Hodler’s Digest, June 16-22 – Cointelegraph Magazine

This week's main news

SEC to drop investigation into Ethereum – agreement

The US Securities and Exchange Commission is dropping its investigation into the security of Ether, Ethereum developer Consensys announced on June 19. The investigation focused on whether Ethereum's 2014 initial coin offering was an unregistered offering of securities. They agree that the SEC's decision on June 7 sent the agency a letter saying it would end its investigation into Ether (ETH) because the regulator approved the exchange in May as an “ETH-based commodity.”

Kraken has recovered $3 million from Certike, ending the bug bounty saga

Crypto exchange Kraken has recovered the missing funds from Certike following a massive bug bounty exploit fiasco. Kraken confirmed the return of nearly $3 million in digital assets on June 20, ending the Kraken-CertiK saga. The exchange claimed that a “security researcher” had fraudulently withdrawn from its treasury after discovering and sharing an existing bug. Not long ago, blockchain security firm Certike publicly identified itself as the “security researcher,” claiming to have uncovered an exploit that allowed Kraken to withdraw millions of dollars from the currency's accounts. Certicem also said that the exchange team had received threats.

The SEC shot down Ripple's argument for a lower penalty

The US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) rejected Ripple's request for a lower fine during its legal battle with the regulatory agency, arguing that Ripple's proposed $10 million fine was insufficient compared to the $876.3 million sought. Ripple cited the SEC's settlement with Terraform Labs as a benchmark, but believes the conditions are not comparable because Terraform has agreed to additional measures such as management changes and investor payouts. The SEC's proposed penalties to Ripple total nearly $2 billion, including $198.2 million in prejudgment interest, $876.3 million in civil penalties, and another $876.3 million in disgorgement.

Ethereum price up to $10K is the most ‘unbalanced bet' in crypto – analyst

Ether's price reaching the $10,000 mark could be a very “lopsided bet” in current market conditions, crypto analyst Tyler said. Although it is currently struggling to surpass $4,000, factors such as the upcoming Ether Exchange-Fund and the significant discount of Ether Exchange may increase this growth. A rise to $10,000 would mean a 194% increase from current levels.

Bitwise's updated Ethereum ETF filing says Panther is interested in buying $100M

Bitwise has updated its filing for the Space Ether Exchange Traded Fund (ETF), indicating that Pantera Capital is interested in investing up to $100 million in the fund. The document states that the expressions of interest are non-binding, meaning Pantera could decide to buy more, fewer or none of the shares. The filings are the final part of the approval process before Ether ETFs are allowed to publicly trade, which SEC Chairman Gary Gensler believes will happen “sometime this summer.”

Winners and losers

At the end of the week, Bitcoin (BTC) at $64.010, Ether (ETH) at $3.501 and XRP at $0.48. According to CoinMarketCap, the total market cap is $2.34 trillion.

Among the largest 100 cryptocurrencies, the top three altcoin gainers for the week were Ethereum Name Service (ENS) at 25.77%, Lido DAO (LDO) at 14.04% and Pendle (PENDLE) at 13.53%.

The top three altcoin losers of the week were zkSync (ZK) with -33.93%, Chiliz (CHZ) -30.15% and Starknet (STRK) -24.81%.

Be sure to read Cointelegraph's market analysis for more information on crypto prices.

The most memorable quotes

“Previous statements by SEC officials regarding Ether's classification may be embarrassing for an agency that claims classification is ‘clear.'

Carol Goforth, a professor at Arkansas Law School

“I believe [Bitcoin] The EEF, in terms of meaning rather than what it says, has achieved great results. We've seen an incredible shift in mindset over the past two months.

Sheraz Ahmed Managing Partner of Storm Partners

“The expansion of Statcoins' services demonstrates their potential to enhance economic inclusion and shape traditional finance.”

Transc CEO Sammy Starr

“The SEC Enforcement Division has informed us that it will close its investigation into Ethereum 2.0.”

Agreement, developer of Ethereum

“Not participating in crypto and digital assets will soon become a career risk.”

Kunal Bhasin, co-head of digital assets at KPMG Canada

“Corporate adoption is a complete failure. The amateur league is with the adults.”

Mark Degan, chairman of the Trust Square

Forecast of the week

Bernstein analysts expect Bitcoin price to hit $200k by 2025 due to BTC ETF influx.

Analysts at Bernstein, a research and brokerage firm, predict that bitcoin could reach $200,000 by the end of next year, following its entry into exchange-traded funds (ETFs).

The analysts based this prediction on the assumption that Bitcoin ETFs could represent 7% of the total Bitcoin circulation by the end of 2025.

“We see adoption of Bitcoin ETFs on major wirehouses/large private banking platforms in Q3/Q4,” Bernstein analysts Gautam Chugani and Mahika Sapra said in a note to clients.

Analysts say that currently 80% of Bitcoin ETF flows in the space come from self-directed retail investors through brokerage platforms, while institutional integration with wirehouses is still in its infancy. He added:

“We expect spot Bitcoin ETFs to touch ~$190B AuM by '25E market peak and $3Tn by 2033.”

FUD of the week

US prosecutors oppose Ethereum Dev's move to reduce 5-year prison sentence

Officials at the United States Department of Justice have written a letter opposing former Ethereum developer Virgil Griffith's appeal to reduce his 2022 sentence for violating sanctions against North Korea. Griffiths spoke at a crypto and blockchain conference in the country in 2019 about how the country could use it to evade sanctions and money laundering. A judge sentenced the former Ethereum developer to 63 months in prison and a $100,000 fine in April 2022, with a January 2026 release date to take into account time served before his sentencing hearing.

‘Pharma Bro' Baron Trump Claims He Holds Private Keys To DJT Token

Martin Shkreli, also known as “Pharma Bro,” now Donald Trump's 18-year-old son Barron Trump, launched the TrumpCoin token with his father's approval and says he holds the private key to the smart contract address. Shkreli, who spent more than six years in prison for securities fraud, said Barron Trump approached him about launching a Solana-based token in April. According to Birdeye, the token was worth $146 million as of June 20.

41% of top ZK airdrop bags sold out – Nansen

Almost 41% of the major wallets that accepted the new zkSync (ZK) token on June 17th weather sold their shares within a day, resulting in a 34.5% drop in ZK price. According to data from blockchain analytics firm Nansen, about 41% of monitored addresses sell their airdrops, while 29.2% sell at least some of their tokens. The total amount sold by both teams was over 486 million ZK. More than 30% of the top receiving wallets hold their ZK tokens. They said at least 491,000 wallets had been deflated.

The best magazine sections of the week

‘Rock Star Complex' Tyler Makes Round Trip 1K ETH: NFT Collector

Tyler Warner (Tyler Made It) convinced himself he was a rock star trader in a bull market, but he couldn't secure what he got: an NFT collector.

Polkadot Indy 500 driver Connor Daly: ‘My dad has a DOT, how crazy is that?'

Is Polkadot cashed in on motorsport racing? 13M saw DOT sponsored driver Connor Daly lead the Indy 500 for 22 laps.

Ethereum's latest comeback could be a gift: Dynamo DeFi, X Hall of Flame

Patrick Scott doubts Bitcoin ETF investors will flock to Ether ETFs anytime soon, but says the overall trend is up.

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Cointelegraph magazine writers and reporters contributed to this article.