Cathie Wood still bullish about Coinbase, SEC Chair Gensler says ‘it’s too early’ for new crypto rules post-Ripple ruling

Happy Tuesday!

In today’s Snapshot we check in on Cathie Wood, who said she is still bullish about Coinbase, despite her firm Ark Invest having sold $50 million of its shares in the exchange in July. Elsewhere, US Securities and Exchange Commission chair Gary Gensler said the timing is not right to introduce new crypto-specific rules on the back of Ripple’s partial legal win against the agency.

That and lots more in today’s Snapshot.

Wood reallocates capital to ‘laggards’

Ark Invest sold $50 million Coinbase stock in July, which Wood attributed to simple profit taking to relocate “capital to perhaps some laggards,” she said in a Monday Bloomberg interview.

“We’re very positive on Coinbase, especially in light of the court ruling for Ripple and against the SEC,” she added.

SEC’s Gensler hesitant after ruling

Gensler said Monday that “it’s too early” for the agency to introduce any more crypto-specific rules after a judge ruled partially in favour of Ripple Labs last week.

The SEC sued Ripple in a landmark case which claims the crypto firm offered the sale and promotion of unregistered securities. Last week’s ruling will see the case go to trial.

New BTC addresses surpasses 500,000

The number of new Bitcoin addresses hit a seven-day high not seen since May 2021, with 501,440 new addresses added to the mix last week.

The statistic comes as Bitcoin has rallied 43% on the year on the back of several high profile asset managers such as BlackRock and Fidelity Investments having filed to get spot Bitcoin exchange-traded funds approved by the SEC.

Compound sees $1bn in debt

Lending protocol Compound has surpassed $1 billion in outstanding debt on the Ethereum blockchain, which may signal a shift in the market, according to The Block’s data dashboard.

The debt accrued by borrowers on the protocol is the highest it has been in a year, after a wave of collapses in 2022 rendered many lenders bankrupt.

Binance cancels Argentine football deal

Crypto exchange Binance cancelled a five-year contract with the Argentine Football Association after only 18 months on Monday, and cited compliance violations for the termination.

In a statement, Binance said “the AFA has not fully complied with its contractual obligations” to the deal. Binance has recently made cuts to its workforce and slashed benefits to remaining employees.

What we’re reading around the web

G20 body sets out recommendations for regulating crypto-assets and stablecoins — The Block

Scammers are impersonating Decrypt—please don’t fall for it — Decrypt

Zk rollups vie for throughput crown — Blockworks