Musk previously signaled he was ready and willing to serve if Donald Trump is elected president of the United States.
Elon Musk may be floating the idea of establishing himself as the head of a new government institution if former United States president Donald Trump claims the Oval Office again in the November 2024 election.
True to form, Musk teased the idea in a meme on the X social media platform featuring a double-entendre referencing both cryptocurrency and politics.
Source: Elon Musk
Spot Ethereum ETFs are stealing the show and killing demand for futures-based crypto ETFs.
Asset manager VanEck is shuttering its futures-based Ether (ETH) exchange-traded fund, citing insufficient demand as spot cryptocurrency ETFs dominate inflows, according to a Sept. 6 announcement.
VanEck chose to close the fund due to factors “including performance, liquidity, assets under management, and investor interest,” it said.
Shares of VanEck Ethereum Strategy ETF (EFUT) will stop trading on Sept. 16 and fund assets will be liquidated and returned to investors on or around Sept. 23, according to the announcement.
Notes from a 2023 conference call between Assistant US Attorneys revealed allegations against Ryan Salame tied to Alameda Research’s bribery scheme in China.
United States prosecutors in the case against Ryan Salame have allegedly linked the former FTX Digital Markets co-CEO to the names of Thai prostitutes as part of efforts to unfreeze accounts tied to FTX and Alameda Research.
In a Sept. 5 filing in the US District Court for the Southern District of New York, US Attorneys filed a memorandum opposing Salame’s motion to vacate his guilty plea as part of charges involving campaign finance violations. The former FTX co-CEO had already withdrawn his petition to vacate the plea on Aug. 29, but Judge Lewis Kaplan said both parties would appear on Sept. 12 to address the matter at a hearing.
The prosecutors’ motion did not mince words, calling Salame’s petition “shameless and self-serving” and “procedurally defective and factually and legally meritless.” He initially filed the petition after authorities suggested they would pursue an investigation into his partner, Michelle Bond.
Crypto lobby spending in the US has surged 1,386% since 2017, including a huge jump in the last two years.
Crypto lobbying has skyrocketed over the past few years, with a handful of key companies driving advocacy efforts to influence legislators in the United States.
Coinbase, for instance, has increased its lobbying expenditure by 3,475% over the past seven years, according to a Social Capital Markets report on Sept. 5. The crypto exchange’s spend increased from $80,000 in 2017 to $2.86 million in 2023.
Another crypto firm pouring large sums of money into influencing legislators was Ripple Labs. Over the same period, the firm saw a 1,780% increase in lobbying costs, from merely $50,000 to $940,000 in 2023.
Though the SEC may choose not to appeal the Aug. 7 decision, Ripple’s lawyers requested that 111% of the monetary judgment be placed into a bank account to obtain a stay.
The legal team defending Ripple Labs against a case filed by the United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has requested to stay the monetary portion of an Aug. 7 judgment requiring the firm to pay $125 million.
In a Sept. 4 filing in the US District Court for the Southern District of New York, Ripple’s lawyers said the SEC had agreed to a request to delay payment of the judgment after Sept. 6. The legal team proposed that Ripple place 111% of the judgment amount — roughly $139 million — into a bank account until 30 days “after the time to appeal expires or the resolution of any appeal.”
Source: SDNY
Bitcoin may be decoupling from concerns about a US recession and aligning more closely with the US dollar’s performance and signs of easing monetary policy, according to ETC Group.
The bearish environment that dominated the crypto markets in early August may have set the conditions for a “tactical bottom for Bitcoin,” supported by expectations of looser monetary policy in the United States.
According to an analysis from asset manager ETC Group, sentiment around crypto assets dropped in August to its lowest point since the FTX collapse in November 2022, driven by rising concerns over a recession in the US and a sudden appreciation of the Japanese yen.
Recession fears, however, quickly evolved into expectations of a reversal in the Federal Reserve’s monetary policy. If the Fed begins easing its policy, meaning lowering interest rates or injecting more money into the economy, it could create a more favorable environment for Bitcoin (BTC), as a looser monetary policy generally encourages more risk-taking and investment in assets like cryptocurrencies.
Crypto exchange-traded funds make up 13 of the top 25 fund launches, the investment adviser said.
Cryptocurrency exchange-traded funds (ETFs) accounted for 13 of the 25 largest ETF launches in 2024 by year-to-date inflows, according to a post on the X platform by Nate Geraci, president of The ETF Store, an investment adviser specializing in ETFs.
Of the approximately 400 new ETFs launched in 2024, the four biggest launches by inflows have all been spot Bitcoin (BTC) ETFs, Geraci said.
BlackRock’s iShares Bitcoin Trust (IBIT) tops the charts, with almost $21 billion in inflows to date. It is followed by Fidelity Wise Origin Bitcoin Fund (FBTC), with nearly $10 billion in net inflows, and ARK 21Shares Bitcoin ETF (ARKB) and Bitwise Bitcoin ETF Trust (BITB), each with roughly $2 billion in net inflows, according to the post.
A group of crypto industry players wants to sway Kamala Harris to soften on crypto as she maintains a slight lead in national polling over Donald Trump.
Crypto executives and industry advocate groups are reportedly planning to raise $100,000 for United States Vice President Kamala Harris in a bid to sway her toward a relaxed stance on crypto if she wins the presidency in November.
The group, which includes industry advocate body the Blockchain Foundation, is planning the fundraiser for Sept. 13 in Washington with tickets priced between $500 to $5,000, Reuters reported on Aug. 30.
The effort shows some in the industry are backing Harris over rival Donald Trump despite Harris being relatively quiet on her crypto stance compared to Trump.
It’s unclear whether the government would be required to inform the general public in the event an AI model becomes sentient.
Artificial intelligence firms OpenAI and Anthropic recently agreed to give the US AI Safety Institute early access to any “major” new AI models developed by their respective firms.
While the deal was purportedly signed over mutual safety concerns, it’s unclear exactly what the government’s role would be in the event of a technology breakthrough with significant safety implications.
OpenAI CEO and cofounder Sam Altman regarded the deal as a necessary step in a recent post on the X social media platform.
After previously opposing another AI-related bill, SB 1047, OpenAI has expressed support for AB 3211, which would require watermarks on AI-generated content.
The artificial intelligence startup OpenAI, which is behind the ChatGPT chatbot, reportedly supports a new bill that proposes labeling content generated with AI.
OpenAI chief strategy officer Jason Kwon has expressed support for the bill AB 3211, which would require watermarks in the metadata of AI-generated photos, videos and audio clips, Reuters reported on Aug. 26.
According to the source, Kwon believes that marking AI-made material will help users differentiate such content from human-made content. The report noted that the enforcement of the bill would particularly be helpful amid growing misinformation about political candidates.
