This cryptoweek in cryptonews: Bitcoin's decline threatened crypto's 2023 lead over stocks, Ripple, Solana, and Stellar-based products recorded massive institutional investments as the market rebounded, Americana offered public access to its concierge vaulting, Reddit introduced the largest NFT Gen 4 Collectible Avatar batch with the iconic Snoo character, and Stan Lee digital collectibles flew off the shelves and gained up to 5,000% in value. Worldcoin launched to create a "privacy-preserving" global identity system, but Vitalik Buterin raised concerns over Worldcoin's launch and design flaws. Meanwhile, DeFi protocol Conic Finance lost more than $3.2 million in ETH in two hacking incidents.
Then, Binance revealed that it was ready to roll out full services on its recently-launched subsidiary platform in Japan, but it withdrew its crypto license application in Germany – for now. Speaking of exchanges, the Winklevoss twins implemented the leaderboard tactic on Gemini to boost activity on its derivatives exchange. Not speaking of banks, Spanish private bank A&G launched a crypto investment fund offering, French DeFi project Atlendis secured a €1 million loan from a French public investment bank BPI, and the Bank of Italy partnered with Polygon and Fireblocks to initiate a pilot program aimed at establishing a regulated platform for "institutional DeFi."
In legal news, the US SEC ordered Quantstamp to return $28 million raised in a 2017 unregistered ICO, Ripple’s legal chief argued that an SEC appeal after the recent ruling could play into the hand of the company, the US DOJ requested six to eight weeks to gather evidence for its case against Celsius’ Alex Mashinsky, recent court revelations surrounding Sam Bankman-Fried's family exposed a web of deceit, an FTX lawsuit revealed an alleged plan to use the island nation of Nauru as a doomsday bunker, and US CFTC filed a complaint against a couple who had convinced people to pay into an investment pool called “Blessings of God Thru Crypto”.
Meanwhile, South Korea formed a joint crypto crime investigation unit to fight surging crypto illegal activities, the US House Financial Services Committee approved the first crypto regulatory framework bill, and Japan's Prime Minister Fumio Kishida said that the country's agenda included support for the growth of Web3 companies. KEB Hana Bank was set to work with the central Bank of Korea on the CBDC pilot and stablecoin alternatives, banks in China launched the nation’s first CBDC-powered settlement service for bulk commodity spot clearing, a leading Russian lawmaker said China and Russia’s CBDCs may be “compatible”, and Russian regions welcomed the news that digital ruble pilot would launch on August 1, but banks and officials claimed that a full CBDC rollout may not come until 2027.
Not that you’ve been thoroughly newsed, it’s time you get joked. Enjoy.
