Monat: Oktober 2024

• Microsoft shareholders will vote on assessing investing in Bitcoin, amongst a number of topics, at the annual shareholders meeting in December.
• This follows the trend of companies adding Bitcoin to their balance sheets as an inflation hedge.
• The Microsoft board advises against voting for the motion, citing that the company’s management has carefully considered the topic.

Recent filings by the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) show that Microsoft intends to put up the topic of investing in Bitcoin to a vote at its shareholder meeting scheduled for December 9^th 2024. However, whether the proposal refers to Microsoft adding Bitcoin to its balance sheet or simply seriously considering it as an investment remains unclear.

 Microstrategy and the trend of corporate Bitcoin Treasuries

Corporates adding Bitcoin to their balance sheets is a growing trend that started with MicroStrategy, a provider of business intelligence software, buying Bitcoin en masse in 2020 at a time when cryptocurrency was unpopular among corporations.

Since then, the trend has grown following the success of MicroStrategy’s efforts; its stock price has risen 246% this year, from $68.39 on Jan 2^nd to $235.89 as of writing, driven largely by the valuation of its large Bitcoin stash which sits around 252,000BTC worth around $17.1 billion as of writing.

Since Microstrategy, companies like Tesla and Metaplanet Inc, have added significant Bitcoin positions to their balance sheet.

As crypto recognition and adoption grows, more companies are coming around to seeing Bitcoin’s potential as an inflation hedge.

Some resistance remains

While Bitcoin’s historic performance against other asset classes over the last ten years cannot be disproven, some companies remain sceptical about jumping on the bandwagon. Most major tech firms in the US have not invested in Bitcoin as an asset class or added it to their balance sheet.

The Microsoft board advises shareholders against voting for considering Bitcoin as an investment at the scheduled meeting. According to the SEC’s filing, “Microsoft’s management already carefully considers this topic.”

The post Microsoft Shareholders to Vote on Bitcoin in December appeared first on CoinJournal.

• Tether in collaboration with the City of Lugano, has unveiled a statue of Satoshi Nakamoto.
• Bitcoin (BTC) creator Satoshi Nakamoto remains a mystery despite recent HBO documentary.

Tether and the City of Lugano have unveiled a life-sized statue of Bitcoin (BTC) creator Satoshi Nakamoto.

According to an announcement on Oct. 25, the statue presentation happened during the third annual Plan ₿ forum in Lugano.

Plan ₿ is a joint project of USDT issuer Tether and the City of Lugano that aims at promoting Bitcoin and blockchain technology adoption in the city.

Satoshi Nakamoto statue

The Satoshi Nakamoto statue is at the Villa Ciani in Lugano and looks to present the BTC creator’s mystery and innovation, according to Tether’s news release. The statue honours Satoshi’s vision and legacy.

Plan ₿ Initiative Unveils Satoshi Nakamoto Statue at 3rd Annual Plan ₿ Forum in Lugano
Learn more: https://t.co/0FS9Cb6keD

— Tether (@Tether_to) October 25, 2024

Emphasis on Satoshi’s mystery is built within the statue, with a play on perception allowing it to gradually disappear from view as one’s perspective changes. The design symbolises “Satoshi’s retreat from the public eye.”

“The statue of Satoshi Nakamoto stands as a testament to the revolutionary impact of Bitcoin and the idea of decentralisation. Satoshi’s decision to step away and let the community lead showcases the true essence of decentralisation,” said Paolo Ardoino, chief executive officer of Tether.

According to Michele Foletti, the Mayor of Lugano, the statue does more than honour Satoshi’s legacy.

“Lugano is rapidly becoming a leading hub for digital innovation, and this statue honours Satoshi Nakamoto but also embodies the forward-thinking spirit that drives our city,” Foletti noted.

The disappearing statue’s unveiling comes a few weeks after a HBO Documentary claimed to have unmasked the Bitcoin creator. However, the man HBO Doc looks to have alluded to as the Satoshi Nakamoto that disappeared from public life all these, has come out to deny they are Satoshi.

Peter Todd, a pioneer cryptographer and early developer of Bitcoin, has even noted that the documentary has forced him underground over safety concerns.

The post Tether and City of Lugano unveil Satoshi Nakamoto statue appeared first on CoinJournal.

• Stuart Alderoty, Ripple’s chief legal officer, said “the SEC can’t submit new evidence or ask us to produce more”
• Ripple’s Form C requests that each issue is subjected to a de novo standard of review
• Ripple’s cross-appeal follows a week after the SEC filed its cross-appeal against a previous ruling that partially favored Ripple

Ripple Labs has filed a Form C cross-appeal in the US Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit contesting issues in a ruling in its legal battle with the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Stuart Alderoty, Ripple’s chief legal officer, posted the news on X, adding “the SEC can’t submit new evidence or ask us to produce more.”

Today, Ripple filed a Form C – listing the issues we plan to raise on our cross appeal. A few things to keep in mind as we move forward:

The case is not about whether XRP, in and of itself, is a security. XRP is uniquely situated as having clarity (alongside BTC) in not being… https://t.co/AmFocAnbPx

— Stuart Alderoty (@s_alderoty) October 25, 2024

Ripple filed its notice of what exactly it’s appealing, WHICH IS:

1. Whether an „investment contract“ must actually be a legal contract. IMO, Ripple is bringing this issue to the appeals court mainly for the benefit of the crypto space in general because Ripple’s direct sales of… https://t.co/8xrNNdyylK pic.twitter.com/Hv6YufCK3u

— Jeremy Hogan (@attorneyjeremy1) October 25, 2024

Ripple’s Form C lays out the issues in its appeal, requesting that each is subjected to a de novo standard review of the case. A de novo is when a court may look over court documents, as if for the first time, without referring to previous decisions.

Ripple’s appeal focuses on whether it should have labeled its XRP institutional sales as registered securities, which resulted in US District Judge Analisa Torres’s $125 million fine against the company last August.

The appeal also has issues with applying the Howey Test to Ripple’s XRP transfers. This is a legal framework to determine if a transaction is an investment contract.

The SEC’s appeal

Ripple’s move comes after the SEC filed a last-minute appeal last week that questioned an August 2023 ruling handed down by Judge Torres, partially favoring Ripple.

Last July, Judge Torres ruled that XRP wasn’t a security when it came to sales to the public, its employees, and developers, marking a huge win against the SEC. Yet, with direct sales to institutional investors, Torres found that these sales were securities, hence the $125 million fine.

The SEC isn’t contesting the court’s ruling that XRP isn’t a security to retail investors on digital asset platforms; however, the agency is focusing on whether Brad Garlinghouse, Ripple’s CEO, and Chris Larsen, co-founder of Ripple, violated securities laws by offering, what it believes are, unregistered sales.

In 2020, the SEC sued Ripple, Larsen, and Garlinghouse, after alleging that they raised $1.3 billion through the sale of XRP, an unregistered securities offering, according to the regulator.

The post Ripple files cross-appeal challenging SEC’s XRP institutional sales ruling appeared first on CoinJournal.