Coin360 Daily Dispatch | Crypto Market Updates & Highlights | March 26, 2024

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Crypto Market Update

Table of Contents

Market Moves

• Bitcoin Surge Driven by Futures, News, and Whales Amid Mixed Feelings

Regulatory and Legal Insights

• SEC Seeks $1.95 Billion Fine Against Ripple Amid Legal Battle
• SEC Scrutinizes Ethereum Amid ETF Confidence
• DOJ Targets KuCoin for AML Failures
• Beba and DeFi Fund Challenge SEC Over BEBA Token

Innovations and Market Dynamics

• Tether Explores AI in Crypto Sphere
• Optimism Pledges Billions to Ethereum's Public Goods
• 0G Labs Raises Funds for AI Blockchain Innovation

Exchange and ETF Developments

• Spot Bitcoin ETFs Anticipated in Hong Kong
• Fidelity Spurs Bitcoin ETF Inflows
• LSE to Launch Crypto ETNs for Professionals

Privacy and Governance

• Privacy Concerns Pause Worldcoin in Portugal

Financial Products and Services

• RWAs Tokens Rally on Institutional Interest
• Franklin Templeton Offers New Crypto Investment Avenue

Blockchain and Technology

• WAX Collaborates with AWS to Enhance Blockchain

Cryptocurrency Adoption and Usage

• Dogecoin Enhancements Propel Adoption and Trading
• BadgerDAO and Lido Debut Bitcoin-pegged eBTC
• Pixelmon's Strategy Shift Aims for Blockchain Gaming Revival

Bitcoin Surge Driven by Futures, News, and Whales Amid Mixed Feelings

Bitcoin's price surge past $71,000 earlier today is attributed to futures market influence, bullish news like the London Stock Exchange's ETNs and Peruvian Nilam Resources' acquisition strategy, dynamics around Bitcoin ETFs, and a technical breakout. Ahead of the halving, anticipated block rewards reduction fuels price surges, despite mixed views on causation. 

Conversely, analysts see Bitcoin lacking support above $60,000, with potential for declines amidst pre-halving volatility and ETF outflows. The movement of $6 billion by a major whale and significant whale wallet outflows suggest a $56,000 support level, as per Bitfinex Alpha report. Meanwhile, a pre-halving retrace concludes with significant accumulation, indicating varied market sentiments and strategic positioning by investors and institutions.

SEC Seeks $1.95 Billion Fine Against Ripple Amid Legal Battle

The SEC has requested a judge to impose a $1.95 billion fine on Ripple Labs, comprising $876 million in disgorgement, $198 million in prejudgment interest, and an additional $876 million civil penalty. This request is part of an ongoing lawsuit that began in December 2020, alleging Ripple's violation of federal securities laws through XRP sales. 

Ripple’s CEO, Brad Garlinghouse, and its Chief Legal Officer, Stuart Alderoty, argue that the SEC’s demands are unjustified, lacking allegations of fraud or recklessness. The SEC's actions have been criticized for causing financial harm to XRP holders, with approximately $15 billion wiped from XRP’s market value and delistings from major exchanges, prompting community outcry against the SEC.

SEC Scrutinizes Ethereum Amid ETF Confidence

The SEC faces sanctions for "abuse of power" in a lawsuit and issues subpoenas regarding Ethereum's status as a security, amidst debates over the crypto's classification. Grayscale expresses confidence in the SEC's approval of spot Ethereum ETFs, citing parallels in the approval processes of Bitcoin and Ethereum ETFs and downplaying the lack of SEC engagement as a negative indicator. Ethereum's price shows bullish trends, with predictions of reaching $5,000, fueled by successful retests and a significant increase in trading volume and open interest, reflecting growing market confidence in its potential.

DOJ Targets KuCoin for AML Failures

The United States Department of Justice charged KuCoin and its founders with Bank Secrecy Act violations due to alleged non-compliant anti-money laundering practices leading to over $5 billion in suspicious funds. KuCoin faces accusations of operating an unlicensed money transmitting business, inducing a flash crash in KuCoin Shares by over 13%.  

Beba and DeFi Fund Challenge SEC Over BEBA Token

Beba, a Texas apparel company, and the DeFi Education Fund are jointly defending the BEBA token airdrop against potential SEC actions. The lawsuit seeks clarification on the tokens' status, regarding them as not securities due to their free distribution. They contest the SEC's classification and challenge policy violations under Chair Gary Gensler.  

Tether Explores AI in Crypto Sphere

Tether, the leading stablecoin issuer, is launching an AI unit to develop open-source AI models and collaborate with other firms. The CEO, Paolo Ardoino, aims to democratize privacy-preserving open AI technology. The company is recruiting a head of AI research and an AI engineer as part of its expansion into AI, following an investment in Northern Data.   

Optimism Pledges Billions to Ethereum's Public Goods

Optimism allocates 850 million OP tokens valued at $3.3 billion for retroactive public goods funding (RPGF) across seven rounds in 2024. Builders contributing to Ethereum's layer-2 scaling network can receive grants. Previous rounds rewarded projects like DefiLlama and Revoke.cash. Ethereum's Vitalik Buterin praised Optimism's dedication to public goods funding.  

0G Labs Raises Funds for AI Blockchain Innovation

0G Labs secured $35 million in pre-seed funding from over 40 crypto investors, aiming to develop a groundbreaking modular AI chain. Their platform promises faster data processing than Ethereum's smart contract network. The company's Uni-Chain product aims to streamline interoperability across Web3 networks, with a vision to create a unified metaverse for seamless transactions.  

Spot Bitcoin ETFs Anticipated in Hong Kong

Hong Kong's financial regulator is likely to approve in-kind creations and redemptions for spot Bitcoin ETFs, potentially attracting a considerable amount of Chinese investment. This move comes after the submission of applications by several firms to launch spot Bitcoin ETFs on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange. The approval could have significant implications for the Asian crypto market's growth and portfolio allocation.  

Fidelity Spurs Bitcoin ETF Inflows

Bitcoin ETFs have rebounded with the first net inflow in five days, totaling 212 BTC ($15.7 million) on March 25, driven by Fidelity’s FBTC with 3,689.3 BTC ($261.8 million) inflows. The $70,000 milestone was revisited, signaling a potential return to the all-time high. Despite Grayscale’s GBTC fund bleeding, BTC's price surged over 4% to briefly reach $71,000 before stepping down.  

LSE to Launch Crypto ETNs for Professionals

The London Stock Exchange will introduce Bitcoin and Ethereum ETNs on May 28, following a decline in listed companies and trading activity. The exchange will only allow professional investors, aiming to attract institutional interest. This development signifies a strategic move to tap into the growing digital asset market, potentially revitalizing the exchange's position in the global financial landscape.

Privacy Concerns Pause Worldcoin in Portugal

The Portuguese data regulator CNPD has ordered a 90-day ban on Worldcoin's operations in Portugal, citing privacy concerns related to biometric data collection. Concurrently, Worldcoin's WLD token surged 9.57% to $9.24 before dropping back to $8.7, buoyed by the launch of a new Personal Custody feature, which allows users to control their personal data, including iris scans for World ID. This feature aims to address privacy issues and regulatory scrutiny, evidenced by a similar ban in Kenya. The market responded positively, with Worldcoin's market cap increasing by 56.31%. 

RWAs Tokens Rally on Institutional Interest

Real-world assets (RWAs) governance tokens have seen an 81% surge in market capitalization over the past week, reaching $8 billion. Notably, six of the top 15 RWA tokens experienced triple-digit gains, including ONDO, POLYX, and OM. The recent rally is attributed to growing institutional interest and new use cases for RWAs, including successful pilots and the launch of tokenized depository receipts by DigitFT.  

Franklin Templeton Offers New Crypto Investment Avenue

Franklin Templeton has launched the Franklin Templeton Digital Asset Dynamic BTC/ETH SMA, allowing investors to access bitcoin and ether exposure. The actively managed SMA aims to outperform a market cap-weighted portfolio. Franklin Templeton also offers Digital Assets Core SMAs investing in prominent digital assets and introduced a bitcoin ETF amidst industry competition.  

WAX Collaborates with AWS to Enhance Blockchain

WAX, the 10th largest blockchain globally, signed a pivotal deal with Amazon Web Services (AWS), integrating into Amazon Managed Blockchain. This collaboration enables hosting WAX nodes via AWS. The WAX token surged by over 20%, demonstrating market enthusiasm. The network processed 141 million transactions in the last month, hosting 160 Web3 games.  

Dogecoin Enhancements Propel Adoption and Trading

The Dogecoin Foundation has released Dogecoin GigaWallet v1.0 to promote the rapid uptake of Dogecoin as a payment option by facilitating easy API integration for businesses, alongside the development of RadioDoge and Libdogecoin for broader adoption and technological advancements. 

Meanwhile, Dogecoin's trading volumes surged by 50% to $3.17 billion, with massive whale activity reported, including a significant transfer of two billion DOGE via Robinhood, boosting its price and market position above Cardano. Additionally, the Solana-based meme coin Dogwifhat (WIF) saw a 10% gain today, leading the meme coin to rally beyond DOGE and surpassing the market cap of its rival BONK.

BadgerDAO and Lido Debut Bitcoin-pegged eBTC

Badger DAO and Lido Finance have collaborated to introduce eBTC, a novel Bitcoin-pegged stablecoin. The stablecoin offers 0% interest Bitcoin loans with no fees and is backed by Ethereum's blockchain, utilizing stETH collateral. eBTC also features customizable collateralization ratios and incentivizes early adoption through Ethereum rewards via Lido's airdrop program.