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  • 3/4/25: The SEC Just Freed the Apes šŸ¦šŸ³šŸ¤Ø

3/4/25: The SEC Just Freed the Apes šŸ¦šŸ³šŸ¤Ø

Todayā€™s issue is brought to you by Safe ā€” the worldā€™s leading smart account provider on EVM, securing $100B+ in assets (including Vitalikā€™s).

Top News

  1. SEC closes Yuga Labs investigation with no enforcement action

  2. Ethereum whale up $81M after shorting ETH at $3,200 with 50x leverage

  3. Rumors circulate that Trump will announce 0% capital gains tax on crypto

Specsā€™ Insights

1. SEC closes Yuga Labs investigation with no enforcement action

Our monkey JPEGs are actually ā€” finally ā€” totally safe!

The SEC has officially ended its investigation into Yuga Labs after more than three years, without any enforcement action. This isnā€™t just a win for BAYC holdersā€”itā€™s a win for all NFT communities. NFTs are now effectively deemed NOT securities.

That said, donā€™t think the SEC wonā€™t come after NFT projects that commit fraud or issue tokens that act like securities (e.g., promising revenue shares or direct financial returns). But the broader picture? The vibe shift is real.

We are literally watching the SEC drop investigations left and right against major crypto players like Coinbase, OpenSea, Uniswap, Consensys, and now Yuga Labs. The agencyā€™s new crypto task force will hold its first roundtable later this month, kicking off a series of meetings to provide actual regulatory clarity for the industry.

I know the market is down, but you have to see the forest from the trees. The future has never looked brighter for crypto.

Time to sit on your hands and HODL. Donā€™t capitulate and sell the dipā€”be greedy when others are fearful.

2. Ethereum whale up $81M after shorting ETH at $3,200 with 50x leverage

What did he know?

An Ethereum whale shorted ETH at $3,200 with 50x leverageā€”and is now sitting on an unrealized profit of $81M.

This move came just as the entire market started to slump. Some highlights:

Naturally, Crypto Twitter is speculating that this trader had insider knowledge. But so far, thereā€™s no concrete evidenceā€”just an insane level of conviction on a massive, high-leverage short. Maybe theyā€™re just that good.

The whale has started closing positions to secure profits, as the market begins reacting to their trade. This is where cryptoā€™s transparency shinesā€”no backroom deals, no hidden tradesā€”everything is on-chain, for everyone to see.

Imagine applying the same real-time trading transparency to politicians. Right now, they technically have to disclose their trades, but they get 45 days to do so. Thatā€™s plenty of time to adjust narratives, manipulate sentiment, and front-run retail.

This sort of system would instantly delete any alpha politicians have from their insider knowledge.

Elon, do something.

3. Rumors circulate that Trump will announce 0% capital gains tax on crypto

The rumor mill is spinning!

Everyone is waiting to see what Trump announces this Friday at the first-ever White House Crypto Summit.

One of the biggest rumors floating around? Trump will eliminate capital gains tax on crypto held for over a year.

Weā€™ve heard this before. Back in January, Eric Trump teased the idea, saying it could boost innovation and investment, further positioning the U.S. as the global leader in crypto.

Unfortunately for our bags, this one looks like fake news. The supposed leak came from a Discord chat with Eric Trump and David F. Bailey, but Bailey quickly shot it down, saying ā€œMagoo is trolling. Youā€™re now a victim of fake news.ā€

No reputable sources have backed the claim, so donā€™t get your hopes up. But itā€™s amazing how quickly people latch onto rumors when they align with their confirmation bias.

As for whether this would actually be a good idea? Hard to say. The bag bias is real.

Join Specs.Chat to see what the hive mind thinks.

Everything Else

šŸ“ˆ Market Movements

  • Crypto market cap drops $350B in 24 hours, second-worst decrease ever

  • ETH/BTC ratio drops to 4-year low

  • Crypto ETPs see record $2.9B in weekly outflow

  • BTC drops to $84K, fills CME gap

  • Dogecoin & Solana plunge as ETH hits 15-month low

  • ETH tests $2K, lowest since Nov 2023

  • Market crash triggers $500M ETH liquidations

  • Whale shorting ETH with 50x leverage now sits on $81M unrealized profit

ā›“ļø Crypto & DeFi

  • Trumpā€™s reserve criticized for XRP, SOL, and ADA inclusion

  • Trumpā€™s crypto reserve could be bait for BTC & ETH inclusion

  • Rumors circulate of no capital gains tax on crypto in U.S.

  • Cronos team proposes reissuing $5.3B burned CRO

  • Copper hires new compliance chief

  • OnlyFans creator targeted by Bitcoin thieves

  • Tether hires Simon McWilliams as new CFO ahead of full audit

  • Aave expands to Sonic Layer-1

  • BOB Layer-2 progresses with Fireblocks integration

  • Photon adds wallet tracker, quick swap, and reused X account tracking

šŸ¦ Wall Street & VC

šŸ›ļø Legal & Regulatory

  • Senate to vote on IRS crypto broker rule

  • Crypto Caucus forms in Congress after Trumpā€™s crypto push

  • SEC plans first crypto task force meeting

  • SEC to drop Kraken lawsuit

  • SEC offers $50k buyouts employees amid restructuring

šŸŒŽ Rest Of The World

  • TSMC pledges $100B for US chip plants

  • Australia wonā€™t create a strategic crypto reserve

  • SBI to support USDC in Japan as rules ease

  • India police shut down $2.4M crypto scam

šŸ–¼ļø NFTs & Metaverse

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