Crypto News Roundup: July 30, 2023 👀

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30 Jul 2023

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Welcome to the crypto news roundup, where I bring you the most important and exciting stories from the world of cryptocurrencies and blockchain technology.

Today, I have some updates on the ongoing bank crisis in the US, a new challenge from the Human Rights Foundation to support Bitcoin development, and a court decision that reverses an SEC ruling on SPIKES futures. Let’s dive in!

Bank Crisis Deepens as FDIC Closes Heartland Tri-State Bank 📉

The bank crisis in the US is showing no signs of slowing down, as another bank has been closed by the authorities and taken over by the FDIC. The Heartland Tri-State Bank of Elkhart, Kansas, was shut down by the Kansas Office of the State Bank Commissioner yesterday, after it failed to meet the minimum capital requirements and faced liquidity problems.

The FDIC announced that it had entered into a purchase and assumption agreement with Dream First Bank, a newly chartered bank subsidiary of Dream First Corporation, to assume all of the deposits and assets of Heartland Tri-State Bank. The four branches of Heartland Tri-State Bank will reopen as branches of Dream First Bank under regular business hours from July 31st.

This means that the depositors of the failed bank will automatically become customers of Dream First Bank, and they will continue to have access to their funds through their existing accounts. The FDIC also assured that no depositor will lose any money as a result of the bank closure.

The Heartland Tri-State Bank is the 15th bank to fail in the US this year, and the third one in Kansas. The bank had approximately $110.7 million in total assets and $108.3 million in total deposits as of March 31, 2023. The FDIC estimates that the cost to the Deposit Insurance Fund will be $34.4 million.

The bank crisis in the US has been triggered by a combination of factors, such as low interest rates, high inflation, regulatory pressure, cyberattacks, and competition from fintech and crypto companies. Many banks have been struggling to maintain profitability and solvency in this challenging environment.

As more banks fail or merge, customers are looking for alternative ways to store and transfer their money. Cryptocurrencies offer a decentralized and censorship-resistant option that does not rely on intermediaries or central authorities. Crypto users can enjoy faster, cheaper, and more secure transactions than traditional banking services.

However, crypto users also face some risks and challenges, such as volatility, hacking, scams, and regulatory uncertainty. Therefore, it is important to do your own research and due diligence before investing or using any crypto platform or service.

Source: CoinTelegraph

Human Rights Foundation Launches Bitcoin Development Challenge with 20 BTC Reward ❗️

The Human Rights Foundation (HRF), a non-profit organization that promotes and protects human rights globally, has launched a new challenge to support open-source development on the Bitcoin protocol. The challenge focuses on ten user experience-focused bounties that challengers must undertake to make the Bitcoin UX, specifically those of mobile wallets, better.

The HRF has allocated a total of 20 BTC for this challenge, which means that each bounty will have a reward of 2 BTC for the best improvement proposed. The bounties cover various aspects of Bitcoin UX, such as:

Simplifying seed phrase backup and recovery
Enabling easy multisig setup
Improving fee estimation and control
Integrating Lightning Network functionality
Enhancing privacy features
Supporting multiple languages
Providing accessibility options
Educating users about Bitcoin basics
Encouraging best practices and security habits
Creating a standardized testing framework

The HRF stated that anyone can participate in this challenge, regardless of their background or experience level. The challengers can submit their proposals through GitHub or email by September 30th. The submissions will be evaluated by a panel of judges from the HRF and the Bitcoin community.

The HRF views Bitcoin as a powerful tool for human rights activists and defenders around the world, who often face persecution, censorship, surveillance, and confiscation by oppressive regimes. By using Bitcoin, they can protect their financial sovereignty and privacy, as well as access global markets and networks.

Alex Gladstein, the Chief Strategy Officer for HRF, said:

“HRF views Bitcoin and financial freedom as one aspect of the human rights struggle. The fact is human rights defenders are persistently attacked through their bank accounts… Bitcoin allows them to keep going. The bounties are a bit of an experiment; if they go well maybe other organizations can do the same.”

The HRF has been supporting Bitcoin development since last year when it launched its Bitcoin Development Fund to sponsor developers who work on privacy, scalability, and usability improvements for the network. The fund has raised over $500,000 and funded several projects, such as CoinSwap, JoinMarket, Specter Desktop, Zeus, Fully Noded, and Moon Wallet.

Source: DeCrypt

Court Overturns SEC Ruling on SPIKES Futures, Calls It “Arbitrary and Capricious” ⚖️

The United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit has overturned an SEC ruling that ordered the SPIKES Index securities to be treated as futures rather than securities futures. The court decision was issued on July 28th and published on July 29th.

The SPIKES Index is a volatility index that tracks the expected 30-day volatility of the S&P 500 Index. It is similar to the VIX Index, but it uses a different methodology and data source. The SPIKES Index was launched in 2018 by T3 Index, a company that specializes in developing innovative volatility and option products.

In 2019, the SEC issued an order that exempted the SPIKES Index from the definition of a security under the Securities Exchange Act of 1934. This meant that the SPIKES Index futures contracts, which are traded on the Miami International Securities Exchange (MIAX), would be regulated by the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) rather than the SEC.

The SEC argued that the exemption was justified because the SPIKES Index was not susceptible to manipulation, and that it would promote competition and innovation in the volatility market. The SEC also claimed that the exemption would not cause confusion among market participants or harm investor protection.

However, Cboe Global Markets, the owner of the VIX Index and its related products, challenged the SEC order in court, alleging that it was unfair and unlawful. Cboe argued that the SEC had violated the Administrative Procedure Act by granting the exemption without providing adequate reasons or evidence, and by failing to consider the relevant factors and alternatives.

The court agreed with Cboe and ruled that the SEC order was “arbitrary and capricious” and violated the law. The court found that the SEC had not explained why it departed from its previous practice of treating volatility indexes as securities, and that it had not addressed the potential confusion and inconsistency that could arise from having different regulatory regimes for similar products.

The court also noted that the SEC had not considered the impact of its order on Cboe’s business and competitive interests, and that it had not consulted with the CFTC before issuing the order. The court concluded that the SEC had acted “without observance of procedure required by law” and vacated its order.

The court decision means that the SPIKES Index will revert to being a security under the SEC’s jurisdiction, unless the SEC appeals or issues a new order with proper justification. This could have implications for the future of volatility products and their regulation in the US.

Source: CoinTelegraph

Conclusion 🎉

That’s all for today’s crypto news roundup. I hope you enjoyed reading this article and learned something new. If you did, please share it with your friends and family who might be interested in crypto. And don’t forget to subscribe to my newsletter to get more updates on crypto news, analysis, tips, and insights.
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