The Daily: Ripple and SEC end legal battle as XRP price jumps, Jack Dorsey’s Block hits $1 billion in bitcoin holdings, and more

The following article is adapted from The Block’s newsletter, The Daily, which comes out on weekday afternoons.

Happy Friday! As expected in yesterday's newsletter, President Trump did indeed sign executive orders to allow crypto assets in 401(k) retirement plans and another threatening financial institutions with penalties over crypto debanking.

In today's newsletter, the SEC and Ripple finally end their years-long legal battle, Jack Dorsey's Block adds more bitcoin to its balance sheet amid Q2 profit growth, the CrediX team vanishes after its $4.5 million exploit, and more.

Meanwhile, the price of ETH briefly taps $4,000 for the first time in eight months amid rapid Ethereum treasury accumulation and rising ETF inflows.

Let's get started.

Ripple and SEC end legal battle with XRP ruling intact as price jumps

The Securities and Exchange Commission and Ripple have ended their years-long legal battle, with both agreeing to drop their appeals in the Second Circuit case.

• As a result, Judge Torres' 2023 mixed ruling, which deemed XRP secondary-market trades not to be securities but found XRP sold under investment contracts to institutions to be securities, remains the final judgment.
• Each side will cover its own legal fees and costs, according to a joint stipulation of dismissal filed on Thursday.
• Ripple CEO Brad Garlinghouse had previously announced his firm's intention to drop its cross-appeal, saying in June, "We're closing this chapter once and for all, and focusing on what's most important — building the Internet of Value."
• XRP jumped over 7% following the announcement of the legal resolution and is currently trading for $3.23, per The Block's XRP price page.

Jack Dorsey's Block hits $1 billion in bitcoin holdings amid Q2 profit growth

Jack Dorsey's fintech giant Block reported a 14% year-over-year increase in gross profit, reaching $2.5 billion in Q2.

• The company also added 108 BTC during the quarter, bringing its holdings to 8,692 BTC ($1 billion), but recorded a $212.2 million remeasurement loss on its total bitcoin investment.
• Block said it holds bitcoin both as a long-term investment and to facilitate customer transactions.
• The firm's net income for Q2 also surged to $538.46 million, a significant rise from $195.27 million last year.
• In a separate shareholder letter, Block raised its 2025 gross profit forecast to $10.17 billion, up from $9.96 billion.

CrediX team vanishes after $4.5 million exploit, deletes socials, and takes website offline

The CrediX team has "disappeared" in an apparent exit scam following the decentralized lender's Aug. 4 exploit, with its social media and website remaining inactive, blockchain security firm CertiK said on Friday.

• The exploit resulted in a $4.5 million loss after an attacker took control of a compromised admin wallet and abused bridge roles to mint unbacked tokens and drain pool assets.
• CrediX initially promised reimbursement within 48 hours but has not followed through on the pledge, nor posted a recovery plan.
• Analysts tracking the stolen funds say assets were bridged from Sonic to Ethereum and were parked across a small number of addresses.

S&P Global gives Sky Protocol 'B-' credit rating, citing centralization and liquidity risks

S&P Global assigned Sky Protocol (formerly Maker) a "B-" credit rating, citing centralization, depositor concentration, and liquidity risks.

• The rating is the first ever given to a stablecoin ecosystem by S&P and reflects vulnerability to adverse economic conditions.
• Risks include high governance control by founder Rune Christensen, a small number of large depositors, and low capital reserves, the ratings agency's report said.
• S&P warned that a rating downgrade is possible within 12 months if liquidity issues or regulatory challenges arise, while an upgrade is "highly unlikely" in the short term, though the outlook is currently "stable."

Dogwifhat original pink beanie sells to memecoin launchpad founder for $800K

The original knitted beanie worn by Achi, the dog that served as the memetic inspiration for the Dogwifhat memecoin, sold for 6.8 BTC ($794,074) via Bitcoin Ordinals marketplace Ord City on Thursday night.

• The winning bid came from "Finn," the pseudonymous founder of Solana memecoin launchpad Bags, beating strong competition from other bidders during the 48-hour event.
• However, the auction result was far lower than a previous sale of the iconic image as an NFT for $4.3 million, bought by crypto trader Gigantic Rebirth Ventures in March 2024 from Achi's owners.

Looking ahead to next week

• U.S. CPI inflation data are released on Tuesday. UK and Eurozone GDP numbers follow on Thursday, alongside U.S. PPI and jobless claims figures.
• U.S. FOMC members Thomas Barkin and Raphael Bostic speak on Tuesday and Wednesday, respectively.
• Movement, Axie Infinity, Aptos, EigenLayer, Avalanche, Starknet, and Sei are among the crypto projects set for token unlocks.

Never miss a beat with The Block's daily digest of the most influential events happening across the digital asset ecosystem.

Disclaimer: This article was produced with the assistance of OpenAI’s ChatGPT 3.5/4 and reviewed and edited by our editorial team.

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