Last Week in Review: Fake news, a rally, and the SEC’s dropped charges

The highlights from last week’s headline grabbers. All the important news, numbers and events from the world of crypto in one place.

News from the block

The SEC dropped charges against Ripple execs

• A court filing last week showed that the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) in the US dropped charges against Ripple executives. Ripple is the company behind the XRP cryptocurrency.
  
  
• “The agency said in court papers it is dropping claims that Ripple Chief Executive Brad Garlinghouse and co-founder Chris Larsen aided and abetted sales of the cryptocurrency XRP which a judge has found amounted to unregistered sales of securities,” Reuters reported. 
  

• XRP was up 6% the following day. 
  

The SEC decided not to appeal Grayscale’s plans to convert its trust into an ETF 

• The SEC was doing the rounds in media headlines last week. “The Securities and Exchange Commission’s decision to not appeal a court win by Grayscale Investments Friday could be a sign that spot bitcoin ETF approval is imminent,” Blockworks reported.
  
  
• In August, a judge ruled that the SEC’s decision to block the proposed conversion of the Grayscale Bitcoin Trust (GBTC) to an ETF but permit bitcoin futures ETFs was “arbitrary and capricious.”
  
  
• The SEC had until last Friday to appeal this ruling, which it didn’t. Some analysts see this as a potential sign that the approval of a Bitcoin spot ETF is now more likely in the near future.
  

Fake news around BTC spot ETF had markets in a flurry 

• A since-deleted tweet on X noted last week that the long-awaited Bitcoin spot exchange-traded fund (ETF) had been approved.
  
  
• The price of Bitcoin spiked to above $30,000 on certain exchanges before retracing around the same time that investors realised the reporting was erroneous.
  
  
• Steve Larsen, Founder of Columbia Advisory Partners, pointed out how the sudden reaction to this fake news indicated the high anticipation and speculation surrounding this event. 
  

Tesla’s Bitcoin investments remained unchanged in third quarter

• The automaker’s third-quarter report showed its Bitcoin holdings, listed as digital assets, remained unchanged from the previous quarter.
  
  
•  “The holding was valued at $184 million at the end of the third quarter and has remained unchanged for the fifth consecutive quarter,” CoinDesk reported.
  

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TL;DID read

What happens to your crypto when you die? 

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Crunching the numbers

9,720 – Tesla’s estimated Bitcoin holdings, according to https://bitcointreasuries.net/. 

158,245 – MicroStrategy’s estimated Bitcoin holdings, making it the largest corporate holder of BTC. Its holdings at the current price is worth more than $4.8 billion. 

10% – By how much the price of Bitcoin rallied in the hours following an erroneous report stating that the SEC had approved the first Bitcoin spot ETF. 

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Crypto trivia

5 things to consider when investing in crypto

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Protect your crypto 

Ensuring the safety of your investments is not just good practice, it’s essential. While we do all we can to secure your account, you can help by activating these key security features available in the app. 

?️ A guide to essential security features

*This information should not be construed as a solicitation to trade. All opinions, news, research, analysis, prices or other information is provided as general market commentary for information purposes only and is not investment advice or recommendation. Luno always advises you to obtain your own independent financial advice before investing or trading in cryptocurrency.