This week in the crypto world we saw the SEC end its Ethereum investigation, a white hat hack go terribly wrong, and Bitcoin whales cash out at record levels.
Is the top in?
Certik and Ripple Get into White Hat Scrap
Crypto exchange Kraken and blockchain security firm Certik got into a scrap this week after the latter got exposed for draining nearly $3 million in a white hat exercise, and then refused to hand it back.
Certik eventually gave it back after Kraken went public, but the exchange accused the security firm of withholding a small portion. Observers claimed that Certik tried to blackmail Kraken over the matter only for the exchange to go public, with Certik’s reputation being dragged through the mud as a result.
Bitcoin Whales Cashing Out
It was revealed this week that Bitcoin whales of many years’ standing are cashing out at record levels as Bitcoin falters around $65,000. Data from CryptoQuant showed that well-established holders of 1,000+ bitcoins have cashed out $1.2 billion worth of BTC in the past two weeks, indicating an increased appetite for profit-taking.
While CryptoQuant’s data for old whales indicates significant profit-taking, the broader picture shows that Bitcoin whales, in general, are still accumulating coins, albeit at a slower rate compared to earlier this year.
SEC Closes Ethereum Investigation
In the latest sign that the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) is warming to the idea of Ethereum, Consensys revealed that the agency has ended its investigation into Ethereum 2.0.
The SEC had been investigating the protocol based on the idea that staking platforms might constitute the sale of unregistered securities, going as far as to take the likes of Coinbase to court over their staking platforms, but Consensys revealed that the authority has realised that it was barking up the wrong tree.
