The Nasdaq Crypto Index^TM (NCI^TM) increased 1.2%, with ether (ETH) outperforming bitcoin (BTC) with increases of 3.4% and 0.1%, respectively. On Wednesday, US CPI figures for the month of June came below expectations, with year-over-year US inflation now on a 12-month downtrend. A main driver for prices last week was Ripple’s victory against the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). Markets reacted as if the decision could be a readthrough for the SEC's cases against Binance and Coinbase in which they claim the exchanges are in violation of securities law. According to data from TradingView, Ripple’s token XRP increased by 59.8% last week, driving along other altcoins. The CF DeFi Composite index was up 9.1% while CF Smart Contracts Platform experienced a 12.0% increase.

 

 

Sale of Ripple’s XRP tokens on exchanges and through algorithms are not investment contracts

 

The U.S. District Court of the Southern District of New York has granted a summary judgment in Ripple's late-2020 case against the SEC, ruling that certain sales of XRP by Ripple did not qualify as an investment contract. Crypto exchanges Coinbase, Kraken, and Crypto.com have relisted XRP on their platforms. 

 

Polygon proposes revamped tokenomics for its native token, to be called “POL”

 

This upgrade involves converting their native MATIC token into POL, a versatile token that can be utilized for staking and validating multiple chains within the Polygon ecosystem. Contrary to MATIC, POL will include a 1% yearly inflation increase, a further incentive for network validators, in addition to another 1% yearly inflation for the project’s treasury, aiming to create a long-term source of funding for the ecosystem’s development. POL’s initial supply will be equal to MATIC’s current 10 billion tokens. As part of the Polygon 2.0 initiative, the proposal includes a generous grace period of at least four years for token holders to complete the upgrade process, swapping their MATIC holdings for POL in a one-to-one ratio.

 

SEC starts process for BlackRock’s bitcoin ETF application and regulatory review

 

The SEC has confirmed the acceptance of BlackRock's application for a Bitcoin exchange-traded fund (ETF). Interestingly, this announcement closely follows the acknowledgment of a similar application by Bitwise just a day prior. The SEC's acceptance signifies the beginning of the formal review process for BlackRock's ETF proposal.

 

ETH staking deposits now account for 20% of total supply

 

Approximately $45 billion or 20% of the circulating ETH supply has been deposited in staking, involving 744,000 validators responsible for transaction processing (though, as of writing, some 82,000 validators are still waiting in the activation queue to start validating Ethereum blocks). The more ETH in staking, the greater the security of the Ethereum network,  lowering the supply of tokens circulating and available for purchase.

 

Google will let Android Play Store games and apps offer NFTs

Google’s Play Store will integrate digital assets like NFTs into their apps and games. Companies interested in doing so must clearly indicate in the Play Console that their app includes blockchain-based elements.

 

Is the tide turning for Binance? Perpetual futures traders are bearish on BNB

 

The open interest and volume-weighted funding rates in perpetual futures have reached a low of -0.18%, the lowest level seen since late April. These figures indicate that short positions, which benefit from a decline in prices, are currently dominant. In order to maintain their bearish bets, those with short positions are willing to pay longs. It's worth noting that funding rates are charged every eight hours.

 

^{Source: https://www.coindesk.com/markets/2023/07/17/bnb-token-is-being-heavily-shorted-perpetual-futures-show/}

 

JPMorgan: Bitcoin’s hashrate continuously hitting all time highs as production cost hike approaches

According to JPMorgan’s recent report, the halving event is anticipated to occur in the second quarter of 2024. During this event, issuance rewards for Bitcoin will be reduced from 6.25 BTC to 3.125 BTC. This reduction in rewards will have the effect of decreasing miners' revenues. Consequently, Bitcoin's production cost will increase simultaneously, as stated in the report.

 

 

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