Crypto Weekly Roundup: SEC Goes After OpenSea, Elon Dismisses Lawsuit, & MORE

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This week, the SEC turned its attention towards NFT platforms with its Wells notice to OpenSea. Furthermore, a lawsuit against Elon Musk for alleged Dogecoin manipulation was dismissed, and Russia shifted towards cryptocurrency for cross-border trade.

Bitcoin remains stagnant as gold and silver surge, while significant developments across DeFi, altcoins, and blockchain technology continue to shape the market landscape. Let’s dig deeper. 

Bitcoin 

As Bitcoin continues to meander along a sideways and downward channel, both gold and silver are at or close to all-time and local highs. It appears that the precious metals are leading the way, but Bitcoin is sure to follow soon.

DeFi

The SSV Network DAO and Ether.fi have announced that they are hosting a Learn & Earn campaign to educate the community about the benefits of Distributed Validator Technology (DVT) for restaking and the importance of decentralizing Ethereum’s base layer.

Altcoins

A crypto whale who famously bought Solana (SOL) at a mere $2, riding its surge to all-time highs before offloading just before the dramatic 95% crash in 2022, is back in the market, making significant moves this week. 

The trading platform DTX Exchange is quickly making a name for itself in the crypto space. Pre-sale numbers have already reached over $1.6M, and projections say this number will hit $2M soon. 

The same trader who foresaw the Mt. Gox catastrophe has warned about Polygon (MATIC), whose market value has declined 27% over the past month.

New meme coins and low-cap tokens continue to be in high demand as investors look to maximize their returns in the upcoming bull market. For instance, the new low-cap crypto Base Dawgz has raised over $3 million in its presale. 

Technology

The TON blockchain experienced two significant outages within 24 hours, halting transactions due to an overload from the DOGS token minting, raising concerns about the network's ability to handle high traffic.

Business

Crypto.com has announced a partnership with Standard Chartered Bank to provide fiat currency services in over 90 countries, starting from the United Arab Emirates (UAE) to expand access to the US Dollar, Euro, and UAE dirham. 

The Celsius Network bankruptcy administrator has distributed over $2.53 billion to approximately 251,000 creditors, signifying a key advancement in one of the largest crypto bankruptcy cases.

Polkadot Decoded Asia 2024, a major event within the Polkadot ecosystem, is scheduled for September 16-17, 2024, during the TOKEN2049 Week in Singapore.

Web3

Decentralized lending protocol Echelon closed its $3.5 million seed funding round with the participation of multi-strategy crypto investment firm Cypher Capital.

The Fat User Thesis advocates for a more user-centric approach that prioritizes users' needs and contributions while challenging the existing value capture models that predominantly favor protocols and applications. 

Layer One blockchain Creditcoin announced the launch of its EVM-compatible mainnet, which is paired with the release of the dedicated CreditWallet application. This mobile app is meant to simplify cross-blockchain transfers between the EVM-compatible and Substrate-based blockchains.

High-performance layer one blockchain, Kaia confirmed the launch of its long-awaited mainnet. The mainnet launch coincides with the unveiling of the Kaia Wave Builder support program, designed by Kaia and LINE NEXT “to accelerate consumer adoption of Web 3 services”. 

Regulation

A federal court dismissed the lawsuit against Elon Musk and Tesla, which accused them of using social media influence and insider trading to manipulate Dogecoin's price.

The SEC has issued a Wells notice to NFT platform OpenSea, indicating potential legal action as the regulator broadens its crackdown to include NFTs, raising concerns about the future of digital art and innovation.

The increasing burden of globally imposed economic sanctions has led to Russia turning towards cryptocurrency settlements for cross-border trade, with crypto exchange trials starting soon. 

Abra has settled with the SEC over charges related to the unregistered sale of securities through its crypto lending product, Abra Earn, and related violations by its parent company, Plutus Lending LLC.

Disclaimer: This article is provided for informational purposes only. It is not offered or intended to be used as legal, tax, investment, financial, or other advice.

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