of Proof of Authority 2.0 (PoA2.0), which would foster global operation capabilities for the VeChainThor while mitigating risks of data loss.

“The seamless upgrade introduced a critical mechanic for the future of VeChain and its sustainability objectives by ensuring absolute finality and, thus, data quality assurance,” the VeChain Foundation highlighted in a recent LinkedIn post. 

The team further disclosed that the latest network upgrade would enable the VeChainThor network to comply with emerging data-related regulatory guidelines while providing proper scalability and security, thus combining two blockchain architecture techniques, as it leverages the strengths of both and eliminates their respective weaknesses.

Ripple Recognized As Fourth Best Workplace For Parents

Mark Brennan
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Ripple Recognized As Fourth Best Workplace For Parents

 

Leading Silicon Valley tech company Ripple has been recognized among the “Best Workplaces for Parents 2022” by ‘Great Place To Work.’ According to the list, Ripple ranks as the fourth-best workplace for parents in 2022.


Per a survey conducted by Great Place To Work, 95% of Ripple employees disclosed that the blockchain company is a “great place to work compared to 57% of employees in a typical U.S.-based company.” 

Ripple also scored high in other segments of the survey, which helped the company to rank as the fourth-best workplace for parents in 2022. 100% of Ripple employees disclosed in the survey that they were warmly welcomed when they first joined the company. 98% of Ripple’s employees said the company allows people to take time off whenever necessary.

Furthermore, 97% of Ripple employees noted that the company’s management is ethical and honest in its business practice. 96% of respondents stated that Ripple management trusts employees to do a good job without close supervision, while 97% said Ripple facilities contribute to creating a good working environment for employees.

Commenting on the recent milestone, Ripple said in a statement: 

“We have a diverse community of parents and caregivers, and we prioritize providing inclusive support at every stage of their family journey. We’re proud to be recognized as one of the #BestWorkplaces for parents!” 

FTX Wallet With Over 154B Terra Classic Discovered, Is LUNC At Risk Of A Price Dump?

Mark Brennan
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FTX Wallet With Over 154B Terra Classic Discovered, Is LUNC At Risk Of A Price Dump?

LUNC may be at risk of a dump as users discover 154B LUNC on an FTX-owned wallet.



In a tweet on Monday, a self-acclaimed Terra Luna Classic (LUNC) whale revealed that he had discovered a wallet allegedly belonging to the now-bankrupt FTX crypto exchange holding over 154 billion LUNC worth over $27.5 million at today’s prices.

The Crypto Basic check on Terra Finder confirmed the holdings showing that the last transaction on the wallet saw it receive 10 billion LUNC at the end of June. So, unsurprisingly, the Terra Classic community members are left wondering what will happen to the coins.

Some users suspect it may not be recoverable and believe it will help reduce the circulating supply. Others have asserted that FTX  should send the tokens to the burn wallet. 

Despite these exciting suggestions, it is worth noting that these tokens most likely belong to FTX customers, which would make it wrong to burn up their holdings to further the LUNC burn initiative. Notably, even if they do not belong to FTX customers, as FTX assets, they are still subject to the current bankruptcy proceedings.

As part of the bankruptcy proceedings, restructuring officers are likely to liquidate these assets or sell them off to interested parties, using the proceeds in either case to compensate creditors. However, liquidation is potentially the worst outcome for LUNC holders, as dumping such a large amount of LUNC on the market could significantly impact the already struggling crypto price.

As highlighted above, FTX and its subsidiaries are embroiled in bankruptcy proceedings in the US after it filed for chapter 11 bankruptcy in the District of Delaware while filing a separate chapter 15 for the Bahamas arm of the exchange in the District of New York. Meanwhile, as previously reported, Tron Founder Justin Sun has indicated an interest in purchasing FTX assets.

Cardano Native Tokens Surge By 239K In One Week

Lele Jima
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Cardano Native Tokens Surge By 239K In One Week

Cardano’s native tokens have been growing at an unprecedented rate.


The number of native assets minted on the Cardano blockchain has surpassed 7.1M. According to data shared by Input Output Global (IOG), Cardano’s development team, a total of 7.11 million native assets have been minted on the popular blockchain.

Data on pool.pm shows that there are now 7,139,450 native assets on the Cardano network. Interestingly, the feat comes a week after the IOG revealed 6.9M native assets had been minted on Cardano. So in one week, 239.45K assets were minted on Cardano.

Hoskinson’s Prediction Came True

It is worth noting that Charles Hoskinson predicted the tremendous growth of Cardano’s native assets. Hoskinson said in a 2020 tweet that hundreds of assets and thousands of decentralized applications would run on Cardano by 2021.

“This time next year, I predict that there will be hundreds of assets running on Cardano, thousands of DApps, tons of interesting projects, and lots of unique utility. 2021 is going to be so much fun watching Cardano grow and evolve. The community is ready to innovate,” he said in 2020.

Interestingly, Cardano surpassed Hoskinson’s prediction regarding the number of native assets on the network. The popular cryptocurrency entrepreneur took to Twitter to slam a critic who trolled him for not delivering on his promises.

“Cardano has 6 million native assets issued, 3.6 million wallets, over 100 decentralized applications launched, and more than a thousand [are still] building. So yeah, it came true,” Hoskinson said.

EMURGO to Launch First Regulatory Compliant Stablecoin on Cardano

Meanwhile, Cardano’s commercial arm EMURGO announced last month that it would launch the first USD-backed regulatory-compliant stablecoin, dubbed USDA, on the blockchain. According to the announcement, EMURGO will launch the stablecoin in the first quarter next year.

The stablecoin will combine the security of the dollar and the scalability of Cardano, the announcement read.

Terra Classic (LUNC) Tops 4K+ Assets In Social Activity

Albert Brown
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Terra Classic (LUNC) Tops 4K+ Assets In Social Activity

Terra Classic (LUNC) has secured the top spot among assets with the highest social activity, following Binance’s latest burn.



Interest in Terra Classic (LUNC) has picked up, as evidenced in its recently-surging social activity, following reports of Binance’s burn for November. This increased social activity has skyrocketed the asset’s position in Lunar Crush’s AltRank, securing the top spot amongst 4,022 assets evaluated in the week leading to December 2.

Crypto social intelligence platform Lunar Crush disclosed the achievement in the early hours of Saturday, as it sought to highlight the rejuvenation of social activities within the LUNC camp.

“…Terra Classic has hit an AltRank™ of 1 out of the top 4,023 coins across the market,” Lunar Crush revealed, sharing a dashboard detailing Terra Classic’s social metrics and trade volume.

 

Information from the dashboard indicates that Terra Classic currently secures the first position out of the 4,022 coins recently assessed with the AltRank evaluation tool. The asset now has an average position of 93rd out of the 4,022 coins. Additionally, social contributors surged by 21.9% in the past week, with social engagements increasing by a staggering 71.3%.

Based on price changes, LUNC’s recent relief rally made it the 273rd asset with the biggest gains out of the 4,022 cryptocurrencies across the market. Furthermore, the asset’s recent trading volume surge positioned it as 18th out of 4,022 coins in terms of volume. It sits 20th amongst the 4,022 coins evaluated in terms of social volume and social score.

Binance’s Contribution to The Recent Metrics

This increase in social engagements and trading volume is largely due to reports of Binance’s recent LUNC burn for November. Recall that Binance incinerated up to 6.3B LUNC tokens for its November batch on December 1, bringing its total burn to 20.1B tokens.

Barely 24 hours after reports of the burn surfaced, LUNC surged by over 16% before facing a slight rejection. The asset’s trade volume equally increased by up to 57%, as previously reported by The Crypto Basic. Consequently, Terra Classic finally reclaimed the $1B market capitalization after ten days of staying below the mark. These were signs of renewed interest from investors.

Despite meeting a hurdle in its recent rally, LUNC remains one of the highest-gaining assets in the space of 7 days, towering over coins such as Bitcoin (BTC), Ethereum (ETH), Binance Coin (BNB), XRP (XRP), and a host of others. With a one-week gain of 10.14%, LUNC is changing hands at $0.0001786, with a market cap of $1.07B as of press time.

Terra Classic Network To Get Osmosis Support In Burning LUNC

Mark Brennan
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Terra Classic Network To Get Osmosis Support In Burning LUNC

The Terra Classic community wants Osmosis to carry out off-chain LUNC burns.



Cosmos Capybara, a Terra Classic community member, has published a signaling proposal on agora with the intent of the Terra Classic community showing that it wants Osmosis to support the burning of Terra Luna Classic (LUNC) off-chain.

@reXxTerraRebels, AKA reXx, brought the proposal to the community’s attention in a tweet yesterday.

If passed, it signals to the leading Cosmos Automated Market Maker (AMM) that the Terra Classic community wants it to support burns for LUNC and TerraClassicUSD (USTC) swaps. As an incentive, Cosmos Capybara suggests that Osmosis keeps 10% of the collected tax and sends only 90% to the Terra Classic burn wallet. Per the proposal, Osmosis can keep the collected 10% in its community pool or a smart contract under its community governance control.

The proposal asserts that before the ecosystem collapsed in May, the Terra Classic community and Osmosis enjoyed a deep and mutually beneficial relationship, with Osmosis serving as the primary off-chain source of liquidity, excluding centralized exchanges.

According to Cosmos Capybara, in the past, LUNC holders offered a continuous stream of swap fees for liquidity providers in exchange for deep liquidity and sophisticated yield farming techniques. Consequently, the author believes it is only right that Osmosis consider this request for support which has the potential also to be mutually beneficial.

Unlike Cosmos Capybara’s previous proposal that requests to allocate 50% of all LUNC burns at the end of every epoch to the community pool to fund development, this one has received significant community support.

One user commenting on the proposal described it as “awesome.” Meanwhile, another user asserted that the proposal had “zero downsides.”

Terra Classic network validator @lunc_nymh highlights that it is only a signaling proposal. As a result, even if it passes, Osmosis will still have to pass a separate governance proposal to implement it. “It’s up to them at the end of day,” the validator tweeted.

The latest proposal comes as the Terra Classic community edges toward the re-opening of Inter Blockchain Communication (IBC) channels. As previously reported, the code is expected to go live on December 5. Notably, it will allow trapped LUNC liquidity in Osmosis to flow back into the Terra Classic network.

It bears mentioning that, in anticipation, some community members supported a proposal to increase the on-chain tax parameter to 1.2% to maximize burns from the increased activity. With developers believing that a tax increase could potentially kill the chain, should Osmosis support the proposal by Cosmos Capybara, it could serve as an equitable compromise by increasing burns while maintaining the 0.2% tax.

Virginia-based Luxury Car Dealer Now Accepts Shiba Inu

Zabi
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Virginia-based Luxury Car Dealer Now Accepts Shiba Inu

Luxury Cars can now be purchased using Shiba Inu.


BitPay recently announced that it has entered into a partnership with Virginia-based luxury car dealer ‘Exclusive Automotive Group’ to facilitate the purchase of Koenigsegg Hypercars with cryptos like Bitcoin, Ethereum, Shiba Inu, and others.

 

Exclusive Automotive Group now offers its customers the to purchase new or pre-owned Aston Martin, Bentley, Karma, and Koenigsegg at their store in Ashburn, near the renowned One Loudoun, just fifteen minutes from Washington, DC via crypto.

BitPay is among the early adopter of Shiba Inu and added support for SHIB on December 9th, 2021, enabling millions of crypto users to buy, store, swap, and spend SHIB directly through the BitPay App. BitPay is the world’s leading payment gateway and currently supports seventeen major cryptocurrencies, including SHIB, BTC, ETH, MATIC, and others.

Recall TheCryptoBasic reported in Oct that Shiba Inu could also be used to purchase Elon Musk’s “Burnt Hair” cologne via BitPay.

Besides this, the leading handmade shoe manufacturer Atheist Shoes recently partnered with BitPay to accept Shiba Inu payments. Following the partnership, Atheist Shoes gave a 10% discount on all of its footwear products for Shiba Inu lovers while using the promo code “HANDMADECOMFY.” This special discount is valid until December 16, 2022.

Garlinghouse Says Ripple Will Continue To Fight Aggressively Against SEC Onslaught

Lele Jima
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0
Garlinghouse Says Ripple Will Continue To Fight Aggressively Against SEC Onslaught

 

Garlinghouse Says Ripple Stands Strong Against SEC Onslaught.


Garlinghouse reassures investors that Ripple will continue to fight to get regulatory clarity for the U.S. crypto space.

Ripple’s CEO Brad Garlinghouse has reassured investors that the company will aggressively engage the SEC in a legal battle to ensure that the entire U.S. crypto industry gets clear rules.

Garlinghouse made this known in response to a tweet by Ripple’s General Counsel, Stuart Alderoty. Earlier today, Alderoty informed XRP holders that the Silicon Valley blockchain company had publicly filed its redacted reply to the SEC’s opposition to its summary judgment motion.

Commenting on Ripple’s latest filing, Garlinghouse said: 

“I said it on day 1; we will aggressively fight to get clear rules for the entire industry in the U.S.”

He congratulated the Ripple team for helping the company reach the summary judgment stage, adding: “Ripple stood strong and withstood the SEC’s onslaught. I look forward to being on the right side of justice.” 

Alderoty Reacts to Ripple’s Recent Filing

In what Alderoty described as Ripple’s final submission, the Silicon Valley tech company filed its redacted summary judgment reply yesterday. Alderoty added that Ripple is proud of the defense it has put up against the SEC in the past two years. 

“We have always played it straight with the Court. Can’t say the same for our adversary,” Alderoty said.

Ripple and SEC Publicly File Summary Judgment Replies

Ripple noted in a reply that the SEC’s opposition brief confirms that the court should grant a judgment in the company’s favor.

According to Ripple, the SEC cannot prove that its XRP sales from 2013 to 2020 constitute an investment contract offer. Ripple slammed the SEC, saying it mischaracterized its case by claiming to have been declared the winner in security cases where the essential ingredients of the Howey test are not present.

“Ultimately, the SEC cannot point to a single case finding an investment contract without the ‘essential ingredients’ identified in Howey. And it is undisputed that the case has none of them,” Ripple stated. 

On the other hand, the Securities and Exchange Commission highlighted three facts proving that the company’s XRP sales constituted an investment contract offer. Per the SEC, Ripple confirmed that it received $2 billion from investors in exchange for XRP. Furthermore, the SEC claimed that Ripple did not oppose the “common enterprise” and “the expectation of profit from the efforts of others” ingredients of the Howey test. 

The SEC noted: 

“None of the defendant’s arguments to the contrary precludes summary judgment. Defendants’ primary tactic is to deflect controlling precedent with fictional tests, muddy the facts, and shift blame to the SEC.” 

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