Following the Bitcoin halving event, onchain fees climbed to over 0 per transaction just an hour later, and as of now, a high-priority transfer costs between and per transaction at 10:30 a.m. Eastern Time on Saturday. The increasing fees have prompted a flood of comments from individuals in the crypto space, as this […]
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Worldcoin Faces $1.2 Million Fine In Argentina For Law Violations; WLD’s Price Reacts
In recent months, Sam Altman’s open-source protocol Worldcoin (WLD) has faced increasing legal challenges as Portugal and Spain cracked down on its biometric data collection practices. Argentina has joined the list, issuing an indictment against Worldcoin after detecting allegedly abusive clauses in user contracts.
Worldcoin Faces Legal Scrutiny In Buenos Aires
Buenos Aires authorities have identified discrepancies between Worldcoin’s reported data handling practices and findings from provincial inspections, raising concerns about the storage and deletion of biometric data and potential infringements on user rights.
The Ministry of Production, Science, and Technological Innovation of the province of Buenos Aires ordered the indictment of Worldcoin following an investigation by the Provincial Directorate for the Defense of Consumer Rights.
The investigation revealed the inclusion of “abusive clauses” in the company’s accession contracts, which were allegedly in violation of the National Consumer Protection Law.
Undersecretary Ariel Aguilar, responsible for Commercial Development and Promotion of Investments in the province, expressed concerns about the lack of transparency surrounding Worldcoin’s data processing procedures.
Aguilar questioned whether biometric data was being stored or immediately deleted, the existence of databases storing personal data of Argentine users, and the complexity of the contracts and operation of the entire system.
The province’s inspections uncovered multiple violations in the adhesion contracts, including the “Terms and Conditions of Use,” “Privacy Notice,” and “Data Consent Form.”
Notably, the company failed to display signs indicating the minimum age requirement of 18 for accessing the service, potentially leading to the scanning of the personal data of minors.
Contradictions In Worldcoin’s Handling Of Biometric Data
Contradictions were also found between the company’s reported use, protection, and storage of biometric data collected from the faces and eyes of Argentine users. It appears that this private information is being stored in Brazil.
Additionally, abusive clauses were identified that allowed the company to interrupt the service without providing any repair or refund.
The contracts also allegedly forced users to waive collective redress claims and subjected them to foreign laws, specifically those of the Cayman Islands, with disputes to be resolved by arbitration in California, United States, violating Argentina’s Civil and Commercial Code. Worldcoin now faces potential fines of up to 1 billion pesos or .2 million.
The company had been operating in various cities in Buenos Aires. Worldcoin collected personal biometric data, such as iris and facial scans, in these locations through its Orb technology device.
In exchange, users were offered the World App financial application on their phones and received cryptocurrency from Worldcoin’s native token, WLD.
Unexpected Upswing
Despite facing increasing legal scrutiny in recent months, including the latest development in Argentina, the token associated with the Worldcoin protocol, WLD, has experienced an unexpected surge of 2.6% within the past 24 hours, currently trading at .80.
However, when examining key metrics, it becomes evident that the overall market correction has impacted WLD. CoinGecko data reveals that WLD’s trading volume in the last 24 hours amounts to 9,113,250, indicating a decrease of 7.10% compared to the previous day.
Additionally, WLD has witnessed a significant decline of over 58% from its all-time high of .74, reached on March 10.
Moreover, the token’s market capitalization has experienced a notable decrease. Since its peak of .4 billion recorded on March 17, the market cap has fallen below the billion-dollar level, currently standing at 0 million as of the time of writing.
Featured image from Shutterstock, chart from TradingView.com
Kiyosaki Reacts to $200 BTC Crash Prediction, Miners Offload BTC Ahead of Halving, and More — Week in Review
Robert Kiyosaki expressed his stance on potentially investing more in Bitcoin if its price plummets to 0, as economist Harry Dent has forecasted. Cryptoquant data reveals that Bitcoin miners are selling off their holdings in anticipation of the network’s upcoming halving event, which is expected to impact their rewards. JPMorgan has speculated that the SEC […]
Bitcoin News
Arbitrum Token Sell-Off: Whales Transfer $58M To Exchanges Following Unlock, ARB Price Reacts
On Saturday, March 16, the Layer 2 protocol Arbitrum (ARB) unlocked 1.1 billion ARB tokens as part of its 2024 roadmap. This event led to a significant decline in the native token’s value, with losses of up to 18% reported over the past week.
In the past 24 hours, more whales have been sending ARB tokens to exchanges for selling, indicating a potential further drop in the protocol’s prices. This token unlocking marks the beginning of a four-year phased process, releasing a specific number of tokens every four weeks until 2027.
11 Whales Dump Million Worth Of ARB Tokens
Following the massive unlocking of ARB tokens, analysis firm Lookonchain revealed that 11 whales deposited 34 million ARB tokens (equivalent to million) into exchanges.
Additionally, on-chain data provider “The Data Nerd” noted that trading firm Wintermute has been continuously depositing ARB tokens for the past 48 hours, potentially for selling purposes.
The data provider notes that digital asset trading firm Wintermute now holds only 7.22 million ARB tokens worth .35 million, indicating that they have already deposited or sold .12 million worth of ARB over the past few days.
The ARB token has been on a 29% downtrend since reaching its all-time high (ATH) of .39 on June 12, 2024. Following the unlock event, ARB traded as high as .96 but dipped to .61 within 48 hours.
The token has managed to reclaim the .68 level despite being in the red zone over the past 24 hours if the price drops further, ARB’s potential support walls are identified at .56, .46, and potentially as low as .32.
Arbitrum Post-Unlock Journey
NewsBTC reported that there has been only one previous unlock event for ARB tokens. On the first day after the unlock, ARB experienced a 3% increase, indicating positive market sentiment and initial demand.
However, the token’s price gradually declined, reaching a low of -21% approximately 21 days after the unlock event. Interestingly, around the 25-day mark, the price began significantly recovering, surging by 19% above the unlock-day level.
These patterns suggest that while Arbitrum may face initial downward pressure post-unlock, there is potential for recovery and positive price movement in the following weeks.
The future trajectory of ARB’s price action remains uncertain despite experiencing a 15% drop from its first unlock day. Drawing from the past unlock event, if historical patterns hold, there may be a further 6% decrease, aligning with the previous 21% drop observed 25 days after the first Arbitrum unlock event.
This hypothetical scenario would place Arbitrum at .57, indicating a favorable mid-term uptrend structure.
However, it is crucial to note that past patterns do not guarantee identical outcomes in current price trading. Nevertheless, analyzing historical data can provide valuable insights and help understand and assess potential price movements.
Featured image from Shutterstock, chart from TradingView.com
Coinbase Suspends PlayDapp Trading After Hack, PLA Price Reacts
Coinbase has temporarily suspended the gaming platform PlayDapp’s token trading and transfer activities after the recent hack that resulted in the theft of 200 million PLA tokens. Recent updates from the Web3 platform have shared some insight into the investigation process.
Suspension Of Trading Activity On Coinbase
On Thursday, the news of the hack was first informed by the security platform Cyvers Alerts on X (formerly Twitter). PlayDapp’s team later confirmed the security breach and immediately contacted partnered exchanges to take measures to protect the holder’s assets.
The gaming platform contacted major centralized exchanges (CEXs) to request deposit and withdrawal suspensions due to the hacking incident and promptly reported to the authorities about the case.
On Monday, the team shared an urgent notice post detailing the state of the investigation and the temporary measures it would take to minimize the hack’s impact on PLA holders.
Following this request, Coinbase announced the suspension of PLA’s trading and transfers across their website, Coinbase Prime, Advanced Trade, and Coinbase Exchange. The exchange expressed its intention to continue monitoring the developments from PlayDapp before giving new updates to customers.
We will continue to monitor developments related to PLA from the issuer and update our customers as more information becomes available.
Learn more: https://t.co/PoDxz71eAp
— Coinbase Assets (@CoinbaseAssets) February 14, 2024
In the notice post, the team informed of its current collaboration with exchanges, blockchain intelligence, security firms, and law enforcement agencies to investigate and resolve the issue further. It has now extended its petition to temporarily pause all liquidity and pool activities related to PLA to decentralized exchanges (DEXs).
According to the circular, decentralized exchanges (DEXs) have hindered the hacker’s attempts at dispersing the stolen tokens.
Migration Process And Price Reaction
PlayDapp tried to negotiate with the hacker to retrieve the stolen funds. However, the attempts failed as the hacker “showed no willingness to help recover holders’ losses,” which resulted in an additional attack that led to the issuance of an additional 1.59 billion PLA tokens.
Subsequently, the team continues investigating the hacker’s intrusion methods to prevent further attacks, and they’re currently tracking the minted and swapped tokens by the hacker. Due to this, PLA Holder’s assistance has been requested, asking users for “the halt of transactions because we will conduct a migration based on the snapshot shortly.”
The platform has been discussing with exchanges to assess the best migration solution. The most recent update further details the attack’s damages and the coming migration process:
We are estimating the scale of damage for the initially minted 200 million tokens, while it’s confirmed that there is minimal damage from the secondary minting of 1.59 billion tokens. Currently, the transactions associated with the hacker are being tracked by security firms, so most of the invalidly minted tokens will be filtered out during the migration process.
Loss of ownership over the token smart contract opens the possibility for further attacks on PLA tokens.
As the update explains, PDA is an upgraded version of the new token. It introduces multi-signature implementation, snapshot, pause, and burn authority separation for management while removing minting authority for stability.
PDA will also introduce a DAO voting system, and it can only be swapped at a 1:1 ratio using wallets not associated with the hacker.
PlayDapp will coordinate with CEXes to reimburse PDA to PLA-holding users during the migration. Affected users will be reimbursed using the “current user balance holdings as per the snapshot timing” and receive the full token holdings at a 1:1 ratio. The team will announce the snapshot time in a future update.
According to CoinMarketCap data, the PLA price dropped from .1823 to .1498 after the attack. Since then, the token price has hovered around .14-.16.
The price dropped to .1383 after the Coinbase announcement, a 13.35% drop in the last seven days. PLA’s daily trading volume at writing time is ,786,268, representing a 23.4% decrease in the previous 24 hours.
However, after the most recent migration plan update, PLA’s price surged 1.2% in the last hour and 3.7% in the previous 24 hours, as the token trades at .1524, perhaps signaling a change in holder sentiment after the recent development.
Inflationary Concerns Rise As US CPI Exceeds Predictions, Bitcoin Price Reacts
The latest US inflation data significantly impacted the Bitcoin price and most of the cryptocurrency market, with some exceptions. According to a report from the Labor Department, inflation rose more than expected in January, driven by higher shelter prices.
Furthermore, the consumer price index (CPI), which measures the prices consumers face for goods and services across the economy, saw a 0.3% increase for the month. On a 12-month basis, the CPI stood at 3.1%, slightly lower than December’s 3.4%.
Bitcoin Price Retreats Amid Higher-Than-Expected CPI Figures
According to recent reports, the higher-than-expected CPI figures could pose challenges for the Federal Reserve (Fed), as officials anticipate inflation to recede and reach their 2% annual target. The central bank aims to adjust monetary policy, which has been tight over two decades.
However, the January increase in inflation may delay the Fed’s plans to ease rates, as it will require more data before initiating a rate-cutting cycle. This outcome disappointed those who expected inflation to decrease and prompted a reassessment of the timing for potential rate adjustments.
On this matter, market intelligence platform Santiment reported that the 3.1% CPI result caused market cap losses in cryptocurrency and equities markets. The Bitcoin price, which had breached the ,000 mark for the first time in over two years, has fallen below ,000 in response.
According to the crypto platform’s analysis, this mild retrace will likely polarize crowd sentiment, potentially leading to significant panic sales. In such a scenario, the justification for dip buying becomes more viable, but sentiment may turn negative.
Bitcoin’s Market Cycle Patterns
Market expert Crypto Con has identified a striking pattern in Bitcoin’s market cycles, specifically concerning the 20 Week Exponential Moving Average (EMA). Despite mounting concerns regarding inflation data, the analysis suggests that the Bitcoin price behavior tends to follow a consistent six-step pattern, with significant implications for support and potential correction levels.
According to Crypto Con’s analysis, Bitcoin’s price movement in each market cycle has adhered to a similar pattern involving the 20-week EMA. The pattern unfolds as follows:
First, as seen in the chart below, the Bitcoin price breaks above the moving average, marking the beginning of a new cycle and a notable uptrend. However, after the completion of the initial run, the price retraces and falls below the moving average, signaling a temporary shift in sentiment.
Despite the temporary setback, Bitcoin’s price then breaks above the moving average once more, indicating the start of a true rally and resumption of the upward trend. At this stage, price action creates a false retest of support, narrowly missing the moving average as a crucial support level. This false retest is a common occurrence in Bitcoin’s market cycles.
Following the false retest, Bitcoin embarks on a second run, representing a further advancement in the market cycle. Bitcoin’s price is currently positioned during this phase.
According to the analysis made by Crypto Con, the full correction in Bitcoin’s price may not need to be as deep, as the moving average currently sits at approximately ,000.
Ultimately, the analysis’s suggestion that the Bitcoin price may not dip below the ,000 level during the ongoing bull run, even in the face of anticipated corrections, is particularly encouraging for bullish investors.
Bitcoin is trading at 48,600, down 3% in the last 24 hours.
Featured image from Shutterstock, chart from TradingView.com
Grayscale Transfers Almost 12,000 BTC To Coinbase, Bitcoin Price Reacts
In a significant development that could potentially impact the Bitcoin price, Arkham Intelligence data reveals that Grayscale, the manager and owner of the Grayscale Bitcoin Trust (GBTC), has been sending a significant amount of Bitcoin to Coinbase since the launch of Bitcoin spot exchange-traded funds (ETFs) on January 12.
Grayscale Bitcoin Trust Initiates Substantial BTC Outflow
According to the data, four days ago, Grayscale initiated the first batch of BTC outflows from their holdings to the US-based exchange in four separate batches, totaling 4,000 BTC, which amounted to approximately 3 million. However, the asset manager resumed outflows from the Trust to the exchange on Tuesday.
In a recent update, approximately three hours ago, the asset manager sent an additional 11,700 BTC to Coinbase, amounting to 1.4 million. This additional selling pressure could push the Bitcoin price to test lower support levels.
Furthermore, Bloomberg reports that investors have withdrawn over half a billion dollars from the Grayscale Bitcoin Trust during the initial days of trading as an ETF.
According to Bloomberg’s data, outflows from the Grayscale Bitcoin Trust reached approximately 9 million, while the other nine spot Bitcoin ETFs witnessed inflows totaling nearly 9 million.
Investors Shift Capital To ‘Lower-Cost’ Spot Bitcoin ETFs
James Seyffart, an ETF analyst at Bloomberg Intelligence, noted that investors may be profit-taking following the ETF conversion. The flow data provides valuable insights into the ETF’s performance following SEC approval.
Although over .3 billion of GBTC shares were traded on its first day, the outflows indicate that a portion of that volume was due to selling. Seyffart anticipates that a significant amount of capital will enter other Bitcoin exposures.
The outflows from Grayscale’s ETF were somewhat expected. Bloomberg Intelligence had previously projected that the fund would experience outflows of over billion in the coming weeks.
Some of this outflow can be attributed to investors shifting towards more cost-effective spot Bitcoin ETFs. With an expense ratio of 1.5%, GBTC is the most expensive US ETF directly investing in Bitcoin. In contrast, the VanEck Bitcoin Trust, the second-most expensive fund, charges 0.25%.
On the other hand, other spot Bitcoin ETFs have witnessed net inflows. BlackRock’s IBIT attracted nearly 0 million in the first two days of trading, while Fidelity’s FBTC received approximately 1 million.
According to Bloomberg, these inflows suggest strong demand for Bitcoin exposure in physically backed ETFs, even beyond potential seed funding from the fund issuers.
Bitcoin Price Finds Support At ,000
Currently, the Bitcoin price remains unaffected by the news of Grayscale’s transfers to Coinbase. The leading cryptocurrency is trading at ,100, showing a slight increase of 0.8% over the past 24 hours.
However, since the commencement of ETF trading, it is important to note that the Bitcoin price has experienced a significant retracement, declining by 8%. This decline can be attributed to profit-taking and selling pressure, with Grayscale’s involvement being noteworthy.
In the event of a further drop in the Bitcoin price, a significant support level has been established at ,000. If this level is breached, the next key level for Bitcoin bulls to watch is ,350, followed by a potential dip below ,000.
The market is eagerly observing whether Grayscale and its BTC selloff will continue and how this will impact the Bitcoin price leading up to the scheduled halving event in April, which many consider to be the main catalyst for the year.
Featured image from Shutterstock, chart from TradingView.com
Crypto Market Reacts: Binance CEO Changpeng Zhao Steps Down
In a shocking turn of events, Binance CEO Changpeng Zhao has agreed to step down from the crypto exchange and has plead guilty to “violating US anti-money laundering requirements.”
The news is currently being priced into the crypto market, leading to extreme volatility in Bitcoin and altcoins, plus a lot of chatter on social media. Let’s take a closer look at how the market and speculators are reacting so far.
CZ To Step Down, Pleads Guilty, Company Charged B In Fines
Earlier today, the US Department of Justice revealed it would be announcing action against a cryptocurrency company. The most dominant cryptocurrency exchange, Binance, was the target of the enforcement action, and was ordered to pay .3 billion in fines.
Binance CEO Changpeng “CZ” Zhao stepped down as a result, and plead guilt to US anti-money laundering charges. The crypto market sank in the earlier hours today in anticipation of the news.
However, as soon as the Wall Street Journal revealed the information publicly, Bitcoin price bounced back and so did the altcoin market. Moments later, most of the upside price action was wiped out. Price as traded within roughly a 4% range today, but has traded across that several times since the news broke, highlighting powerful intraday volatility.
The Crypto Market Reacts To The Binance News
While the market tries to price in what just occurred, volatility will continue to ensue in the near term. On X (formerly Twitter), notable figures are speaking out in regards to CZ’s departure from Binance.
On-chain analyst and market commentator Will Clemente points out it is “just a matter of weeks until Bitcoin ETF approval now” with Binance out of the way. The company has long been cited as a key reason for the SEC remaining hesitant to pull the trigger on a spot BTC ETF application approval.
Messari Crypto CEO Ryan Selkis calls it one of the “biggest catalysts we could have in crypto” between ETFs, crypto-friendly legislation, and this billion settlement helping crypto be viewed as a “real industry.”
Economist Alex Kruger reveals that the settlement is ranked the 7th in financial compliance history, next to names like JP Morgan, Bank of America, Goldman Sachs, Wells Fargo, and several others.
Moonstone Research Study Etches Doubts on Monero’s Privacy; Crypto Community Reacts
On September 1, 2023, hackers made off with 2,675.73 monero (XMR), worth over million at the time, from the Monero CCS donation wallet in nine separate transactions. Now, blockchain analysis firm Moonstone Research has traced forward through three of those transactions in a postmortem released this week.
Monero Privacy Challenged in Monero CCS Wallet Trace
Just 65 days ago, a monero (XMR) wallet earmarked for compensating contributors suffered from a hack. In a puzzling twist of events, the Monero team still grapples with the mysterious origins of this breach. A comprehensive investigation revealed that only two individuals held knowledge of the CCS wallet seed.
The wallet had also been operational since April 2020, functioning without issues until September 1, when an attacker executed a sequence of nine transactions, ultimately draining the entire balance of the CCS wallet. The enduring mystery revolves around how the assailant successfully accomplished this audacious feat.
The Moonstone Research postmortem details how the firm identified one of the hacker’s transactions that contained outputs from all nine of the initial withdrawals from the CCS wallet. While XMR transactions are designed to be private, this transaction’s rings contained one matching output from each of the nine hack transactions. Moonstone believes this indicates the transaction almost certainly belonged to the hacker, merging funds.
Analyzing this first transaction then allowed Moonstone to trace two more transactions likely made by the hacker sending funds to an exchange, service, or counterparty. However, the firm was unable to account for all the XMR withdrawn, indicating some funds have not yet been traced. The postmortem speculates the transactions were made using the mobile wallet Monerujo and its anonymizing “PocketChange” feature based on the abnormal number of outputs.
“Monero tracing is not deterministic in the same way that Bitcoin and Ethereum tracing often is. Monero transactions purposefully impose complexity to their transaction graphs, leading to false positives and ambiguity,” the report states. Still, blockchain analysis can uncover leads when combined with other evidence using heuristics.
Privacy Expert: ‘This Is Not a Scenario That Applies to Almost Anyone Using Monero’
Moonstone’s investigation demonstrates, under certain circumstances, XMR transactions can sometimes be partially traced despite their privacy features. But the report also shows there are still limitations to analyzing Monero’s complex blockchain. This development has piqued the interest of the crypto community, sparking discussions across various social media platforms. “Wow… not as private as everyone thinks,” one person remarked.
“I’m impressed but also concerned by how Monero transactions can be traced,” another person said on the social media platform X.
This is not the first time a blockchain analysis company has disclosed its capabilities to track XMR transactions. In 2020, Ciphertrace, a blockchain surveillance firm, claimed to have developed the “world’s first” Monero tracing tools designed for law enforcement purposes.
However, skepticism persists in the crypto community regarding the extent of these capabilities. At that time, information security engineer and XMR advocate Seth Simmons, among others, raised doubts about the accuracy of Ciphertrace’s claims and emphasized the need for corroborating evidence.
Simmons shared his perspective about Moonstone’s study as well and stressed that the specific tracing scenario doesn’t apply to the typical Monero user. He insists XMR remains inherently private and resistant to most tracking attempts. He explained that the ability to trace resulted from unusual circumstances: private keys were shared with a chain surveillance company.
Simmons further said that an atypical onchain footprint was created due to a Monerujo feature, and significant off-chain metadata was voluntarily provided. Seth suggests that future Monero improvements will make such tracing nearly impossible, emphasizing the need to avoid sharing private keys, sweeping entire wallet balances unnecessarily, and to minimize off-chain metadata exposure.
“Ring signatures’ only major weakness is against targeted tracing with known (or ‘poisoned’) inputs, which is this exact scenario,” Simmons wrote.
What do you think about Moonstone’s study and the skeptism surrounding monero tracking attempts? Share your thoughts and opinions about this subject in the comments section below.
Pro-XRP Lawyer Reacts To Elon Musk And Mark Cuban’s Amicus Brief To SEC
In a pivotal moment backed by pro-XRP lawyer John E Deaton’s sentiments, high-profile entrepreneurs Elon Musk and Mark Cuban, along with a consortium of prominent investors, have raised objections against the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). This challenge comes in the form of an amicus curiae brief addressing the SEC’s litigation procedures.
Elon Musk and Mark Cuban’s Amicus Brief
Musk, Cuban, and other amici such as Phillip Goldstein, Nelson Obus, Manouch Moshayedi, and the Investor Choice Advocates Network (ICAN) collectively argue against the SEC’s predominant use of administrative proceedings over jury trials. The brief highlights that this method raises questions about the constitutionality of the SEC’s practices.
The amicus brief was composed for the SEC v. Jarkesy case. Here, George Jarkesy, the complainant, alleges that his Seventh Amendment privileges were infringed upon. He argues that the SEC’s internal adjudication method, which lacks a jury and is overseen by a commission-designated administrative law judge, violates these privileges.
Drawing attention to the Seventh Amendment, which upholds a defendant’s right to a jury trial for cases mirroring “suits at common law,” the amici underline the SEC’s inconsistency. They cite the SEC v. Seghers case as an example, where the SEC opted for a jury trial, resulting in a liability verdict against Seghers for fraud.
The amici also address concerns of “forum shopping” by the SEC, suggesting that the agency might prosecute two identical defendants differently. This approach could result in one party benefiting from full constitutional rights, while the other might not, leading to a disparate legal outcome.
The document reads:
Forum shopping by itself may not be impermissible. But forum shopping by the federal government to pursue the same claims and penalties against similarly situated individuals, so that one individual has access to a jury and the other does not, violates the Equal Protection Clause of the Constitution.
The document further contends that such practices damage the SEC’s credibility at a time when public trust in such institutions is waning, intensified by revelations of the SEC’s “improper access to privileged memoranda.”
The amici conclude that the SEC’s practices deprive the public of critical information that might come to light during a jury trial, which contradicts the SEC’s core mission. This shared stance by Musk, Cuban, and their associates emphasizes the need for a reassessment of the SEC’s litigation approach, hinting at a potentially groundbreaking legal tussle on the horizon.
Pro-XRP Lawyer Deaton Reacts
Renowned pro-XRP lawyer, John E Deaton, aired his views on X, expressing his support for Musk and Cuban’s stance. Deaton said, “I’m thrilled to see Mark & Elon take this path, even if they disagree on certain issues.” He reflected on past decisions, stating, “Three years ago I filed suit against the SEC, and encouraged companies in the crypto space to do the same.”
Deaton further challenges the narratives that discourage companies or executives from contesting the SEC or its chairmanship. “Just because they state something doesn’t make it true. Almost every court case involving the SEC is proving that very point,” he contends.
He highlights concerns about potential conflicts of interest within the SEC, suggesting that both parties, Republican and Democrat, are tainted. In a particularly revealing statement, he mentions, “These temporary bureaucrats are often conflicted, implementing agendas that favor their friends and the companies they go work for immediately following their tenure at the SEC.”
Detailing alleged past conflicts, the pro-XRP lawyer critically remarks, “Look at Jay Clayton. He helped Apollo Group after they gave Kushner a huge loan and Clayton becomes a top advisor and Board Member at Apollo… Speaking of Hinman, he’s made partner at A16z, and they, along with Joseph Lubin, Vitalik Buterin, asked Hinman to give ETH a free pass. Hell, a16z lawyers actually helped Hinman write his famous speech.”
Bringing attention to the broader issue, Deaton’s concerns are not only with individual transgressions but with systemic flaws. “The SEC MUST be completely restructured. It’s a broken and failed agency,” he unequivocally asserts.
Deaton concludes with a strong call to action, emphasizing the urgent need for reform. “We need term limits in Congress and we need to pass legislation forbidding a regulator from immediately working for companies they were just regulating.”
In his final, resounding statement, he warns, “Now it’s no longer only a revolving problem. It’s gotten so out of hand, they blatantly violate conflict laws because they know no one will do anything about it. The next regulator simply takes the attitude: ‘Now it’s my turn.’”
At press time, XRP traded at .4804.