Bitpush's Weekly Web3 News Highlights:
[Source: If Harris wins the presidential election, SEC Chairman Gensler may be nominated as Treasury Secretary]
According to the Washington Reporter, a Senate source revealed that if Vice President Kamala Harris wins the presidential election in November, Gary Gensler , chairman of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission and skeptical of cryptocurrencies, is likely to be nominated as Secretary of the Treasury. The Treasury Department is responsible for operating and maintaining the U.S. financial infrastructure, including taxation, printing money, issuing bonds, and enforcing financial sanctions. The Secretary of the Treasury is sometimes called the country's "chief financial officer" and is also responsible for guiding fiscal policy.
Washington Reporter reported that Massachusetts Senator Elizabeth Warren may also be a contender for the position of Treasury Secretary. In addition, SEC Commissioner Caroline Crenshaw may succeed Gensler as SEC Chairman.
[New York judge rejects SEC's request for pre-trial conference in Tron lawsuit]
In the case in which the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) sued the Tron Foundation and its founder Justin Sun , New York Judge Edgardo Ramos rejected the commission's request for a pretrial conference. It is reported that the SEC commission had previously sent a letter to the judge requesting a mandatory pretrial conference or requiring it to submit an additional response in the securities fraud lawsuit against the Tron Foundation and its founder Justin Sun Tron's lawyers hit back at the SEC's letter, accusing the SEC of "trying to create controversy," saying that their defense largely depends on their belief that the sales of BTT and TRX do not meet the third prong of the Howey Test- that is, the expectation to profit from the efforts of others - and argued that the SEC's letter requesting the submission of additional response documents (called a reply) "mischaracterizes and ignores the defendant's arguments in this case regarding the third prong of the Howey Test."
"Given defendants' admission that they do not challenge the 'common enterprise' element of the Howey Test, the SEC's motion to dismiss the argument as untimely or for leave to file an answer is denied," the judge said.
Bitwise acquires European cryptocurrency ETP issuer ETC Group
Bitwise acquires ETC Group, a European cryptocurrency ETP issuer. ETC Group is a London-based cryptocurrency ETP issuer with over $1 billion in assets under management. This also marks Bitwise's expansion into Europe and adds nine European-listed cryptocurrency ETPs to Bitwise's extensive suite of ETPs, hedge fund solutions and separately managed accounts.
[Harris senior campaign adviser: Harris will adopt a "supportive policy" for the encryption industry]
According to Bloomberg, Harris' senior campaign adviser, Brian Nielsen, the U.S. Treasury Department's undersecretary for terrorism and financial intelligence, said in an interview with Bloomberg that Vice President Harris will "support policies that ensure that emerging technologies and such industries can continue to grow." Nielsen mentioned in the interview that the industry said they need "stable rules."
A report released Wednesday by consumer advocacy group Public Citizen found that cryptocurrency companies have spent $119 million in 2024, with almost all of the money going to super PACs, particularly Fairshake PAC, which the group said ranked second among all election-related spending.
[ Federal Reserve meeting minutes: Policymakers strongly prefer to cut interest rates in September]
Fed officials last month strongly favored a rate cut at their September policy meeting, with several even willing to cut borrowing costs immediately, according to minutes from the Fed's meeting. Fed officials left interest rates unchanged at the FOMC meeting last month but left the door open to a rate cut at the Sept. 17-18 meeting.
The minutes showed that at the July meeting, a “vast majority” of policymakers “believed that if data continued to move in line with expectations, it would likely be appropriate to ease policy at the next meeting.” They also noted that “many” Fed officials viewed the stance of interest rates as restrictive and that “some participants” believed that, with inflation pressures continuing to cool, an unchanged rate would mean that monetary policy would increase the drag on economic activity.
The minutes also showed that while all Fed officials agreed to keep interest rates steady in July, "several" policymakers said that progress in reducing inflation amid rising unemployment "provided a reasonable case for lowering the target range by 25 basis points at this meeting, or that they could have supported such a decision."
[ Binance's new CEO: Binance does not need financing or IPO, and is planning a "century strategy"]
Richard Teng , the new CEO of Binance, told CoinDesk : “Our financial situation is very strong, so there is really no need for us to consider any financing or IPO at the moment. Binance has been profitable since its fifth month of operation and has been very cautious in spending. So IPO is not a topic that is brought up.”
Richard Teng also said that Binance's efforts to increase transparency - including spending 36% more on compliance last year than in 2022 and its ongoing search for places to put down roots - are aimed at building better relationships with global regulators, thereby guiding the company in a more future-proof direction. He said: "It's really about building a sustainable business that will not only succeed in the next few years, but continue to thrive in the next 50 to 100 years, which is certainly our desire."
When asked if Binance was considering raising funds to dilute CZ ownership of the company, Richard Teng demurred and said such matters should be decided by the exchange’s shareholders and board of directors.
[U.S. crypto exchageKraken fails to dismiss SEC lawsuit against it]
U.S. cryptocurrency exchange Kraken has failed in its bid to dismiss a lawsuit filed against it by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. “The SEC plausibly alleges that at least some of the cryptocurrency transactions Kraken conducted on its network constitute investment contracts and are therefore securities, and therefore subject to the securities laws,” U.S. District Judge William H. Orrick wrote in an opinion issued Friday in federal court in San Francisco.
On November 20, 2023, the SEC sued Kraken for failing to register to operate a securities exchange, broker-dealer, and clearing agency. The agency also claimed that the exchange commingled customer assets with its own assets and improperly handled customer information.
Kraken must respond to the lawsuit within 20 days and will propose a trial date on October 15, canceling the original January 14 date.
Grayscale launches AVAX Trust
According to The Block, Grayscale announced the launch of the AVAX Trust Fund, Grayscale Avalanche Trust, which aims to provide qualified investors with investment opportunities in the cryptocurrency AVAX.
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