SEC Stalls Franklin’s XRP & Solana Funds, ETH Staking ETF Still on Hold

From Daily Crypto News · 23:53

Show by Daily Crypto News

Good morning everybody. It’s your Daily Crypto News. My name is Matt. It’s September 11th—a day of remembrance in the U.S. (wild to think a whole generation is now ~25 and only knows it from history class). We’ve got a packed show: a couple quick rants up top, a fat stack of policy and market stories, and a bunch of listener questions. Let’s go!Quick radar: AI voice-cloned call centers are hereWhile scheduling my move and dealing with insurance, I realized both reps were offshore (India and the Philippines) but sounded like they were from Northeast Ohio and Alabama. That wasn’t talent—it was AI voice accent conversion. One interaction even “glitched,” making me wonder if one “agent” was a fully synthetic voice. Point being: expect more uncanny-valley calls. If you notice it, drop me a note on Spotify.Senate crypto bill: GOP not aligned, timeline slipsSen. John Kennedy (R-LA) says the Senate Banking Committee isn’t ready to move Chair Tim Scott’s market-structure bill by the Sept 30 target. Kennedy called July’s Genius Act a “baby step,” and Scott’s new proposal a “full leap.” Translation: too many unanswered questions for a fast track.What’s in the bill (high level):* Defines “digital assets,” splits oversight between SEC and CFTC* Sets rules on custody, fraud prevention, consumer protections* Creates limited exemptions for ancillary assets in offeringsRead-between-lines: Republicans hold 53 seats, but Kennedy’s pushback shows GOP unity isn’t guaranteed. Banks and large incumbents are still signaling compliance and tech readiness gaps. The House already passed its Clarity Act(similar goals), though DeFi folks aren’t thrilled with parts of it.Winklevoss vs. Trump’s CFTC pickBrian Quintenz (Trump’s nominee to lead the CFTC) posted screenshots of Tyler Winklevoss messages from late July—days after Gemini settled with the CFTC for $5M. The twins accused the agency of “seven years of lawfare and trophy hunting,” pressing Quintenz on whether he’d align with the White House’s mandate to end it. They reportedly even asked Trump to reconsider the nomination.Bottom line: Even with a crypto-friendly White House, old scars from SEC/CFTC enforcement haven’t healed. Expect more intramural skirmishes as personnel gets finalized.MicroStrategy: another shareholder suit tossedA shareholder (Zhen Qiu Chen) alleged breach of fiduciary duty, unjust enrichment, abuse of control, and mismanagement tied to accounting and profitability claims. Dismissed. This follows similar class actions tossed in May.Context: MicroStrategy (now “Strategy”) is the largest corporate BTC holder: 638,460 BTC (~$72.5B). Saylor’s pivot (2020–2022 era) turned a $14 stock into $362—a ~2,100% move. I still get why some holders balked—this was a software company that effectively became a Bitcoin treasury. But courts (so far) aren’t biting on the shareholder claims.SEC punts (again) on ETFs—big wave still likelySEC delayed:* BlackRock iShares Ethereum Trust staking decision (to Oct 30)* Franklin Templeton Solana & XRP ETFs (Nov 14)And it previously pushed decisions on:* Grayscale Hedera Trust* 21Shares Core ETH ETF staking* Trump Media–adjacent BTC/ETH ETFs* Multiple spot products for XRP / DOGE / LTC / SOLBy late August the SEC was juggling ~90 crypto ETF applications. Analysts think the agency is waiting on Cboe/NYSE “generic listing standards” so these can list more automatically. Expect early October to resolve mechanics—and then a flood of approvals. Street odds now put Solana/XRP ETFs at >95% this year, with ETH staking also “high odds.”Latin America: builders pick Ethereum & PolygonA Sherlock Communications survey of 85 devs (Bolivia, Mexico, Brazil, Peru) says builders want transparency, compliance, intuitive tooling, reliable docs—which is why they’re choosing Ethereum and Polygon instead of launching yet another L1.On-chain backs it up (Jun ’24 → Jun ’25):* Ethereum: >75% of tagged wallet txns* Polygon: ~11% → ~20%Young teams are leaning into RWAs, supply-chain traceability, DePIN, and creator economy apps—on stable ecosystems that solve practical problems.Listener mailbagMikey: “That guest sounded like an advert.”No paid placements, no undisclosed promos. We get tons of PR pitches. If someone’s interesting but I can’t schedule a live slot, I accept a 2-minute clip + bio/links. If and when we do ads, I’ll label them.Lemonhead to Kyle: Banks’ branded stables are doomed; OGs (USDT/USDC) win.My take: USDC is compliant under the Genius Act today; USDT isn’t (yet). Don’t sleep on a Chase-grade stablecoin living inside their own rails (Zelle/treasury/payables). We’re entering a world of privately branded money. The dystopian risk: “coupon-coins” that lock you into closed ecosystems with perks/penalties. I don’t love that future; weirdly, it makes the CBDC debate look… less bad?Swedes, help: A listener says the Girl with the Dragon Tattoo sequel botched Bitcoin details. Was it bad Swedish-to-English translation, or just bad crypto writing? If you’ve…

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