A Week in Review: SEC drops Ether probe， still seeks billions in penalties from Ripple， & Other news

Your weekly roundup of the 🔥hottest news in\xa0crypto .

June 16 - June 22

#1

SEC to drop investigation into Ethereum — Consensys

The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commissionis dropping its investigation into whether Ether is a security, Ethereum developer Consensys disclosed on June 19. The investigation focused on whether Ethereum’s 2014 initial coin offering constituted an unregistered securities offering. Consensys said the SEC’s decision came after it sent a letter to the agency on June 7 asking if it would end its investigation into Ether (ETH), as the regulator approved exchange-traded funds in May “premised on ETH being a commodity.”

#2.

SEC shoots down Ripple’s argument for a lower penalty

The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC)rejected Ripple's request for a lower penaltyamid its legal battle with the regulatory agency, arguing that Ripple's proposed \\$10 million penalty is insufficient compared to the \\$876.3 million sought. Ripple had cited the SEC’s settlement with Terraform Labs as a benchmark, but the agency believes the circumstances are not comparable, as Terraform agreed to additional measures like leadership changes and investor repayments. The SEC’s proposed penalties for Ripple total nearly \\$2 billion, which includes \\$198.2 million in prejudgment interest, \\$876.3 million in civil penalty and another \\$876.3 million in disgorgement.

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#3.

Kraken recovers \\$3 million from CertiK, ending bug bounty saga

Crypto exchange Krakenhas recovered missing fundsfrom CertiK following a high-profile bug bounty exploit fiasco. Kraken confirmed the return of digital assets worth nearly \\$3 million on June 20, putting an end to the Kraken-CertiK saga. The exchange claimed that a “security researcher” maliciously withdrew from its treasury after discovering and sharing an existing bug. Shortly after, blockchain security firm CertiK publicly identified itself as the “security researcher,” saying it had informed Kraken of an exploit that allowed it to remove millions of dollars from the exchange’s accounts. CertiK also claimed to have been threatened by the exchange’s team.

#4 Prediction of the week

Bernstein analysts expect \\$200K Bitcoin price by 2025 due to spot BTC ETF flows

Analysts at research and brokerage firmBernstein predict that Bitcoin could reach nearly \\$200,000 by the end of next year, following strong inflows into spot exchange-traded funds (ETFs).

The analysts based this prediction on the assumption that spot Bitcoin ETFs may represent around 7% of the total circulating Bitcoin supply by the end of 2025.

“We see Bitcoin ETFs as on the cusp of approvals at major wirehouses/large private bank platforms in Q3/Q4,” Bernstein analysts Gautam Chhugani and Mahika Sapra wrote in a note to clients.

The analysts said that, currently, nearly 80% of the spot Bitcoin ETF flows come from self-directed retail investors through broker platforms, while institutional integrations with wirehouses are still in their infancy. They added:

“We expect spot Bitcoin ETFs to touch ~\\$190B AuM by ‘25E market peak and \\$3Tn by 2033.”

#5 FUD of the week

US prosecutors oppose Ethereum dev’s motion to reduce 5-year sentence

Officials with the U.S. Justice Departmenthave written a letter opposingformer Ethereum developer Virgil Griffith’s motion to reduce his 2022 sentence for violating sanctions on North Korea. Griffith spoke at a crypto and blockchain conference in the country in 2019 about how the country could use crypto to evade sanctions and for money laundering. A judge sentenced the former Ethereum developer to 63 months in prison and a \\$100,000 fine in April 2022, which, considering his time behind bars before the sentencing hearing, sets his expected release date in January 2026.

#6 FUD of the week

‘Pharma Bro’ claims Barron Trump holds private keys to DJT token

Martin Shkreli, also known as the “Pharma Bro,” now claims Donald Trump’s 18-year-old son, Barron Trump,launched the TrumpCoin tokenwith his father’s approval and holds the private keys to its smart contract address. Shkreli, who spent more than six years in prison for securities fraud, claims Barron Trump approached him to launch the Solana-based token in April, which is now worth \\$146 million, according to Birdeye data.

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