Consensys sues SEC after Stripe accepts cryptocurrency payments after six years

Headline

▌Consensys sues the US SEC for trying to classify ETH as a security

According to cryptounfolded's post on the X platform, Consensys sued the US SEC, claiming that it tried to classify ETH as a security.  

Consensys said on Thursday that it had filed a lawsuit with the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) over the regulation of the Ethereum blockchain. Regulation of the industry has become a controversial issue as companies including Coinbase claim that the SEC has no jurisdiction on the grounds that crypto tokens are not securities. Consensys claimed in the complaint that US market regulators have been "trying to illegally regulate Ethereum through special enforcement actions against Consensys and other companies." It is seeking confirmation from the court that the SEC has no legal authority to regulate user-controlled software interfaces built on Ethereum or the Ethereum blockchain.

▌Stripe resumes accepting cryptocurrency payments after six years

Financial technology giant Stripe announced its return to the cryptocurrency market. The company announced on Thursday that it will begin to allow customers to accept cryptocurrency payments, first supporting USDC stablecoins, and only on Solana, Ethereum and Polygon. It is reported that this is the first time Stripe has accepted crypto payments since 2018, when the company abandoned support for cryptocurrency payments due to high Bitcoin price volatility.

Market

As of press time, according to Coingecko data:

BTC's latest transaction price is $64,507.66, with a daily increase or decrease of +0.4%;

ETH's latest transaction price is $3,157.94, with a daily increase or decrease of +2.9%;

BNB's latest transaction price is $614.35, with a daily increase or decrease of +1.0%;

ORDI's latest transaction price is $43.17, with a daily increase or decrease of -3.6%；

DOGE's latest transaction price is $0.1514, with a daily increase or decrease of +0.1%；

SOL's latest transaction price is $144.93, with a daily increase or decrease of -1.9%。

Policy

▌FBI warns Americans not to use unregistered cryptocurrency transmission services

The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) said on Thursday that Americans should not use encryption services provided by companies that are not registered as money service businesses (MSBs) under federal law. The FBI also provides FinCEN's official tool, which allows users to check whether a company is registered as an MSB.

▌The U.S. SEC issued a Wells notice to Consensys earlier this month

According to The Block Pro Headlines, "The U.S. SEC issued a Wells notice to Consensys, accusing MetaMask of operating as an unlicensed broker."  

Consensys said, "The U.S. SEC has classified ETH as a security and said that the agency has "set its sights" on the company's Metamask software. SEC staff sent a Wells notice to Consensys earlier this month."  

It was reported about half an hour ago that Consensys sued the U.S. SEC for trying to classify ETH as a security.

Blockchain Applications

▌Starknet: The third phase of DeFi Spring has been launched

Starknet said on the X platform that the third phase of DeFi Spring has been launched: perpetual contracts and option agreements. Starting from 08:00 on April 25, Beijing time, Starknet DeFi Spring entered the third phase, and eligible perpetual contracts and option agreements will be launched with its incentive plan.

▌Axelar: Will provide decentralized storage on the chain through the Filecoin virtual machine

Axelar announced that it will provide decentralized storage on any blockchain in Web3 through the Filecoin virtual machine. It is reported that Axelar and Filecoin have established infrastructure so that developers can build applications that access verifiable storage across Web3. Currently, Axelar is able to support 9 assets on the FVM network, including USDC, USDT, ETH and WBTC.

Cryptocurrency

▌Celsius loan creditors consider appeal of Celsius restructuring plan

Celsius loan creditors are actively considering an appeal of Celsius’ restructuring plan as they see lower-than-expected recoveries from the collapsed lender’s estate. The creditor group is in discussions with several attorneys about filing an appeal based on two key claims.

▌Runes Protocol Token DOG Market Cap Nears $500M, 24-Hour Trading Volume Exceeds $13M

The newly launched Runes Protocol token “DOG•GO•TO•THE•MOON” has climbed to the top of Runes tokens in terms of trading volume on NFT markets, including OKX’s NFT Marketplace and Magic Eden. The token traded approximately $13.2 million between the two platforms in 24 hours, with a current market cap of $483 million and a unit price of 7.15 sats, or approximately $0.0046.  

Golden Finance previously reported that Runestone initiator Leonidas posted on social media that the Runestone snapshot has been completed. Each Runestone NFT held in block 840,269 can obtain 889,806 DOG•GO•TO•THE•MOON runes (rune number 3). DOG will be automatically airdropped to the user's wallet in the next few days without the need to claim it.

▌BlackRock ETF wallet has received an airdrop of Runes tokens worth more than $20,000

According to data disclosed by Arkham on the X platform, BlackRock ETF wallet has received an airdrop of Runes tokens worth more than $20,000. Data shows that BlackRock received a total of 1,887,240 RSIC•GENESIS•RUNE tokens at the beginning of this week. Based on the current market price (16.9 sats), the runes held by BlackRock are worth more than $20,000. This is understood to be because two of BlackRock’s ETF addresses inadvertently held 4 Bitcoin ordinal inscriptions known as “RSIC”, which distributed rune tokens to their addresses in the 3 months before the halving. The RSIC inscriptions themselves came from the Coinbase Prime hot wallet and were initially airdropped to Swissborg because (also inadvertently) they had other Ordinal series in their wallets. So far, there is no indication that BlackRock knew about or had access to these runes. Token Management Platform Magna Launches Customizable Airdrop Solution Token management platform Magna has launched its latest product, a customizable airdrop solution. Building on its existing suite of services, Magna now offers the ability to customize a claims portal, streamlining the token allocation process for thousands of community members. In recent partnerships with BitsCrunch and GAM3S, Magna assisted in the establishment of a white label claims portal that serves over 40,000 recipients. Leveraging Magna’s gas-optimized smart contracts, these airdrops were executed at a low cost. ▌ Pantera Capital Scores Discounted Batch of SOL from FTX Auction Pantera Capital was one of the winning bidders for another batch of discounted Solana tokens that were auctioned off by administrators managing the bankruptcy of the former FTX cryptocurrency exchange, according to a person familiar with the matter. About 2,000 SOL tokens were sold this week, the people said, speaking on condition of anonymity because information about the sales has not been made public. Spokespeople for Pantera and the FTX Foundation did not immediately respond to requests for comment. The tokens sold for more than the roughly $60 they were paid at the last auction, according to two people familiar with the matter. More auctions are expected, they said.

▌Grayscale GBTC outflowed $140 million yesterday

According to the spot Bitcoin ETF data monitored by HODL15Capital yesterday (April 25), Grayscale GBTC outflowed 2,150 BTC, equivalent to about $140 million; BlackRock IBIT had no inflow/outflow of funds; Franklin EZBC inflowed $2 million.

▌Musk escalates court battle with OpenAI

Musk has expanded his court battle with OpenAI, demanding documents from Helen Toner, a former board member of OpenAI who was a key figure in last year's OpenAI "palace fight" incident, which led to the brief dismissal of OpenAI CEO Altman. Musk, one of OpenAI's earliest investors, is demanding that Toner hand over documents and communications related to her departure from the OpenAI board and the decision to remove and reinstate Altman, according to a filing in the Superior Court of the District of Columbia. The subpoena requires Toner to hand over the information by May 21, 2024. The request is related to a lawsuit Musk filed last month against OpenAI and Altman, claiming that OpenAI's multi-billion-dollar partnership with its largest investor, Microsoft, violated the company's original promise to build artificial intelligence that benefits all of humanity. OpenAI called Musk's statement a "revision of history" aimed at promoting Musk's own artificial intelligence company.

Important Economic Dynamics

▌Federal Reserve Goolsbee: Fed needs to "recalibrate" policy

Federal Reserve Goolsbee said in an interview with the Wall Street Journal last week that the Fed must "recalibrate" policy after a series of higher-than-expected inflation data. Goolsbee believes that one month is equivalent to zero, but "three months" is at least "a real month." "After six or seven months of very strong improvement and inflation close to 2%, now we are seeing inflation well above that level, and we have to readjust, and we have to wait and see." This statement echoed his remarks last Friday: "So far, in 2024, progress on inflation has stalled. People don't attach too much importance to the data of any one month, especially inflation, but similar situations in three months cannot be ignored."

▌Fed's May and June rate cut bets are almost wiped out

According to CME's "Fed Watch", the probability of the Federal Reserve keeping interest rates unchanged in May is 95.4%, and the probability of a 25 basis point cut is 4.6%. The probability of the Federal Reserve keeping interest rates unchanged by June is 89.5%, the probability of a cumulative 25 basis point cut is 10.2%, and the probability of a cumulative 50 basis point cut is 0.3%.

▌The three major U.S. stock indexes closed down collectively

The three major U.S. stock indexes closed down collectively, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average down 0.97%, the Nasdaq down 0.64%, and the S&P 500 down 0.46%. Meta fell more than 10%, and IBM fell more than 8%.

Golden Encyclopedia

▌What is decentralized science?

Decentralized Science (DeSci) within the Web3 framework is a paradigm shift in scientific research, characterized by four basic principles: incentives, transparency, decentralization, and collaboration. DeSci places great emphasis on transparency and supports free and open access to methods, data, and conclusions. DeSci creates an open and accountable environment by encouraging transparency, making scientific research more reproducible and credible. Collaboration is at the core of DeSci, which leverages distributed networks to enable cross-border, censorship-resistant collaboration. DeSci promotes diversity of viewpoints, expertise sharing, and group problem solving by eliminating institutional and geographic boundaries.

Disclaimer: As a blockchain information platform, Golden Finance publishes articles for informational reference only and is not intended as actual investment advice. Please establish the correct investment philosophy and be sure to raise your risk awareness.