The Daily: XRP jumps as Ripple CEO says legal battle with SEC is over, Hollywood filmmaker charged with swindling $11M from Netflix and more

The following article is adapted from The Block’s newsletter,  The Daily , which comes out on weekday afternoons.

Happy Wednesday! While Trump's crypto working group director Bo Hines recently stated that the U.S. government is exploring various ways to accumulate as much bitcoin as possible without requiring taxpayer contributions, the market still seems skeptical in the absence of a concrete strategy, according to analysts.

In today's newsletter, Ripple CEO Brad Garlinghouse says its legal battle with the SEC has ended, a Hollywood director is arrested on charges of swindling $11 million from Netflix partly to invest in crypto, a South Korean man faces 10 years in prison for stabbing a crypto CEO and more.

Meanwhile, Ethereum developers are set to end support for the Holesky testnet in September.

Let's get started.

XRP jumps as Ripple CEO says legal battle with SEC is over

Ripple CEO Brad Garlinghouse announced on Wednesday that the company's legal battle with the Securities and Exchange Commission is over .

• "As many of you know, just over four years ago, the United States SEC filed its lawsuit against Ripple. I'm finally able to announce that this case has ended. It's over," Garlinghouse posted to X.
• "It seems very clear to me that this case was doomed from the start," he added. "In so many ways, it was the first major shot fired in the war on crypto."
• The price of XRP , a cryptocurrency closely associated with Ripple, jumped over 10% following the announcement.
• In 2020, the SEC accused Ripple of raising $1.3 billion through unregistered XRP sales.
• In July 2023, Judge Analisa Torres ruled that its retail sales were not securities, while direct sales to institutional investors constituted investment contracts, later ordering Ripple to pay $125 million in fines.
• The SEC appealed the case in October, claiming the district court's decision conflicted with "decades of Supreme Court precedent and securities laws."
• The agency has dropped several enforcement cases against crypto firms in recent weeks, including Coinbase, Kraken and Uniswap Labs, amid a softening stance toward the industry following former Chair Gary Gensler's departure in January.
• The SEC still has to vote officially to drop its Ripple appeal, but the agency can control the timeline.
• Meanwhile, Chicago-based exchange and clearinghouse Bitnomial said it intends to drop its case against the SEC and plans to launch an XRP futures product amid Ripple's apparent legal win.

Hollywood filmmaker charged with swindling $11M from Netflix partly used for crypto trading

Hollywood writer and director Carl Erik Rinsch, perhaps best known for directing the Keanu Reeves-starring film 47 Ronin, was arrested on Tuesday and charged with allegedly swindling $11 million from Netflix for a planned sci-fi series that never aired.

• According to the indictment, Rinsch reached an agreement totaling $44 million for existing episodes of "White Horse" and to fund the completion of the series, but later demanded another $11 million, which was subsequently transferred to a company Rinsch controlled.
• However, instead of finishing the show, Rinsch allegedly used the $11 million for personal expenses, including luxury cars, watches, legal fees and speculative trading in stocks and crypto.
• The indictment claims Rinsch initially lost most of the funds in unsuccessful trading before later profiting from his Dogecoin investments.
• Rinsch faces multiple charges, including wire fraud and money laundering, with up to 20 years in prison for each count.

South Korean man faces 10 years in prison for stabbing crypto CEO

South Korean prosecutors are seeking a 10-year sentence for the man who stabbed Haru Invest CEO Lee Hyung-soo during his court hearing last year on multiple fraud-related charges.

• The Seoul Southern District Prosecutor's Office confirmed with The Block that it requested the sentencing during Wednesday's final hearing for the courtroom assault, considering the gravity of the crime.
• The attacker, aged 51 and identified only by his surname Kang, reportedly lost 100 BTC ($8.4 million) to the crypto custody firm.
• Haru Invest allegedly defrauded a total of $962 million from 16,000 investors in and outside of South Korea before declaring bankruptcy in November.
• Kang's lawyer argued that the crime was a result of emotional distress from financial losses, requesting a sentence for aggravated assault instead of attempted murder.
• Sentencing is scheduled for April 4.

Solana futures ETFs set to launch this week

Upstart investment firm Volatility Shares is set to launch two Solana futures ETFs on Thursday: SOLZ, which gives investors exposure to SOL futures contracts, and a 2x leverage product called SOLT.

• Solana futures began trading on the Chicago Mercantile Exchange on Monday, though initial interest has been lower compared to its Bitcoin and Ethereum futures.
• These Volatility Shares ETFs are the first of their kind and represent the latest stepping stone in the potential approval of spot Solana ETFs in the U.S.
• Asset managers that have filed to list spot Solana ETFs include 21 Shares, Franklin Templeton, Grayscale and VanEck, the first firm to apply for such a product with the SEC last June.

Infamous Hyperliquid leverage trader closes $520 million bitcoin short

The increasingly notorious "Hyperliquid whale" has closed a $520 million 40x leveraged bitcoin short position on the platform, netting a $9.4 million profit.

• The trader, identified by the wallet address beginning "0xf3F," had previously built a $300 million long position in ether on the decentralized trading platform, which was later liquidated, leaving Hyperliquid's HLP vault with a $4 million loss.
• Meanwhile, onchain sleuth ZachXBT alleged the trader may be a "cybercriminal gambling with stolen funds."

In the next 24 hours

• The Bank of England's latest interest rate decision is due at 8 a.m. ET on Thursday. U.S. jobless claims figures are released at 8:30 a.m.
• ECB President Christine Lagarde will speak at 4 a.m. Bank of England Governor Andrew Bailey follows at 8:30 a.m.
• Digital Asset Summit concludes in New York.

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