Meme Coins Surge as Germany Offloads Bitcoin
The past week in the world of cryptocurrencies saw significant developments, including a notable reaction in the market following an incident where a gunman targeted a political rally, resulting in injuries to former President Donald Trump. Additionally, regulatory news emerged as the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) concluded its investigation into Paxos, marking the end of a probe that had been ongoing for over a year.
In the realm of cryptocurrency investments, meme coins inspired by the former President experienced a surge in value after the unfortunate incident at the political rally. The MAGA (TRUMP) coin, in particular, witnessed a remarkable increase in its market cap, soaring by more than 14.7% within 24 hours. As of the latest update, the coin’s value has risen by over 30% and is currently trading at $8.32 per unit.
Meanwhile, the German government made headlines by liquidating its Bitcoin holdings after a period of sustained selling activity. The Federal Criminal Police Office of Germany (BKA) initiated the process of offloading 50,000 BTC that had been seized from Movie2k.to back in 2013. This consistent selling pressure on Bitcoin came to an end last week after weeks of frequent sales.
On the investment front, spot Bitcoin exchange-traded funds (ETFs) experienced a resurgence in investor interest after a phase of continuous net outflows. On July 12, these ETFs saw a substantial $310 million in net inflows, marking the highest influx in over a month. Throughout the week, these products attracted a total of $1.04 billion in net capital inflows, demonstrating five consecutive days of positive intraday flows.
In legal developments, BitMEX, a prominent crypto derivatives platform, admitted to violating the Bank Secrecy Act, as revealed by the U.S. Justice Department on July 10. This acknowledgment came after the exchange and its executives faced charges for breaching anti-money laundering (AML) regulations in 2020. While the executives had previously pleaded guilty and paid fines of $10 million each, the exchange’s plea came several years into the case.
Lastly, the U.S. House of Representatives encountered a setback as it failed to override a veto from the Biden administration concerning a bill aimed at repealing SAB 121. This legislative move, if successful, would have potentially curtailed the SEC’s oversight regarding cryptocurrency custody matters.
