SEC Claims Ethereum Falls Under US Jurisdiction
SEC Claims Ethereum Falls Under US Jurisdiction
Hey Fellaz!
You might have expected this newsletter to arrive a few days sooner, but I guess I just didn't find the time to research all the news highlights I wanted to cover. Mainly because I decided to spend my weekend attending urban BMX events, dance battles, fashion previews, and pizza parties! The perfect way to celebrate a successful ETH merge, right? 🥸
Anyway - before I move on to the news, here is some alpha: we're preparing to launch 0xCareers, our web3 job board. This means it's the perfect time to draft your resume or to reach out if you're looking to list a job (or are searching for an investment opportunity)!
In the meanwhile … here is a rundown of the past week in the NFT space!
— 🩸💀 AMERICAN RADASS
SEC Claims Ethereum Falls Under US Jurisdiction
When the SEC filed a federal lawsuit against crypto influencer Ian Balina for his failure to register a cryptocurrency as a security before launching a 2018 initial coin offering (ICO), everything at first appeared run-of-the-mill: the SEC has, for years, filed civil suits against individuals and organizations for rolling out unregistered ICOs.
In a bold and potentially unprecedented move buried in the lawsuit’s 69th paragraph, the SEC claimed it had the right to sue Balina not only because his case concerns transactions made in the United States, but also because, essentially, the entire Ethereum network falls under the US government’s purview.
Doodles raises $54M in funding at $704M valuation
NFT collection Doodles announced that it had raised $54 million at a $704 million valuation in a funding round led by Seven Seven Six, with participation from 10T Holdings, Acrew Capital, and FTX Ventures.
Doodles also hired Brandon Rosenblatt, their new head of Brand Partnerships.
According to data from DappRadar, the project’s volume was recorded to be $2.48 million, with an uptick of 1028.34% on a 24-hour scale after these announcements.
STARBUCKS LAUNCHES NFT LOYALTY PROGRAM
Starbucks has announced it will launch its official NFT Rewards loyalty program tagged “Starbucks Odyssey” on Ethereum’s layer2 Polygon network later this year.
According to the announcement, the new loyalty program combines its existing rewards program and a non-fungible token platform where users can earn and buy NFTs that give them access to exclusive rewards.
CHICAGO BULLS RELEASE NFTS REIMAGINING ITS LOGO
The Chicago Bulls announced the launch of THE AUROCHS, the first NFT collection from a professional sports team to launch on Coinbase’s NFT marketplace.
The collection will feature 23 minted 1/1 NFTs designed by top web3 artists from around the world, including Deadfellaz, Blake Jamieson, Bobby Hundreds, Claire Salvo, and more!
📰 OTHER NEWS FROM THE PAST WEEK
The White House has just released its first-ever framework on what crypto regulation in the U.S. should look like — including ways in which the financial services industry should evolve to make borderless transactions easier, and how to crack down on fraud in the digital asset space.
Today is NFTDAY, the 5th anniversary of the ERC-721 proposal!
Someone paid 36 ETH in gas to mint the first NFT on proof of Stake.
Solana NFT transactions skyrocketed to one million weekly.
Nice to know for everyone who likes marketing and branding: Cool Cats' brand guidelines 'leaked' and went viral on Twitter.
Coinbase announced it was bankrolling a lawsuit against the United States Treasury Department. The cryptocurrency exchange is funding a lawsuit brought by six people that challenges the sanctions on Tornado Cash.
Yuga Labs, the company behind Bored Ape Yacht Club, announced that Spencer Tucker will join the company as Chief Gaming Officer.
True Names Ltd., the parent company of the Ethereum Name Service (ENS), says it has regained control of the web domain name “eth.link” after securing an injunction from an Arizona court.
✨ NEW IN THE SPACE
The metaverse event company RLTY partnered up with metaverse fashion giants The Fabricant and World of Women to host a global metaverse fashion event in the Decentraland between Sept. 20 (today!) and 22.
Mobile-based fantasy RPG Guild of Guardians is set to introduce new playable NFT characters based on the IP of eight popular professional esports teams.
The American video game developer Epic Games has launched its newest title Blankos Block Party on the Game Store.
The William S Paley Foundation plans to auction off about $70 million worth of art and spend part of the proceeds on NFTs and digital art, The Wall Street Journal reported.
A group of Wall Street titans, including Fidelity Digital Assets, Charles Schwab, and Citadel Securities, among others, are collectively launching a cryptocurrency exchange called EDX Markets.
💀 HOW TO RECOGNIZE A RUG PULL
Earlier this year, OpenSea launched its bug bounty program that is meant to reward users that find and report vulnerabilities on their website. It looks like they're doing extra efforts in their mission to become the most trusted NFT marktplace.
OTHER INTERESTING RUG PULL NEWS
A hacker drained $3.3 million from multiple Ethereum addresses generated with a tool called Profanity, according to on-chain data from Etherscan.
The Dutch police arrested a 39-year-old man in the Netherlands on Sept. 6 for allegedly stealing Bitcoin worth tens of millions of dollars, according to a statement by Dutch authorities.
The sibling of a former Coinbase product manager charged with insider trading has pleaded guilty to wire fraud in the crypto industry’s first such case.
👀 BEHIND THE SCENES
Rumblerz, a stop motion animation TV show leveraging NFT’s existing IP, has been sharing behind the scene videos from their development and video process.
😂 LAUGH OUT LOUD
I probably shouldn't laugh at this tweet, but it reminds me of Coinbase's decision to cut their workforce by 1100 employees earlier this summer.
🤓 DISCLAIMER: NFA & DYOR
This newsletter is a curated overview of the most exciting things I’ve read the past week, the projects I’ve researched, and the NFTs I’ll be trying to buy.
This means I’m - per definition - biased, so don’t consider this as financial advice, and keep doing your own research if you see something you like.