Traces of Blockchain Entrepreneur Justin Sun Put on Hold; Stock Trading Platform Robinhood Enters S&P 500, Globally Cryptocurrency Adoption Booms in Weekly Overview
In the world of digital currencies, there's always something new happening. Here's a selection of the latest news from the crypto sphere.
Controversy Surrounds Justin Sun's Investments
Sun, the founder of Tron, announced plans to invest $10 million in ALTS stock and WLFI tokens, despite facing criticism. Sun defended his actions, stating they were routine deposit tests and portfolio shuffling, not sales. However, the controversy escalated when World Liberty Financial froze 540 million unlocked tokens and 2.4 billion locked tokens connected to Sun, following a transfer of 50 million WLFI tokens worth $9.2 million on Sept. 4.
Cryptocurrency Adoption on the Rise
The United States has climbed to second position from fourth place in cryptocurrency adoption, while Chainalysis ranked India first globally for cryptocurrency adoption for the second consecutive year. This surge in adoption could be attributed to the growing interest from institutional investors. In the past week, asset managers like BlackRock and Fidelity have shown strong inflows into Bitcoin and Ethereum spot ETFs, reflecting broader corporate treasury participation and the ongoing shift of some Bitcoin whales towards Ethereum-based strategies.
Regulatory Changes and Upgrades
HM Treasury released draft money laundering regulation changes addressing cryptocurrency businesses. The proposed updates aim to create a more risk-based, proportionate regime that is robust against financial crime. Meanwhile, network participants voted overwhelmingly in favor of the Solana Alpenglow upgrade, with total participation reaching 52% of network stakers.
Exchange News
Gemini, the Winklevoss twins' cryptocurrency exchange, filed to raise up to $316.7 million through an initial public offering. Robinhood will join the S&P 500 on Sept. 22, causing shares to surge past $108 following the announcement.
Investments and Staking
Tether is considering investments in the refining, trading, and royalty operations of the gold supply chain. SharpLink Gaming plans to stake portions of its $3.6 billion Ethereum holdings on layer-2 network Linea following its Sept. 10 mainnet launch. Some XRP enthusiasts are choosing Rich Miner cloud mining to earn passive income.
Bitcoin and Treasury Companies
The treasury company acquired 4,048 Bitcoin for approximately $449.3 million, bringing their total holdings to 636,505 Bitcoin as of September 1. The freeze extended beyond the initial transfer, with suspicious activity from HTX address "HTX 48" transferring nearly 60 million tokens to a Binance deposit wallet within 32 hours.
As always, keep an eye on these developments as the crypto world continues to evolve at a rapid pace.
