Uniswap Fined by CFTC for Unregistered Derivatives

Uniswap Fined by CFTC for Offering Unregistered Derivatives

Uniswap Labs settled with the US Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) for $175,000 due to offering unregistered leveraged and margined digital assets. The fine was related to a small fraction of trades on the platform that allowed users to gain 2:1 leverage on digital assets like Bitcoin and Ethereum. The CFTC deemed Uniswap’s failure to register as a designated contract market as a violation.

Uniswap had previously attempted to block users from accessing leveraged tokens but still faced regulatory scrutiny. Despite this settlement, Uniswap Labs is also under investigation by the SEC, potentially facing another legal battle. Uniswap's Chief Legal Officer emphasized that the company remains focused on the future of DeFi, prioritizing innovation and legal compliance.

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Ripple CEO Discusses New USD Stablecoin Launch

During Korea Blockchain Week, Ripple CEO Brad Garlinghouse announced that Ripple is set to launch its new USD-pegged stablecoin, RLUSD, within weeks. Garlinghouse emphasized the stablecoin’s importance for financial institutions, aiming to fill a gap left by USDC’s instability. He voiced optimism that post-2024 US elections, new leadership at the SEC could bring positive regulatory changes.

Ripple’s upcoming stablecoin is already being tested across two blockchains, further diversifying the stablecoin market dominated by USDT and USDC. In addition to the stablecoin, Garlinghouse took aim at SEC Chair Gary Gensler’s stance on crypto, particularly criticizing regulatory actions like those taken against OpenSea and Ripple’s recent $125 million fine in their legal battles over XRP.

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Former Mt. Gox CEO to Launch Crypto Exchange in Europe

Mark Karpeles, former CEO of the now-defunct Mt. Gox exchange, announced that his new crypto platform, EllipX, will launch in Europe by the end of the month. Based in Poland, EllipX aims to set a new standard in the crypto industry by offering enhanced transparency, separating trading, brokerage, and storage functions to avoid conflicts of interest.

Karpeles plans to create a system similar to the New York Stock Exchange, ensuring transparency and security for all users, a feature that became increasingly crucial after the collapse of FTX. The new exchange will provide customers with detailed technical data and undergo third-party audits. Karpeles hopes this model of transparency will become the norm across the crypto sector.

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Euler v2 DeFi Protocol Relaunches After $197M Hack

Euler Finance is making a comeback with its Euler v2 protocol, offering a modular DeFi lending system after a $197 million flash loan exploit in March 2023. Following extensive audits and new security measures, the v2 platform allows developers to create customizable lending vaults through the ERC-4626 standard, making them more capital-efficient than traditional isolated DeFi lending markets.

Unlike the original Euler v1, the new protocol aims to enhance liquidity, reduce fragmentation, and integrate seamlessly with existing DeFi systems. Euler v2 also maintains its reverse Dutch auction liquidation mechanism, which had been popular in its previous version, while introducing advanced customization features.

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Data of the Day

Outlier Ventures’ Head of Research, Jasper De Maere, declared that the traditional four-year Bitcoin halving cycle is now irrelevant in the maturing digital asset market. Four months after Bitcoin's latest halving, its price is down 8%, marking its worst post-halving performance.

While previous halvings led to substantial price increases, De Maere explained that today's reduced miner rewards no longer significantly impact Bitcoin’s price. He argued that the 2020 halving’s strong price action was more a result of global financial events like stimulus checks and not the halving itself.

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More Breaking News

• Crypto.com captured 49% of the USD centralized crypto exchange volume in August, reaching $95.64 billion in total trades.
• Pendle successfully protected $105 million in funds following a $27 million hack of Penpie’s protocol, a Pendle-based yield optimizer.
• Unstoppable Domains is expanding to Ethereum Layer 2 Base, utilizing Optimistic roll-ups for transaction scaling.
• CME Ethereum futures volume decreased to $20.8 billion in August, marking the lowest level in nine months, or November 2023.
• The Fed issued a pro-crypto Dallas bank with a cease-and-desist order for “significant deficiencies” in its adherence to anti-money laundering laws.
• ApeCoin introduced BluePrint initiatives to encourage community development ahead of the highly anticipated ApeChain launch.

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