Cryptocurrency investment firm Grayscale Investments has submitted a new application with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) for a spot Bitcoin exchange-traded fund (ETF).

The SEC has dropped its claims that Ripple’s top executives helped the company break federal securities laws by selling XRP, ending a trial that was set for next year and giving Ripple another win in the ongoing lawsuit.

Claims suggesting that millions of dollars in cryptocurrency have been moved to fund Palestinian operations in Israel are likely to be “overstated,” according to forensics firm Chainalysis, which analyzed flows of crypto financing to Hamas and other groups.

Top stories in the Crypto Roundup today:

• Grayscale Files New Application for Spot Bitcoin ETF with SEC
• SEC Drops Charges Against Ripple Executives in XRP Lawsuit
• Crypto Funding of Hamas is ‘Overstated’, Chainalysis Says
• Crypto Market Movers – LOOM, LQTY, BSV

Grayscale Files New Application for Spot Bitcoin ETF with SEC

Cryptocurrency investment firm Grayscale Investments has submitted a new application with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) for a spot Bitcoin exchange-traded fund (ETF).

The submission of an S-3 form registration aims to list shares of the Grayscale Bitcoin Trust on the New York Stock Exchange Arca under the ticker GBTC. The filing is part of Grayscale’s ongoing effort to convert its Bitcoin Trust product into a spot Bitcoin ETF.

The firm stated that once the SEC declares the Form S-3 effective and approves the 19b-4 application of NYSE Arca, Grayscale will have the ability to transform GBTC into an ETF and issue registered shares. The company added:

“Importantly, GBTC is ready to operate as an ETF upon receipt of these regulatory approvals, and on behalf of GBTC’s investors, Grayscale looks forward to working collaboratively and expeditiously with the SEC on these matters.”

The move comes shortly after Grayscale scored a legal victory against the SEC after the regulator chose not to appeal a court decision reversing its denial of Grayscale’s GBTC becoming a spot Bitcoin ETF.

Notably, Grayscale’s parent company, Digital Currency Group, is, along with its CEO and Genesis Global Capital and Gemini Trust, being sued by the New York Attorney General, which alleges the firms “lied to investors and tried to hide more than a billion dollars in loses.”

SEC Drops Charges Against Ripple Executives in XRP Lawsuit

The SEC has dropped its claims that Ripple’s top executives helped the company break federal securities laws by selling XRP, ending a trial that was set for next year and giving Ripple another win in the ongoing lawsuit.

The filing said that the SEC and executives, Ripple’s CEO Brad Garlinghouse and Executive Chairman Chris Larsen, agreed to voluntarily dismiss the charges permanently. The SEC will still pursue its claims against Ripple, the filing said.

In July, Judge Analise Torres ruled that Ripple did not break federal securities laws by letting retail investors trade XRP on cryptocurrency exchanges. In that same ruling, the federal judge said the firm had violated federal securities laws in selling XRP directly to institutional investors.

The SEC and Ripple will keep discussions on the second part, the filing on Thursday said. The charges that were dropped were related to the institutional sales, which would have gone to trial next April.

Crypto Funding of Hamas is ‘Overstated’, Chainalysis Says

Claims suggesting that millions of dollars in cryptocurrency have been moved to fund Palestinian operations in Israel are likely to be “overstated,” according to forensics firm Chainalysis, which analyzed flows of crypto financing to Hamas and other groups.

Chainalysis acknowledged that it is important to stop any terror funding through crypto, but also said that it was necessary to comprehend how such funding actually works, to avoid making wrong assumptions.

Per the company, it has seen “overstated metrics and flawed analyses of these terrorist groups’ use of cryptocurrency, and feels compelled to address some misconceptions.”

The firm’s blog post comes shortly after the Wall Street Journal claimed that Palestinian Islamic Jihad got $93 million in crypto from August 2021 to June 2023 and that Hamas got about $41 million in the same period.

Critics of that report pointed out that crypto financing, while important to stop, was small compared to state-funded support (especially from Iran). Hamas said in April that it was stopping crypto fundraising because it exposed its collaborators to danger or worse.

Chainalysis says that the openness of blockchains is bad for actors trying to hide their activities as the technology’s transparency means it’s “not an effective solution to finance terrorism at scale.”

Crypto Market Movers – LOOM, LQTY, BSV

Several tokens are leading the charge in the last 7-day 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.

Loom Network (LOOM) - Loom Network is a blockchain-based platform designed to allow developers to create and deploy decentralized applications (dApps). It was launched in March 2018 as an open-source project that provides developers with the tools they need to build scalable blockchain applications that can be easily integrated into existing systems.

Liquity (LQTY) - LQTY is the governance token of the Liquity protocol. It is used to participate in the governance decisions of the protocol, allowing holders to vote on proposals and changes to the system parameters. Additionally, LQTY also entitles the holders to a share of the fees generated by the protocol. Users can borrow, lend, and interact with the protocol without holding LQTY.

Bitcoin SV (BSV) - Bitcoin SV (BSV) is a digital cryptocurrency that emerged as a result of a hard fork from the original Bitcoin (BTC) blockchain. BSV aims to restore the original vision of Bitcoin as a peer-to-peer electronic cash system with a focus on scalability, security, and stability.

State of the Crypto by Top Tier Exchange Volume

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