The 7 news that you shouldn't miss this week in the world of cryptocurrencies

 Hello, Cryptonauts 🧑‍🚀 The week was marked by the victory of the management company Grayscale in its standoff with the American regulator (the SEC). Since October 2021, it has refused the conversion of its GBTC private investment fund into a real Bitcoin ETF listed on Nasdaq. A federal court has just recognized the inconsistency of the financial watchdog's arguments, describing them as "arbitrary and capricious."

The 7 notable news stories of the week

1. Fund manager Grayscale scores momentous victory against SEC

▶ Information: The 3 judges of the Court of Appeal for the District of Columbia unanimously sided with Grayscale in the lawsuit that pitted it against the SEC since June 2022. They consider the regulator's refusal to authorize the private Grayscale Bitcoin Trust (GBTC) conversion into an exchange-traded fund (Bitcoin spot ETF). This is unjustified and inconsistent, as the SEC has authorized several futures-based Bitcoin ETFs since 2021.

▶ Why it matters: The words are strong, with the SEC's refusal being called "arbitrary and capricious" by the judges. It is also rare for a federal agency to be singled out for non-compliance with the APA (the text governing all federal agencies). Justice leaves 45 days for the SEC to rule. There are 3 possible scenarios: authorize the ETF, refuse based on another argument, or... request an "en banc" hearing (an extremely rare situation where a case is heard by all the judges of a Court rather than by a panel of a few judges) 🙄

2. SEC delays decision on Bitcoin ETFs until mid-October

▶ Information: Friday, the SEC postponed its decision on spot Bitcoin ETF applications from several management companies until mid-October. The new deadlines are set for October 17 for BlackRock, Fidelity, WisdomTree, Invesco, Galaxy, and Wise Origin – and October 19 for Valkyrie.

▶ Why it matters: Historically, the SEC has often completed the 240 regulatory days of review before making a decision. It could, therefore, last until mid-March 2024 but not beyond. Bloomberg analysts estimate a 95% chance that the SEC will approve a spot Bitcoin ETF in 2024.

3. Uniswap also scores an important victory

▶ Information: This Thursday, a class action against Uniswap Labs was dismissed by a federal court. The initial complaint dates from April 2022 and was initiated by a group of users who suffered losses on fraudulent tokens listed on the DEX. They accused Uniswap Labs, its founder Hayden Adams, the Uniswap Foundation,n and investors Paradigm, Andreessen Horowitz, and Union Square Ventures of facilitating fraud and selling unregistered securities.

▶ Why it matters: When dismissing the plaintiffs, Judge Katherine Failla called ether and bitcoin "crypto-commodities."" This is an encouraging signal, especially since Judge Failla is officiating in... the Coinbase vs. SEC case, another crucial trial for the ecosystem. Another important point is thatshe confirmed the distinction between the protocol and its interface, hammering home the decentralized nature of Uniswap and the distinct role of Uniswap Labs.

4. Tether's USDT Consistently Below $1 and Other Controversies

▶ Information: According to Kaiko (a French startup specializing in analysis), USDT constantly quoted less than 1 dollar of its target value during august. The largest deposit was observed on August 7, at $0.98. Tether boss Paolo Ardoinowas  also caught lying on X/Twitter after posting a photo of mining facilities with a photoshopped Tether logo 😅.

▶ Why it matters: Kaiko's investigation attributes it to several factors, including the redemption fee imposed by Tether (0.10%) and reduced market liquidity. This debug will not dispel doubts. In fact, Tether has partnered with the private bank Britannia Bank & Trust, located in the Bahamas to manage transfers in USD. But it turns out that the boss of this bank is in the middle of a corruption trial… 👀

5. Binance abandons BUSD and pushes FDUSD

▶ The Information: At the giant Binance, users are encouraged to convert their remaining BUSD into FDUSD, with 0 fees. FDUSD was first listed on Binance in late July and received a promotion from the platform, which offered fee-free trading pairs with Bitcoin (BTC) and Ethereum (ETH).

▶ Why it matters: Binance, kingmaker? Tether is annoyed to see a previously anecdotal stablecoin suddenly regain market share 😠. FDUSD is a stablecoin launched in June by First Digital Group, a Hong Kong financial company.

6. Polygon Labs unveils its layer 2 development kit

▶ Information: Polygon Labs unveiled its layer 2 development kit, Chain Development Kit (CDK) this week. It is an open-source toolset that allows developers to build layer 2 networks on Ethereum using Polygon's zk (zero-knowledge) technology.

▶ Why it matters  There are different types of layer 2, but the CDK focuses on zk-based layer 2, which uses cryptographic proofs to verify off-chain transactions without compromising security. ZKs are considered one of the most promising and advanced technologies to bring the next billion users to Ethereum.

7. Ethereum is more robust than ever: 24 million ETH now in staking

▶ Information: The number of staking ethers exceeded 24 million this week (beaconcha. in). This represents approximately 21% of the total circulating ETH supply and is worth over $39 billion at current prices.

▶ Why it matters: Staking on Ethereum continues to grow in popularity and profitability, with an annual percentage rate (APR) of around 4.17%. Several Ethereum liquid staking providers, such as Rocket Pool, StakeWise, or Stader Labs, committed this week to not holding more than 22% of the ether staking market to guarantee the network's decentralization.

Other important news

▶ BINANCE. Belgian platform customers are redirected to the Polish interface, with the obligation to renew the KYC verification.

▶ SEED PHRASE. Ivan Bianco, a Brazilian YouTuber hosting the Fraternidade Crypto channel, lost nearly $60,000 when he accidentally revealed his wallet seed during a stream.

▶ BASI. The decentralized exchange protocol Aerodrome (from Velodrome Finance) launches on Base on Friday and increases the TVL to 380 million.

▶ LIGHTNING NETWORK. Ukrainian startup Stroom raises $3.5 million to launch a "liquid staking" product on Bitcoin's LN (similar to Lido on Ethereum).

▶ X/TWITTER . Elon Musk's company has obtained a crypto broker and custody license in Rhode Island and has announced a partnership with Coinbase. To be continued.

▶ SWIFT. The interbank messaging network has partnered with the Chainlink protocol to successfully conduct transfers of tokenized assets between multiple blockchains.

▶ POLYGON. German airline Lufthansa launched its NFT card loyalty program on Polygon on Thursday.

▶ GENESIS. Creditors of the bankrupt platform could recover up to 90% of their blocked assets thanks to an agreement with Digital Currency Group parent companyency Group.

Market update of the week:

Bitcoin rebounded on Monday following the announcement of the court decision favorable to Grayscale ( we talk about it here ). Unfortunately, the crypto has already erased most of its gains and has fallen below $26,000.

As the chart shows, the trend has been clearly bearish since the bearish shock of August 17. The 100-day moving average (yellow) has long served as a dynamic barrier to the downside and has already been dented.

Some interesting signals from the US economy suggest that a rebound is possible, however modest. Over the next week, it is possible:

• That bitcoin benefits from the decline observed in 10-year rates in the United States: bitcoin, like gold and metals, does not pay income. It often benefits from favorable arbitrages when real rates (long-term rates less medium-term inflation expectations) decrease.
• That bitcoin benefits from the relapse of the dolla. Since bitcoin is quoted in dollars, it automatically rises again when the US currency depreciates for buyers with other currencies.

The pulse of the NFT market

Over the past week, the market capitalization of NFT collections increased from 8.55 million ETH to 8.52 million ETH ( calculated based on the "floor price").

Update on the most active collections:

The week's event concerns the "Impact Theory" case, the SEC's first action against an NFT collection 🚨.

The Californian company, which notably produces a podcast, had raised $30 million from hundreds of investors by selling its "Founders' Key" collection.

The problem is that the leaders of Impact Theory were not stingy with their promises on the Discord of their collection 🫤. Anthology:

"Imagine attending Disney when they were making Steamboat Willie."

"It's like giving Mark Zuckerberg $20 when he coded in his bedroom."

"It's like being offered to invest in a booming company when it's in Series A."

"It's like investing $10,000 with an upside potential of $300,000  for very little risk."

"Buying [our NFT] is like simultaneously investing in Disney, Call of Duty,y, and YouTube."