Here’s what happened in crypto today

Need to know what happened in crypto today? Here is the latest news on daily trends and events impacting the Bitcoin price, blockchain, DeFi, NFTs, Web3 and crypto regulation.

Sam Bankman-Fried’s lawyers are trying to seal documents related to an interview he gave The New York Times, citing a “need to avoid” their public dissemination. Meanwhile, the United States Senate passed a national defense bill that includes a provision targeting crypto mixers, anonymity-enhancing coins and institutions engaging in crypto trading Investments. Grayscale has penned a letter to the United States securities regulator, urging it to approve all spot Bitcoin ETF applications at the same time, to avoid any of them having a “first mover advantage.”

Lawyers representing former FTX CEO Sam Bankman-Fried have requested a New York District Court to seal documents related to his interviews with the New York Times.

Bankman-Fried, also known as SBF, wants the documents sealed because they reveal important details about his relationship with girlfriend-turned-business-partner Caroline Ellison. Ellison was the head of Alameda Research when SBF’s house of cards began to unravel. She escaped a potential 110-year prison sentence after reaching a plea deal with the State Attorney for the Sourthern District of New York.

SBF’s legal team said his interview with the New York Times could expose details about Ellison’s private journals. As such, they’ve requested Judge Lewis Kaplan file the documents under a seal to “avoid their public dissemination.”

SBF's lawyer: No objection, your Honor.
Judge Kaplan: Who should go first with a written submission? The government. When?
AUSA Sassoon: Friday or tomorrow.
Judge Kaplan: Friday is fine with me. Careful attention to the statute and case law

— Inner City Press (@innercitypress) July 26, 2023

SBF is currently under a gag order that prevents him from making extrajudicial statements related to his criminal proceedings. Although Judge Kaplan is expected to drop a criminal charge of campaign finance violations, the former FTX CEO still faces 12 criminal counts. His court proceedings begin in October.

SBF’s legal counsel requests NYT documents to be sealed

US Senate approves national defense bill that also targets crypto mixers

The United States Senate passed the 2024 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) worth $886 billion on July 27. The bill includes a provision targeting crypto mixers, anonymity-enhancing coins and institutions engaging in crypto trading.

The NDAA is a bill that helps authorize how the country’s defense department can utilize federal funding. Within the bill, a crypto-related amendment was advanced by a group of senators, including Cynthia Lummis, Elizabeth Warren, Kirsten Gillibrand and Roger Marshall.

The amendment was created with provisions taken from the Digital Asset Anti-Money Laundering Act, which was introduced back in 2022, and the Responsible Financial Innovation Act, which aims to establish guardrails to prevent another FTX-style event from happening within the industry.

seems pretty obvious that democrats have abandoned any stablecoin bill in favor of sneaking through this provision in the NDAA must pass bill.

anyone wanna guess what janet yellen will decide about whether KYC-less transfers of USDC are allowed? pic.twitter.com/sys38GI31z

— Spreek (@spreekaway) July 27, 2023

More specifically, the amendment will require establishing examination standards for crypto. This would help assess risk and ensure that businesses comply with related sanctions and money laundering laws.

Apart from this, it compels the U.S. Treasury Department to perform a study aimed at cracking down on anonymous crypto transactions. This includes the use of crypto mixers like Tornado Cash, which are used to make transactions private.

In 2022, the Treasury issued sanctions against the crypto mixer Tornado Cash, barring residents from using the crypto mixer. While the mixer was designed for people to anonymize their crypto transactions, it was often utilized by malicious actors to hide their ill-gotten crypto from hacks and exploits. According to the Treasury, the mixer failed to impose controls that disallow money laundering from bad actors in the space.

Meanwhile, the NDAA also includes an amendment that will require companies in the U.S. to disclose investments in China. U.S. Senator Bob Casey said that this notification is necessary for the government to understand how much “critical technology” is being transferred to “adversaries.“

Grayscale urges SEC to approve all Bitcoin ETFs simultaneously

Grayscale Investments is urging the Securities and Exchange Commission to approve all the currently proposed spot Bitcoin ETFs at the same time to avoid one having an advantage.

A July 27 post by Grayscale Chief Legal Officer Craig Salm said its legal team submitted a letter regarding eight spot Bitcoin ETF filings — including its own — arguing the SEC shouldn’t pick “winners and losers” and instead make a fair and orderly decision.

The SEC should approve spot #bitcoin ETFs to trade in the US.
What’s more, their previous approval of bitcoin futures ETFs shows that they are already in a position to do so.
Read more about the latest from our legal team: https://t.co/UC8ksqNcwy $GBTC $BTC

— Grayscale (@Grayscale) July 27, 2023

The letter claimed the SEC could approve the spot ETFs based on its approvals for Bitcoin futures ETFs, saying the two fund types are “inextricably linked.”

ETF applications currently awaiting SEC approval include those from Invesco, BlackRock, Valkyrie, VanEck, Wisdom, Fidelity and ARK Invest, which were recently updated to include SSAs with Coinbase.

This article does not contain investment advice or recommendations. Every investment and trading move involves risk, and readers should conduct their own research when making a decision.