Connect with us
  • tg

Cryptocurrency

Coinbase SEC investigation: Coinbase is deep into “shitcoins”

letizo News

Published

on

is coinbase regulated by the SEC

The question of whether Coinbase is regulated by the SEC is off the table today. Especially in view of how much news is related to the proceedings between the exchange and the regulator. Cryptocurrency exchange Coinbase is in the spotlight because of allegations of insider trading, but they aren’t the only ones under scrutiny. The SEC is also facing a backlash for failing to regulate the digital asset sector and prevent such misconduct. Against this backdrop, the conflict between Coinbase and the SEC has become the center of attention. 

Coinbase SEC investigation

Coinbase SEC disclosure is constantly in the news. Coinbase is currently experiencing regulatory difficulties. The Coinbase SEC annual report released this week says that the SEC is investigating the company for selling digital assets that should have been registered as securities. This circumstance has caused its stock price to plummet. Katie Wood has abandoned her position in the company’s stock. 

This news hurts Coinbase because the company has remained on the side of regulators since its founding. Bloomberg’s Max Chafkin lays the blame on Coinbase’s rash decision several years ago to “turn to shitcoins. A familiar term in the crypto world, shitcoins usually refer to digital tokens that have no apparent utility beyond speculative advertising.

Coinbase spent years building its reputation, but then squandered it all on “shitcoins.” This led to Coinbase SEC class actions. This included promoting new Dogecoin coins to small and unsophisticated investors, many of whom suffered losses of 80% or more. As a result, the SEC cracked down on Coinbase. Meanwhile, the decision to add shitcoins also opened the door to a fraudulent insider trading scheme by a Coinbase manager.

SEC Liability

It’s easy to blame Coinbase executives for this situation, but the main blame lies with the SEC. The situation has gotten much worse under current SEC Chairman Gary Gensler. Gensler is a non-lawyer and has used his position to boost his credibility with the Democratic Party.

In doing so, Gensler has sought to hit major companies such as Coinbase, which has largely followed the rules, allowing the worst players to get out of control. Two of the biggest cryptocurrency crashes this year-the collapse of Terra, a Ponzi scheme-like project, and the bankruptcy of lender Celsius-occurred in front of Gensler, and the SEC could not intervene in time. As a result, small investors are losing billions of dollars.

Coinbase sued by SEC – what came of it?

How did the SEC investigation into Coinbase, which like all such investigations is supposed to be secret before charges are filed, even end up in the media? Some experts on Twitter have suggested that Gensler leaked the investigation to Bloomberg to punish Coinbase, which has publicly complained about the SEC’s behavior. An experienced crypto lawyer familiar with the customs of Washington, D.C., says this is almost certainly true, and adds that there are traces of Gensler in earlier leaks to the Wall Street Journal.

The SEC has also been criticized for the amateurism of high-ranking officials who leave the agency to cash in on private law firms. The most egregious example is laid out in a new revelation that shows how a lack of oversight allowed former SEC lawyers to use their connections at the agency to play up the whistleblower program and make themselves tens of millions of dollars.

Gensler may want to get his house in order before torturing the likes of Coinbase. Specifically, he should stop political machinations and create a structure to help crypto and blockchain, one of the most important technologies of this century, flourish on America’s shores.

It’s unlikely he’ll do that, but it may not matter. The debate about how to regulate cryptocurrency is moving beyond the SEC to other agencies, including the CFTC, which has recognized the importance of innovation as well as protecting consumers from harm. 

The bottom line is that shitcoins got Coinbase in trouble with the SEC, but looking at the aftermath of the shitcoins boom, it is the SEC that has the most to explain its inaction.

Cryptocurrency

$500M in Shorts Liquidated as Bitcoin (BTC) Blasts Above $101K

letizo News

Published

on

It almost felt inevitable today that bitcoin will eventually break past the coveted $100,000 milestone and after a brief hesitation, the asset has soared to a new multi-month peak above $101,000.

The altcoins have followed suit with massive price gains from the likes of PEPE, SUI, FARTCOIN, and many others.

BTCUSD. Source: TradingView
BTCUSD. Source: TradingView

CryptoPotato reported earlier today that BTC had risen to $99,700 amid reports that China and the US will have talks later this week in Switzerland in regards to striking a tariff deal. Later, Trump teased a big announcement for tomorrow that will involve the UK.

BTC stood close to the six-digit entry territory for almost the entire day and was stopped there at first. However, the asset flew past it an hour ago and kept surging to a new three-month peak of over $101,000.

Recall that just a month ago the primary cryptocurrency struggled below $80,000 and even dumped to a 2025 low of under $75,000 amid the darkest hours of the Trade War.

Now, though, bitcoin’s realized cap has marked another all-time high, while the break above $100,000 could be different than previous such increases.

VIRTUAL and PENGU lead the daily gains from the top 100 alts, with price surges of 36% and 33%, respectively. PEPE, SUI, and FARTCOIN follow suit by charting 20-25% daily jumps.

Even Ethereum has soared by double digits in the past 24 hours, and managed to break past $2,000 for the first time in well over a month.

The total value of liquidations on a daily scale is up to $580 million, according to CoinGlass. The majority, expectedly, comes from short positions (almost $500 million). The total number of wrecked trades is above 145,000.

Liquidation Heat Map. Source: CoinGlass
Liquidations Heat Map. Source: CoinGlass
SPECIAL OFFER (Sponsored)
Binance Free $600 (CryptoPotato Exclusive): Use this link to register a new account and receive $600 exclusive welcome offer on Binance (full details).

LIMITED OFFER for CryptoPotato readers at Bybit: Use this link to register and open a $500 FREE position on any coin!

Continue Reading

Cryptocurrency

SKALE Announces BITE Protocol to Protect Against Blockchain Industry’s Nearly $2 Billion MEV Vulnerability

letizo News

Published

on

[PRESS RELEASE – San Francisco, CA, May 8th, 2025]

BITE is set to become the first protocol to eliminate MEV at the consensus level, ending front-running, sandwich attacks, and other transaction exploits.

SKALE Labs, the team behind the gas-free invisible blockchain network SKALE, today announced the launch of BITE Protocol, the industry’s first consensus-level solution designed to eliminate Maximal Extractable Value (MEV). With over $1.8 billion lost to MEV extraction since 2020, BITE Protocol seeks to bring blockchain transactions in line with that of traditional finance transactions, eliminating front-running tactics that have plagued the industry as more traditional institutions enter the space.

BITE, short for ‘Blockchain Integrated Threshold Encryption‘, prevents any party, including validators, from accessing transaction contents before a block is finalized. While previous attempts at eliminating MEV have only addressed issues at a surface level, BITE’s new cryptographic protocol integrates threshold encryption directly into the consensus layer, creating a fundamentally level playing field for all blockchain participants. By encrypting transactions before they enter the mempool and only decrypting them after block finalization, BITE delivers true transaction privacy and fairness.

SKALE Labs CEO and Co-Founder Jack O’Holleran commented, “BITE Protocol represents a watershed moment for blockchain technology, which could result in making current L1 blockchain technology obsolete. BITE Protocol encrypts consensus and completely removes MEV from blockchain, finally putting an end to front-running, sandwich attacks, time bandit attacks, and other methods of taking value from end users. Rather than applying band-aid solutions to the MEV problem, BITE addresses it at its root through cryptographic guarantees in the consensus layer itself. “

The protocol is poised to transform the blockchain landscape from one where privileged actors can exploit ordinary users to one where everyone operates with the same information at the same time, bringing blockchain closer to the fairness expected in traditional financial markets while maintaining its decentralized nature. The protocol’s impact extends across decentralized exchanges, NFT marketplaces, lending protocols, on-chain games, prediction markets, and real-world asset (RWA) tokenization platforms, where transaction fairness and privacy are essential for bringing traditional assets onto blockchain networks.

For more information, please visit: https://skale.space/blog/introducing-bite-protocol-the-end-of-mev-and-the-dawn-of-blockchain-privacy

About SKALE Labs

SKALE, the gas-free invisible Layer1 blockchain network, is “built different” to scale gaming, AI, social, and high-performance dApps to the masses. SKALE Chains are gas-free, fast, and EVM-compatible, making them ideal for a wide range of decentralized applications. With a commitment to driving the mass adoption of Web3 technologies, SKALE empowers developers and businesses to build scalable, efficient, and user-centric blockchain applications.

Harmonizing speed, security, and decentralization, SKALE Labs was born in Cali in 2017 by Jack O’Holleran and Stan Kladko, PhD. As of 2025, the network serves over 55 million unique active wallets and has saved users over $11 billion in gas fees.

SPECIAL OFFER (Sponsored)
Binance Free $600 (CryptoPotato Exclusive): Use this link to register a new account and receive $600 exclusive welcome offer on Binance (full details).

LIMITED OFFER for CryptoPotato readers at Bybit: Use this link to register and open a $500 FREE position on any coin!

Continue Reading

Cryptocurrency

Top Bitcoin (BTC) Predictions as the Price Approaches $100K

letizo News

Published

on

TL;DR

  • Popular analysts see momentum building for a BTC breakout, with short-term targets ranging from $104.5K to $108K.
  • Positive net inflows into spot Bitcoin ETFs and declining exchange balances signal strong investor confidence, but the RSI breached 70, which could be a precursor of an incoming correction.

What Are the Next Targets?

The primary cryptocurrency has been on a serious uptrend lately, with its price currently standing just south of the psychological mark of $100,000. That said, it’s hard to believe that nearly a month ago, it briefly tumbled below $75,000, but after all, such fluctuations are quite common in the crypto world. 

Bitcoin’s latest rally (and that of the entire digital asset market) was likely fueled by US President Donald Trump, who teased a “major trade deal” with a “respected country.” The price jump also came shortly after the FOMC meeting, during which the US Federal Reserve kept interest rates unchanged at 4.25%- 4.50%. 

Bitcoin’s pump toward $100K has sparked fresh optimism among analysts, with many envisioning more room for growth in the short term. X user Rekt Capital thinks the asset needs to stay above $98,700 “for the retest of the week to position itself for a breakout towards $104.5K.” 

For their part, CRYPTOWZRD predicted that a push beyond $100,000 can trigger further upside pressure to as high as $108,000. 

“On the other hand, any geopolitical shift with China can cause extreme volatility, where $91,500 will be the main daily support target from a worsening situation,” they warned.

Crypto Yoddha and Merlijn The Trader also gave their two cents. The former believes BTC is about to break a long-term range high resistance, which could fuel an ascent towards a new ATH of roughly $140,000. 

Merlijn The Trader did not set an exact price target, simply forecasting that the asset “is ready to detonate.” He based the potential scenario on the “perfect rising channel” and “momentum building.”

The Signals From the Indicators

In addition to the bullish forecasts mentioned above, some important metrics hint that BTC’s rally is nowhere near its end.

Data compiled by SoSoValue shows that the daily total net inflows into spot Bitcoin ETFs have been positive on most days in the past few weeks. This means that more capital is entering these funds than exiting, signaling growing investor confidence and the asset’s growing appeal as an investment choice.

On the other hand, BTC’s exchange netflow has been negative in the last several days, reflecting a shift from centralized platforms towards self-custody methods. This is generally considered a bullish factor since it reduces the immediate selling pressure. 

BTC Exchange Netflow
BTC Exchange Netflow, Source: CryptoQuant

Still, not all indicators suggest a continued upswing. The Relative Strength Index (RSI), which measures the speed and magnitude of the latest price changes, has surged past 70. Readings above that level are interpreted as bearish since they indicate the asset might have entered overbought territory and could be due for a pullback. 

SPECIAL OFFER (Sponsored)
Binance Free $600 (CryptoPotato Exclusive): Use this link to register a new account and receive $600 exclusive welcome offer on Binance (full details).

LIMITED OFFER for CryptoPotato readers at Bybit: Use this link to register and open a $500 FREE position on any coin!

Continue Reading

Trending

©2021-2024 Letizo All Rights Reserved