Important Ripple v. SEC Lawsuit Update and Bitcoin (BTC) Consolidation Following ETF Approval: Bits Recap Jan 15

TL;DR

• BTC ETF Approval: The SEC’s approval of Bitcoin ETFs triggered significant price volatility for BTC, with rapid fluctuations and eventual consolidation between $42,000 and $43,000.
• Ripple v. SEC: Ripple faces an ongoing legal battle with the SEC, with a trial scheduled for April 2024. The case’s outcome remains uncertain.
• Shiba Inu Token Burn: Shiba Inu experienced an increased token burn rate that led to billions of assets being removed from circulation since the beginning of the year.

BTC’s Historic Week

After years of delaying or rejecting numerous applications, the United Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) finally approved spot Bitcoin ETFs on January 10, with the products reaching the markets on the following day. The historic event, though, didn’t go without hiccups, triggering massive volatility for BTC. 

First, the regulator’s X account was compromised on January 9 when a wrongdoer tweeted (falsely) that the ETF was greenlighted. The community’s enthusiasm spiked, but the jolly was short-lived, with the SEC confirming the security breach. BTC soared to almost $48,000 following the tweet and dropped below $45,500 as the market digested the information.

The official approval of multiple spot Bitcoin ETFs, including BlackRock’s application, was also surrounded by confusion. The SEC’s website saw the order published on January 10, but shortly after, the link was removed, causing many to wonder about the legitimacy of the event. After a few hours, the confirmation was brought back up on the SEC website, while BTC jumped to $46K.

The cryptocurrency experienced even greater volatility the following day, with its value climbing to $49,000 (a price last seen at the beginning of 2022) and a subsequent drop to $46,000. The rollercoaster harmed over-leveraged traders, causing multi-million liquidations.

BTC’s decline continued over the weekend, eventually consolidating between $42,000 and $43,000. Many believe 2024 has much more to offer, envisioning a huge rally for the asset due to the upcoming halving and other factors. Those curious to find out whether BTC could reach a new ATH within the next 12 months could take a look at our dedicated video below:

Ripple v. SEC

The lengthy legal battle between the two entities is heading toward a trial scheduled for April 23, 2024. The parties are required to comply with necessary procedures beforehand. The Commission must file its brief with respect to remedies by March 13, 2024, whereas Ripple must file its opposition by April 12, 2024.

As CryptoPotato reported, the SEC recently requested an order compelling the company to hand over two types of essential documents. Those are its financial statements for 2022-2023 and its post-Complaint contracts governing “Institutional Sales.” Recall that Federal Judge Torres previously ruled that those transactions did constitute an unregistered securities offering.

However, Ripple seemingly has the upper hand in the lawsuit, securing three major (yet partial) wins throughout 2023. 

Shiba Inu’s Burning Mechanism

The second-largest meme coin by market capitalization witnessed a 400% burn rate spike a few days back, resulting in over 16.5 million tokens removed from circulation.

The burning program has been quite successful as of late, with more than 9 billion assets destroyed since the beginning of 2024. This represents over 10% of the amount burned throughout the entire 2023.

Permanently removing SHIB tokens from circulation can create scarcity and a possible price increase for the meme coin. The asset’s value has been on an uptrend lately, rising 9% on a weekly scale (per CoinGecko).