12
Mar, 2025
Rumble embraces Trump-era crypto strategy with $17M BTC purchase
Altcoin News, Bitcoin News, Crypto Analytics, Crypto Industries & Currency Updates
Video-sharing platform Rumble says it had purchased more than $17 million worth of Bitcoin as part of a previously announced investment strategy.
In a March 12 notice, Rumble said it had added 188 Bitcoin (BTC) to its treasury for roughly $17.1 million. The investment, suggested by CEO Chris Pavlovski in November following Donald Trump winning the US presidential election, was touted as a hedge against inflation and part of a broader move to deepen ties to the crypto industry.
The platform hinted it could make additional Bitcoin purchases depending on market factors. Though Rumble did not specifically mention Trump or his attempts to establish a strategic Bitcoin reserve and crypto stockpile at the federal level, Pavlovski’s social media posts suggested strong support for the US president’s policies.
Rumble’s cloud currently hosts Trump’s social media platform, Truth Social — the president’s primary method for public communications — and entered into an agreement with El Salvador’s government in January to provide services. Cointelegraph reached out to Rumble for comment but did not receive a response at the time of publication.
Related: Tether pours $775M into video-sharing platform Rumble
With Bitcoin on its balance sheet, Rumble joins a list of companies that have invested in crypto following the November election, including AI firm Genius Group and software company Semler Scientific. The share price of Rumble stock has fallen roughly 34% since Jan. 1.
US government could soon hodl Bitcoin
Since Jan. 20, the Trump administration has deepened ties between the US government and the crypto industry through executive action and policies.
The US Securities and Exchange Commission, one of the biggest financial regulators in the country, announced it would be dropping investigations and enforcement actions against many crypto firms over allegations of unregistered securities offerings. Trump also hosted many crypto executives and CEOs at the White House on March 7 as part of a summit to discuss a proposed national Bitcoin reserve and crypto stockpile.
Trump’s proposed Bitcoin reserve — which could be codified into law if Congress moves forward with legislation — could see all BTC seized by US authorities HODLed rather than sold at auction. It’s unclear how this action may affect the price of the cryptocurrency.
Magazine: Bitcoin’s odds of June highs, SOL’s $485M outflows, and more: Hodler’s Digest, March 2 – 8
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12
Mar, 2025
OKX Refutes Reports of Investigation by European Regulators Over Bybit Hack
Altcoin News, Bitcoin News, Crypto Industries & Currency Updates
OKX has denied a report that it’s being investigated by European regulators for failing to block Bybit hackers. OKX Says It Took Steps to Block Bybit Hackers OKX, the Seychelles-based cryptocurrency exchange, has refuted reports suggesting that it is being investigated by European regulators for failing to block Bybit hackers. OKX, which is subject to […] …
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12
Mar, 2025
SEC’s enforcement case against Ripple may be wrapping up
Altcoin News, Bitcoin News, Crypto Analytics, Crypto Industries & Currency Updates
The US Securities and Exchange Commission may be preparing to end its enforcement action against Ripple Labs after more than four years.
According to a March 12 X post from Fox Business reporter Eleanor Terrett, the SEC’s case against Ripple was “in the process of wrapping up” after the parties filed an appeal and cross-appeal, respectively, over a $125-million court judgment in August 2024. The civil case against the blockchain firm filed in December 2020 alleged Ripple and certain executives used XRP (XRP) as an unregistered security to raise funds.
Ripple chief legal officer Stuart Alderoty told Cointelegraph on March 11 that the SEC civil case was “far more advanced” than many of the others the regulator had dropped following the inauguration of US President Donald Trump and the departure of Chair Gary Gensler. Since January, the SEC has announced it will not pursue enforcement cases against Coinbase, Consensys, Kraken and others.
“We do have a judgment, we are on appeal — that presents some additional complexity,” said Alderoty in regard to the case potentially being dropped. “But we remain optimistic that we’ll get to a resolution with the SEC, and if we don’t, we’ll proceed with the appeal.”
According to the Ripple CLO, there were several possible outcomes to ending the SEC case if both parties were in agreement that it should wind down. If Ripple and the SEC agreed independently to drop their appeal and cross-appeal in the Second Circuit, then the $125-million judgment in the lower court would stand. If there were a dispute over the monetary judgment, then the blockchain firm and the commission would have to go “hand-in-hand” to request any modification from a judge.
Related: Why is the Ripple SEC case still ongoing amid a sea of resolutions?
The SEC v. Ripple case involved one of the first significant court rulings favoring the crypto industry when Judge Analisa Torres said the XRP token was not a security under the regulator’s purview — but only in regard to programmatic sales on exchanges. At the time of publication, no filing suggesting the SEC intended to drop the case appeared on the docket for the US District Court for the Southern District of New York or the US Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit.
Change of tone at SEC under Trump
Though the SEC filed the Ripple case under Trump’s former chair, Jay Clayton, the commission stepped up the number of enforcement actions following Gensler’s confirmation in 2021.
Ripple CEO Brad Garlinghouse said in an interview aired in December 2024 that the firm may not have gotten as involved in US politics if the commission had been led by someone other than Gensler. Under Garlinghouse, Ripple contributed $45 million to the political action committee Fairshake for the previous election cycle and donated another $25 million in November 2024.
Ripple pledged $5 million in XRP to Trump’s inauguration fund following his election victory, and both Garlinghouse and Alderoty attended Washington, DC events on Jan. 20 as official guests. The chief legal officer personally donated more than $300,000 to fundraising and political action committees supporting the US president.
The correlation between political contributions to Trump and Republicans and the SEC dropping enforcement actions has many critics pointing to potential conflicts of interest in the administration. Coinbase, another major Fairshake backer that donated $1 million to Trump’s inauguration, had its SEC civil case halted in February. Its CEO, Brian Armstrong, also attended a March 7 crypto summit at the White House, along with Garlinghouse and others.
Alderoty suggested that the SEC dropping cases was “independent” of any political donations and more reflective of Acting Chair Mark Uyeda’s perspective on the industry and related regulations.
At the time of publication, the US Senate has not scheduled a hearing to consider the nomination of the potential next head of the commission, Paul Atkins. Commissioner Hester Peirce said in February that the SEC would be more likely to wait on setting a crypto regulatory agenda after a new chair took office.
Magazine: SEC’s U-turn on crypto leaves key questions unanswered
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