Merge between Hut 8, USBTC expected to close this week

Hut 8 is on track to complete its merger with US Bitcoin Corp this week.

This development is expected to initiate a new phase of geographic diversity and increased revenue streams for the company.

Labeled by executives as a “merger of equals,” the deal was first announced in February. USBTC stockholders voted in favor of the combination, the companies said last week — a key step to finalizing a deal expected to close by Nov. 30.

Hut 8 Mining CEO Jaime Leverton noted during the company’s earnings call earlier this month that USBTC’s US operations — featuring campuses in New York, Nebraska and Texas — are set to complement Hut 8’s current Canadian footprint.

Dan Weiskopf,…

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SEC kicks off comment period for planned Franklin Templeton bitcoin ETF

The US Securities and Exchange Commission has initiated the comment period for Franklin Templeton’s spot bitcoin ETF proposal.

This move was initiated earlier than some expected, with the SEC now actively seeking public feedback.

New SEC filings could signal its willingness to close out the comment period on such funds ahead of a potential January ruling on bitcoin ETFs, some segment observers said.  

A Tuesday disclosure indicates the regulator has chosen to “institute proceedings” to determine whether to approve or deny the Franklin Bitcoin ETF.

“The commission seeks and encourages interested persons to provide comments on the proposed rule change,” the filing states.

Read…

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Jump Crypto filed docs confidentially in SEC v. Terraform Labs case

A federal judge has accepted materials from Jump Crypto Holdings in discovery for the United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) case against Terraform Labs.

In a Nov. 28 filing in U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York, Judge Jed Rakoff approved the confidential treatment of certain materials produced by Jump Crypto Holdings, the crypto arm of Jump Trading. The firm was reportedly under scrutiny from the SEC for its alleged involvement in the events leading to the depegging of TerraUSD (UST) and the downfall of Terra — one of the major events kicking off the crypto market downturn of 2022.

“[T]he Court retains discretion to make public any confidential…

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Coinbase warns customers about subpoena in apparent CFTC Bybit probe

Coinbase is warning that it has received a subpoena from the United States Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC), according to X (formerly Twitter) users who have posted copies of the message. The CFTC is seeking information about the Bybit cryptocurrency exchange.

Recipients have speculated that any Coinbase customer who also used Bybit received the message. Coinbase may provide information on users’ accounts and transaction activities to the CFTC unless the subpoena is reversed by a court by Nov. 30, according to the Nov. 27 message.

Dubai-based Bybit stated earlier this year in its terms of service that it does not provide service in the United States, but it is reportedly…

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Judge allows Jump Crypto to file Terra documents confidentially in SEC lawsuit

A judge has granted Jump Crypto’s motion to confidentially submit certain materials during the discovery phase in the US Securities and Exchange Commission’s lawsuit against Terraform Labs and its founder Do Kwon.

Federal Judge Jed Rakoff filed the motion in New York Tuesday. Should the court later decide a document needs to be made public, the ruling may be overturned, Rakoff noted in his opinion. 

Jump Crypto has been accused of manipulating the price of stablecoin TerraUSD and in turn raking in a $1.28 billion profit. 

Terra, according to the SEC, loaned “a US trading firm” 30 million Terra (LUNA) tokens in November 2019 and an additional 65 million LUNA in September 2020….

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Brendan Berry: With Growing Crypto And Commerce Crossover, Digital Payments Are The New Frontier

Our global financial system moves trillions of dollars a day and serves billions of people, but the movement of money internationally remains complex, costly, fragmented, and archaic. The fact that it would be faster to fly a bag of cash across borders than to wire funds via a bank is confounding. The reality is that our system is rife with inefficiencies, adding cost through fees and delays and creating friction through redundant processes that make transacting a logistical nightmare. 

Fortunately, cryptocurrency and blockchain technologies are ushering in a new era of digital payment innovation poised to revolutionize the very nature of how we move and manage money – the early stages…

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Coinbase co-founder’s funds are really good at trading Coinbase stock

Coinbase stock is on a tear. 

Its share price has nearly quadrupled this year, and funds revolving around one particular insider have played the market almost perfectly. Along the way, trusts and funds linked to Coinbase and Paradigm co-founder Fred Ehrsam have so far sold the top, bought the bottom and even taken profits.

Ehrsam initially disclosed ownership of 17.7 million shares leading up to Coinbase’s direct listing in April 2021, split across five entities.

Ehrsam, through a trust in his name, initially sold a little more than 1.4 million Coinbase shares in the months following the company’s direct listing.

The trust netted $472 million with those trades, averaged out to…

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OCEAN Unveiled: Block CEO Jack Dorsey Leads $6.2 Million Investment Round In Decentralized Bitcoin Mining Pool

Today, Wyoming-based Mummolin, Inc, has announced the successful completion of a $6.2 million seed funding round, led by Jack Dorsey, also featuring prominent investors such as Accomplice, Barefoot Bitcoin Fund, MoonKite, NewLayer Capital, and the Bitcoin Opportunity Fund, among others. This funding will fuel the launch of OCEAN, a new initiative aiming to decentralize Bitcoin mining on a global scale, according to a press release sent to Bitcoin Magazine.

“OCEAN is solving a problem for Bitcoiners that I think all of us feel—further centralization of mining pools that could plague Bitcoin, and how that risks a bunch of Bitcoin attributes that we hold dear,” said Jack Dorsey, co-founder…

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Fireblocks launches trading system to mitigate centralized exchange risk

Multi-party computation (MPC) wallet provider Fireblocks has released a new trading system for institutions that use centralized exchanges, according to a Nov. 28 announcement. Called “Off Exchange,” the new system allows institutional traders to swap tokens without first depositing them on the exchange. Fireblocks claimed this system would help to eliminate counterparty risk on centralized exchanges and prevent future FTX-like collapses.

Today, we’re excited to launch Off Exchange, a new solution that enables trading firms and asset managers to truly eliminate exchange counterparty risk. Read on → pic.twitter.com/s4P5kyNy3O

— Fireblocks (@FireblocksHQ)… Read more on Cointelegraph

LATEST: Bitcoin’s Bullish Trajectory to $100,000 by 2024 End Fueled by ETFs, Predicted by Standard Chartered

Standard Chartered Bank predicts Bitcoin will reach $100,000 by late 2024, driven by the expected approval of U.S.-based spot Bitcoin ETFs in early 2024 and the Bitcoin halving in late April 2024. These developments, along with the growing dominance of Bitcoin in the digital assets market, are anticipated to attract substantial institutional investment. The bank’s team, led by Geoff Kendrick, suggests that the $100,000 milestone might be achieved even earlier if the U.S. spot ETFs are introduced soon, highlighting the bank’s confidence in Bitcoin’s market potential and its evolving role in the financial sector.