SEC's Appeal to the Ripple Ruling Denied

SEC's appeal to the Ripple ruling denied

In a recent legal development, a U.S. District Judge, Analisa Torres, rejected the United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC)'s motion to appeal against its loss to Ripple Labs, the crypto firm associated with the XRP token. Following the ruling, XRP's market price saw an uptick, rallying about 5%.

Judge Torres held firm on her previous July ruling, stating that the SEC failed to present compelling arguments that would warrant an overturn. The regulatory body had hoped to demonstrate significant flaws in the original ruling but fell short. However, it's not entirely over for the SEC; the judge set a trial date for April 2024 for resolving other lingering issues in the case.

In July, Judge Torres had ruled that Ripple did violate federal securities laws when selling XRP to institutional investors but did not make the same violation when it made XRP available to retail customers through programmatic sales to exchanges. This set a nuanced precedent, raising questions about how much power securities regulators would have over the crypto market.

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Yield Protocol to wind down by year's end

Yield Protocol, a decentralized finance (DeFi) lending project, is planning to close down by the end of this year due to various factors, including a lack of demand and regulatory obstacles. As per an announcement made on Wednesday, the project's December 2023 series will reach maturity on December 29th, resulting in the cessation of all borrowing and lending activities on the protocol. 

Yield Protocol stated that the decision to wind down was necessary because there is currently insufficient sustainable demand for fixed-rate borrowing on their platform. They also highlighted the challenging regulatory landscape in the United States, as well as the increasing regulatory requirements in Europe and the United Kingdom, which have made it difficult for them to continue supporting the protocol. In its prime in April 2022, Yield Protocol had over $22 million in total value locked, but this amount has significantly decreased to approximately $2 million.

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Bank of Korea launching CBDC pilot programs

South Korea is now part of the increasing number of countries initiating pilot programs for central bank digital currency (CBDC). In order to explore the technical infrastructure for a CBDC, the country's central bank, the Bank of Korea (BOK), will be launching a pilot project.

The joint announcement of the CBDC pilot program was made by the BOK, the Financial Services Commission (FSC), and the Financial Supervisory Service (FSS) on October 4. The objective of this project is to evaluate the feasibility of a future monetary system based on "wholesale CBDCs."

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United Kingdom will get its second crypto sandbox by Q1 2024

The United Kingdom is set to establish its second cryptocurrency sandbox by the first quarter of 2024, with a specific focus on digital securities. This announcement was made by Helen Boyd, the head of capital markets at the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA), during her speech at the CCData Digital Asset Summit on October 3. 

Boyd further revealed that the Digital Securities Sandbox will be launched by His Majesty's Treasury, which oversees the FCA as an independent financial regulator. It is important to note that this upcoming sandbox will differ from the existing Digital Sandbox, which was introduced by the FCA in August 2023.

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Other breaking news

• TProtocol launches USTP, a stablecoin backed by US treasury yield
• Jump Trading lost almost $300 million in FTX’s collapse
• 21.co adds ETF veteran amidst global expansion
• CZ declined to pay $40 million to SBF
• Bitcoin hovers above $27.4K

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Wrapping up

Wrapping up today's issue, the denial of the SEC's appeal in the Ripple case brings some clarity to the crypto space, while Yield Protocol's closure highlights ongoing regulatory challenges. On a brighter note, South Korea and the UK are making strides in CBDC and digital securities, respectively, signaling a more regulated but potentially stable future for crypto. Stay tuned for more updates as these stories develop.