Happy Friday!
In today’s snapshot, a federal judge’s decision gives Ripple’s XRP new life as Coinbase and other exchanges decide to relist it and Ethereum rises past $2,000. The Dogecoin class-action lawsuit filed last year against Elon Musk continues with sparring between lawyers and the first index-based Bitcoin futures contract goes live in Argentina, All that and more!
These are some stories we’re looking at right now.
XRP relisted on exchanges
After US District Judge Analisa Torres ruled Ripple’s sales of XRP through exchanges did not constitute investment contracts, handing the firm at least a partial victory, the token’s value soared and some crypto exchanges quickly reopened their doors, including Coinbase.
Coinbase Chief Legal Officer Paul Grewal tweeted that “it’s time to relist” XRP. Bitstamp and Kraken said they would relist XRP for US users. Other exchanges, including Gemini, were also considering similar moves.
Ethereum breaks $2,000 after ruling
After the federal judge’s ruling on Ripple’s XRP, Ethereum, the second-biggest cryptocurrency by market cap, rose to more than a $2,000 valuation, a level not seen since May.
At the time of writing, Ethereum was at $2,008.49, up 7.7% in the past 24 hours, according to CoinGecko. Its 24-hour high was $2020.46.
Lawyer wants Musk’s attorneys suspended
Evan Spencer, a lawyer leading the Dogecoin investor class-action lawsuit against Elon Musk, argued in a filing that the billionaire’s lawyers should be suspended for their harassment tactics.
Spencer wrote: “It appears defendants are using their bottomless war chest to finance an unlawful harassment campaign against me and my clients.” The original lawsuit, filed last June, seeks $258 billion for investors who lost money on Dogecoin, which Musk has featured in several tweets.
Argentina’s Bitcoin futures go live
Argentina’s first Bitcoin index-based futures contract went live, CoinDesk reported, based on a Bitcoin index from Argentine stock exchange Matba Rofex.
The country’s National Securities Commission said earlier that it wanted to “promote the development of new and innovative products by its regulated entities in the capital market.”
TachyonX to fund crypto startups
TachyonX, a program devised by Ethereum incubator ConsenSys Mesh, will fund blockchain-backed projects and skip the usual bureaucratic red tape, Decrypt reported.
It will accept applications, no matter how early-stage they may be, from projects “solving real-world problems” via blockchain, and winners will receive $150,000 investments in return for 4% equity stakes.
What we’re reading around the web
Judge’s Ripple Ruling Deals a Blow to SEC’s Effort to Regulate Crypto — Wall Street Journal
What Is XRP? The Cryptocurrency Created by Ripple Founders — Decrypt
Celsius Faces Fraud Charges. Regulators Try to Bring Order to the Crypto Wild West. — Barron’s