🧟 $95k Crypto Punk returns from the dead

Markets

Binance.US's market share nosedives after SEC lawsuit (2 minute read)
In the aftermath of the US Securities Exchange Commission's lawsuit against Binance and its US counterpart, Binance.US, the latter's market share among exchanges supporting USD pairs continues to dwindle. As per The Block's Data Dashboard, Binance.US's market share has plummeted to 4.35% as of June 18, a significant drop from over 16% in April 2023. In contrast, Binance's market share has experienced a slight increase compared to the previous month. The SEC's lawsuit, filed earlier this month, alleges that Binance violated securities laws, maintained an improper relationship with Binance.US, and funneled funds to other entities owned by Binance's founder, Changpeng Zhao. Binance has criticized the suit, claiming it is a hasty attempt by the SEC to assert jurisdictional authority, with investors seemingly not being the agency's main focus.

Hinman Documents Release in SEC-Ripple Case Is a Boost to Ether: JPMorgan (2 minute read)
Last week's release of the Hinman papers in the SEC's case against Ripple has provided a boost to ether (ETH) and is expected to catalyze a shift towards greater decentralization in the cryptocurrency market, according to a research report by JPMorgan (JPM) on Thursday. Ripple disclosed emails connected to former Director of Corporation Finance, William Hinman's 2018 speech, where he stated that ether did not resemble a security. The report highlighted that senior officials at the SEC did not classify ether as a security back in 2018, and they acknowledged the regulatory gap created by tokens on decentralized networks no longer being considered securities.

Tech

$95K CryptoPunk NFT Burned by Bitcoin Bandits, Revived as Ordinals Inscription (3 minute read)
A high-priced Ethereum non-fungible token (NFT) from a prominent Web3 collection has been permanently taken out of circulation and symbolically linked to an Ordinals inscription. CryptoPunk #8611, which fetched approximately 55 Ethereum or $95,000, was sold on Saturday and subsequently burned, signifying inscription 12,456,749 on the Bitcoin network, featuring the same image as its predecessor. This unique act of destruction was orchestrated by Nathan Stein, a developer at Wolf Capital, with strong support from the community and holders of Bitcoin Bandits, a Wild West-themed collection of Ordinals inscriptions. According to a spokesperson for the project, approximately 150 people contributed to this passionate endeavor.

‘Britcoin’ launch inches closer after Project Rosalind CBDC tests (3 minute read)
The Bank of England (BoE) is making progress in its plan to introduce a central bank digital currency dubbed "Britcoin" after completing a trial study known as Project Rosalind. In collaboration with the Bank for International Settlements, the BoE initiated this experiment in July 2022 to examine the practicality of using application programming interfaces (APIs) in retail CBDC transactions. The latest report, released on June 16, summarized the findings of phase two of Project Rosalind, suggesting that a CBDC could enhance payment efficiency and affordability among individuals, while also enabling businesses to develop innovative financial products that combat fraudulent activities.

Misc

Twitter suspends memecoin-linked AI bot after Elon Musk’s ‘scam crypto’ claim (2 minute read)
The account of the beloved AI-powered bot "Explain This Bob," associated with the coin $BOB, has been suspended after Elon Musk labeled it a "scam crypto account." Musk's accusation came in a tweet on June 18, in response to the bot, and shortly afterward, the account was seemingly suspended. Prior to its suspension, Explain This Bob had amassed an impressive following of over 400,000 users. Created by Prabhu Biswal from India, the bot utilized OpenAI's GPT-4 model to comprehend and provide responses to tweets from users who tagged the account. Interestingly, the project was also tied to the ERC-20 memecoin called Bob Token (BOB), launched back in April. CoinGecko reported that the suspension caused a sharp decline of over 30% in the price of BOB.

U.S. judge considers whether Terraform Labs' cryptocurrencies were securities (2 minute read)
A U.S. judge recently examined the question of whether the digital assets created by Terraform Labs should be classified as securities. This issue lies at the core of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission's (SEC) fraud case against the company and its founder, Do Kwon. Terraform Labs was responsible for two cryptocurrencies that caused upheaval in the crypto markets worldwide last year. Kwon and the company have requested the dismissal of the SEC's allegations, which claim that they deceived investors and sold billions of dollars in unregistered securities. One of their offerings, TerraUSD (UST), aimed to maintain a 1:1 peg to the U.S. dollar using an algorithmic stablecoin, with its value tied to another token called Luna. However, both tokens experienced a significant loss in value when TerraUSD slipped below its dollar peg in May 2022. Prior to the collapse, TerraUSD held a market capitalization of over $18.5 billion, ranking as the tenth-largest cryptocurrency.

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