The price of Bitcoin surged to over $63,000 after former U.S. President Donald Trump suffered an assassination attempt that spurred speculation the pro-crypto presidential candidate could be reelected later this year.

The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission has closed a three-year investigation into Hiro Systems, a blockchain software developer formerly known as Blockstack that had raised $70 million in token sales from 2017 to 2019.

The developer behind the popular cryptocurrency mixing service Tornado Cash, Alexey Pertsev, was denied bail in the third such denial since his arrest in August 2022, as his lawyers prepare an appeal against his money laundering charges.

Top stories in the Crypto Roundup today:

• Bitcoin Jumps to Two-Week High After Failed Trump Assassination Attempt
• SEC Ends Three-Year Inquiry into Blockchain Firm Hiro Systems
• Tornado Cash Developer Alexey Pertsev Denied Bail for the Third Time
• On-chain Stablecoins Transfer Volume Drops For Second Consecutive Month

Bitcoin Jumps to Two-Week High After Failed Trump Assassination Attempt

The price of Bitcoin surged to over $63,000 after former U.S. President Donald Trump suffered an assassination attempt that spurred speculation the pro-crypto presidential candidate could be reelected later this year.

Trump was shot in the ear at a rally in Pennsylvania in a failed assassination attempt that sparked global condemnation of political violence. The former President’s defiant reaction to the assassination attempt, which saw him stand up as secret service agents tried to protect him to yell “fight” into the crowd is believed to have galvanized support for his campaign.

On prediction markets, Trump’s chance of being elected has shot up after the incident with his chances on Polymarket now standing at 71%, compared to 18% for Biden, 5% for Kamala Harris and just 3% for Michelle Obama. Trump’s chances of success, according to prediction market users, stood at 60% just before the assassination attempt.

Cryptocurrency prices likely rose as Trump has increasingly embraced the industry during his campaign, vowing to support it last month via his social media platform Truth Social.

He has also said Bitcoin mining may be “our last line of defense” against a central bank digital currency (CBDC), and said he wants the remaining Bitcoin to be mined in the United States.

Earlier, Trump’s campaign unveiled a fundraising page allowing cryptocurrency donations through the Coinbase Commerce platform, in an initiative that represents the first instance of a major party presidential nominee accepting crypto donations.

SEC Ends Three-Year Inquiry into Blockchain Firm Hiro Systems

The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission has closed a three-year investigation into Hiro Systems, a blockchain software developer formerly known as Blockstack that raised $70 million in token sales from 2017 to 2019.

The decision comes after the regulator ended its investigation into Paxos Trust Company, a New York-based issuer of dollar-backed stablecoins over the token it issued in partnership with Binance, BUSD. Both developments suggest a potential shift in the SEC’s crypto approach.

In a letter to Hiro, the regulator noted that based on the information it currently has it doesn’t “intend to recommend an enforcement action by the Commission against Hiro Systems PBC, formerly known as Blockstack PBC.” The letter included a boilerplate caveat stating it shouldn’t be interpreted “as indicating that the party has been exonerated.”

Hiro develops tools for developers to create applications on Stacks, a Bitcoin layer-2 network that was conceived by Muneed Ali, now the CEO of Trust Machines and a board member at Hiro.

Tornado Cash Developer Alexey Pertsev Denied Bail for the Third Time

The developer behind the popular cryptocurrency mixing service Tornado Cash, Alexey Pertsev, was denied bail in the third such denial since his arrest in August 2022, as his lawyers prepare an appeal against his money laundering charges.

Pertsev's defense lawyer, Keith Cheng, revealed the decision was a surprise, as was the refusal for his request to gain access to a computer to prepare for his appeal. The court said his continued detention did not obstruct his ability to prepare his defense, adding access to a computer was against its safety protocol.

Pertsev's conviction stems from his alleged role in facilitating money laundering through Tornado Cash, a platform sanctioned by the U.S. Treasury Department's Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC), that allowed users to obfuscate the origin and destination of cryptocurrency transactions.

In May, a Dutch court found Pertsev guilty and sentenced him to five years and four months in prison for laundering an estimated $1.2 billion in illicit funds through the platform.

Prior attempts to secure bail in November 2023 and February 2024 were unsuccessful. Prosecutors argued Pertsev posed a flight risk due to his central role in Tornado Cash's operations.

JusticeDAO, a decentralized organization supporting the legal defense of Tornado Cash developers, reacted strongly to the most recent bail denial, condemning it as a “gross miscarriage of justice.”

On-chain Stablecoins Transfer Volume Drops For Second Consecutive Month

The volume of on-chain transactions of stablecoins fell 7.5% to $1.8 trillion in June, marking its second consecutive decline. The drop coincided with bearish sentiment in the cryptocurrency space, leading traders to take less risk.

Among the top five stablecoins on the Ethereum blockchain, USD Coin (USDC) maintained its lead in on-chain activity. With $786 billion transferred in June, USDC captured 43.6% of the market share while Tether (USDT) and Dai (DAI) followed with transfer volumes of $616 billion and $334 billion, respectively, representing 34.2% and 18.5% of the market.

Dig deeper into the stablecoin sector through CCData’s latest Stablecoins & CBDCs report.

State of the Crypto by Top Tier Exchange Volume

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