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Legal Daily News | Bloomberg analyst claims that even if Grayscale wins the lawsuit, the court has no authority to require SEC approval to convert GBTC to ETF; Celestia has redistributed 60 million TIA airdrops.

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Good morning! Here is a summary of important news in the cryptocurrency industry from last night and this morning on October 19th.

Selected News:

1. Celestia has redistributed 60 million TIA airdrops, and the number of tokens that users can claim has been updated;

2. Bloomberg: Binance's General Manager and Legal Counsel in France has resigned;

3. Bloomberg analyst: Even if Grayscale wins the lawsuit, the court has no authority to require the SEC to approve the conversion of GBTC to ETF;

4. Survey: 41% of Hong Kong adult investors are currently unwilling to hold any cryptocurrency assets;

5. SEC Chairman: Still weighing proposal for Bitcoin spot ETF.

Project Updates

Tesla did not sell Bitcoin in Q3, holding the same amount for five consecutive quarters

According to Tesla's latest quarterly financial report, there were no Bitcoin transactions in the third quarter of 2023, marking the fifth consecutive quarter without any buying or selling activity. As of September 30th, Tesla held approximately 9,720 Bitcoins, with a market value of approximately $275.6 million.

FTX uses customer deposits to invest in multiple companies, with a funding gap of up to $9 billion in June 2022

According to CoinDesk, Peter Easton, an accounting professor at Notre Dame University, testified in court on Wednesday morning that FTX customer deposits were reinvested in business and real estate, and used for political and charitable donations. Easton was hired by the US Department of Justice to track the billions of dollars in funds from Alameda and FTX. Easton stated that around March 2021, the total amount of customer deposits was lower than FTX's bank balance, which meant that customer funds had already lost support at that time. By June 2022, when FTX deposits reached their peak, the exchange had only about $2 billion to support more than $11 billion in customer deposits, resulting in a funding gap of $9 billion.

Celestia has redistributed 60 million TIA airdrops, and the number of tokens that users can claim has been updated.

Celestia, a modular blockchain platform, announced that the redistribution of approximately 60 million TIA tokens has been completed. These tokens have been allocated to users who have already applied for them. Users can now check the latest available airdrop amount on the official website without having to reapply.

Bloomberg: Binance's General Manager and Legal Counsel in France has resigned

According to Bloomberg, Stéphanie Cabossioras has resigned from her position as General Manager of Binance's French division, a cryptocurrency trading platform.

It is reported that Stéphanie Cabossioras joined Binance in April last year as the legal director for the region and also served as the general manager of the company in the country. Prior to this, she was the deputy general counsel of the French market regulator Autorité des Marchés Financiers. She joined Binance when the company announced its plan to establish a European center in Paris last year.

Standard Chartered Bank plans to launch cryptocurrency custody services in Dubai in Q1 2024

According to CoinDesk, Standard Chartered Bank plans to begin custodianship of BTC and ETH for institutional clients in Dubai in Q1 2024. In the future, Standard Chartered Bank also plans to create a cryptocurrency settlement network.

ether.fi launches liquidity staking token eETH, which can be re-staked on EigenLayer.

DeFi protocol ether.fi announced the launch of its liquidity staking token (LST) eETH, which allows users to generate rewards by staking Ether (ETH). Users who stake ETH on ether.fi will receive the protocol's LST (eETH), which can be used to generate more profits throughout the DeFi ecosystem, including re-staking on EigenLayer. Throughout the process, users will retain control over their private keys.

Coinbase now supports eligible retail customers outside the United States to trade perpetual contracts.

According to The Block, cryptocurrency trading platform Coinbase has launched perpetual contract trading for eligible non-US retail investors through Coinbase Advanced platform. The perpetual contract trading, which is available starting today, includes four currencies - Bitcoin (BTC), Litecoin (LTC), Ethereum (ETH), and XRP - all settled in USDC stablecoin.

Viewpoint

Galaxy Digital CEO: Bitcoin ETF will be approved by SEC this yearAccording to Bloomberg, Mike Novogratz, the founder of Galaxy Digital, expects the SEC to finally approve a Bitcoin exchange-traded fund for direct investment this year. He also stated that Grayscale's victory in court is a significant positive development that will drive the market higher.

Justin Sun: Believe that multi-chain is the future, do not believe that Tron and Ethereum are competitive

Justin Sun posted on social media that he believes in the future of multi-chain and does not see Tron and Ethereum as competitors. HTX supports many Ethereum projects and he believes that no blockchain can meet the diverse needs of everyone on Earth because the demands vary greatly around the world.

Bloomberg analyst: Even if Grayscale wins, the court has no authority to require the SEC to approve the conversion of GBTC to ETF

The Chairman of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), Gary Gensler, stated in an interview with Bloomberg that "the SEC has received 8-10 filings from ETF issuers; there is a process and we look forward to hearing recommendations from staff."

Bloomberg ETF analyst Eric Balchunas said that courts mostly reiterate what they have already said and will not require the SEC to convert GBTC (to a spot ETF), which is not within the court's power. Therefore, even if Grayscale's GBTC wins, the SEC still controls its fate to some extent.