Top Stories of The Week SEC seeks more time to mull options o
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Top Stories of The Week
SEC seeks more time to mull options on Ethereum ETFs
US regulators said they need more time to decide whether to permit the trading of options tied to Ether exchange-traded funds (ETFs), according to a Feb. 7 regulatory filing.
The filing was a response to Nasdaq ISE’s July request for permission to list options contracts for BlackRock’s iShares Ethereum Trust (ETHA). The US Securities and Exchange Commission now has until April 2025 to reach a decision, per the filing.
Nasdaq’s proposed rule change would apply exclusively to options on ETHA, which is the only Ether ETF listed on Nasdaq’s electronic exchange. Others are listed on the New York Stock Exchange’s Arca or Cboe.
Haliey Welch, aka ‘Hawk Tuah,’ speaks out after nearly two months
Haliey Welch, widely known as the “Hawk Tuah” girl, made her first media appearance after nearly two months of silence following the launch of the HAWK memecoin and the subsequent crash of the token’s price.
In a leaked interview conducted with YouTuber FaZe Banks, Welch claimed the project manager for the memecoin told her the token would have a long-term time horizon and would be positive for the crypto space.
Welch said she initially did not want to launch the memecoin and was unfamiliar with the asset sector but did so because she was told half the money from the token would go to her charity.
Alex Mashinsky requests one-month delay for sentencing hearing
Roughly two months after pleading guilty, former Celsius CEO Alex Mashinsky has requested a delay in his sentencing hearing, which is scheduled for April 8.
In a Feb. 5 filing in the US District Court for the Southern District of New York, Mashinsky asked the court to push his sentencing hearing from April 8 until May 8. According to the former Celsius CEO’s lawyers, Mashinsky was “simultaneously being pulled in a number of directions” amid his guilty plea in criminal court and litigation in bankruptcy court.
“The defense wants to ensure that it has sufficient time to prepare a sentencing submission that accurately presents Mr. Mashinsky’s views on his offense conduct, along with the many other factors to be considered by the Court in weighing an appropriate sentence,” said the filing.
Cboe BZX files XRP ETFs for Bitwise, WisdomTree, Canary and 21Shares
Cboe BZX Exchange has just submitted 19b-4 filings on behalf of four asset managers looking to list the first spot XRP exchange-traded funds in the United States.
On Feb. 6, the exchange lodged 19b-4 filings for Canary Capital, WisdomTree, 21Shares and Bitwise for ETFs tracking the price of XRP, currently the fourth-largest cryptocurrency by value.
The 19b-4 filings inform the US Securities and Exchange Commission of a proposed rule change and, if approved, would lead to the first XRP ETFs in the country.
The SEC, under former Chair Gary Gensler, allowed ETFs tracking Bitcoin and Ether to begin trading at the start of 2024.
However, now headed by crypto-friendly Acting Chair Mark Uyeda, analysts have noted an uptick in the number and variety of crypto-related ETF filings as issuers probe what products a Trump administration-influenced SEC will allow.
Kanye West claims to have rejected $2M offer to promote crypto scam
Kanye West, who now goes by Ye, says he rejected a $2 million offer to participate in a crypto scam. The scheme allegedly involved him posting a fraudulent crypto promotion to his 32.6 million followers and claiming his account was hacked hours later. By that point, victims could have already lost significant sums of money.
“I was proposed 2 million dollars to scam my community. Those left of it. I said no and stopped working with their person who proposed it,” West said in a Feb. 7 post on X.
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The offer promised West an upfront payment of $750,000 to share the crypto promotion and keep it live for 8 hours, after which he could claim his account was hacked and that he didn’t make the post.
This would be followed by a $1.25 million payout 16 hours later.
Winners and Losers
At the end of the week, Bitcoin (BTC) is at $96,120, Ether (ETH) at $2,589 and XRP at $2.38. The total market cap is at $3.11 trillion, according to CoinMarketCap.
Among the biggest 100 cryptocurrencies, the top three altcoin gainers of the week are Berachain (BERA) at 665.67%, MANTRA (OM) at 13.60% and…
cointelegraph.com