Binance.US Restores Fiat Deposits and Withdrawals, SEC Acknowledges Litecoin and XRP ETF Filings

Happy Wednesday! With the market desperately craving another catalyst, many will be tuning in to President Trump's talk at the FII Priority event

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Binance.US Restores Fiat Deposits, Withdrawals After Banking Woes

Binance.US has finally restored fiat deposits and withdrawals, almost two years after halting the service due to banking troubles.

The Block reported in March 2023 that Binance.US was having trouble processing fiat withdrawals and deposits due to issues with its banking partner, Signature Bank. Binance.US customers took to social media and Reddit to complain about the stalled fiat transactions. Some said their withdrawals had been pending for over a month.

Binance.US, the American arm of crypto exchange Binance, paused fiat deposits and withdrawals on March 10, 2023. The exchange said at the time that the move was made “out of an abundance of caution.”

SEC Acknowledges CoinShares' Litecoin, XRP ETF Filings CoinShares' 19b-4 filings with the SEC for both spot Litecoin and XRP ETFs were acknowledged by the regulator on Wednesday.

The filings, which were first reported by The Block on Tuesday, follow similar proposals from 21Shares, Bitwise, Grayscale and Canary Capital that were acknowledged by the SEC in recent weeks.

CoinShares, a digital asset management firm, filed an application with the SEC on Wednesday to launch a spot Litecoin ETF. The ETF will trade on the Cboe BZX Exchange under the ticker "LIT."

CoinShares also filed on Wednesday to launch a spot XRP ETF. The ETF will trade on the Bats BZX Exchange under the ticker "XRPL."

Pro-Crypto Howard Lutnick Confirmed as Secretary of Commerce Crypto-friendly Trump pick Howard Lutnick was confirmed as Secretary of Commerce by the U.S. Senate on Tuesday in a vote of 51 to 45.

Lutnick, the CEO of real estate services and brokerage firm Howard Hughes Corp., is a close friend of the former president and a major donor to his campaigns. He is also a board member of crypto exchange BlockFi.

Institutional Interest in Strategy Surges in Q4 Several institutional investment managers with at least $100 million in assets recently filed their fourth-quarter 13F reports, showing growing interest in the stock of the company formerly known as MicroStrategy.

The Block covered the institutional interest in Strategy in January, noting that several large investment firms increased their holdings in the company's stock in Q4 2024.

Barstool Sports' Dave Portnoy Deploys Solana Memecoin Barstool Sports founder Dave Portnoy is at it again, deploying the Solana-based GREED memecoin in his latest antics.

Solana Scan showed that Portnoy, known for his love of all things New York and koš koš, deployed 100,000 SOL to mint 100,000,000,000,000 GREED on Monday. The Block was unable to independently verify Portnoy's involvement in the deployment.

Institutions Sold Crypto in Q4, Revealing Surprising Preferences Several institutional investment managers with at least $100 million in assets recently filed their fourth-quarter 13F reports, showing surprising preferences in digital assets.

The Block covered the institutional crypto holdings in January, noting that several large investment firms sold their digital assets in Q4 2024. Among them, Renaissance Technologies, Two Sigma and Point72 Asset Management all sold their crypto holdings.

Nigeria Sues Binance for $81 Billion in Economic Losses, Back Taxes Nigeria's Economic and Financial Crimes Commission has reportedly filed a lawsuit against Binance, alleging that the crypto exchange owes the country over $81 billion in economic losses and back taxes.

The Block was unable to independently verify the report by local Nigerian news outlet Peoples Gazette, which cited an unnamed source familiar with the matter. Binance did not immediately respond to a request for comment from The Block.

Institutions Sold Crypto in Q4, Revealing Surprising Preferences Several institutional investment managers with at least $100 million in assets recently filed their fourth-quarter 13F reports, revealing surprising preferences in digital assets.

The Block covered the institutional crypto holdings in January, noting that several large investment firms sold their digital assets in Q4 2024. Among them, Renaissance Technologies, Two Sigma and Point72 Asset Management all sold their crypto holdings.