🌎 SEC Sues Consensys, MiCA Live, VanEck Files Solana ETF

Today’s edition of the weekly recap highlights significant events in the cryptocurrency world: the SEC sues Consensys, MiCA goes live in the EU, VanEck files for the first-ever Solana ETF in the U.S., and Bitcoin ETFs show mild inflows.

SEC Sues Consensys; MiCA Goes Live

Regulatory developments dominated the past week. The Nigerian SEC announced that Virtual Asset Service Providers (VASPs) have a 30-day window to update their licensing applications following a comprehensive rule amendment.

In the U.S., the SEC filed a lawsuit against Ethereum development firm Consensys over its staking and wallet services on MetaMask. This lawsuit was filed shortly after the SEC concluded its investigation into Ethereum 2.0.

Coinbase also took legal action, suing the SEC and the FDIC for not complying with its FOIA demand. Coinbase seeks clarity on issues such as the SEC’s stance on whether Ethereum is a security.

While U.S. industry leaders expressed concerns over regulatory uncertainty, the European Union launched a phased implementation of MiCA on June 30, with the stablecoin regulations effective from early July.

Bitcoin ETFs Witness Positive Shift

Last week, Bitcoin ETFs began their third week of net outflows, recording $174.5 million in negative net flows on June 24. This marked the seventh consecutive day of net outflows for these products.

However, a positive change occurred on June 25 when Bitcoin ETFs saw their first net inflow in a week, totaling $31 million. This positive trend continued for three more days, resulting in $137 million in cumulative net inflows over four days, although the weekly flow remained negative.

VanEck Files for First-Ever US Solana ETF

VanEck leveraged the current ETF trends to file for the first-ever spot Solana ETF with the U.S. SEC. Following reports of the filing, Solana’s price increased by 8%, countering the market’s bearish trend.

A day later, 21Shares, another leading asset manager in the spot crypto ETF race, also filed with the SEC to launch a spot Solana ETF named the 21Shares Core Solana ETF.

Other ETF Developments

As the industry awaits the final approval of spot Ethereum ETFs, Sean Farrell, Digital Asset Strategy Head at Fundstrat, noted that market sentiments around Ethereum remain largely bearish.

In South Korea, the Institute of Finance warned that crypto ETFs could pose risks to the country’s economy by potentially shifting capital from assets capable of generating cash flow.

US Politics

U.S. politics made headlines in the crypto community last week. Reports suggested that Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump is considering delivering a speech at this year’s Bitcoin convention in Tennessee in July.

Before the presidential debate, Moe Vela, a former advisor to Biden, mentioned that the event might not feature any crypto-related questions. However, he believed at least one candidate could discuss crypto during the event.

Despite speculation and Trump’s increasing rapport with the crypto community, neither Bitcoin nor the crypto industry was mentioned during the debate. Interestingly, BTC rose to $62,000 after the event.

Following the debate, which included a reportedly lackluster performance from President Joe Biden, data from Polymarket suggested a 35% chance that Biden might withdraw from the race.

Jesse Powell, former CEO and founder of Kraken, disclosed a $1 million crypto donation to the Trump campaign, supporting the GOP candidate.

Scams Surge

Reports confirmed a surge in scams within the industry. Bitget revealed that deepfake scams have increased by 245% in 2024 due to the rise of AI, leading to over $79.1 billion in losses since 2022.

Web3 platform Immunefi also reported that scams across the industry resulted in $572.7 million in losses in Q2 2024, a 70.3% increase from the first quarter of the year.