Coinbase’s recently launched layer-2 blockchain, Base, has seen an influx of capital and transaction volumes, largely due to the temptation of potential memecoin wealth as traders piled on a newly launched token.

Nasdaq-listed cryptocurrency exchange Coinbase has denied claims that stated its CEO, Brian Armstrong, was instructed by the United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) to delist all cryptocurrencies except Bitcoin from its platform.

The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has sued digital marketer Richard Schueler, widely recognized online as Richard Heart, along with his projects Hex, PulseChain, and PulseX. The regulator alleged Heart raised over $1 billion in unregistered securities offerings.

Top stories in the Crypto Roundup today:

• Coinbase’s Base Blockchain Sees Surge in Activity and TVL
• Coinbase Says SEC Did Not Ask It to Delist Every Crypto Except Bitcoin
• SEC Sues Crypto Influencer Richard Heart for Fraud and Unregistered Securities Offerings
• Chart of the Week: CRV Tumbles Following Exploit

Coinbase’s Base Blockchain Sees Surge in Activity and TVL

Coinbase’s recently launchedlayer-2 blockchain, Base, has seen an influx of capital and transaction volumes, largely due to the temptation of potential memecoin wealth as traders piled on a newly launched token.

Over the weekend, Base attracted around $68 million in ether (ETH) and exceeded $200 million in trading volumes, surpassing even well-known networks like Arbitrum in transaction count, even though it isn’t officially live to the public yet.

Created by cryptocurrency exchange Coinbase on the OP Stack, Base launched a version for developers in early July, allowing them to test applications and blockchain products ahead of a public launch slated for later this year.

While before the weekend inflows were at around $500,000 a day, over the past 48 hours they exploded amid a memecoin trading frenzy for BALD, a cryptocurrency built on top of Base that saw its price jump over 4,000,000% from issuance to peak, before collapsing.

The token collapsed after its developers removed liquidity for it on the decentralized exchange Leetswap.

Coinbase Says SEC Did Not Ask It to Delist Every Crypto Except Bitcoin

Nasdaq-listed cryptocurrency exchange Coinbase has denied claims that stated its CEO, Brian Armstrong, was instructed by the United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) to delist all cryptocurrencies except Bitcoin from its platform.

The reports came from an interview published by the Financial Times, which quotes Armstrong saying the SEC attempted to compel Coinbase to remove nearly 250 cryptocurrencies from its trading platform as it believes “every asset other than Bitcoin is a security” before filing a lawsuit against the exchange.

Per the interview, the SEC then refused to explain how they reached their conclusion. A Coinbase spokesperson has now said the interview is missing important context on the exchange’s conversations with the SEC and was inaccurate.

The spokesperson clarified that the SEC hadn't asked Coinbase to delist any specific assets, as such a request would necessitate a majority vote from the SEC's commissioners.

They added that the views shared there may have represented the views of some staff at the time, but did not represent those of the Commission more broadly.”

SEC Sues Crypto Influencer Richard Heart for Fraud and Unregistered Securities Offerings

The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has sued digital marketer Richard Schueler, widely recognized online as Richard Heart, along with his projects Hex, PulseChain, and PulseX. The regulator alleged Heart raised over $1 billion in unregistered securities offerings.

Additionally, the SEC accused Heart of defrauding investors by using their funds to purchase personal luxury goods, while representing his projects as exceptional wealth-generating opportunities for investors.

The lawsuit uses as an example of Heart reportedly claiming that Hex was “built to be the highest appreciating asset that has ever existed in the history of man". Per the SEC “he did not disclose that he used millions of dollars of PulseChain investor funds to buy luxury goods for himself”

The SEC's lawsuit also pointed out Heart's regular references to federal securities laws during his YouTube livestreams and other public addresses, and claims Heart acknowledged that the success of the projects was dependent on his efforts.

The SEC's lawsuit accuses Heart and his projects of both fraud and violations of securities registration.

Chart of the Week: CRV Tumbles Following Exploit

In this week’s Chart of the Week, we delve into the precipitous price drop of CurveDAO's token that occurred on Sunday, triggered by an exploit linked to the programming language Vyper.

The drop was abrupt, with Curve's CRV depreciating by roughly 17%. Following the exploit, Curve’s token saw a significant increase in trading volume, to the point CRV represented an impressive ~60% of the market share on the hourly trading volume chart, outstripping the trading volume of most other tokens on major exchanges.

CRV’s open interest likewise saw a spike as traders responded to the situation by betting against the token. This heightened activity in short positions was mirrored in the token's funding rate, which registered a rate of -0.04%.

State of the Crypto by Top Tier Exchange Volume

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