The Week in Crypto – Silvergate, Grayscale and Kucoin

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This week in the crypto world we’ve seen stories involving crypto tax, Silvergate, Grayscale, Voyager and much more. Ready to find out which stories made our top three this week.

Look no further.

Silvergate Files for Liquidation

Troubled crypto bank Silvergate this week announced that it was being fed to the liquidators, less than a week after it revealed it missed its annual earnings filing. The bank, which began serving Bitcoin users in 2013, was deeply affected by the collapse of FTX and has been hit by allegations of impropriety surrounding the activities of FTX and Alameda Research. 

Its parent company, Silvergate Capital Corporation, put out a press release in which it blamed “recent industry and regulatory developments” for its need to wind down operations, with the company “considering how best to resolve claims and preserve the residual value of its assets”.

Grayscale Turns Tables on SEC

Bloomberg Intelligence this week put the odds of Grayscale succeeding in its bid to overturn the Securities and Exchange Commission’s (SEC) denial of its Bitcoin ETF bid at 70% following oral arguments in court yesterday. This marks a stunning turnaround from its pre-hearing odds of 60% in favor of the SEC, with senior litigation analyst Elliott Stein now claiming that the court will probably rule for Grayscale, but that the wording of any ruling will be crucial with regards to whether it can actually go ahead.

Such an outcome would be a major fillip for GBTC investors, who have had their funds trapped on the platform ever since the first investments in 2013, funds which now total $5.5 billion in value.

Kucoin Sued by New York Attorney General

Crypto exchange Kucoin was this week hit with a lawsuit by the Office of the New York State Attorney General (OAG) Letitia James over allegations that it is selling unlicensed securities. The lawsuit, which mentions ETH, LUNA and UST in particular, accuses the exchange of “repeatedly and persistently” breaching the Martin Act, which prohibits anyone from selling securities without a license.

It also alleges that Kucoin “further failed to comply with an OAG subpoena issued…by failing to appear for testimony to address the office’s concerns. That the case mentioned Ethereum specifically is interesting, given that it has become the subject of hot debate since converting to a proof-of-stake consensus mechanism.