Headlines
▌Fox Reporter: SEC's Lawsuit Against Ripple Enters Final Stage
According to Fox Business reporter Eleanor Terrett, the SEC's lawsuit against Ripple may soon come to an end through ongoing negotiations, as the case has entered the final stage. It is reported that the delay in reaching an agreement is due to Ripple's legal team negotiating more favorable terms regarding the August district court ruling, which imposed a $125 million fine on the company and included a permanent injunction prohibiting the company from selling XRP to institutional investors.
▌SEC Delays Approval of Fidelity's Spot Ether ETF Options Again
The SEC has again delayed its decision on Fidelity's spot Ether ETF options.
Market
As of the time of writing, according to Coingecko data:
BTC's latest trading price is $83,527.16, with a daily change of +0.8%;
ETH's latest trading price is $1,904.61, with a daily change of -0.8%;
BNB's latest trading price is $570.51, with a daily change of +3.3%;
SOL's latest trading price is $126.16, with a daily change of +0.4%;
DOGE's latest trading price is $0.1721, with a daily change of +4.4%;
XRP's latest trading price is $2.24, with a daily change of +2.6%.
Policies
▌Blockchain-Related Terms in SEC Filings Reach Historic High in February
The number of blockchain-related terms in U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) filings reached a historic high in February, with over 5,000 mentions recorded in the EDGAR database, showing a continuous upward trend since mid-2023.
This growth is consistent with the SEC's significant shift in its regulatory approach towards the crypto industry. Since the presidential transition in January, with Acting Chair Mark Uyeda taking office, the SEC has terminated multiple investigations targeting companies like Uniswap, Coinbase, Yuga Labs, Kraken, and Gemini, marking a departure from the "enforcement-focused" strategy of the previous Chair, Gary Gensler. Additionally, the crypto task force established by Uyeda at the end of January, led by pro-crypto Commissioner Hester Peirce, plans to hold its first roundtable discussion this month to explore a more collaborative regulatory model.
▌AML Bitcoin Founder Convicted of Fraud, Faces Decades in Prison
A 12-person federal jury in San Francisco has ruled that Marcus Rowland Andrade, the founder of Anti-Money Laundering Bitcoin (AML Bitcoin), orchestrated a multi-million dollar "pump and dump" scheme in 2017, convicting him of federal wire fraud and money laundering charges, which could result in decades of imprisonment. Andrade, a Texas businessman, had previously collaborated with the well-known lobbyist Jack Abramoff to promote AML Bitcoin as a "safe and reliable" payment system.
▌Massachusetts State Representative Proposes Blockchain and Cryptocurrency Special Committee
Massachusetts State Representative Kate Lipper-Garabedian has submitted a bill proposing the establishment of a special committee, including state legislators, to investigate matters related to blockchain and cryptocurrencies.
▌Nebraska Governor Signs Bitcoin ATM Regulation Bill
Nebraska Governor Jim Pillen officially signed LB609 this Wednesday, implementing regulations for Bitcoin ATMs and other electronic transaction terminals to prevent fraud and protect consumer rights. The bill requires Bitcoin ATM operators to clearly disclose all terms of use and provide prominent anti-fraud warnings to users. Additionally, users who report fraud to the operator and law enforcement within 90 days are eligible for a full refund.
Blockchain Applications
▌Solana's SIMD-228 Proposal Currently Has 35.7% Support and 17.2% Opposition
According to on-chain data, Solana's SIMD-0228 proposal currently has 35.7% support, 17.2% opposition, and a 1.2% abstention rate. If the proposal is passed, it will be gradually implemented over 50 epochs, aiming to significantly reduce inflation (potentially by 70%-80%, from 4.5% to around 0.87% at the lowest).
The proposal suggests major adjustments to Solana's token issuance model. Specifically, it aims to transition Solana's SOL token inflation from a fixed rate to a dynamic market mechanism linked to the staking participation rate. The goal is to optimize Solana's monetary policy by dynamically adjusting the inflation rate based on the SOL staking ratio, thereby enhancing the flexibility and efficiency of the network's economy.
▌GnosisDAO Votes to Allocate $4.8 Million to Further Support HOPR's Decentralized VPN Development
GnosisDAO has voted to approve an additional $4.8 million investment to support the development of the Gnosis VPN by HOPR, which is expected to be launched within two years. The Gnosis VPN is a collaborative project between Gnosis and HOPR launched last year, with HOPR responsible for the VPN development and receiving $1.5 million in seed funding, while Gnosis acquired a stake in HOPR's asset pool. HOPR co-founder Sebastian Burgel stated that the decentralized VPN, as a tool to shield search traffic, remains an underdeveloped area in the market, and is crucial for protecting on-chain privacy.
Cryptocurrencies
▌Co-Founder of Sanctioned Russian Crypto Exchange Garantex Arrested in India
Aleksej Besciokov, the co-founder of the sanctioned Russian cryptocurrency exchange Garantex, was arrested in India while on vacation. Besciokov faces charges of money laundering conspiracy, sanctions evasion conspiracy, and operating an unlicensed money transmitting business. Last week, an international law enforcement coalition comprising the U.S., Germany, and Finland seized Garantex's servers and domains, freezing nearly $28 million in crypto assets, with the assistance of stablecoin issuer Tether.
▌Sui Partners with Crypto Security Platform Blockaid
Sui has partnered with the crypto security platform Blockaid to enhance the security of the Sui ecosystem. According to the announcement, Blockaid will add protective measures to Sui wallets and address smart contract vulnerabilities, off-chain threats, and operational failures on Sui.
▌Bloomberg Analyst: Crypto ETF Approvals May Be Delayed Until New SEC Chair Takes Office
The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has delayed decisions on several spot cryptocurrency ETF applications, including those for , (SOL), (DOGE), and (LTC). Bloomberg ETF analyst James Seyffart believes the SEC is unlikely to approve or deny these applications before the confirmation of President Trump's nominee, Paul Atkins, as the new SEC chair.
Seyffart noted that while Atkins has been nominated, a confirmation hearing has not yet been scheduled. Additionally, the approval of spot and ETFs took years, as the SEC previously considered the maturity of the futures market as a key approval criterion, which the pending ETF applications have not yet met.
Nevertheless, the analyst believes the chances of some ETFs being approved by the end of this year are still above 65%. However, the final outcome will depend on the confirmation and policy direction of the new chair.
▌Modular Blockchain Network Hemi Launches Mainnet
The modular blockchain network has officially launched its mainnet. previously raised $15 million in a seed funding round in September 2024, with investments from , , and .
Important Economic Dynamics
▌Sources: Trump Administration Pushing for Massive Antitrust Investigation into Microsoft
According to foreign media reports, the US Federal Trade Commission (FTC) is pushing forward a major antitrust investigation into Microsoft (MSFT.O) in the final days of the Biden administration, indicating that scrutinizing tech giants is a top priority for FTC Chair Lina Khan, who was appointed by the Trump administration. According to insiders, FTC staff have been continuing the investigation in recent weeks, meeting with companies and other groups to gather information. At the end of last year, the FTC issued a so-called civil investigative demand to Microsoft, forcing the company to hand over a large amount of data on its artificial intelligence business, including the costs of training models and acquiring data, dating back to 2016. The agency wants to understand the details of Microsoft's data centers and the company's efforts to find enough computing power to meet customer demand. The FTC is also closely examining Microsoft's decision to cut funding for its own AI projects after reaching an agreement with OpenAI, which could be seen as harming competition in the AI market. The progress of the investigation is now in the hands of Khan and her new head of competition affairs, Jonathan Kanter, who previously worked at the Department of Justice on antitrust cases against Alphabet and Apple. The RMB exchange rate against the US dollar has shown a fluctuating upward trend recently. Wind data shows that as of the close on March 12, the onshore RMB exchange rate against the US dollar rose 0.54% in March, briefly rebounding from around the "7.3" level to around the "7.2" level. Compared to the lowest point this year (7.3326), the onshore RMB exchange rate against the US dollar has rebounded about 1.19%. The offshore RMB exchange rate against the US dollar has shown a similar trend, rising 0.93% as of the close on March 11. According to the CME "Fed Watch": the probability of the Fed keeping interest rates unchanged in March is 98.0%, and the probability of a 25 basis point rate cut is 2.0%. The probability of keeping the current interest rate unchanged by May is 82.1%, the probability of a cumulative 25 basis point rate cut is 17.6%, and the probability of a cumulative 50 basis point rate cut is 0.3%. ▌What is a cold wallet? A cold wallet is a method of storing cryptocurrencies that keeps them offline and disconnected from the internet. This setup makes it much more difficult for hackers to remotely access the funds. Examples include hardware wallets (such as Ledger, Trezor), paper wallets, and air-gapped computers (devices that have never been connected to the internet). Disclaimer: Jinse Finance, as a blockchain information platform, the articles published are for reference only and do not constitute actual investment advice. Please everyone to establish the correct investment concept and improve risk awareness.
