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Three Possible Maneuvers SEC Can Still Use to Delay Surrendering Hinman’s Documents To Ripple

Mark Brennan
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Three Possible Maneuvers SEC Can Still Use to Delay Surrendering Hinman’s Documents To Ripple

The SEC may continue to push to hold on to Hinman’s document despite Judge Torres’ recent ruling.


As Reported By The Crypto Basic, in a major defeat to SEC, With Judge Analisa Torres backing her colleague Judge Sarah Netburn and ordering the SEC to turn over William Hinman’s documents, the federal agency is left with limited options in its quest to delay further complying with the order.

Former U.S. defense lawyer James K. Filan highlighted three “procedural cards” the Securities and Exchange Commission can use to further hold on to Hinman’s documents.

“Some thoughts on the next steps in the quest for the Hinman documents. The SEC has several procedural cards they can play to avoid further complying with the order to produce the Hinman documents,” Filan said.

Possible Moves SEC Can Use to Stall Recent Order

According to Fillan, the SEC can still appeal to Judge Torres to reconsider her decision on the issue, a move that has a low probability of success. 

The second procedural card the SEC can play to delay further complying with the order is for the agency to directly ask Judge Torres to certify an appeal of her order. If the SEC’s request is granted, it can file an interlocutory appeal to the Second Circuit to counter Judge Torres’ decision. 

Furthermore, Filan said the SEC could ignore using any of the two methods and directly file a petition at the Court of Appeal for Writ of Mandamus.

 

Interestingly, Filan described the three procedural cards as having a very low probability of success. He added even if SEC chooses any of these maneuvers, none will impact the summary judgment schedule.

“If the SEC wants to delay producing the documents, they may try any or even all of these maneuvers, and that could take an additional 2 to 3 months to work out; none of these attempts at delay, however, will impact the summary judgment schedule,” Filan said.

XRP Holders Optimistic

At the moment, Ripple has recorded major victories in the lawsuit, which many believe could play a pivotal role in the final ruling. XRP holders are optimistic about a victory in the end, and these events have continued to impact the price of the cryptocurrency positively. XRP surged over 10% to $0.48 when Judge Torres overruled the SEC’s objection.

Terra Classic (LUNC) To See Extreme Boost In Number Of Projects, As Terra Rebels To Cut Off Dependency On TFL

Mark Brennan
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Terra Classic (LUNC) To See Extreme Boost In Number Of Projects, As Terra Rebels To Cut Off Dependency On TFL

 

Terra Classic to attain technological parity with LUNA v2 sooner than previously expected.


Terra Classic core developer Edward Kim in a medium blog post released on Thursday, disclosed that the LUNC network would attain technological parity with LUNA v2 well before mid-2023, as previously projected. This will mean full compatibility with Cosmos v45.8 and Tendermint v0.34.

 

The latest development comes as Jacob Gadikian, a respected Cosmos developer, has offered to help “clean up the chain.” Notably, the Terra Rebels first established contact with Gadikian to help reopen Inter Blockchain Communication (IBC) on the chain so users could regain access to liquidity locked in the Cosmos ecosystem.

According to Kim, when changes are fully deployed months from now, users can expect a drastic increase in the number of projects supported by the network. However, there is one condition.

The Terra core developer revealed that most outsiders looking to help would only get involved if the Classic network is independent of Terraform Labs (TFL).

To that end, Kim reveals that the Terra Rebels are actively working on cutting off any TFL dependencies. According to Kim, this includes the development of an independent REST server architecture and possibly launching a wallet, as TFL still has some control over Terra Station.

“Terra rebels have plans to create a full node backed by Allnodes, setten_io & AutismStaking as part of making LUNC completely independent from TFL.”

However, for all of these, funding will be needed. In the blog post, the developer explores the idea of funding the community pool through a portion of the 1.2% tax, which he says will be a simple parameter change.

It bears mentioning that the post by Kim expressed the Terra Rebels roadmap released yesterday in 3 broad objectives. These objectives include:

  • Rebuild the Algorithmic Fungible Token (AFT).
  • Rebuild the Project Ecosystem.
  • Rebuild Independence.

As previously reported by The Crypto Basic, about 18 projects are already working on launching on the Classic network. Notably,  23 have shown interest in total.

Another Major Defeat for SEC, As Judge Torres Orders SEC to Surrender Hinman’s Documents to Ripple 

Lele Jima
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Another Major Defeat for SEC, As Judge Torres Orders SEC to Surrender Hinman’s Documents to Ripple 

Ripple records yet another victory in the lawsuit. 

Judge Analisa Torres has overruled the SEC’s objection to Judge Sarah Netburn’s ruling, ordering the securities regulators to surrender the draft of William Hinman’s speech to Ripple. 

Recall that the SEC filed an objection to Judge Netburn’s ruling on Hinman’s documents, arguing that the magistrate erred by stating that the attorney-client privilege does not protect the drafts of the speech. 

Judge Torres’ Verdict

In response to the SEC’s objection, Judge Torres said there is no need to reconsider the order because magistrate Netburn ruling on the matter is not contrary to law or clearly erroneous. 

While Judge Torres agrees with some of the claims made by the SEC, she still thinks her colleague’s ruling did not contravene the law. 

“Therefore, the SEC’s objections to Judge Netburn’s findings with respect to the relevance of the Internal Speech Documents are OVERRULED,” Judge Torres said. 

Additionally, Judge Torres also noted that Judge Netburn did not err in determining that the drafts of Hinman’s controversial speech are concerning any agency deliberations regarding the regulation of crypto assets. 

“The Court finds that the SEC has not carried its ‘heavy burden’ of showing that Judge Netburn’s determination was clearly erroneous […] Therefore, the SEC’s objections to Judge Netburn’s findings concerning the SEC’s assertions of the DPP are OVERRULED […] For the foregoing reasons, the Court OVERRULES the SEC’s objections and directs the SEC to comply with the Orders,” Judge Torres rules. 

Battle Over Hinman’s Documents

Both Ripple and the SEC have been at loggerheads over the 2018 controversial speech made by Hinman, the former director of the commission’s Corporate Finance. 

Ripple believes the drafts of Hinman’s speech would aid its fair notice defense. However, the SEC has been fighting to keep the documents from Ripple’s reach, claiming that the drafts contain internal communication of the agency’s staff. 

Many crypto and legal practitioners have speculated that the SEC would prefer to settle with Ripple than surrender the documents. However, if the SEC refuses to turn over the Hinman documents to Ripple, the agency may opt for a tougher approach to keep the documents. 

This time, the SEC might want to file an interlocutory appeal to the Second Circuit to counter the recent order of Judge Torres. However, the SEC would need to first get an interlocutory clearance from Judge Torres to make this happen, a request that attorney James K. Filan believes will not be granted. 

With the SEC left with limited options, it is expected that the SEC could be prompted to settle with Ripple, to avoid surrendering the drafts of Hinman’s speech. 

Interestingly, Ripple investors reacted positively to the event, as the price of XRP skyrocketed moments after Judge Torres overruled SEC’s objection to Judge Netburn’s order. At press time, XRP is trading at $0.485, up 7.8% in the last 24 hours, according to Coingecko data. 

 

Ripple Adds Another Attorney From Kellogg Hansen to Its Legal Team in SEC Lawsuit 

Lele Jima
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0
Ripple Adds Another Attorney From Kellogg Hansen to Its Legal Team in SEC Lawsuit 

Ripple gains another support to boost its legal team. 

As the lawsuit between Ripple and the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) enters the summary judgment stage, the blockchain company has added a new attorney to its defense team. 

On September 23, 2022, attorney Bethan Rhian Jones from Kellogg Hansen, filed a motion to appear as Pro Hac Vice’s counsel for Ripple. 

“Under Rule 1.3 of the Local Rules of the United States Courts for the Southern and Eastern Districts of New York, I, Bethan Rhian Jones, hereby move this Court for an Order for admission to practice pro hac vice to appear as counsel for Defendant Ripple Labs, Inc. in the above-captioned case,” an excerpt of the motion reads. 

Interestingly, in less than one week, attorney Jones’ request to join Ripple’s defense team was granted. 

Notably, Jones is a member of the Bars of the District of Columbia, the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, and the State of New Jersey.  

Two Kellogg Hansen Attorneys Join Ripple’s Legal team 

It is worth noting that attorney Jones is not the only lawyer from Kellogg Hansen who has joined Ripple’s defense team in the company’s ongoing lawsuit against the SEC. 

As reported by TheCryptoBasic, two attorneys from the Washington DC-based law firm were recently added to Ripple’s legal team. Kylie Kim and Clayton Masterman were given the green light to be added among Ripple’s counsel in the lawsuit. 

Although their motions were initially denied because of failure to notarize their affidavits, after making the necessary corrections, the court granted the request. 

Ripple Committed to Winning the Lawsuit

Meanwhile, Ripple has been looking for every support it can get to guarantee its victory in its legal battle against the Securities and Exchange Commission. 

The lawsuit has entered an important stage, indicating that the end is around the corner. However, the blockchain company wants a ruling that will be in its favor, and will not fail to make any move that will make this possible. 

Should Terra Classic Community Create a Petition to Get LUNC Listed on Coinbase and Robinhood

Mark Brennan
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Should Terra Classic Community Create a Petition to Get LUNC Listed on Coinbase and Robinhood

New ways are necessary to facilitate LUNC burns.



Terra Classic investors have come a long way in plans to revive collapsed cryptocurrencies, LUNC and USTC. Both digital currencies were dealt a heavy blow in May after the Terra ecosystem collapsed. To make matters worse, the developers behind LUNA, TerraForm Labs (TFL), neglected not only investors’ wishes but also abandoned Terra Classic.

As reported, victims of the Terra collapse wanted a huge chunk of the token’s supply burnt by TFL. However, the company had other plans and chose to launch a new chain and new tokens as compensation plans for Terra’s victims.

Following this, Terra classic investors had to revive LUNC themselves by voluntarily burning and staking the digital currency. The recent implementation of the 1.2% tax burn for all LUNC on-chain transactions is an important step in the right direction. However, more efforts must be made if LUNC ever stood a chance of rising from the ashes.

Get Terra Classic Listed on Robinhood and Coinbase

For starters, LUNC needs to be listed across top crypto trading platforms that boast good trading volume daily. Getting LUNC listed on crypto trading platforms like Coinbase and Robinhood would bolster the number of tokens that will be burnt daily.

However, having Coinbase and Robinhood list LUNC is no easy task, given the token’s history and allegations about its founder’s fraudulent activities.

Interestingly, the Terra classic community could convince these trading platforms to list LUNC by creating a petition on Change.org, to get their attention. Several crypto projects have been using this method to attract the attention of top cryptocurrency exchanges.

Last year, the Shiba Inu community created a petition on Change.org, calling on Robinhood to make SHIB available for trading on its platform. The petition attracted over 300,000 signatures from Shiba Inu Investors, which were enough to get Robinhood’s attention.

A few months later, Shiba Inu was listed on the trading platform.

A similar initiative is being made by investors of canine-themed cryptocurrency Floki Inu (FLOKI). A Change.org petition was recently launched to call on Binance to list FLOKI. The petition, which requires 35,000 signatures, has already received 28,915 signatures.

With the popularity of LUNC, it would be easy for investors to ask Coinbase and Robinhood to list the token to bolster the ongoing burn program.

Cardano (ADA) Founder Reveals Vasil Cuts Cost In Half And Saves 10X More Space

Mark Brennan
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Cardano (ADA) Founder Reveals Vasil Cuts Cost In Half And Saves 10X More Space

Cardano plutius scripts enhanced by Vasil for better performance.


The recently-launched Vasil hard fork has already started living up to expectations just a week after the upgrade went live. Decentralized application developers are already enjoying the mouthwatering features of the Plutus V2 functionality, which saves transaction costs and size.

MuesliSwap, a decentralized exchange on the Cardano network, took to Twitter today to state the benefits of using the new Plutus V2. According to MuesliSwap, the transaction size and fee on the newly-released Plutus V2 are relatively lower compared to what is obtainable in the previous versions. 

While the DEX is still in the process of launching its Plutus V2 scripts, it has already experienced the powerful nature of Vasil. The DEX, which combined its order book with liquidity pools, saw that transaction size and fees are way lower in Plutus V2.  

“Power of Vasil! We are close to launching our Plutus v2 scripts. Here are some amazing benchmarks showing the upgrade (combining our Orderbook with Liquidity Pools)  

Plutus v1 Transaction; Size: 14.73 kB, Fee: 1.44 ADA.

Plutus v2 Transaction; Size: 1.31 kB, Fee: 0.73 ADA,” MuesliSwap tweeted. 

Hoskinson and IOG React

The development has attracted a series of positive reactions from Cardano supporters, as well as the team behind the leading blockchain project. 

Charles Hoskinson, the founder of Cardano, did not fail to applaud the feat. He said the development shows Plutus version 2 saves 10x more space at half the cost.

Furthermore, Input Output Global (IOG), the Cardano research and development team, noted that decentralized application developers already see the benefits of the new feature. 

“On September 27th, Plutus V2 functionality became available for developers on Cardano mainnet. Dapps utilizing the new Plutus V2 scripts & cost model are already seeing the power of Vasil upgrade,” IOG commented while adding: 

 

Norway, Sweden, And Israel Plan A Joint CBDC Development With Bank of International Settlements

Albert Brown
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Norway, Sweden, And Israel Plan A Joint CBDC Development With Bank of International Settlements

As CBDCs get more popular, the Bank of International Settlements (BIS) is partnering with three central banks to develop them.



Stablecoins are getting more popular, not just those available for trade on exchanges. Various Central Banks have been exploring the idea of creating their own CBDCs, which are basically fiat-pegged stablecoins, for their respective countries.

The latest development on this front features a partnership between the BIS and the Central Banks of Norway, Sweden, and Israel. The three countries hope to create a payment network to ease cross-border funds transfer among them and the rest of the world.

What They Stand To Gain

CBDCs are a much cheaper and faster way of transferring funds across borders and between banks, and any country that utilizes them reaps big in terms of how much is saved. Also, CBDCs, while using crypto technology, is a more transparent way of initiating and closing transactions. The three central banks in question will partner with the Innovation Hub at BIS to develop digital currencies. This is in line with the goals of the G20 to overhaul the financial systems.

The initial objective of the team-up is to test the feasibility of using CBDCs. Upon the completion of the development and deployment of the CBDCs, a report will be made available within the first quarter of 2023. The report will tell whether or not digital currencies can be fully utilized in extended economies.

It’s Not The First Joint Venture On CBDCs

In January 2021, the BIS partnered with the Central Banks of Singapore, Australia, Malaysia, and South Africa to initiate a similar pilot project. This shows that CBDCs are increasingly gaining favor across the world. Iran is also among other countries that have run CBDC pilot projects. Other governments mulling CBDC development include the United States, Ukraine, and the UK, among many others.

Basically, CBDCs are the digital version of a nation’s currency. They are created and issued by the Central Bank for use by banks. They enjoy the same government guarantees accorded to the fiat monetary system, meaning that they’re also subject to the same monetary policies as fiat.

Decentralized Web3 Passport Network Initiative Coming to Polygon (Matic)

Mark Brennan
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Decentralized Web3 Passport Network Initiative Coming to Polygon (Matic)

 

In a recent partnership, Polygon (Matic) is looking to welcome a Web3 Passport initiative to its doorsteps.



Blockchain technology has revolutionized the way the world views certain aspects of production. The introduction of DeFi, Web3, and dApps has brought several benefits to factors of production, especially in the areas of speed and transparency. 

Despite the already-established initiatives, subsequent blockchain innovative ideas keep surfacing. Layer-2 Ethereum scaling solution, Polygon will be introducing a passport initiative to its ecosystem as an attempt to assist dApps in identity solutions.

Decentralized passport network Quadrata will be facilitating Polygon’s passport integration initiative. The California-based firm revealed the move on Thursday through an official announcement.

Per information from the announcement, Quadrata will facilitate the integration of its passport technology into the Polygon network’s blockchain. Consequently, dApps building on the Polygon network will have access to Quadrata’s decentralized passport solution. This access will allow dApps on Polygon to utilize Quadrata’s technology for identity and compliance purposes.

The anonymity that blockchain brings has been its major selling point and its major shortcoming when critics seek to swipe at it. Bad players have leveraged this feature to engage in unscrupulous activities as easily covering their tracks becomes seamless.

Consequently, the need to enforce identity verification and compliance measures on dApps and DeFi has never been more pressing. Polygon’s idea of a decentralized passport initiative will assist in such identity verification measures.

“The passport identity network is a key infrastructure that is needed and will enable dApps on Polygon to innovate and broaden their product offerings,” Hamzah Khan, Polygon’s Head of DeFi & Labs, said on the development.

Since its inception, Polygon has been relentless in its efforts to introduce innovative blockchain applications. Sometime this month, The Crypto Basic reported Polygon’s partnership with Starbucks. The partnership would enable the American coffeehouse firm to launch its “Starbucks Odyssey” Web3 program on Polygon.

Terra Rebels Release Official Terra Classic (LUNC) Roadmap

Albert Brown
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Terra Rebels Release Official Terra Classic (LUNC) Roadmap

 

Terra Rebels have officially released the LUNC roadmap, as they call for community donations in the revival journey.



Once battered and beaten down, Terra Classic (LUNC) might rise like the phoenix from the ashes. The Terra crash of May led to a loss in investor funds at an unprecedented scale in the crypto markets.

Nonetheless, a group dubbed the Terra Rebels has taken to revive the old LUNA token, now called Terra Classic, as several measures in a laid-out plan have been revealed. The official roadmap for this revival was just released.

The official Twitter handle for the Terra Rebels recently brought the public’s attention to the development.

“It brings us great pleasure to release to all of you the official Terra Rebel Roadmap. The roadmap is readily viewable on our website here: terrarebels.net,” the handle mentioned in a tweet Thursday. They further informed the community that a change in the roadmap is possible as things progress.

reXx the popular figure of terra Rebels, writes:

“LUNC community, It brings us great pleasure to release to all of you the official Terra Rebel Roadmap.”

The community-based group is looking to facilitate the Terra Classic revival in a little over a year. A look at the revival roadmap shows laid-out plans for the resurrection of the asset starting from Q2 2022 to Q2+ 2023. 

At the time of reporting, up to six measures have been successfully undertaken to start from the formation of the Terra Rebels group to the release of the whitepaper. With the release of the whitepaper, the group has about eight more measures to put in place before year-end.

These measures are expected to begin soon as they are scheduled for Q3 2022. They mostly involve a series of upgrades at the initial stage. 

However, things get more interesting as they progress, with the team looking to end the year by working on a second algorithm that would assist in the launch of an Algorithmic Fungible Token (AFT).

Per data from the roadmap, the measures include:

  • Disable market swap.
  • Rework the underlying Cosmos/Tendermint skeleton.
  • Upgrade to Vanilla Cosmos v0.45.8.
  • Upgrade to Tendermint v.0.34.x.
  • Upgrade CosmWasm v1.0.0.
  • Assess burn tax.
  • Begin work on v2 algorithm.
  • Solidify the plan around an Algorithmic Fungible Token (AFT).

 

The Terra Rebels plan to start 2023 with tests of the blockchain upgrade. Furthermore, the end of the roadmap as of press time reveals a plan to work on new reward mechanisms for the network to improve decentralization. 

Additionally, between Q1 and Q2+ 2023, the team plans to repeg the AFT and start supporting dApps through the CosmWasm upgrade.

The measures for Q1 2023 to Q2+ 2023 include:

  • Testing, validation and security audit for the chain upgrade.
  • Upgrade chain to parity with LUNA V2.
  • Support dApps with CosmWasm upgrade.
  • Repeg the Algorithmically Fungible Token (AFT).
  • Deploy APS module into production
  • Establish new capital controls on the AFT.
  • Partially collateralize the AFT.
  • Re-enable the market swap module.
  • Begin work on new rewards mechanism to increase decentralization of network validators.

The Terra Rebels have officially opened the project for donations to meet these demands.

“We are also happy to announce that Terra Rebels is now capable of accepting donations, utilizing Open Collective as well as a native Terra Classic Wallet,” the handle noted. Donations are to be sent to a provided Terra wallet or through an Open Collective page.

 

From A Delusion To Conquer the World: Bitcoin Spent Its First 504 Days Without Value Or Price

Mark Brennan
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From A Delusion To Conquer the World: Bitcoin Spent Its First 504 Days Without Value Or Price

Bitcoin Spent Its First 504 Days Without A Price Until One Person Bought 2 Pizzas For 10,000 BTC In 2009.



Bitcoin got its first-ever price set after Laszlo Hanyecz used 10k Bitcoin on two pizzas.

Bitcoin is hailed as the ultimate pioneer in the crypto space. The coin came about in 2009 after the BTC network went live. It was created and launched by one mysterious character, Satoshi Nakamoto, whose true identity remains unknown.

According to recent information, after the BTC network went live in 2009, it generated Bitcoins and rewards for those who supported it; the initial price per coin remained zero. That changed after one Bitcoin enthusiast and network supporter, Laszlo Hanyecz, used 10k coins to buy two pizzas on May 22, 2010. That effectively ended Bitcoin’s 504 days stretch without a price tag.

Bitcoin It has Come A Long Way

While spending 10,000 BTC to pay for two pizzas could be seen as outrageous by today’s standards, the fact that someone was willing to accept them, despite the new crypto not having much public hype back then, was a great leap that ultimately fueled Bitcoin’s rise in both price and popularity over the following years. Over the last decade, Bitcoin has gone from an unknown cryptocurrency to a globally popular and top crypto. Governments like El Salvador have adopted Bitcoin. Its success has inspired the rise of thousands of other crypto projects and numerous crypto exchanges.

Back then, there weren’t that many people who knew about BTC and supported it. Laszlo was among the few who believed in the new crypto technology and ran a node at his premises to support the network as a miner. The computing power supplied by Bitcoin miners is responsible for keeping the network busy and increasing the hash rate enough to secure the network and facilitate safe transactions properly. They get rewarded with BTC. That’s how Laszlo got possession of 10,000 Bitcoins; since then, Bitcoin mining has remained profitable for years.

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