The broad cryptocurrency market is experiencing an insane bloodbath as prices of leading cryptocurrencies suddenly flip negative. Amid this sharp downtrend, Bitcoin has seen an aggressive increase in sell activities on August 14, according to data shared by a CryptoQuant analyst.

Per the data provided, Bitcoin’s taker sell volume across crypto exchanges has surged significantly, hitting a massive $3.13 billion in just one hour.

Bitcoin falls below $118,000

Although the reason behind the sudden flip in market sentiment remains unclear, the dramatic price downturn has shaken market confidence as momentum appears to be broken.

While Bitcoin had started the day on a positive note with its price showing notable daily gains, the sudden shift in market sentiment has seen traders dramatically open streaks of sell orders.

Following the sudden flip in price action, Bitcoin saw its price fall as low as $117,698 after recording a notable intraday high of $124,210 on the same day.

The significant drop in Bitcoin’s price over the last few hours coincides with Bitcoin’s taker volume exploding to multiple billions in minutes. The rapid shift in activity is unusual, as sudden surges in sell activities like this have been rarely recorded in Bitcoin’s trading history.

Although the reason behind the sudden flip in market sentiment remains unclear, the dramatic price downturn has shaken market confidence as momentum appears to be broken.

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Amid the notable Bitcoin sell-side pressure, the leading cryptocurrency by market capitalization has seen its trading volume surge notably by 29.61% over the last 24 hours. This suggests that the market has been dominated by retail and institutional sellers.

Notably, the downtrend in Bitcoin’s price is currently on pause as data from CoinMarketCap shows that it has remained steady around $117,968 for the past few hours until press time. Meanwhile, Bitcoin showed a price decline of 3.06% over the last day.

While the surge in Bitcoin’s sell volume was preceded by a notable price rally that saw the asset record massive intraday gains in the past days, the attempts to sell off Bitcoin holdings experienced today suggest traders are taking decisive actions to lock in profits achieved during the recent market rally.

Nonetheless, market watchers have expressed optimism for a potential rebound in the prices of leading cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin, Ethereum, and other altcoins. However, investors fear that the asset’s price might plunge harder if the ongoing selling pressure continues to outweigh demand for BTC, delaying the possibility of a new all-time high soon.

The debate over whether the crypto market is in Bitcoin Season or on the verge of Altcoin Season has dragged on for many months, especially due to Ethereum’s price action in the past few days. LUCIE, Shiba Inu’s marketing lead, recently touched on the matter, sharing insights on what’s currently happening, what to expect for an altcoin season, and when to anticipate a breakout in the Altcoin Season Index.

Altcoin Season Index Points To Bitcoin Dominance

Many traders and analysts have been closely watching the Altcoin Season Index, with posts on the social media platform X and news reports increasing in anticipation of a market-wide move that could favor altcoins against Bitcoin. Although the current market still tilts toward Bitcoin, signs of change are starting to emerge, especially with Ethereum now approaching the $4,000 price level.

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According to the Altcoin Season Index from BlockchainCenter.net, which was also shared by Shiba Inu’s marketing lead, the index is currently standing at 39, well below the 75 threshold required to confirm altseason. Notably, the data from BlockchainCenter.net shows that the index has been hovering in this range after bouncing from lower levels earlier in the year. As shown in the chart below, despite recent momentum from Ethereum and XRP, Bitcoin is still holding a dominant position in the total market cap.

At the time of writing, Bitcoin dominance is currently around 61%, above the 60% level that typically signals room for altcoins to take over. Interestingly, this is a notable reduction from Bitcoin’s 64.3% dominance from three weeks ago. 

Lucie attributed this decline in Bitcoin dominance to alt momentum slowly gaining traction across various sectors, including major altcoins and meme-based projects. This gradual build-up, she suggested, could represent an accumulation phase. This is a familiar August pattern that’s mostly always seen before stronger altcoin rallies.

Eyes On September For Possible Breakout

Although the current readings confirm that it is still Bitcoin Season, Lucie believes everything may already be setting the stage for an altcoin breakout next month. The combination of a drop in BTC dominance and a surge in the Altcoin Season Index above 75 would officially mark the shift. For now, eyes are on this breakout. Particularly, Lucie noted a September window for a decisive move that could ignite a true altseason.

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At the time of writing, Bitcoin’s market dominance is at 60.0%, according to data from Coinmarketcap. Ethereum, on the other hand, has a market dominance of 12.2%. The last time the market saw altcoin dominance was in December 2024, when the Altcoin Season Index spiked to a reading of 88.  Since then, Bitcoin has maintained control, with the most recent attempt to push the index higher stalling at a 59 reading on July 21.

Featured image from Getty Images, chart from Tradingview.com

The Bitcoin price action in June has displayed healthy swings from a low of about $100,500 to as high as $111,000. While it has lacked the impulsive momentum seen in past cycles for more bullish swings, the premier cryptocurrency has managed to maintain its valuation above $100,000.

Over the past week, BTC has displayed relative price stability, with modest bullish movement at intervals. The cryptocurrency continued to trade within a tight range for most of the week, mirroring a mix of optimism and caution amongst market participants.

Active Addresses Mirror 2020 Levels

In a June 20 post on social media platform X, on-chain analytics firm Alphractal published its recent findings on the Bitcoin active addresses, revealing that the flagship cryptocurrency does not show an indication of market euphoria. 

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The relevant on-chain indicator here is the Active Addresses metric, which measures the number of unique addresses that are active on the Bitcoin network within a specific timeframe. To be clear, an address is “active” if it is receiving and sending Bitcoin during a particular period. 

The chart shared by Alphractal shows that active addresses are at the same level as in 2020. The analytics firm pointed out that as of 2020, the market was facing political uncertainty, dealing with a global pandemic, and widespread social fear, as the effects on market engagement are what is currently being witnessed.

In the post on X, Alphractal highlighted two possible reasons for this seeming lack of enthusiasm seen in investors. Firstly, the market intelligence firm noted that investors might have become disillusioned with all that is currently happening in the crypto market, regardless of Bitcoin’s value comfortably being above $100,000.

On the other hand, Alphractal put forward the possibility that this relative inactivity could be a result of a strong long-term conviction in the flagship cryptocurrency as a store of value. However, this second reasoning was immediately put down by Alphractal as readings from two other indicators — the on-chain volume and spot volume — are both low, indicating little global interest in the cryptocurrency.

As Bitcoin still prevails above $100,000, this could be a strong indication, Alphractal explained, “that only the most resilient are taking advantage of the long-awaited $100k per BTC.”

Bitcoin Price At A Glance 

As of this writing, Bitcoin is valued at about $103,290, reflecting an over 1% price decline in the past 24 hours. According to data from CoinGecko, the price of BTC has fallen by about 2.4% in value over the past seven days.

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Featured image from iStock, chart from TradingView

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US-based spot Bitcoin ETFs (exchange-traded funds) have not been left out of the escalating trade tensions between the United States and China, as they have witnessed significant withdrawals over the past few days. Due to the ongoing trade war, US investors appear to be moving away from risk assets like digital assets and crypto-based financial products.

Spot Bitcoin ETFs Extend Negative Outflow Streak To Seven Days

According to the latest market data, the spot Bitcoin ETFs witnessed a significant $713 million in total net outflow over the past week. This negative streak of capital outflows suggests a worsening climate and declining appetite for crypto exchange-traded products among United States investors.

Data from SoSoValue shows that the US-based spot Bitcoin exchange-traded registered a daily total net outflow of $1.03 million on Friday, April 11. This round of withdrawals represented the seventh consecutive day of net outflow for the crypto-based financial products.

Interestingly, most spot Bitcoin ETFs, including BlackRock’s IBIT (the largest BTC exchange-traded fund by net assets), recorded zero netflow to close the week. ARK 21Shares Bitcoin ETF (with the ticker ARKB) and Bitwise Bitcoin ETF (with the ticker BITB) were the only funds that witnessed any activity on Friday.

ARK 21Shares Bitcoin ETF saw a total inflow of $11.28 million on Friday, ending its six-day capital drought. Bitwise’s BTC exchange-traded fund, on the other hand, registered a total withdrawal of $12.31 million to close the past trading week.

Source: SoSoValue

As earlier mentioned, this latest round of capital withdrawals stretched the US Bitcoin ETFs’ negative streak to seven straight days of cumulative outflows. Moreover, this single-day performance brought the exchange-traded products’ weekly record to a disappointing $713 million in total net outflow.

The recent woeful performance of the spot Bitcoin ETFs can be associated with the growing uncertainty in the global financial markets, as the United States and China become embroiled in a trade war. This instability seems to be impacting other US-based crypto products, including the spot Ether ETFs.

According to data from SoSoValue, the Ethereum spot exchange-traded funds experienced a total net outflow of $29.1981 million on Friday. This negative flow of capital represented the crypto products’ fourth consecutive day of net outflows.

Bitcoin Price At A Glance

Similarly, the price of Bitcoin crumbled under the uncertain conditions of the market, falling to around $74,000 to start the past week. However, the premier cryptocurrency recovered above $83,000 after United States President Donald Trump paused tariffs on imports from other countries except China.

Bitcoin has reacted further positively to other trade news, including President Trump’s exemption of computer gadgets, smartphones, and chips from new tariffs. As of this writing, the price of BTC sits just above $85,000, reflecting an almost 2% jump in the past 24 hours.

The price of BTC on the daily timeframe | Source: BTCUSDT chart on TradingView

Featured image from iStock, chart from TradingView

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A crypto analyst has shared insights into the recent strength in the XRP price, suggesting that South Korea may be the reason behind it. The analyst noted that the altcoin has been seeing high trading volume on South Korean exchanges, and this localized demand may be holding up its price while other altcoins struggle to gain traction. 

How South Korea Is Bolstering The Price

According to XForceGlobal South Korea is currently one of the major drivers of the XRP price action. In a recent post on X (formerly Twitter), the analyst disclosed that the engagement and adoption from the crypto users in South Korea was a major contributor to XRP’s bullish performance.

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Currently, South Korea is one of the most active crypto markets in the world, leading in global trading volume across multiple assets. However, among the numerous cryptocurrencies in the market, XRP stands out the most within the country. The analyst has revealed that even during low trading days, XRP frequently outpaces Bitcoin, underscoring its high demand and adoption in South Korea. 

XForceGlobal has suggested that South Korea’s notable interest in XRP likely stems from its status as one of the most isolated countries in terms of crypto regulations. The analyst revealed that millions of citizens currently own the altcoin, making up about 20% of the cryptocurrency’s market cap valuation. 

Moreover, due to a lack of large-scale cross-border payment solutions, most South Koreans opt to use cryptocurrencies like XRP to facilitate transactions. This, in turn, fuels adoption and strengthens the cryptocurrency’s utility, which positively influences its price action. 

Compared to South Korea, the regulatory uncertainties and legal challenges in the United States (US) have slowed down XRP’s growth. XForceGlobal has stated that the active participation of retail institutions, strong community support, and early adoption in South Korea have helped prop up prices despite the difficulties it faced over the past years.

What The Future Holds For XRP In South Korea

While discussing the impact of South Korea’s support for XRP on its price action, XForceGlobal offered insights into the cryptocurrency’s future in the country. The analyst revealed that the market is at a pivotal moment where XRP has evolved from a speculative asset to a symbol of Korea’s dominance in the crypto market. 

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Currently, Upbit, the largest crypto exchange in South Korea, holds the most significant market share of XRP in terms of total supply. The exchange reportedly has about 6 billion XRP, accounting for roughly 5% of the entire supply. 

XForceGlobal has revealed that the continued demand from retail investors combined with Upbit’s massive XRP reserve will make South Korea a key driver to the cryptocurrency’s global future price action. 

Moving forward, the analyst has discussed XRP’s price movements on the Korean won chart, suggesting that its current action may be foreshadowing upcoming events. He pointed out that the altcoin has already formed a lower low on the chart, possibly hinting at a more controlled pullback rather than an impulsive decline — an outlook he described as “arguably bearish”.

The crypto analyst also noted that XRP may be forming a potential bottom on the Korean won chart, indicating a possible impulse to the upside and a bullish continuation.

Featured image from Adobe Stock, chart from Tradingview.com

Plus: Trump tariffs incoming – markets are sweating

GM. We’re the Fruit Ninja of crypto – slicing through the market noise with the sharpest takes.

Circle goes public.

News drops: buying a PlayStation with USDC, another NFT marketplace shuts down + more

Market flavor today

I really wish I could pull up with something like “BITCOIN IS DOING EXCITING STUFF!” today… but I ain’t no bullsh*tter. We’re still stuck in the same boring range.

According to trader Michaël van de Poppe, if we want this to change, Bitcoin needs to break through the $87K level.

If it drops below $82K, that’s a test of the lows – and anything in between is just noise.

But don’t zone out just yet – things might get funky later today.

Donald Trump’s gonna announce new tariffs at 4 PM ET, and depending on how harsh they are (and how markets react), we could see some big price action.

And these tariffs aren’t just causing short-term volatility – they’ve also brought back the good ol’ talk of a possible recession.

Matter of fact, the Kobeissi Letter says the market’s already starting to act like one is on the way.

A big red flag is what’s happening with US government bonds: over the past 11 weeks, the yield has dropped by 65 basis points.

Now, here’s why that matters:

Normally, if inflation is going up – like it is right now – you’d expect bond yields to increase too. That’s because when inflation is high, the money investors get back later won’t be worth as much – so they want a bigger return to make up for it.

Basically, rising inflation = rising yields. Makes sense, right?

Right now, though, inflation is rising, but yields are falling.

That’s not how things are supposed to go – ’cause why would anyone settle for a low return when prices are going up?

Simple: because they’re more worried about protecting their money than trying to grow it. And that kind of behavior usually shows up when investors expect bad news ahead.

And it’s not just bonds – stocks are showing warning signs, too.

The S&P 500 is down more than 11% from its peak. In the past, when stocks dropped this much after a small rally (like we saw in March), a recession followed about 30% of the time.

Not guaranteed, but surely not fun to hear either.

And here’s more: the Fed started cutting interest rates back in September 2024. Normally, that gives the stock market a boost – on average, the S&P 500 goes up about 1% in the first six months after a rate cut.

But this time, it’s down 2%.

And when the market reacts like that, it usually means investors think the economy’s in trouble.

Now, the Kobeissi Letter thinks Trump might actually want a recession to happen:

• It would help bring down both inflation and interest rates – two things he’s promised to fix;

• He’s also said he’ll lower energy prices, and a slowing economy usually causes oil prices to fall.

Which brings us back to today’s tariff announcement.

If the new tariffs are aggressive, they could push inflation higher and make recession fears worse – all while markets are already on edge.

What does that mean for crypto? Could go either way. People might get scared out of risk assets… or they might remember why Bitcoin was born in the first place.

Whatever happens, we’ll break it down tomorrow.

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Circle, the issuer of USDC, is going public.

They’ll be listing on the New York Stock Exchange under the ticker CRCL.

To make it all happen, they’re bringing in JP Morgan and Citigroup as bookrunners, which means they’ll help sell the stock and get big investors on board.

So, yes, stablecoins are stepping into Wall Street – and this is kind of a big deal

The last major IPO like this was Coinbase in 2021 – and it helped launch the biggest bull run we’ve ever seen.

While we’re not saying Circle’s IPO will send Bitcoin to the moon, it does have the potential to unlock the next level of mainstream adoption.

Here’s why:

• It gives institutional investors a familiar entry point into crypto;

• Going public means Circle will need to be more transparent, which increases trust in USDC;

• It gives stablecoins a legitimacy boost;

• If the SEC approves this IPO, it will mean that crypto companies can work within US laws – and others might follow.

So, this IPO isn’t just big for Circle – it’s a sign that crypto infrastructure is maturing, which is good for the rest of the industry as well.

News drops

Sony Electronics Singapore started accepting USDC for payments, thanks to a new integration with Crypto.com. Mainstream adoption in action!

The ex-CMO of Blade of God X says the game ditched its Web3 plans after getting funded through crypto. She claims the Web3 team was ghosted on salaries too.

Kristin Smith is leaving the Blockchain Association to join the new Solana Policy Institute. She’ll be helping lawmakers understand what Solana’s about.

Bybit’s shutting down its NFT marketplace for good on April 8 at 4 PM UTC. If you’ve got anything left there, now’s the time to sort it out.

Kentucky dropped its lawsuit against Coinbase’s staking program, just like Vermont and South Carolina did earlier. Seven other states, including California and New Jersey, are still going after Coinbase for allegedly breaking securities laws.

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Crypto market is red today

The crypto market continues the red streak.

The global cryptocurrency market capitalization is down 6% over the past 24 hours, currently standing at $2.83 trillion.

At the time of writing, the daily crypto trading volume is $109 billion. It has finally risen a bit from the lower levels of about $80 billion we saw over the past few days.

Only six of the top 100 coins per market cap are green today. Cronos (CRO) is the best performer among these, with a 7.7% rise to $0.1068. The other five are up between 1.5% and 2.8%.

On the other hand, three coins recorded double-digit drops. Injective (INJ), Bonk (BONK), and POL (ex-MATIC) are down 10.4%, 10.3%, and 10%, respectively.

As for the top 10 coins, all are red. XRP (XRP) fell the most: 6.6% to $2.19. It’s followed by Ethereum (ETH), which decreased by 6.2%, now trading at $1,882.

At the same time, Bitcoin (BTC) is down 3%, currently changing hands at $84,268.

Aave DAO Integrates Chainlink SVR on Ethereum Mainnet

Decentralized blockchain oracle network Chainlink, the Web3 development initiative focused on the Aave ecosystem BGD Labs, and a team behind the Aave protocol Aave Chan Initiative announced that the Aave DAO community has officially integrated Chainlink Smart Value Recapture (SVR) on Ethereum Mainnet to recapture oracle-related MEV.

According to the press release, Chainlink SVR is a new oracle solution that enables DeFi applications to recapture the Maximal Extractable Value (MEV) derived from their use of Chainlink Price Feeds.

The integration creates a new standard for how DeFi apps can reclaim the oracle-related MEV that was previously leaked to blockchain networks. This helps them increase their revenue, and it creates sustainable economics for DeFi protocols and oracle infrastructure, the team says.

Participants have captured tens of millions of dollars’ worth of leaked liquidation MEV, and none of the value returned to the DeFi protocols or oracle infrastructure that generated it. Therefore, Aave has integrated Chainlink SVR to recapture liquidation MEV. It’ll start with an initial set of markets, including tBTC, LBTC, AAVE, and LINK. It plans to expand to additional markets.

The recaptured MEV revenue will be split between the Aave and Chainlink communities. The iinitial 6-month discounted rate is 65% to the Aave ecosystem and 35% to the Chainlink ecosystem.

Additionally, Chainlink SVR is connected to Payment Abstraction, a cross-chain enabled payment system that enables service fees to be automatically converted into LINK using Chainlink services and a DEX.

The Sandbox Alpha Season 5 Starts Monday, Includes Attack on Titan, Jurassic World, Teletubbies, Atari, Hellboy, Terminator, and More

The Sandbox, a subsidiary of Animoca Brands and a social gaming and metaverse platform, is launching its six-week season of new games and experiences, Alpha Season 5, on 31 March.

The new Jurassic World: Dinosaur Preserve, set on a new Jurassic World-inspired island in The Sandbox, will headline the Alpha Season 5. There are 40 other games from major franchises for fans to enjoy, including Attack on Titan, Atari, Teletubbies, Hellboy (2019), Love Island, Care Bears, Terminator: Dark Fate, Deepak Chopra, and more.

Additionally, up to $1 million in rewards will be available for players to earn by completing in-game quests as part of the free seasonal battle pass. They’ll be able to unlock unique digital equipment and wearables from featured brands.

Also, in Jurassic World: Dinosaur Preserve, players fulfill their tasks and earn Jurassic Points (JPts) which can be used to upgrade the sanctuary or hatch their Jurassic World Dinosaur Egg to grow the creature into an adult dinosaur.

What’s more, for the first time, fans can get their very own Jurassic World Dinosaur Egg through a limited-edition event. They can also earn extra Ethos Points (EP) on the Alpha Season 5 Battle Pass by growing their dinosaurs to adulthood and completing six bonus quests.

When a dinosaur is fully grown, The Sandbox players can keep it in their wallet or place it in their UGC experience on The Sandbox Map.

Additionally, Alpha Season 5 will feature ten new racing games developed by The Sandbox Internal Studios. This will allow players to compete for first place across several unique and increasingly challenging tracks.

Decentralized Storage Platform Walrus Launches Mainnet, Welcomes Claynosaurz

Walrus, the decentralized storage platform originally developed by Web3 infrastructure builder Mysten Labs as its second major protocol after Sui, has announced its Mainnet launch, as well as the partnership with the Web3 animation and entertainment brand Claynosaurz.

Walrus has introduced programmable storage in partnership with the broader Sui ecosystem, enabling developers to build custom logic around stored data.

According to the press release, Claynosaurz is a family-friendly brand that features a collection of dinosaur characters. The team creates interactive experiences and curates limited-edition digital collectible drops.

Thanks to the collaboration with Walrus, Claynosaurz “will dynamically upgrade its user experience for its burgeoning community.”

“As an animation brand, our needs for storage are complex and nuanced,” says Jacques Letesson, Head of Product at Claynosaurz. “We’ve tried a number of storage solutions, and Walrus clicked for us immediately.”

Walrus meets Claynosaurz’s need for reliability and speed, while the former’s native programmability enables the latter to dynamically upgrade entertainment experiences for its community, Letesson says.

Meanwhile, Walrus launched on testnet in October 2024. Its partners included the global 3D printing network 3DOS, Layer-1 blockchain Linera, and the team called Talus, which uses Walrus and Sui to build its AI agent framework.

Rebecca Simmonds, Managing Executive at Walrus Foundation, commented that “from customizable collectibles onchain to permissioning in-person experiences, Walrus will unlock new ways to explore and enjoy the Claynosaurz universe.”

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Plus: 1946 laws might finally get left behind

GM. Serving crypto cider today: fermented headlines with a kick, NO rotten apples allowed.

The SEC’s crypto roundtables.

News drops: BitBoy gets arrested, Hawk Tuah girl gets a documentary + more

Market flavor today

Bitcoin took a quick espresso shot yesterday and briefly jumped to $88K.

One of the reasons for the mini pump: BTC ETFs saw inflows for the eighth day in a row (the longest positive streak of 2025 so far).

On top of that, GameStop – the meme stock that once broke Wall Street – is apparently gonna buy Bitcoin for its treasury.

Which wasn’t that shocking, tbh. GameStop CEO Ryan Cohen posted a pic with the BTC maxi Michael Saylor a month ago:

The problem: we keep getting positive news like this… and yet Bitcoin is still down about 20% from its January all-time high. Make it make sense??

Well, thing is, everyone’s still on edge about Trump’s tariffs, which are supposed to drop next Wednesday, April 2.

(He pushed them back a day so people don’t think it’s an April Fools joke lol.)

No one knows exactly who or what they’ll target, and markets hate this kinda confusion.

This shaky mood showed up in the latest Consumer Confidence report (aka the economic vibe check) – it dropped to a 12-year low.

So yeah, vibes = not great = consumers are likely to spend less and avoid financial risks.

But there’s a flip side: if the economy starts looking too fragile, the Fed might ease up on interest rates to avoid making things even worse.

And lower rates = bullish for crypto, since cheap borrowing and a weaker dollar often drive investors toward higher-risk assets.

Now we gotta watch Friday’s PCE inflation data – the Fed’s fave inflation metric. If it shows that prices are cooling off, markets could get excited. If not… back to doomscrolling, I guess.

Anyways, I hate to say it again, but yup… we’re in wait-and-see mode. Still.

Memecoin harvest

If making money off a rat coin is wrong, I don’t wanna be right...

Data as of 05:20 AM EST.

Check out these memecoins and plenty more here.

The SEC is continuing its glow-up – from crypto’s #1 hater to a helpful friend

On Friday, they kicked off their series of crypto-focused roundtables called “Spring Sprint Toward Crypto Clarity”.

And the big question was: how tf do we classify digital assets?

(Because right now, the rules are pretty much based on vibes.)

Here’s what came out of it:

1/ The Howey test is… not it

The Howey Test is a legal tool used to figure out whether something is a “security”. And many agreed it doesn’t really work well for crypto.

I mean, who would’ve thunk? A test from 1946, made for orange farms, is not ideal for crypto? Craazy…

Some suggested using a “control test” instead – basically, if no single entity controls a crypto project, maybe it shouldn’t count as a security. But that might be just as messy, since you’d still have to review each project one by one.

2/ Who’s the boss here?

There was also debate about which agency should regulate crypto.

3/ The industry wants clarity

Some people noted that crypto companies aren’t mad at rules – they just wanna know what they are.

One idea that came up was a temporary framework – kinda like giving crypto companies a learner’s permit while the SEC figures out a long-term plan.

Also, someone reminded everyone that the SEC has the power to adjust definitions. So technically, they could just say, “Hey, this stuff isn’t a security,” if they really wanted to.

4/ Court cases still matter

Even as the SEC tries to figure things out, the courts shape how crypto is treated legally.

Panelists made it clear: lawsuits are still a major part of the picture and probably will be for a while.

So even if new rules come in, the threat of getting sued is still very real for crypto companies.

And that was just the warm-up. There are four more roundtables coming up:

• April 11 – Between a Block and a Hard Place: Tailoring Regulation for Crypto Trading

• April 25 – Know Your Custodian: Key Considerations for Crypto Custody

• May 12 – Tokenization – Moving Assets Onchain: Where TradFi and DeFi Meet

• June 6 – DeFi and the American Spirit

So yeah – for the first time in forever, it feels like the SEC is actually having a conversation with market participants.

Progress might be slow, and the road ahead’s still a bit bumpy, but hey… at least we’re not stuck in 1946 anymore.

Final Ripple case update (hopefully)

So, remember last week when we said the SEC dropped their appeal against Ripple? (Missed that Squeeze? Go catch up here.)

Well, at the time, Ripple still had a big decision to make: whether to keep pushing forward with its cross-appeal.

And now, Ripple CLO Stuart Alderoty posted what he called his final update on the whole SEC v Ripple drama.

It’s official: Ripple’s dropping their cross-appeal.

So, what’s the final deal?

• The SEC keeps $50M out of the original $125M fine, and the remaining $75M will go back to Ripple;

• The SEC will ask the court to remove the standard injunction they previously pushed for – this means Ripple will no longer be legally restricted from selling XRP to institutional investors.

All this still needs to go through the usual endgame routine: a vote by the Commission, some legal paperwork, and the court signing off.

But yeah – that’s the last chapter. The fight is over… for real this time.

News drops

Crypto influencer Ben Armstrong (aka BitBoy) got arrested in Florida yesterday. He says it’s because of emails he sent to a judge while representing himself in court.

AI startup Infinite Reality bought Napster – the old-school music pirate turned streamer – for $207M. Next up? A music metaverse, apparently.

​​ChatGPT can now make images right in the same chat where you have conversations. It’s supposed to get your prompts better, handle text in pics, and take hints from images you upload.

Hawk Tuah girl: first a meme, then a podcaster, then a scammer… and now? She’s getting her own documentary.

Another day, another SEC case closed. Web3 gaming company Immutable says the SEC closed its investigation into ‘em – no fines, no further drama.

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