Kategorie: Crypto Markets

• The approval marks a significant step for Gemini which has picked Malta as its EU hub for its MiCA application
• Gemini will be able to offer customers perpetual futures contracts and options throughout the EU and the EEA
• A growing number of crypto platforms are expanding their services to Europe

Crypto exchange Gemini has been granted in-principle approval for an investment firm license from Malta’s financial regulator.

In a blog post, Mark Jennings, Gemini’s head of Europe, announced the news on February 11. The step marks a significant moment for the crypto exchange which has picked Malta as its EU hub for its Markets in Crypto Assets (MiCA) application.

Jennings said that once the in-principle license is granted, Gemini will be able to offer perpetual futures contracts and options throughout the EU and the European Economic Area (EEA) under the Markets in Financial Instruments Directive II (MiFID II).

“Achieving in-principle approval marks a crucial step in our 2025 European expansion strategy,” Jennings added.

Expanding into Europe

Gemini’s in-principle approval comes at a time when more organizations are turning to Europe to expand their services.

Since the full rollout of the MiCA regulation in the EU at the end of 2024, a growing number of crypto platforms and service providers have already received approval. The approval of MiCA enables providers to offer their products and services in the EEA.

Companies that have received full MiCA licenses include Bitpanda, Boerse Stuttgart Digital, Circle, Coinbase, Crypto.com, MoonPay, and OKX.

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• Uniswap Labs has rolled out the mainnet of its layer-2 network Unichain.
• The launch comes nearly four months after Uniswap’s unveiling of the EVM-compatible L2.
• Day 1 launch partners include Coinbase and Circle.

Uniswap has announced the mainnet launch of Unichain, the decentralized Superchain layer 2 network.

The Uniswap Labs team revealed the roll out of the mainnet for the Ethereum-compatible L2 on Feb. 11.

Unichain goes live nearly four months after Unichain’s unveiling in October 2024. The platform has undergone rigorous testing in the period since, with over 95 million transactions and more than 14.7 million smart contracts deployed on testnet.

Unichain mainnet also launches with almost 100 crypto products on-chain, including by  Coinbase, Uniswap, Circle, Lido, and Morpho. The platform expects more products and protocols to go live on the network startng today.

Coinbase Onramp is expanding to Unichain.@unichain users now have a seamless way to convert fiat-to-crypto, with fee-free USDC onramping available at launch.

Unichain is a fast, decentralized Superchain L2 designed to be a home for DeFi and cross-chain liquidity. pic.twitter.com/1W91Nfv3tA

— Coinbase Developer Platform🛡️ (@CoinbaseDev) February 11, 2025

Commenting on the launch, Uniswap Labs chief executive officer Hayden Adams said:

“Unichain is the next big step ‒ an L2 designed for DeFi. Launching as a stage 1 rollup with 1 second blocktimes, it only gets better from here. In the months and years to come, we will be launching many new improvements to accelerate blockchain scaling.”

Adams shared the comments via a post on X.

Uniswap’s v4 went live in late January, adding to the improvements delivered in v2 and v3.

The latest upgrade brought the highest level of customizability and lowest costs. Uniswap v4 is live on Ethereum, Base, BNB Chain, Polygon, Arbitrum, Zora Network, OP Mainnet,Blast, and World Chain and Avalanche.

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• TON has patnered with LayerZero, tapping the protocol for interoperability.
• Integration will boost TON’s cross-chain ecosystem.

The Open Network (TON) has announced integration with the interoperability protocol LayerZero aimed at enhancing its crosschain asset transfers.

The TON network integration primary goal is to scale cross chain transfer to at least 100 blockchains. Among the chains to be connected include Ethereum, Tron, Solana  and many more.

The integration will make TON deal with the liquidity limitations and limited access to other chain networks. Users will  have access to some of the major crypto assets offered  on  a wide range of blockchain through the LayerZero protocol.

TON and LayerZero integration

According to a press release, the major partners behind the integration include USDT, stablecoin Ethena and the cross-chain bridge Stargate.

The integration will allow users to have a luxury of seamless transfer of their USDT tokens from Ethereum blockchain, Tron and the other connected chains to the TON blockchain. LayerZero-based cross-chain bridge platform Stargate will provide an entry point for crypto traders to bridge their crypto assets.

Integration also opens more networks to TON, enhancing interoperability and also connect widely to other networks.

According to a press release, “TON is now able to deliver sustainable liquidity and improve accessibility to its ecosystem, setting the stage for widespread adoption.

TON Foundation has made other major cross-chain integrations in the past to make its user access  USDT on  TON. This new development is an acceleration to have its ecosystem and Toncoin, on multiple blockchains among them Bitcoin.

Among the foundation’s past cross-chain projects is the TON Apllication Chain that is used to build applications within Ethereum Virtual Machine on TON.

We believe this integration marks a significant step forward for TON when it comes to uniting ecosystems and bringing greater interoperability to the broader crypto ecosystem,” Max Pertsovskiy, TON Foundation’s Chief Operating Officer, said.

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• FOX Business journalist Eleanor Terrett believes it could open the door for other companies facing SEC lawsuits
• The SEC sued Binance and its former CEO, Changpeng Zhao, in 2023 for violating securities laws in the US

Binance and the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) have filed a joint motion pausing their legal case for 60 days.

According to the document, the new SEC crypto taskforce – created by acting SEC chair Mark Uyeda – may have had a possible impact on the case.

The motion, submitted to the US District Court for the District of Columbia on February 10, reads: “The work of this task force may impact and facilitate the potential resolution of this case.”

According to FOX Business journalist Eleanor Terrett, this could open the door for other companies facing SEC lawsuits.

In a post on X, Terrett said: “I expect we’ll see other non-fraud cases (i.e. @Ripple, @coinbase, @krakenfx and others) follow suit in this manner.”

🚨NEW: Here’s the first requested pause on #crypto litigation in the courts since @MarkUyedaUS took over as acting chair. @binance and the @SECGov have just filed a joint motion to stay the agency’s case against the exchange for 60 days, citing the new SEC crypto task force as… pic.twitter.com/D2zcolMNC5

— Eleanor Terrett (@EleanorTerrett) February 11, 2025

SEC lawsuits

In June 2023, the SEC sued Binance and its former CEO, Changpeng Zhao, for violating securities rules in the US.

According to a report, the agency argued that Binance secretly enabled high-value US customers to trade on the platform as an unregistered securities exchange and broker-dealer.

Coinbase, which is fighting the SEC, was granted an interlocutory appeal in January, temporarily suspending its ongoing court case. According to the SEC, Coinbase amounted “to the operation of an unregistered brokerage, exchange, and clearing agency in violation of federal securities laws.”

Ripple and its long-running case with the SEC stems from its XRP token. In 2020, the SEC sued Ripple, Chris Larsen, and Garlinghouse, alleging that they raised $1.3 billion through the sale of XRP, an unregistered securities offering, according to the regulator.

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• NYSE Arca has filed for Grayscale Cardano ETF, seeking to list a Cardano Trust under the ticker GADA.
• Bitcoin Pepe presale launches on February 11, 2025.
• Bitcoin Pepe aims to build a Layer-2 solution for Bitcoin leveraging Solana’s speed and low fees and Bitcoin’s security.

On February 10, 2025, NYSE Arca filed a 19b-4 form with the SEC to list the Grayscale Cardano Trust, marking a significant step toward the first US spot Cardano (ADA) ETF.

Notably, the ADA ETF filing coincides with the launch of Bitcoin Pepe’s presale, which is scheduled to go live today (February 11, 2025).

SEC has 45 days to give feedback on the Grayscale Cardano ETF

According to the NYSE Acra filing, Grayscale, a leading crypto asset manager, has partnered with NYSE Arca to propose the Grayscale Cardano Trust under the ticker GADA, seeking to list and trade shares on the NYSE. The trust would hold Cardano’s ADA tokens, with each share representing fractional ownership of the assets, minus expenses.

The filing, submitted under NYSE Arca Rule 8.201-E, reflects the growing institutional interest in altcoin ETFs, following the SEC’s approval of Bitcoin and Ethereum spot ETFs last year. The trust’s net asset value will be calculated daily using an index price from regulated exchanges like Coinbase and Kraken, with Coinbase Custody safeguarding assets and BNY Mellon serving as administrator.

Following the news, the price of Cardano’s native token, ADA, had surged by over 14% to $0.7948 at press time. However, regulatory hurdles remain, as the SEC previously categorized Cardano as security in lawsuits, and the absence of CME ADA futures could delay approval.

Nevertheless, the SEC has 45 days to approve, deny, or extend its review, with market optimism tempered by caution over regulatory challenges.

Bitcoin Pepe presale, the first Bitcoin meme ICO, launches today

As the crypto community celebrate the Cardano ETF proposal that could impact the price of ADA if approved, another crypto project, Bitcoin Pepe, is set to launch the world’s first meme-focused ICO on Bitcoin today with 50% of its BPEP token supply will be available pre-market.

Starting at $0.021, BPEP’s price will increase by 5% after each stage sells out, with early investors potentially seeing gains of over 4x before exchange listings.

Besides the presale, the Bitcoin Pepe project aims to build a Layer-2 solution for Bitcoin, combining Solana’s speed and low fees with Bitcoin’s security, introducing the PEP-20 token standard to enable meme coin launches on the blockchain.

Bitcoin Pepe seeks to unlock $2 trillion of dormant Bitcoin capital for the $100 billion meme coin market. It offers a meme-friendly ecosystem, including a decentralized exchange akin to Solana’s pump.fun.

While the project has garnered over 10,000 social media followers and reflects retail enthusiasm for meme coins, its speculative nature carries significant risks just as with any other memecoin project.

However, the Bitcoin Pepe presale launch aligns with a broader meme coin boom, following successful raises by projects like Pepe Unchained and Wall Street Pepe, signalling a possible presale success.

Notably, both the Grayscale Cardano ETF filing and Bitcoin Pepe’s presale highlight the dynamic evolution of the cryptocurrency market, with regulated investment vehicles and speculative ICOs catering to diverse investor appetites.

With the Cardano ETF awaiting clearance by the US SEC, investors could try the Bitcoin Pepe presale for possible returns once it gets listed on exchanges once the presale concludes.

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