By James Davis
Since Monday last week, several topics have been discussed by the crypto community on Twitter. That day, blockchain enthusiasts called out crypto intelligence company Arkham for its latest innovation called Intel Exchange, where buyers request intelligence from the crypto community by placing bounties. Also, the exchange allows anyone with valuable information regarding a particular wallet or its owner to sell that data to others.
However, many are convinced that buying or selling personal information violates privacy rights and goes against blockchain principles.
Meanwhile, the company CEO Miguel Morel has assured the public that he will ensure the personal information offered on Intel Exchange is not used for any harmful purposes.
Last Tuesday, Will Clemente, the CEO of blockchain research company Reflevity, shared two events that Bitcoin users should watch for next year. He revealed that the US Securities and Exchange Commission would make its final decision on Bitcoin Exchange-Traded Fund applications on March 19, 2024, and Bitcoin halving event would likely happen on April 16, 2024.
That day, ZachXBT, a prominent blockchain observer, tweeted about a Youtuber named Blue, who has been working with multiple drainers to drain people’s wallets. According to ZachXBT, the latest incident saw Blue walk away with over $1.5 million, which he spent on luxury items such as a Rolex watch that he shamelessly posted on his social media accounts.
Later on Tuesday, Bloomberg journalist James Seyffart shared Chicago Board Options Exchange’s latest Bitcoin ETF application. And just like Valyrie and BlackRock, the exchange had added Coinbase as its Surveillance-Sharing Agreement (SSA) partner.
Will RFIA Eliminate Regulatory Uncertainty in the US?
On Wednesday, popular crypto lawyer Lewis Cohen tweeted to express his excitement about the new Responsible Financial Innovation Act (RFIA) set to be introduced to Senate in the coming days. According to him, the proposed regulations will provide clear guidelines to US-based crypto players and help the United States compete with the European Union, which recently approved the Markets in Crypto Assets framework.
Meanwhile, Marisa Tashman, another prominent crypto lawyer who serves as senior counsel at The Blockchain Association, is still wondering why the Securities and Exchange Commission gave Prometheum a favorable regulatory status, yet no one knows about the company. He now wants the agency chair Gary Gensler to be investigated over his relationship with the firm.
On Wednesday, Republican House Representative Richie Torres also asked the authorities to investigate Prometheum.
That day, cross-chain bridge Multichain revealed details indicating that things were not looking for the company. In a long thread, Multichain said Chinese authorities froze the firm’s operational funds forcing it to consider closing shop. The company’s CEO, Zhaojun, is still in custody.
Crypto Twitter Reaction to Ripple’s Victory
On Thursday, the crypto industry recorded a massive court victory after Judge Analisa Torres ruled that Ripple’s XRP did not constitute a Security; therefore, its sale didn’t break securities regulations. FOX journalist Eleanor Terrett, who is also a crypto fan, was among the first to break the news on Twitter.
Ripple CEO Brad Garlinghouse was over the moon. Minutes after the news broke, he tweeted, “It is party time.” He later explained that since 2020 he has always believed his company was on the right side of the law. Garlinghouse then thanked everyone who helped Ripple secure the court win.
Crypto fan RookieXBT, on the other hand, tweeted that Ripple’s win against the Securities and Exchange Commission was bigger than an ETF approval, although he did not explain further.
The founder of crypto venture company Mechanism Capital, Andrew Kang, said Ripple’s court victory was a massive win for Ethereum as well. He said there may be Ethereum ETF applications soon.
Cameron Winklevoss, the co-founder of the crypto exchange Gemini, was not left behind. He said that since the sale of XRP on exchanges was not a security, then the sales of all digital currencies on these trading platforms should not be considered securities.
Finally, a tweet from CoinGecko that day indicated that XRP had overtaken BNB to become the 4th largest cryptocurrency by market capitalization. However, that’s no longer the case as of this writing.