This week in the crypto world we saw a fake ETF, the SEC celebrating its wildly successful fiscal year, and Strike signing a deal with Checkout.com.
An XRP ETF? And you guys thought it was serious?
Fake XRP ETF Stirs up the Markets
Some joker this week managed to file a fake XRP ETF application in the name of Blackrock, the world’s biggest asset manager, The move (which quickly turned out to be as genuine as a Ben Armstrong crypto endorsement) caused XRP to jump 13% before fully retracing, with ETF expert Eric Balchunas stating that “Some whacko must have added using BlackRock executive name etc.”
As a result, the Delaware Department of Justice is looking into how the incident happened, which may mean that criminal intent was behind the move. This suggests that whatever financial reward the person longing XRP into the revelation earned, it could swiftly be undone.
SEC Celebrates Bumper Year…but Forgets Losses
The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) suffered selective amnesia this week when it seemingly forgot about its defeats to Ripple and Grayscale as it celebrated its bumper year of prosecutions.
The agency celebrated bringing in $5 billion in enforcement fines in the last fiscal year, with crypto enforcement making up a large portion. The agency was quick to celebrate its “highly productive” year of crypto crackdowns, including cases where it hasn’t yet received a penny, but neglected to mention its defeats against Grayscale and Ripple, which have been much more commented on than its victories.
Still, Stoner Cats. Well done guys.
Strike Checks Out With New Deal
Lightning Network-based app Strike announced a deal with payment processing platform Checkout.com this week which will enable users in over 65 countries to directly purchase Bitcoin with their debit cards. The move comes at a time when crypto on-ramps are being shuttered and will help to overcome challenges associated with transitioning between fiat currencies and cryptocurrencies.
The news comes three months after Checkout.com cut ties with Binance over regulatory concerns which many thought would end its interest in the crypto sector, but the company has dipped its toes in with Strike, which is slowly but surely becoming a major player in the crypto world.
