The Crypto Roundup: 10 June 2024

Latest price and news from the crypto space

Latest price from our hand picked list of digital assets

U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) Chairman Gary Gensler has revealed he believes the vast majority of cryptocurrencies and initial coin offerings (ICOs) violate U.S. securities laws.

Bitcoin SV has suffered a 51% attack after “some serious hashing power” was unleashed on the network and used to reorganize blocks on it. During the attack, the Bitcoin Association recommended node operators invalidate the fraudulent chain.

HSBC has become the latest British bank to bar payments to popular cryptocurrency exchange Binance citing a consumer warning by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA). The bank told its customers the decision came “due to concerns about the possible risks to you.”

Sponsored: Another exciting quarter has come and gone and despite the turmoil experienced in crypto markets after mid-May, the Invictus Capital suite of funds has continued to offer investors exceptional returns, with the Hyperion VC (IHF), Margin Lending (IML) and Crypto10 Hedged (C10) Funds all shooting the lights out.

Top stories in the Crypto Roundup today:

SEC Chairman Believes ‘Every ICO is a Security’
Bitcoin SV Suffers Yet Another 51% Attack
HSBC Bars Payments to Crypto Exchange Binance
Daily Movers – AXS, LUNA, RUNE
Sponsored: Invictus Capital Q2 2021 Investment Report

SEC Chairman Believes ‘Every ICO is a Security’

U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) Chairman Gary Gensler has revealed he believes the vast majority of cryptocurrencies and initial coin offerings (ICOs) violate U.S. securities laws.

In a speech at the Aspen Security Forum, Gensler made it clear he agrees with his predecessor at the SEC, Jay Clayton, who once said that in his view “every ICO I’ve seen is a security.” In prepared remarks, Gensler said he believes “we have a crypto market now where many tokens may be unregistered securities, without required disclosures or market oversight.”

He added these tokens may allow markets to be manipulated, which in turn could harm investors. Gensler noted the “stable value tokens backed by securities” and stock tokens qualify as securities in his view, which means they have to be registered and their issuers have to abide by existing federal law.

Gensler added:

“A typical trading platform has more than 50 tokens on it. In fact, many have well in excess of 100 tokens. While each token’s legal status depends on its own facts and circumstances, the probability is quite remote that, with 50 or 100 tokens, any given platform has zero securities.”

The SEC Chairman also said investment vehicles offering investors exposure to cryptocurrencies, including mutual funds, already exist.

Bitcoin SV Suffers Yet Another 51% Attack

The attack was seemingly first spotted by CoinMetrics network data product manager Lucas Nuzzi, and then corroborated by blockchain security monitoring tool FARUM, which saw a 14-block reorganization of the network.

A 51% attack occurs when a miner or group of miners control over 51% of the computing power supporting the network and uses it to attack the network by rewriting the blocks on the network to, for example, spend the same funds twice and get away with it.

When two versions of the same blocks are mined, the network defaults to the longest chain. During a 51% attack, as the malicious entity has more hashpower than the rest of the miners on the chain, they can create a longer chain and get the network to default to it.

Bitcoin SV has suffered four similar attacks over the last two months. An unknown miner operating under the “Zulupool” moniker attacked the network numerous times by creating malicious blocks in secret and releasing them all at once to orphan correct blocks on the network.

HSBC Bars Payments to Crypto Exchange Binance

In a notice shared with clients, HSBC wrote:

“We take our duty as a responsible lender seriously and want to do everything we can to protect you. We’ll continue to monitor the situation and let you know if anything changes.”

It pointed to the FCA’s recent warning on the regulatory status of Binance in the U.K. to justify the move. The FCA’s warning, it’s worth noting, stated that no entities in the Binance Group hold “any form of authorisation, registration or license to conduct regulated activity” in the country.

Daily Movers – AXS, LUNA, RUNE

Several tokens are leading the charge in the last 24-hour period. Some of these are well-known cryptocurrencies with more liquid trading pairs, so we’ll be focusing on these over low-cap cryptos that may have higher percentage changes.

Axie Infinity Shards (AXS) - Axie Infinity Shards (AXS) are the governance token of the popular blockchain-based game Axie Infinity. The game was created by SkyMavis and allows players to earn income through non-fungible tokens (NFTs), by breeding, battling, and trading digital pets called Axies.

Terra (LUNA) - Terra aims to build a new financial infrastructure that works better for everyone. The network is powered by a family of stablecoins, each pegged to major fiat currencies all algorithmically stabilized by Terra’s native token, Luna. Terra’s mission is to set money free by building open financial infrastructure.

THORChain (RUNE) - THORChain is built for cross-chain permissionless digital asset liquidity. Stake assets in liquidity pools to earn fees, swap assets instantly at open market prices, borrow and lend on any asset, and pay in any currency.

Invictus Capital Q2 2021 Investment Report

Another exciting quarter has come and gone and despite the turmoil experienced in crypto markets after mid-May, the Invictus Capital suite of funds has continued to offer investors exceptional returns, with the Hyperion VC (IHF), Margin Lending (IML) and Crypto10 Hedged (C10) Funds all shooting the lights out.

AUM is still ticking up, with an average of $145 million under management over June. Hyperion has continued to astound, and we are incredibly proud of the performance of the underlying portfolio that now firmly places the fund within the top tiers of global venture capital fund performance.

The company's funds offered commendable performance in a quarter marked by heightened volatility and extreme fear in the Bitcoin and broader cryptoasset market. The simple average return across our suite of seven funds was 9.85% for the quarter, which is equivalent to an annualized return of 45.61%.

We invite you to read the full Q2 2021 investment report which includes comprehensive macroeconomic and crypto market analysis, fund-specific commentary and detailed company updates.

Disclaimer:

Cryptocurrency trading involves high risk, and is not suitable for all investors. Before deciding to trade cryptocurrencies, tokens or any other digital asset you should carefully consider your investment objectives, level of experience, and risk appetite.

Its content does not constitute financial advice. Please remember that the value of investments, and any income from them, can fall as well as rise so you could get back less than you invest. If you are unsure of the suitability of your investment please seek advice.