Here’s what happened in crypto today
Today in crypto, Ripple and the US Securities and Exchange Commission have reached a final agreement, bringing an end to four years of litigation. Binance froze a market maker’s proceeds after detecting the sale of 66 million MOVE tokens with minimal corresponding buy orders. Meanwhile, Trump Media is partnering with Crypto.com to launch a series of exchange-traded funds (ETFs).
Ripple will drop cross-appeal in SEC case, get refund from lower court ruling
Blockchain firm Ripple Labs’ case with the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) may be officially wrapped up after more than four years, subject to court approval.
In a March 25 X post, Ripple Chief Legal Officer Stuart Alderoty wrote, in ”what should be my last update on SEC v. Ripple ever,” that Ripple will drop its cross-appeal against the SEC in the US Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit. An August 2024 judgment from the US District Court for the Southern District of New York finding Ripple liable for $125 million will essentially stand, but the SEC will keep only $50 million of the amount in escrow. The remaining balance will be returned to Ripple.
“The agency will also ask the Court to lift the standard injunction that was imposed earlier at the SEC’s request,” wrote Alderoty. “All subject to Commission vote, drafting of final documents and usual court processes.”
Source: Stuart Alderoty
Alderoty’s announcement came less than a week after Ripple CEO Brad Garlinghouse said the SEC would drop its appeal over the August 2024 judgment. At the time of publication, neither the SEC nor Ripple appeared to have made any filing in the Second Circuit since Jan. 31 or in SDNY since October.
The Ripple CLO told Cointelegraph on March 11 that both the SEC and blockchain firm agreeing to drop their respective appeal and cross-appeal would allow the lower court’s $125-million judgment to stand. However, both parties could go “hand-in-hand” to SDNY Judge Analisa Torress to request a modification of the judgment.
Movement Network to buy back tokens with $38 million recovered from rogue market maker
The organization behind the Movement Network said it will use $38 million recovered from a market maker to buy back MOVE tokens over the next three months.
On March 24, the Movement Network Foundation said it recovered about $38 million in assets from a market maker tasked with providing liquidity on buy and sell orders for the Movement (MOVE) token on Binance.
Binance offboarded the market maker due to “market irregularities.” The exchange sanctioned the market maker, freezing its proceeds and forbidding it from further market-making activities.
Market makers provide liquidity to crypto tokens to attract traders and stabilize their prices. These entities are tasked with providing liquidity on both buy and sell orders to ensure the smooth operation of crypto exchanges.
According to Binance, the market maker sold 66 million MOVE tokens after the token was listed, while placing “little” in buy orders. These trades netted the market maker $38 million in Tether (USDT) from their trades.
Binance said it froze the profits and informed the Movement Network Foundation of the incident.
Trump Media looks to partner with Crypto.com to launch ETFs
Trump Media has signed a non-binding agreement with Crypto.com to launch a series of exchange-traded funds in the US.
Trump Technology Group Corp (TMTG) — the operator of the social media platform Truth Social and fintech brand Truth.Fi — is also part of the agreement, which is subject to regulatory approval, according to a March 24 statement from Trump Media.
Source: Kris Marszalek
The parties plan to launch the ETFs later this year through Crypto.com’s broker-dealer, Foris Capital US LLC. The ETFs will consist of digital assets and securities with a “Made in America” focus.
The parties involved expect the ETFs to be widely available internationally, including in the US, Europe and Asia across existing brokerage platforms.
”Once launched, these ETFs will be available on the Crypto.com App for our more than 140 million users around the world,” Crypto.com co-founder and CEO Kris Marszalek said.
