SEC Urged to Abandon Crypto 'Crusade' by Congressman Torres After Ripple Legal Battle

🇺🇸 Congressman Ritchie Torres has asked the US Securities and Exchange Commission to provide clear rules for crypto instead of “indiscriminately” treating the majority of crypto assets as securities under its purview.

🟣 On Tuesday, Torres penned an open letter to SEC Chairman Gary Gensler, expressing his discontent with the agency's failure to issue clear guidance to the cryptocurrency industry.

❕ "All it has done is sent mixed messages, one after the [other], not only contradicting the CFTC but often contradicting itself.” The letter came after the judge presiding over the SEC v. Ripple Labs case delivered a summary judgment ruling that XRP is not a security in regard to programmatic sales on digital asset exchanges.

💰 Torres applauded the ruling, asserting that the SEC's enforcement strategy, commonly known as "regulation by enforcement," suffered a significant blow in court.

Crypto Exchange FTX and Alameda Seek to Retrieve $71 Million from Philanthropic and Life Science Entities

🪙 Defunct cryptocurrency exchange FTX and its sister company Alameda Research are seeking clawbacks from FTX's philanthropic arm and other life science entities.

🔘 According to court documents filed on Wednesday, the firms are seeking to recover more than $71 million that was allegedly diverted from the FTX Foundation and “Latona” – a “sham non-profit company organized in the Bahamas” – for ex-FTX boss Sam Bankman Fried (SBF)’s personal aggrandizement and political influence.

🟣 Lawyers representing FTX and Alameda Research argued that the funds were transferred to life science companies, including Lumen Bioscience Inc. and Platform Life Sciences Inc., purportedly to support “effective altruism” – a philosophy often espoused by SBF before his empire came crashing down.

💳 The philosophy advocates for the redistribution of wealth from wealthy individuals to those in need. However, FTX’s lawyers claim that the true intention behind these transactions was far from philanthropic.

Nigerian Social Payments App Bundle Ceases Crypto Exchange Services – Here's the Latest

🇳🇬 Nigerian social payments platform Bundle plans to cease its crypto exchange services and instead focus on its peer-to-peer platform Cashlink.

🟢 In a recent blog post, Bundle said the decision was made by the company's shareholders, who believe that the future lies in payment solutions that cater to the growing Web3 and blockchain community.

🟢 "We will cease operations of its exchange services as part of the Shareholders' decision to restructure the business to focus on cashlink," the company said in the announcement. Founded by Yele Bademosi in 2020, Bandle quickly gained popularity, attracting 50,000 monthly active users and processing a monthly volume of $50 million.

🌍 However, with the rise of Cashlink and its impressive record of over 3 million transactions in less than two years, Bundle's shareholders saw an opportunity to pivot their business toward this burgeoning market.

Crypto Industry Celebrates XRP Court Ruling, but Long Road Ahead for Regulatory Framework

🔵 The cryptocurrency industry has been abuzz with excitement after a recent court ruling declared that Ripple's XRP token is not considered a security when sold on digital asset exchanges.

➡️ The ruling has generated positive sentiment across the crypto ecosystem, offering hope for clarity in the regulatory landscape.

➡️ Stuart Alderoty, chief legal officer at Ripple, has said that the most critical aspect of the ruling is the court's explicit statement that XRP is not inherently a security, claiming that this ruling is now a matter of law, no longer up for debate or trial.

🧬 “Additionally, other findings that are not subject to trial include the following: sales on exchanges are not securities, sales by executives are not securities, and other XRP distributions to developers, charities and employees are not securities," he said in a recent interview.

South Korea's Financial Intelligence Unit Presses Crypto Platforms to Improve Compliance Measures

🇰🇷 The Korea Financial Intelligence Unit (KoFIU) in a meeting on Thursday told the Korean crypto industry to double down on their efforts to prevent illegal activities.

🔘 At the meeting, KoFIU Commissioner Rhee Yunsu said that a “strategic analysis team” focused on crypto has been set up, and that the team will work more systematically to uncover and analyze crypto-related crimes going forward.

🔘 This will be done so that KoFIU can offer “more meaningful and valuable data” to law enforcement and investigators, an announcement from South Korea’s Financial Services Commission said.

💰 In addition, the agency told those in the meeting that the industry needs to “strengthen the compliance capacity,” adding that it is necessary to “bolster response to illegal activities.”

Billionaire Founder of HEX and PulseChain Richard Heart Sued by SEC for Securities Fraud

🇺🇸 The US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has taken legal action against prominent internet marketer and crypto advocate Richard Heart.

🔘 Heart, whose real name is Richard Schueler, is accused of raising more than $1 billion through unregistered securities offerings and defrauding investors.

🔴 Heart is known for his projects Hex, PulseChain, and PulseX and has also been accused by the SEC of using investor funds for personal purchases.

📣 Hex is an ERC-20 token marketed as the first blockchain certificate of deposit, PulseChain is a layer-1 blockchain and PulseX is a PulseChain-based decentralized exchange (DEX).

🏆 LECKSIS is giving away $500! 🎉

Are you ready to win your share of a $500 prize pool from LECKSIS — an innovative messenger that combines E-commerce, absolute anonymity through VPN, and cryptocurrency. Now, you can not only accumulate and store tokens in your wallet but also spend them on goods and services.

With LECKSIS, you can start a business, gain loyal customers, and secure some serious profits in LEKS tokens. To do this, you can use the built-in constructor to create stores and landing pages, a wallet, message transaction technology, and AI assistant functionality.

Join the contest for a chance to win with LECKSIS!💰

📢 How to participate:

✅ Follow all of Lecksis' social media accounts 📲
✅ Repost this contest post on your Instagram feed or story and tag the Lecksis account 🌐
✅ Fill out the Google form to submit your entry and be in with a chance to win your share of the $500 prize pool 📝

🎁 Main prize: LECKSIS will award $50 each to 10 lucky winners!

🗓 Don't miss this opportunity - participate now! The contest ends on August 10th. Stay tuned for the results!

WorldCoin to Open its ID System for Government and Private Companies: Report

🧬 Sam Altman co-founded tech firm WorldCoin is extending its reach by enabling governments and private businesses to leverage its controversial iris-scanning and identity-verification technology, Reuters reported.

💵 WorldCoin continues to attract regulatory scrutiny for its tech that is being used to collect people’s data by scanning their iris.

❕ Ricardo Macieira, the General Manager for Europe at Tools For Humanity, the company behind the Worldcoin initiative, outlined the vision, told Reuters, "We are on this mission of building the biggest financial and identity community that we can."

🏪 He further emphasized the project's pursuit of creating a widespread infrastructure that not only benefits its own users but also accommodates third parties seeking to integrate this tech used as an ID system.

Blockchain Security Firm CertiK Reveals Vulnerability in Worldcoin Protocol Allowing Unverified Orb Operator Access

❔ Blockchain security firm CertiK has disclosed a vulnerability in the Worldcoin protocol that allowed unauthorized access for an Orb operator.

🟡 In a recent Twitter thread, CertiK explained that the vulnerability allowed anyone to bypass the verification requirements to become an Orb operator without meeting the necessary criteria, such as being a legitimate company or passing a vetting interview.

🔴 "Through this security vulnerability, a malicious attacker could bypass the verification and strict participation criteria of the Worldcoin Operator acceptance process," the company wrote.

💀 The usual process allows only legitimate businesses that pass strict identification verification to run an Orb operation, which collects users' iris information.

UK Set To Expand Its National Crypto Crime Unit As Organized Blockchain Fraud Surges

🇬🇧 The United Kingdom’s National Crime Agency (NCA) is set to increase its cryptocurrency fraud investigation unit as part of wider plans to halt the increase in financial crimes.

🔴 The new move will see the agency hire four new senior investigators to join the financial crime unit to tackle all forms of corruption and fraud cases on the blockchain.

❕ The Complex Financial Crime Team (CFCT) will get a new Digital Asset Disclosure Officer across multiple jurisdictions with the closing date of application being Aug 21, 2023.

⏳ The team will work with a special surveillance unit alongside the police department as it investigates high-profile fraud and money laundering cases perpetrated by organized criminals.

Artist and Elon Musk Ex-Partner Grimes Made More Money From NFT Sales Than Music

⚡️ Claire Elise Boucher, known professionally as Grimes, has raked in around $6 million from her NFT collection.

🔴 In a recent interview with technology magazine Wired, the Canadian musician and Elon Musk's former partner confirmed that she managed to make more money off of NFTs than she has made across her entire music career.

🔴 "Yes, that went really well," she said. " I’m sad about what happened to NFTs and crypto, because it got polluted fast with people trying to make as much money as possible."

🎁 The collection featured a series of digital artworks set to her music, as well as a one-of-one music video that sold for almost $400,000.

United States CBDC Debate Goes Mainstream As Post Malone Takes Swipe At “Digital Dollar”

🇺🇸 American rapper, Post Malone has criticized the idea of a potential United States Central Bank Digital Currency (CBDC) describing it as a means of government control.

🟣 The celebrity dropped his two cents on the issue on the popular podcast, the “Joe Rogan Experience” where the duo fired shots at the government highlighting the problems the digital currency will create in the country.

🟢 Rogan was vocal about his distaste when asked about his views by Malone calling it a government checkmate on citizens. Malone also expressed a similar view as the debate continued.

💲 According to Rogan, the government’s endgame would be to strip citizens of all their money forcing an unwilling compliance as a result of fear of losing all their assets to the government.

Crypto Fraud Scheme Organizers Face Legal Action by CFTC in Florida, Louisiana, and Arkansas

⚡️ The Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) has taken legal action against four individuals and their organization, Fundsz, for their involvement in a fraudulent scheme related to cryptocurrencies and precious metals trading.

🔴 Rene Larralde from Melbourne, Florida, Juan Pablo Valcarce from West Melbourne, Florida, Brian Early from New Orleans, Louisiana, and Alisha Ann Kingrey from Franklin, Arkansas, along with their unincorporated entity Fundsz, are under investigation for engaging in misleading investment solicitations.

🔴 According to the CFTC's complaint filed in the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Florida, the defendants deceived investors by promising implausible returns based on a supposed "proprietary algorithm."

⚡️ “The CFTC continues to root out individuals who defraud customers in the cryptocurrency and precious metals markets," the agency's director of enforcement, Ian McGinley, said.

Singapore’s Central Bank Releases Regulatory Framework for Stablecoins

🇸🇬 The Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS), the city-state’s de-facto central bank, announced its revised regulatory framework for stablecoins, aimed to “ensure a high degree of value stability for stablecoins regulated in Singapore.”

🔴 Released Tuesday, the new rules will apply to any single-currency stablecoins (SCS) pegged to the Singapore dollar or any G10 currencies, that are issued in Singapore including the euro, United States dollar and British pound, the central bank announcement noted.

🟡 Stablecoins are digital payment tokens (DPT) pegged to legal tender like national currencies and maintain a constant value, unlike other volatile cryptos like Bitcoin (BTC) or Ether (ETH).

💵 The new stablecoin regulatory outline accounts for feedback from an October 2022 public consultation on the overall regulatory approach for stablecoin-related issuance and intermediation activities.

Philippine National Police Warns Citizens On Axie Infinity’s Play-to-Earn Model, Cites Security Concerns

🇸🇽 The Philippine police has raised alarms on blockchain gaming saying it may be riskier than investing in cryptocurrencies if capitalized by bad actors.

➡️ In a new statement, the Philippine National Police Anti-Cybercrime Group (PNP ACG) says citizens should be wary of the risk of being extorted by gaming models that require them to buy non-fungible tokens (NFTs).

➡️ Per the statement, the division stressed the popular play-to-earn model deployed by Axie Infinity and other companies where users earn rewards, usually NFTs as they advance or complete tasks.

💿 The PNG explained that for Axie, a user needs to buy at least three NFTs before they can play which can go as high as $300, or $100 per NFT. The police department took sides with traditional gaming based on cost, low entry, and security.

FTX Co-Founder Sam Bankman-Fried Appeals for Temporary Jail Release

🪙 FTX co-founder Sam Bankman-Fried is seeking temporary release from jail in order to work on his defense with his lawyers at the federal courthouse in Manhattan.

🔘 On Friday, Bankman-Fried's lawyers sent a letter to US District Judge Lewis Kaplan, stating that their client was unable to adequately review the extensive documents related to his case while detained at the Metropolitan Detention Center (MDC) in Brooklyn.

🟣 According to Bankman-Fried's lawyer Christian Everdell, the government recently provided him with three-quarters of a million pages of Slack communications, which were due months ago.

💎 “Just last week the government produced three quarters of a million pages of Slack communications, which were supposed to be produced months ago, that Mr. Bankman-Fried will have no hope of reviewing under this schedule,” Everdell wrote.

Bitcoin Miners Pivot To Other Areas In Quest To Diversify Earnings: JP Morgan

💰 Digital asset miners are moving to other business ventures including offering high-powered technology services to artificial intelligence (AI) companies to improve earnings.

🔥 A new report from JP Morgan shows that crypto-based mining firms are expanding their operations to include high-performance computing, reducing their dependency on core primary operations, cryptocurrency.

🔥 The bank noted that while Bitcoin (BTC) miners lead the number of cryptocurrency miners transitioning up AI, other asset miners like Ethereum (ETH) also add to the surging figures.

🪙 As a result of the Ethereum Merge which saw the network transition to a Proof-of-Stake blockchain, with users staking assets to secure the network, miners began selling their high-earned hardware in the secondary market leading to a high supply and a slight drop in prices.

Bitstamp Halts ETH Staking for US Customers Amid Regulatory Uncertainty

🇺🇸 In a move fueled by increasing regulatory uncertainty in the United States, global cryptocurrency exchange Bitstamp has announced to terminate Ethereum staking service for US users.

🔹 The exchange has set September 25 as the deadline for users to earn rewards on their staked assets, after which the staked tokens will be withdrawn and returned to users' accounts, Bloomberg reported.

🔷 Citing the uncertainty in the regulatory landscape in the US as the reason, Bitstamp announced, "Considering current regulatory dynamics in the US, we've made the decision to discontinue staking for customers residing in the United States."

Sam Bankman-Fried's Legal Team Raises Concerns Over Trial Preparations

🔶 Sam Bankman-Fried's attorneys have raised concerns regarding the measures taken by authorities for their client's upcoming criminal trial in October. In an August 25 submission to the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York, the legal representatives argued that the measures proposed by the prosecutors were not adequate for the FTX founder to fully prepare for his trial.

✔️ The heart of the matter pertains to the discovery materials related to the case. On August 24, the U.S. Justice Department provided approximately 4 million pages of these materials. However, according to the defense, there are still "millions of pages of documents and terabytes of data" left to be reviewed by Sam Bankman-Fried.

💎 “We do not believe that anything short of temporary release will properly address these problems and safeguard Mr. Bankman-Fried’s right to participate in his own defense,” the defense stated. “Before his bail was revoked, Mr. Bankman-Fried was spending 80-100 hours a week reviewing the voluminous discovery and creating detailed analyses that he could update constantly and share with his attorneys.”