Author | Wu Blockchain

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Top 10 News of the Week

1. BTC Drops Below $80,000, ETH Drops Below $2,100 link

On Friday, OKX market data showed that BTC fell below $80,000, with a low of $78,258 and a current price of $80,514, a 24-hour drop of 7.22%; ETH fell below $2,100, with a low of $2,074 and a current price of $2,136, a 24-hour drop of 8.02%. Coinglass data shows that over the past 24 hours, the total network liquidation reached $953 million, of which long positions were liquidated for $827 million.

2. SEC Terminates Enforcement Actions Against Multiple Crypto Industry Companies link

On Wednesday, the regulatory agency decided to terminate the federal investigation into Uniswap Labs, with informed sources revealing that the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has concluded its investigation into Uniswap and will not take further enforcement action. The investigation began in April 2024, when Uniswap received an SEC Wells notice, focusing on whether Uniswap was operating as an unregistered securities exchange and whether its UNI token constituted an illegal securities offering.

On Wednesday, according to a statement by Gemini co-founder Cameron Winklevoss, on February 26, 2025, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) notified Gemini's litigation counsel that it has closed its investigation into Gemini and decided not to take any enforcement action. Winklevoss emphasized that such behavior may occur again unless effective legal and regulatory measures are taken, and called for legislation to protect the industry and hold relevant individuals accountable.

On Friday, SEC Commissioner Hester Peirce stated that the SEC has formally withdrawn its civil enforcement lawsuit against Coinbase and will not take further action on the case. The SEC's approach in the Coinbase case, relying too heavily on enforcement rather than policymaking, has led to regulatory uncertainty in the crypto industry. In addition, Peirce also criticized the SEC's overly broad interpretation of the Howey test in dealing with crypto products, making it difficult for many industry participants to clearly determine which products are considered securities. She stated that the SEC's current policy direction will be driven by the Crypto Working Group and plans to interact with the public to build a more clear regulatory framework for the crypto industry.

On Friday, ConsenSys founder Joseph Lubin stated that ConsenSys and the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) have reached a preliminary agreement to withdraw the securities enforcement case regarding MetaMask. After approval by the Commission, the SEC will submit an agreement to the court to formally close the case.

3. SEC Confirms Receipt of Grayscale's Ethereum ETF Staking Function Application link

The SEC has confirmed receipt of the 19b-4 filing submitted by NYSE Arca, seeking approval for the staking function in Grayscale's Ethereum ETF.

4. SEC Clarifies That Meme Coin Transactions Are Not Subject to Securities Laws link

The SEC issued a statement clarifying the applicability of meme coins. The statement indicates that meme coins are a type of crypto asset inspired by internet memes, characters, or trends, typically used for entertainment, social, and cultural purposes, and their value is primarily driven by market demand and speculation, often without actual functionality. The SEC believes that the trading of meme coins does not involve the issuance and sale of securities, and therefore participants are not required to register under the Securities Act and are not protected by federal securities laws.

However, this statement does not apply to the issuance and sale of meme coins that do not fit the above description, or those that attempt to circumvent the applicability of federal securities laws by disguising the product. Fraudulent activities related to such meme coins may be subject to enforcement or prosecution by other federal or state agencies under other laws.

5. OKX Subsidiary Aux Cayes FinTech Reaches Settlement with U.S. Department of Justice link

OKX subsidiary Aux Cayes FinTech Co. Ltd. (OKX Seychelles) has reached a settlement with the U.S. Department of Justice, admitting that the company had operated a money transfer business in the U.S. without a license. All U.S. customers have been fully withdrawn. OKX agreed to pay a $84 million fine and forfeited approximately $421 million in revenue. OKX stated that in this settlement, there were no allegations of customer harm, no charges against any company employees, and no appointment of a government monitor. OKX stated that it will strengthen its customer identification (KYC) system and customer risk rating (CRR) system, expand its enhanced due diligence (EDD) program, deploy industry-leading anti-money laundering (AML) and sanctions tools, and has assembled a team of over 150 professional investigators for this purpose.

6. Oklahoma House Committee Passes "Strategic Bitcoin Reserve Act", Moves to Full House Vote link

The "Strategic Bitcoin Reserve Act" (HB 1203) in the U.S. state of Oklahoma has been passed by the House Committee and is now moving to a full House vote. The bill allows the state to invest up to 10% of its public funds in BTC or digital assets with a market cap over $500 billion.

Additionally, according to Bitcoin Laws data, Utah's HB230 bill is leading the bitcoin reserve race, while Montana (MT), North Dakota (ND), Pennsylvania (PA), South Dakota (SD), and Wyoming (WY)'s related digital asset bills have failed to pass or have already failed, indicating challenges in the legislative process for cryptocurrency and blockchain technology in these regions.

7. U.S. House Ways and Means Committee Votes to Repeal "DeFi Broker Rule" link

The U.S. House Ways and Means Committee voted 26 to 16 on February 26 to pass a resolution to repeal the "DeFi Broker Rule" scheduled to take effect in 2027. The rule, approved by the IRS in December last year, requires decentralized exchanges and other digital asset brokers to report transaction details and taxpayer information to the IRS, which has faced strong industry opposition. Committee Chairman Jason Smith criticized the rule as impractical, as DeFi brokers cannot collect the required user data, and the IRS lacks the capacity to handle it. If the resolution is passed by the House and Senate, it will be submitted to President Trump for signing or veto.

8. SBF Tweets for the First Time in Two Years, Discusses Company Layoffs and Management Issues link

Former FTX CEO Sam Bankman-Fried (SBF) has tweeted for the first time in two years, discussing company layoffs and management issues. He expressed sympathy for government employees, stating that unemployment is not as easy as it seems. Firing employees is difficult, often not the fault of the employees, but sometimes the right decision for the company. The problem is usually that the company has not provided the right roles, management, or work environment for the employees. He believes that if employees are idle or unable to reach their potential, it is not the fault of the employees, but rather an issue with the management and internal arrangements of the company. He also mentioned that competitors sometimes face similar situations, leading to large-scale layoffs or idleness among employees. SBF is currently being held at the Metropolitan Detention Center in Brooklyn, New York.

Additionally, the legal and advisory fees for the FTX bankruptcy case have accumulated to $950 million, making it one of the most expensive Chapter 11 bankruptcy cases in U.S. history since the Lehman Brothers collapse. Of this, restructuring advisor Alvarez & Marsal's fees are close to $400 million, legal counsel Sullivan & Cromwell's fees exceed $300 million, and John Ray's consulting firm's fees are close to $10 million.

9. PayPal Plans to Expand Adoption of Its Stablecoin PYUSD link

PayPal Holdings Inc. plans to integrate its stablecoin PYUSD into more products this year, aiming to meet all merchant needs through a single platform. PayPal plans to offer PYUSD as a payment option to over 20 million small and medium-sized businesses by the end of the year, to pay supplier fees through its upcoming bill payment product. PayPal also plans to introduce PYUSD to global payment networks through its Hyperwallet acquisition, expected to begin implementation in the first half of this year, and by 2025, merchants will also be able to settle PayPal transactions in cryptocurrencies.

10. Shen Yu Recalls Personal Theft Experience, Expects Market Rebound in the Second Half of the Year, Key Lies in U.S. National Reserves link

In the Space hosted by Wu Blockchain and Cobo, Shen Yu first recalled the scene of the theft of 12,000 ETH last year: at the time, Eigenlayer airdropped, his physical condition was not good, he clicked on a problematic link, and although there was risk control on the domain name and DNS resolution, it was just bypassed. The hardware wallet was blind-signed, and he did not check it carefully enough. But later he found that the multi-signature problem of the safe was more serious, and almost every transaction was blind-signed.

Shen Yu said that in the face of the power of the state, training since the age of ten, penetrating enterprises, and challenges at the level of human nature, the industry needs to have a clear awareness. Facing such an opponent, even a slight relaxation of human nature is unacceptable, and very strong means and methods are needed, and an independent third party may need to be involved in security management.

Regarding the market outlook for this year, Shen Yu said that the industry market may only see a significant influx of new capital after the U.S. national reserves become clearer, possibly in the 6-10 months of the second half of the year. As for the bull-bear conversion, it is difficult to judge, and the key is whether the U.S. national reserves will have results this year. If there are no results, the bull market may end, but the probability of a breakthrough at this time is still relatively high.

Key Financing Events

• Sixth Street Partners Invests $200 Million in Figure link
• MEXC Exchange Announces $20 Million Investment in Ethena Synthetic Dollar USDe link
• ResearchHub Announces $2 Million Investment from Boost VC link
• Orochi Network Announces $12 Million Financing link
• Crypto Gift Card Platform Raise Announces $63 Million Financing, Led by Haun Ventures link
• Bitwise Announces $70 Million Financing link
• Bloomberg: Ethena Completed $100 Million Financing Last December link
• Memes Lab Announces $2.3 Million Seed Financing link
• Byzantine Finance Completes $3 Million Pre-Seed Financing link
• Shared Security Network IMUA Announces $5 Million Seed Financing link
• Tenor Labs Announces $2.5 Million Seed Financing link
• RWA Blockchain Development Company Mavryk Dynamics Announces $5.2 Million Financing link
• MeebCo, the Company Behind the Meebits NFT Project, Completes $3 Million New Financing Round link
• ZKP Technology Startup Ligero Completes $4 Million Seed Financing link
• Shaga Completes $4 Million Financing, Led by IOSG Ventures link
• FanTV Announces $3 Million Strategic Financing link
• Spheron Announces Completion of Strategic Financing Round, Driving the Development of AI-Driven Applications link
• Lockchain ai Announces Completion of Nearly $5 Million Series A Financing link

For more industry financing events, please check crypto-fundraising.info.