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XRP lawsuit: Amicus brief request approved

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In the XRP Lawsuit, the two sides had fought one another once more. The legal counsel for Ripple had taken issue with the SEC’s interpretation of the Chamber of Digital Commerce amicus papers. Ripple criticized the SEC’s actions in asking the Court for more time or pages so that more amici curiae may submit briefs.

This incident was caused by the Chamber of Digital Commerce asking for amici status. In this motion, the SEC chose not to “take a position.” However, if more amicus papers are permitted, the SEC has asked the Court to allot extra time and/or pages.

The Chamber of Digital Commerce submitted copies of their amicus brief motion, memorandum of law, and a statement from Lilya Tessler, the group’s amicus brief attorney, to Judge Analisa Torres in response to a request.

According to Ripple, the SEC should use the space allotted in its opposition and reply briefs to respond to points made by amici. Ripple also said that the SEC should do so in the already set briefing schedule while speaking before Judge Torres.

John Deaton, the creator of CryptoLaw, also offered his thoughts on the subject in a recent tweet. Deaton slammed the SEC’s most recent action as “pathetic and embarrassing” and expressed his outrage at it.

He considers the call for a postponement to be “mean and cruel” because it targets XRP investors. The XRP Lawsuit’s main focus has been on John Deaton’s issues with the SEC.

So, with Ripple’s most recent response, the question is: Where does the case go from here? The Court will probably prolong the SEC’s delays, but this will do absolutely nothing to bring the matter to a successful conclusion.

In his tweet regarding the SEC’s plans to target XRP holders’ “fear,” Deaton seems to have had a point. However, it is now up to the SEC to show whether he is correct or not.

Could XRP’s request approval be a boon for regulatory clarity?

The court has granted the Chamber of Digital Commerce’s request to submit an amicus brief. CEO Perianne Boring argues that the high-stakes case offers the client a chance to establish the legal guidelines for the cryptocurrency sector. The outcome of this case, in Boring’s opinion, will have a substantial impact on the cryptocurrency market in the United States.

A clear and uniform set of regulations are required for the developing sector, according to the head of the Chamber of Digital Commerce. The Chamber of Digital Commerce stated in its brief that it had no opinion about whether or not the token is an unregistered security. It does, however, want to make sure that the legal framework is “clear and consistent” for digital assets.

Furthermore, to expedite the case, Ripple and the SEC both filed requests for summary judgment last week. There is no need for a trial because, according to the parties, the court has access to sufficient information to render a decision.

Cardano Vasil upgrade: Holy Fork! It’s live!

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Both the Merge and the Vasil hard fork were eagerly awaited by the cryptocurrency community. While the Cardano ecosystem was still working to deploy the Vasil upgrade, the Ethereum network had just finished up and launched the Merge.

It should be noted that this improvement was originally planned to happen in July. The Vasil hard fork was scheduled to occur on 22 September 2022, after a delay. The Vasil upgrade, however, kept to its word and went live without any issues. 

Today, the world saw the official launch of the Cardano Vasil Hard Fork update. The update has been eagerly anticipated by ADA holders and users of the Cardano Blockchain.

Cardano will enhance network capacity and provide faster but less expensive transactions with the hard fork upgrade. In the hours leading up to the upgrade going live, ADA’s value steadily increased.

Fast block construction is another of the upgrade’s most significant enhancements. The Cardano blockchain will become considerably more effective as a result. The Plutus v2 programming language for Cardano is also a part of the Vasil upgrade. Vasil Stoyanov Dabov, an artist and ADA ambassador, is remembered by the name “Vasil” upgrade. In December 2021, Dabov passed dead from a pulmonary embolism.

Extensive traffic to slow down Cardano network 

Input Output, engineers that worked on the upgrade, predicts that heavy traffic may impede Cardano during the upgrade’s initial hours. “Transition should be smooth,” nevertheless. On September 27, full Vasil functionality will be accessible, according to the creators. According to Input Output, the Plutus V2 pricing model will be activated along with the complete capabilities, resulting in decreased transaction costs for smart contracts.

The majority of the main cryptocurrency exchanges back the Cardano Vasil update. Binance, Crypto.com, and Gate.io are examples of these. The upgrade’s deployment was repeatedly postponed beyond an initial target date of earlier this summer. However, all of the bugs and tests for the upgrade have now been worked out by the engineers.

According to CoinMarketCap, the price of ADA is $0.4734 at the time of writing. In the days following the Vasil upgrade, the coin can experience a modest increase, unless it falls victim to a “sell the hype” scenario as Ethereum did with its move to PoS last week.

Cardano’s ambitious upgrade set to launch

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The Cardano team reports that all three “critical mass indications” required to start the upgrade have now been satisfied, and the Cardano Vasil update is scheduled to happen in less than 24 hours on September 22.

Input Output Hong Kong (IOHK), the company that created Cardano, announced on Twitter on September 21 that 13 cryptocurrency exchanges have indicated they were prepared for the hard fork within the previous 48 hours, accounting for more than 87% of Cardano’s (ADA) liquidity.

According to an ecosystem readiness website by IOHK, Coinbase is the only exchange among the top exchanges for ADA liquidity that has its integration status labeled as “in process.”

But Coinbase recently signaled in a tweet that it will support the fork, noting that ADA transactions would be suspended “during the Cardano Vasil hard fork.”

The Vasil upgrade’s launch date was originally set for June, but it was twice postponed, most recently because of a flaw in Cardano’s previous node version that caused interoperability problems.

Cardano Vasil hardfork gains more support

The top decentralized applications (DApps) on the blockchain have also validated their readiness, marking all three criteria required for the upgrade to proceed. With an upgraded Vasil node in place, over 98% of mainnet blocks are currently being created by the updated nodes.

According to market intelligence platform Santiment, social media talk about ADA has increased by 35.16% over the previous seven days following news of the upgrade, coming in third place behind Ripple (XRP) and Ethereum (ETH).

When it goes online, the upgrade will be the blockchain’s most important development since the Alonzo hard fork in September of last year, which enabled smart contracts’ first-ever functioning. The goal of this improvement is to improve smart contracts while lowering expenses and boosting network capacity.

Faster block production is one of the most significant improvements brought about by the fork, according to IOHK, because blocks can be sent without complete validation.

The Vasil upgrade bears the name of the late artist and Cardano ambassador Vasil Stoyanov Dabov, who passed away in December 2021 from a pulmonary embolism.

Furthermore, at the time of press, ADA was priced at $0.443889 and had taken a plunge of 0.5% over the last 24 hours.

JPMorgan CEO criticizes crypto yet again; Calls them Ponzi schemes

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The CEO of JPMorgan had previously referred to Bitcoin as “fraud” and stated that he had no interest in the sector. Given Dimon’s prior comments on Bitcoin, this was not unexpected.

At the most recent hearing, it was mentioned how important blockchain and decentralized finance are. Even smart contracts were added to the list by him. However, he did not seem to think much of cryptocurrency.

Over the course of its existence, the crypto-verse has accumulated a great deal of hatred. Nobody has refrained from criticizing Bitcoin (BTC), not even government officials or the average person. Despite everything, the sector managed to grow into a trillion-dollar organization. The cryptocurrency market is a highly sought-after sector with adoption at its peak. Despite its growing trend, there is still opposition and criticism. This time, Bitcoin was criticized in front of the US Congress.

Jamie Dimon, the CEO of JPMorgan Chase, has long been skeptical of cryptocurrencies. He has repeatedly stated that he is not a huge supporter of Bitcoin. Dimon was undoubtedly living the life he preached. Dimon recently referred to Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies as a Ponzi scheme during testimony before the House Financial Services Committee. He added,

“I’m a major skeptic on crypto tokens, which you call currency, like Bitcoin. They are decentralized Ponzi schemes.”

Given Dimon’s prior comments on Bitcoin, this was not unexpected. The CEO of JPMorgan had previously referred to Bitcoin as “fraud” and stated that he had no interest in the sector.

At the most recent hearing, it was mentioned how important blockchain and decentralized finance are. Even smart contracts were added to the list by him. However, he did not seem to think much of cryptocurrency.

JPMorgan’s cryptocurrency love graph declines

It appears that important JPMorgan Chase employees weren’t really pleased with the cryptocurrency sector. Takis Georgakopoulos, the company’s worldwide head of payments, said earlier this week that cryptocurrency has “a narrow use case.” In addition, he noted that over the previous six months, the demand for cryptocurrency for payments had drastically decreased. The introduction of bears is thought to be the cause of this.

He went on to say,

“When it comes to crypto as a payment method, we saw a lot of demand [from] our clients, let’s say up until six months ago. We see very little right now.”

Georgakopoulos mentioned the transformative nature of blockchain technology once more. As a result, the community predicts that JPMorgan will continue to place significant bets on blockchain technology while avoiding cryptocurrency.

Tether debacle continues; requires proof of USDT backing

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Despite holding the designation of “largest stablecoin in the world,” Tether [USDT] keeps sinking in rough waters. A lawsuit was filed against the network for issuing USDT to boost the price of Bitcoin [BTC]. This market manipulation litigation, which has been ongoing for a while, has changed course. It wasn’t in the stablecoin’s favor this time.

It was revealed that a U.S. Judge in New York had denied Tether’s request to halt the disclosure of its financial documents. As a result, the network is now required to present a variety of documentation relating to USDT’s financial support. General ledgers, balance sheets, income statements, cash-flow statements, and profit and loss statements are all included in this list. Additionally, the stablecoin company must provide documentation of all cryptocurrency and stablecoin transfers. There were other requests for minor information like the transaction’s timing.

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Katherine Polk Failla, Judge presiding over Tether case

The Plaintiffs “plainly explain why they need this information: to assess the backing of USDT with US money,” according to the judge who presided over the case, Katherine Polk Failla. She went on to say,

“The documents sought in the transactions RFPs appear to go to one of the Plaintiffs’ core allegations: that the … Defendants engaged in crypto commodities transactions using unbacked USDT, and that those transactions “were strategically timed to inflate the market.”

It should also be mentioned that Tether was asked to provide information regarding the Bitfinex, Bittrex, and Poloniex accounts that are associated with it.

Tether in troubled waters

It appears that Tether simply doesn’t belong in New York. Following a legal battle between the platform and the New York Attorney General, Bitfinex and Tether agreed to a somewhat pricey $18.5 million settlement. The 22-month-long case, which began in April 2019, was eventually resolved.

The company further confirmed that it would stop providing trading services to New York citizens.

The platform will undoubtedly suffer from the most recent news. As was already mentioned, Tether’s lawyers claimed that providing financial documents was “very excessive” and “unduly burdensome.” However, the judge firmly refuted these claims and emphasized that these records were material to the dispute.

Potential outlaw of Algorithmic Stablecoins: US Government

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Regulators from all over the world were informed of the demise of Terra and its algorithmic stablecoin TerraUSD. These assets’ low volatility did not present a problem in the past. After the Terra disaster, things, however, changed drastically. Stablecoins are already being considered as part of existing rules in nations like South Korea and others. The US seems to be following suit.

An assortment of stablecoins was observed momentarily losing their peg when Terra’s automated TerraUSD [UST] irritated them. The US government seems to be restricting its focus to algorithmic stablecoins, despite governments throughout the world keeping a watch on the situation.

The US government states that it would be unlawful to create and issue “endogenously collateralized stablecoins” in a recent draught bill.

It should be highlighted, however, that current providers have two years to update their models by deciding how to collateralize their products.

Even though Terra’s catastrophic fall took place months ago, its aftershocks are still felt today.

The U.S. Treasury is required to abide by the proposed legislation, along with dedicated research on algorithmic stablecoins and consultation with the Federal Reserve, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC), and the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC).

Could D-Day of Algorithmic Stablecoins be near?

The community was well prepared for the heavy involvement of governments once Terra’s UST was destroyed. Therefore, the community did not appear to be shocked by the algorithmic stablecoins ban.

However, it should be emphasized that before the bill’s final version is released, the aforementioned clauses may change. Bloomberg reports that the panel in charge of it could vote as soon as next week.

Congresswoman Waters official photo
Maxine Waters, Chairwoman of the House Financial Services Committee

Additionally, it has been revealed that Maxine Waters, the chairwoman of the House Financial Services Committee, and Patrick McHenry, the ranking member, have been collaborating and crafting stablecoin legislation.

The price of TerraUSD, now TerraClassicUSD [USTC], has fallen even as the US government plans to outlaw Algo stablecoins. The stablecoin was selling at $0.0325 at the time of publication, significantly below its $1 peg.

Ethereum transactions monitored by US Government?

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With significant enhancements like the Merge taking center stage, Ethereum [ETH] has surely been the buzz of the crypto town. In addition, the network’s switch to proof-of-stake [PoS] has fueled rumors that ETH will be classified as a security. Now, the SEC asserted in a lawsuit against crypto influencer Ian Balina that ETH transactions that took place in the United States immediately fell under the government’s radar, further bolstering this case.

Balina was accused of selling unregistered tokens, for which it was sued. Before launching an initial coin offering [ICO] in 2018, he failed to register his project as a security. The crypto influencer flat-out refuted these allegations. The crypto community is presently making assumptions about the SEC’s extensive statement in the case, though. The lawsuit claimed that it had the power to prosecute Balina since the SEC has authority over the Ethereum network in the 69th paragraph.

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Source: Twitter

The Balina-curated investment pool reportedly included a range of investors situated in the United States. Additional ETH contributions were validated by a network of Ethereum blockchain nodes. As a result, the SEC claimed,

“ETH contributors were validated by a network of nodes on the Ethereum blockchain, which are clustered more densely in the United States than in any other country. As a result, those transactions took place in the United States.”

Furthermore, it should be noted that 3340 out of the 7819 Ethereum nodes, or 42.56 percent, are currently located in the US.

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Source

Ethereum’s stance

Following the Merge, there has been a significant backlash against the Ethereum network. As was already indicated, some were speculating that since the network would now be regarded as a security, the SEC would have jurisdiction over it. Others, though, were criticizing ETH’s degree of decentralization.

In the midst of all of this, the network would suffer from the SEC’s most recent pronouncement. Several legal experts pointed out that the wording of the complaint would be observed even if it would not have any legal relevance.

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Source: Twitter

Furthermore, at the time of writing, Ethereum (ETH) was priced at $ 1,361.54 and had taken a plunge of 0.50% over the last 24 hours.

XRP records three-fold increase in inflows; Details

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Over the past two years, XRP has had many ups and downs. The asset kept working on the developmental side of things notwithstanding the continuing dispute. Numerous assets suffered as a result of the bears’ hegemony over the cryptocurrency market. Many of them experienced a severe downturn, and some continued the downward trend they already had.

CoinShares said that XRP has seen a three-fold surge in inflows despite weak money flows into crypto-focused products. the altcoin-focused cryptocurrency products saw a fund inflow of $100,000 the week prior, but this week it was already $300,000. One of the few cryptocurrencies that have continued to draw investment over the past six weeks is XRP. The initiative is still running strong despite unfavorable market conditions and the ongoing SEC v. Ripple dispute, thanks to authorities’ ambitions to have XRP recognized as a security.

Investments into token-focused goods have also increased by $500,000 month over month. The statistics are even better year over year, with an excess of $8.5 million.

XRP was not the only cryptocurrency product with favorable funds flow values; Short Bitcoin, Solana, and Cardano products were also part of the list. A $7.3 million fund flow surplus, the first in the previous six weeks, was the overall outcome of the week.

Despite the favorable figures, the CoinShares analyst observes a lack of investor participation and conflicting opinions about the cryptocurrency industry. The simultaneous infusion of money into Bitcoin itself and its Short form reflects the same.

XRP’s position in SEC vs Ripple

Less than a week ago, the Chamber of Digital Commerce submitted a motion to intervene in the current SEC v. Ripple litigation. Many in the sector supported the Chamber’s involvement in the conflict. However, several others expressed skepticism about the development.

A purported lawyer and pro-XRP activist who goes by @Belisarius2020 on Twitter shared his thoughts on the Chamber of Digital Commerce entering the SEC vs. Ripple fight.

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Source: Twitter

According to the lawyer, the chamber wants to give the court the impression that the digital asset and any XRP-related transactions are two separate entities. The rule that cryptocurrency trading on the secondary market turns into securities dealing would not have been established if the court had accepted the reasoning that Ripple transactions utilizing XRP and the independent circulation of XRP are not the same.

The attorney further asserts that even if the court finds that the token in this specific case meets the definition of a security, the chamber and the cryptocurrency sector will still benefit from a favorable outcome if at least the requirement of two independent investigations is recognized.

The lawyer also emphasized that the Chamber of Digital Commerce’s participation in the case makes sense given the ongoing operation of the bitcoin business. This is neither good nor bad for Ripple or XRP, though.

Shiba Inu: Shiba Eternity’s Play Store availability goes live in Australia

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Shiba Inu (SHIB), a meme coin, received a lot of attention this year. The crypto-verse, however, has grown into a far larger ecology than just trading. The growth and adoption of cryptocurrencies grabbed center stage. Although initially, it was because of rising prices, the network also boosted its utilities. In a similar endeavor, the SHIB network made the decision to develop the trading card game Shiba Eternity.

This game seems to be attracting a lot of attention and is the topic of conversation in the Bitcoin world. At Gamescom 2022 in August, a game developer by the name of William Volk disclosed information about the game.

The Shiba Inu game has been under development for quite some time. While the game was in Vietnam for testing, the fan community was eagerly awaiting its release.

However, not very long ago, Shiba Inu stayed true to its words by launching its game on the Apple App store, in Australia.

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Source: Twitter

Prior to the game’s worldwide release, the action was a part of an effort to test the operation of the game. Recall that the Shiba Inu project team sent the game to Vietnam last month for initial testing. Thanks to a positive reception, the game was downloaded by more than 3,000 people in a matter of weeks. Due to the high volume of downloads, the development team realized that the game’s server capacity needed to be expanded by more than 50 times. Undoubtedly, after the game is fully available, more people will download it.

Shiba Inu does it again

The Shiba Eternity was earlier available only on iOS devices, but now, according to a Monday statement, Shiba Eternity, the eagerly anticipated game by Shiba Inu, is currently available in Australia on the PlayStore.

Lead creator Shytoshi Kusama acknowledged on Sunday that Australia would probably be the final testing ground for the coin. The game has previously undergone a successful test in Vietnam. The game’s popularity in the nation led the creators to increase server capacity by fifty-folds.

Shiba Inu’s collectible card finally hits Australian shores: Shiba Eternity

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This year, the meme cryptocurrency Shiba Inu (SHIB) attracted a lot of attention. While the crypto-verse has developed into an ecosystem that goes much beyond simple trade. The area of cryptocurrency development and adoption took center stage. The network also increased its utilities, albeit initially, it was due to its increasing prices. The SHIB network decided to create the collectible card game Shiba Eternity in an analogous effort.

This game appears to be generating a lot of interest and is the talk of the cryptocurrency community. A game developer named William Volk revealed information about the title back in August at Gamescom 2022.

The Shiba Inu game had been in development for a while. The fanbase had been anticipating the release of the actual game while it was in Vietnam for testing. Volk responded to the same by saying,

“It will come out probably in September for other regions, and we’ll have a download day where we intend to get the ShibArmy to all download it.”

Volk did emphasise the significance of testing the game before launching it, though. So, he said, the Shiba Inu game will go through exhaustive testing before it was released. Additionally, the game’s ability to handle the volume of players playing simultaneously would need to be assessed by the network.

Volk stated that things were looking excellent after the most recent Vietnam testing.

Shiba Inu stays true to its words

Today, the well-known cryptocurrency project tweeted about the change, noting that Australian residents who are SHIBArmy members can now download the game.

The game is only now accessible on iOS devices, but there are plans to make it available to Australian Android users as well. Shiba Inu took to Twitter to congratulate Shiba Eternity.

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Source: Twitter

The action is a part of efforts to test the game’s functionality ahead of its global release. Recall that the Shiba Inu project’s team released the game for preliminary testing in Vietnam last month. Over 3,000 people downloaded the game in a matter of weeks thanks to a favourable response. The development team realised that the game’s server capacity needed to be increased by more than 50 times as a result of the large number of downloads. Undoubtedly, more people will download the game once it is completely released.

Efforts are being made to increase user acceptance when the game finally launches. At the time of writing, Shiba Inu (SHIB) was priced at $0.00001173 with no loss or gain, according to Coin Market Cap.