Gensler Predicts Ethereum ETFs Approval by ‘End of Summer’

Spot Ethereum ETFs are likely no more than three months away from launching, with SEC chair Gary Gensler telling a senate committee his agency will greenlight the funds by fall.

The SEC is aiming to give spot Ether ETFs final approval before the end of summer, Gary Gensler told a Senate Appropriations subcommittee. While the regulator approved the 19b-4 forms of prospective Ethereum ETF issuers last month, the SEC still needs to greenlight their S-1 registration statements.

Meanwhile, Curve Finance founder Michael Egorov suffered a roughly $80 million liquidation amid a sharp pullback in the price of CRV. Egorov had taken out $95.7 million worth of stablecoin loans backed by $141 million worth of CRV.

Elsewhere, Terraform Labs, the company behind the failed UST stablecoin, agreed to a $4.47 billion settlement with the SEC. Terraform Labs will pay more than $4B, while the company’s founder, Do Kwon, will cough up nearly $400 million.

In other news, Arbitrum is targeting Stage 2 decentralization, SushiSwap is launching a centralized Labs entity, and Lido, Mellow, and Symbiotic are teaming up to compete with EigenLayer. Additionally, Brazil’s Itau Bank is rolling out crypto trading services, and UwU Lend has suffered its second hack in three days.

Scroll down for the rest of today's headlines.

Markets in the last 24 hrs:

BTC +0.03%

ETH -0.07%

BNB -0.03%

XRP +0.03%

ADA +0.03%

DOT -0.07%

UNI +0.03%

MATIC -0.03%

Watch our podcast with Johann Kerbrat, the general manager of Robinhood Crypto, to learn about the firm’s latest forays into web3. And catch up on our interview with Marcos Nunes, the co-founder of Gnosis Pay, to learn about how they are bridging the gap between self-custodial crypto wallets and traditional payment methods.

Plus, watch our DeFi 101 video exploring the basics of DeFi!

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Gensler Predicts Ethereum ETFs Approval by ‘End of Summer’

Spot Ethereum ETFs are likely no more than three months away from launching, with SEC chair Gary Gensler telling a senate committee his agency will greenlight the funds by fall.

Ethereum ETF applicants are currently awaiting approval of their S-1 registration statements, after which the funds can enter the market.

Curve Finance Founder Michael Egorov Suffers Massive Liquidations

A crash in the price of CRV has resulted in Curve founder Michael Egorov suffering massive liquidations.

Egorov currently holds $33.9 million worth of CRV backing loans totaling $20.6 million, after previously borrowing $95.7 million worth of stablecoins against $141 million in CRV.

Despite the heavy margin calls, some pundits believe Egorov has effectively cashed out his CRV stash for $100 million.

Terraform Labs Settles With SEC For $4.4 Billion

Terraform Labs and its co-founder Do Kwon have agreed to pay nearly $4.5 billion in penalties to the SEC.

A jury found that Terraform Labs and Do Kwon misled investors, acted recklessly, and were liable for civil fraud in April.

Arbitrum Plots Stage 2 Decentralization With Permissionless Transaction Validation

The Arbitrum community is set to pass a governance proposal to introduce permissionless transaction validation, paving the way for what Vitalik Buterin, Ethereum’s chief scientist, has termed “Stage 2 decentralization.”

The move comes as Arbitrum is also planning to introduce support for zero-knowledge proofs.

One might wonder why an L1 would release an all new smart contract platform in 2024; What could this ecosystem possibly be looking to contribute to a market already saturated with mature players?

Soroban was released as an integral part of Protocol 20 to the Stellar mainnet in May of 2024; The vision was to take a battle proven chain optimized for low cost remittance and layer on added utility that could further the mission of providing greater financial access.

Here are five key problems solved with Stellar’s smart contract platform.

READ MORE: Five Key Challenges with DeFi Solved with the Stellar Smart Contract Platform

SushiSwap Creates Sushi Labs Council and Multi-Token Model

After a drawn-out and bitter internal battle, Sushi has launched a centralized Labs “council” that will govern the project alongside a diminished DAO.

The project also plans to introduce a “multi-token” model.

Mellow Finance to Help Lido Hold On to its Place as Largest DeFi Protocol

Mellow Finance, an LRT project leveraging the Symbiotic restaking protocol, has joined