Robinhood has filed a 42-page proposal with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), seeking a federal framework to enable the legal issuance and trading of tokenized real-world assets (RWAs) across the United States. The company’s plan outlines a structural approach aimed at integrating tokenized markets within the existing financial system. Robinhood Plan to Legalize Tokenized Assets According to Forbes, Robinhood’s proposal seeks to modernize U.S. securities regulation by establishing token-asset equivalence. This would mean that a digital token representing an asset, such as a government bond or equity, would be treated the same as the asset itself. Robinhood argues that this model would eliminate the need for duplicate regulatory systems and would allow broker-dealers to trade and custody tokenized assets under existing securities laws. The company aims to streamline trading operations by reducing ambiguity around digital asset classification. The proposal also requests the creation of a unified national framework… Read More at Coingape.com
Hyperliquid recently surpassed the trade volume of perpetuals exchange dYdX, reaching $1.5 trillion. Despite being a much newer platform, Hyperliquid’s token buybacks and lack of cash incentives have provided long-term stability.
To be fair, Hyperliquid has also been involved in much larger controversies, famously delisting JELLYJELLY in response to a short squeeze earlier this year. Nonetheless, the platform has been rebuilding its reputation and generating high volume.
dYdX is a decentralized perpetuals exchange that has been active for five years, whereas Hyperliquid’s platform only launched in 2023.
Nonetheless, the younger protocol has overtaken it. After launching its native token in 2021, dYdX began employing it to reimburse users’ trading fees, boosting its volumes. It then built community hype around an informal “trading contest” with competitors.
Hyperliquid, on the other hand, did not rely on dYdX’s incentive strategy. After its own TGE last year, it managed to accumulate huge volumes through functionality, word-of-mouth, and product quality.
2024 was a peak year for crypto perpetuals trading, and the HYPE TGE took advantage of the moment. This has apparently proved to be a more durable approach.
Additionally, Hyperliquid directs the vast majority of its trading fees to token buybacks, which dYdX only instituted months later, and to a lesser degree.
This helped the firm repurchase 17% of the total circulating HYPE tokens, providing several key advantages. Over the last month, HYPE’s market cap has been steadily rising towards $10 billion:
Despite its strong rise, Hyperliquid has also seen several major controversies. For example, it denied claims of a Lazarus Group security breach despite clear on-chain evidence last year.
dYdX hasn’t suffered a public debacle like that in many months, but Hyperliquid did act quickly to rebuild its reputation. So far, this seems to have worked.
Earlier today, Hyperliquid also reached a new all-time high in open interest, surpassing $8 billion. If it can maintain this momentum, the exchange can build a commanding lead over DeFi’s perpetuals market.
Former Celsius Network CEO Alexander Mashinsky is facing a recommended sentence of at least 20 years in prison for leading what prosecutors describe as a years-long fraud that caused billions of dollars in losses and devastated thousands of everyday investors.
Mashinsky, who founded Celsius in 2018, built the platform into a major name in the world of cryptocurrency. He promoted Celsius as a safe alternative to traditional banks, where users could earn interest by storing their digital assets.
According to court documents, Mashinsky misled customers about how their money was being handled, used risky investment strategies behind their backs, and lied about Celsius’s financial health. He also used customer funds to manipulate the price of the company’s own CEL token, secretly selling his personal stash of tokens for tens of millions of dollars.
When Celsius collapsed into bankruptcy in 2022, thousands of investors lost their savings. Many were ordinary people who believed their assets were safe.
Mashinsky pled guilty in December 2024 to two criminal counts: lying about the safety of Celsius’s investment platform and manipulating the price of CEL for personal gain. He admitted to personally profiting over $48 million from the schemes, while total losses exceeded $550 million.
Despite the plea, prosecutors say Mashinsky still refuses to fully accept responsibility. They accuse him of trying to shift blame to others, including market conditions and even his victims, and of shielding assets through family-controlled trusts.
Government attorneys argue that a long sentence is necessary—not only to punish Mashinsky but also to send a clear message to others in the crypto industry The final sentence will be decided by a federal judge in New York.
CEL Token Surges Despite Legal Trouble
Surprisingly, after news of the sentencing recommendation broke, the price of CEL soared by over 70%, currently trading at $0.15. In the past 24 hours, CEL has seen a low of $0.08667 and a high of $0.1782. Still, the token remains far from its glory days. CEL’s all-time high was $8.02 on June 4, 2021, meaning it’s down over 98% from that level.
The post Celsius Founder Faces 20 Years in Prison; Token Price Soars 70% appeared first on Coinpedia Fintech News
Former Celsius Network CEO Alexander Mashinsky is facing a recommended sentence of at least 20 years in prison for leading what prosecutors describe as a years-long fraud that caused billions of dollars in losses and devastated thousands of everyday investors. Mashinsky, who founded Celsius in 2018, built the platform into a major name in the …
Eric Council Jr, the man who hacked the SEC’s X account last January, was sentenced to 14 months in prison today. In addition to the prison time, Council must forfeit $50,000 and be subject to three years of supervised release.
He was arrested in October 2024, and prosecutors offered him a deal shortly afterward. Council apparently took it in February, pleading guilty to charges of conspiracy to commit aggravated identity theft.
What’s Next for the SEC X Hacker?
At the beginning of 2024, rumors about a Bitcoin ETF approval were turning into a tremendous hype wave. Therefore, when Council hacked the SEC’s X account to claim that it got the green light, this caused market pandemonium.
Bitcoin rose more than $1,000 shortly afterwards, and the hunt for Council began. Today, the story finally ended.
The US Attorney’s office announced that Council had been sentenced for the infamous SEC hack. Court documents showed that he used a SIM Swap to compromise a phone with access to the X account.
“Schemes of this nature threaten the health and integrity of our market system. SIM swap schemes threaten the financial security of average citizens, financial institutions, and government agencies. Don’t fool yourself into thinking you can’t be caught. You will be caught, prosecuted, and will pay the price,” claimed US Attorney Jeanine Ferris Pirro.
Interestingly, government prosecutors repeatedly alleged that Eric Council had several co-conspirators in committing the SEC hack. However, none of them have been named, arrested, or charged with anything yet.
The government offered Council a plea deal shortly after his arrest, on the condition that he name these individuals. He pleaded guilty to conspiracy charges in February, presumably suggesting that he did indeed cooperate.
It seems a little strange that there haven’t been any developments in this broader investigation over the last three months.
Still, Council has personally faced justice for his role in the SEC hack. He was sentenced to forfeit $50,000 and spend 14 months in prison.
After his release, he will be under police supervision for the next three years, ensuring that he does not access the dark web or commit identity fraud.
