Trump’s Bitcoin push, spot Ether ETF debut, and more: Hodlers Digest, July 21-27

Asset manager BlackRock has filed to create digital ledger technology shares from one of the firm’s money market funds, which will leverage blockchain technology to maintain a mirror record of share ownership for investors.The DLT shares will track BlackRock’s BLF Treasury Trust Fund (TTTXX), which may only be purchased from BlackRock Advisors and The Bank of New York Mellon (BNY), the firm said in its April 29 Form N-1A filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.The money market fund holds over $150 million worth of assets, invested almost entirely in US Treasury bills and cash.BlackRock said that the shares “are expected to be purchased and held through BNY, which intends to use blockchain technology to maintain a mirror record of share ownership for its customers.”Unlike the BlackRock USD Institutional Digital Liquidity Fund (BUIDL), DLT shares won’t be tokenized but will instead be used as a transparency tool to verify ownership.BlackRock will continue to maintain traditional book-entry records as the official ownership ledger.BlackRock didn’t propose a ticker or set a management fee for the DLT shares in its filing.A minimum initial investment of $3 million worth of DLT is required for institutions seeking to purchase the digital shares. BlackRock follows Fidelity’s March 21 filing to list an Ethereum-based OnChain share class, which seeks to track the Fidelity Treasury Digital Fund (FYHXX) — an $80 million fund consisting almost entirely of US Treasury bills.While the OnChain share class filing is pending regulatory approval, Fidelity expects it to take effect on May 30.Wall Street heavyweights continue to explore blockchain use casesAsset managers have increasingly turned to blockchain to tokenize Treasury bills, bonds and private credit over the past few years.Related: BlackRock Bitcoin ETF buys $970M in BTC as inflows surge, boost marketThe treasury tokenization market is currently valued at $6.16 billion, led by BlackRock’s BUIDL at $2.55 billion, while the Franklin Templeton-issued Franklin OnChain US Government Money Fund (BENJI) secures over $700 million worth of real-world assets, according to rwa.xyz.Market caps of blockchain-based Treasury products. Source: rwa.xyzEthereum remains the chain of choice for tokenizing treasury assets, and currently houses over $4.55 billion worth, while the Stellar network and Solana round out the top three at $474.9 million and $274.5 million, respectively.The potential of RWA tokenization has also been championed by BlackRock’s CEO, Larry Fink, who believes the technology could revolutionize investing.Magazine: Ethereum is destroying the competition in the $16.1T TradFi tokenization race

The US Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control can’t restore or reimpose sanctions against the crypto mixing service Tornado Cash, a US federal court has ruled.Austin federal court judge Robert Pitman said in an April 28 judgment that OFAC’s sanctions on Tornado Cash were unlawful and that the agency was “permanently enjoined from enforcing” sanctions.Tornado Cash users led by Joseph Van Loon had sued the Treasury, arguing that OFAC’s addition of the platform’s smart contract addresses to its Specially Designated Nationals and Blocked Persons (SDN) list was “not in accordance with law.” OFAC had sanctioned Tornado Cash in August 2022, accusing the protocol of helping launder crypto stolen by the North Korean hacking collective, the Lazarus Group.The agency dropped the platform from the sanctions list on March 21 and argued that the matter was “moot” after a court ruled in favor of Tornado Cash in January.This latest amended ruling prevents OFAC from re-sanctioning Tornado Cash or putting it back on the blacklist.Initially, the court denied a motion for partial summary judgment and granted in favour of the Treasury. However, the Fifth Circuit reversed the decision and instructed the lower court to grant partial summary judgment to the plaintiffs, which led to the sanctions being revoked. In March, the Treasury argued there was no need for a final court judgment in the lawsuit.An excerpt from Judge Robert Pitman’s ruling. Source: CourtListenerCrypto body petitions White House over Tornado CashOn April 28, the DeFi Education Fund petitioned White House crypto czar David Sacks to have prosecutors drop charges against Tornado Cash co-founder Roman Storm.Related: Samourai Wallet, feds ask for time to mull dropping crypto mixer caseStorm was charged in August 2023 with helping launder over $1 billion in crypto through the protocol, and his trial is still set for July.The group said that the Department of Justice was attempting to hold software developers criminally liable for how others use their code, which they argued was “not only absurd in principle, but it sets a precedent that potentially chills all crypto development in the United States.”Magazine: Bitcoin $100K hopes on ice, SBF’s mysterious prison move: Hodler’s Digest

Australia’s financial intelligence agency has told inactive registered crypto exchanges to withdraw their registrations or risk having them canceled over fears that the dormant firms could be used for scams.There are currently 427 crypto exchanges registered with the Australian Transaction Reports and Analysis Centre (AUSTRAC), but the agency said on April 29 that it suspects a significant number are inactive and possibly vulnerable to being bought and co-opted by criminals.The agency is contacting any so-called digital currency exchanges (DCEs) that appear to no longer be trading, and AUSTRAC CEO Brendan Thomas said they’ll be told to “use it or lose it.”“Businesses registered with AUSTRAC are required to keep their details up to date; this includes details about services that are no longer provided,” he added.AUSTRAC CEO Brendan Thomas says scammers can use inactive crypto firms to appear legitimate. Source: AUSTRACBusinesses wanting to offer Australians conversions between cash and crypto, including crypto ATM providers, must first register with AUSTRAC, which monitors for crimes including money laundering, terror financing and tax evasion.The agency can cancel a registration if it has reasonable grounds to believe the business is no longer active or offering crypto-related services.Ten firms have had their AUSTRAC registration canceled since 2019, with the most recent being FTX Express in June 2024, the local subsidiary of the collapsed crypto exchange FTX.AUSTRAC to launch public list of registered exchanges Following its blitz on inactive crypto exchanges, AUSTRAC said it will publish a list of registered exchanges to help Australians verify legitimate providers.Thomas said the goal is to make it harder for criminals to scam people and improve the integrity and accuracy of AUSTRAC’s register.“If a DCE does intend to offer a service, they need to contact us otherwise we will cancel the registration and this information will be added to the register,” he said.“Members of the public should feel confident that they can identify legitimate cryptocurrency providers that are registered and subject to regulatory oversight and that we are driving criminals out of this industry,” Thomas added. Related: Australia’s top court sides with Block Earner, dismisses ASIC appealIn February, the Anti-Money Laundering regulator took action against 13 remittance service providers and crypto exchanges, with over 50 others still being investigated regarding possible compliance issues.Six providers were refused registration renewal on the grounds that key personnel were either convicted, prosecuted, or charged with a serious offense.Australia has yet to pass crypto regulations. In August 2022, the ruling center-left Labor Party initiated a series of industry consultations to draft a crypto regulatory framework.In March, the government proposed a new crypto framework regulating exchanges under existing financial services laws ahead of a federal election slated for May 3.Magazine: SEC’s U-turn on crypto leaves key questions unanswered