In a significant legal development, a federal judge has allowed the SEC's lawsuit against Gemini and Genesis to proceed, finding that the SEC's claims that the Gemini Earn program involved the sale of unregistered securities are plausible. Judge Edgardo Ramos denied motions by Gemini and Genesis to dismiss the lawsuit, stating that the SEC's allegations meet the requirements of an investment contract under the Howey test, a legal framework used to classify securities. The judge also rejected a bid to halt the SEC's request for Gemini and Genesis to stop selling securities and to hand over Gemini Earn profits if the SEC wins the suit.
Judge Ramos noted that Genesis pooled assets on its balance sheet and lent funds to institutional borrowers based on its discretion and judgment, with customers' expectation of profits dependent on Genesis' efforts. The court found that the SEC's allegations that Gemini Earn agreements were notes, which are debt securities obligating loan repayments with interest, also stood. While the court's decision allows the case to continue, it does not indicate a ruling in favor of the SEC, as the regulator still needs to prove its case, and all parties will proceed with gathering evidence.
In related developments, Genesis recently announced a settlement with the SEC for $21 million, and Gemini Earn, which had approximately 340,000 customers and $900 million in assets under management in November 2022, faced challenges following Genesis' bankruptcy filing after the SEC's initial suit. Despite these setbacks, Gemini agreed to return $1.1 billion to Gemini Earn customers through the Genesis bankruptcy proceeding in a settlement with New York's financial regulator.
MicroStrategy, under the leadership of executive chairman Michael Saylor, is intensifying its efforts to acquire Bitcoin with a second fundraising initiative in March. The company recently completed an $800 million fundraising round, which was used to purchase an additional 12,000 Bitcoin. Undeterred by this substantial investment, MicroStrategy has now announced a new offering of $500 million in convertible notes to further bolster its Bitcoin holdings.
This latest fundraising move highlights MicroStrategy's transformation from a business intelligence firm to a key player in Bitcoin development. The funds raised from this offering, like the previous one, may also be allocated for general corporate purposes. With a total of $1.3 billion raised over the past two weeks, MicroStrategy is aggressively pursuing its strategy to accumulate Bitcoin as part of its treasury reserve strategy.
MicroStrategy's current Bitcoin holdings stand at 205,000 BTC, valued at $15 billion. The company is now only 5,000 Bitcoin away from holding at least 1% of Bitcoin's theoretical maximum supply. The convertible notes, which can be converted into cash, shares of MicroStrategy's common stock, or a combination of both, will mature on March 15, 2031. Despite recent market fluctuations, MicroStrategy's stock price continues to rally, reflecting the market's confidence in the company's strategy and its significant Bitcoin holdings.
The memecoin Dogwifhat (WIF), based on the Solana blockchain, has surged to a new all-time high of $3, marking a 25% increase. This price surge follows a successful fundraising effort by memecoin enthusiasts who raised over $700,000. The funds are intended to advertise Dogwifhat's logo on the Las Vegas sphere, a campaign dubbed "Sphere Wif Hat." The fundraising effort, which surpassed its initial goal by over $50,000, began on March 10 and quickly gained momentum within the crypto community.
Despite the successful fundraising, there is no public confirmation yet that the marketing campaign has been accepted by the Las Vegas sphere. The crowdfunding effort was supported by key players in the Solana ecosystem, including the official social media account for the Solana-based Phantom Wallet, which actively encouraged donations. However, not everyone in the crypto industry is enthusiastic about the idea, with some suggesting that such activities could signal an overheated market.
The recent price surge has propelled Dogwifhat to become the 51st largest cryptocurrency by market capitalization and the fourth largest memecoin on the CoinGecko memecoin index. With a total market capitalization of $2.8 billion, Dogwifhat has outperformed other dog-themed tokens like Floki Inu (FLOKI) and even the original Solana memecoin, Bonk (BONK). Since its launch in late November last year, Dogwifhat has posted gains of more than 1,000,000%, making it the best-performing memecoin of the current cycle.
