Headlines

▌Federal appeals court blocks President Biden's plan to cancel student debt nationwide

A federal appeals court issued a nationwide injunction temporarily barring the Biden administration’s student loan debt relief program. The ruling by the 8th Circuit Court of Appeals in St. Louis came after six states argued in a lawsuit that the program threatens their future tax revenues and circumvents congressional authority. “The injunction will remain in effect until further order of this court or the Supreme Court of the United States,” a three-judge panel of the appeals court said in its ruling.

Cryptocurrency

▌Nike to debut its own platform .SWOOSHfor web3 wearables

Nike is launching .SWOOSH, a web3-enabled platform that champions athletes and serves the future of sport by creating a new, inclusive digital community and experience and a home for Nike virtual creations. The platform has its own domain, welcome.swoosh.nike, to ensure a safe, trusted space.

.SWOOSH will allow Nike Members to learn about, collect and eventually help co-create virtual creations, which are typically interactive digital objects such as virtual shoes or jerseys. Currently in beta, registration to join .SWOOSH begins this month. For the rest of the year, Nike will grow the platform by inviting in a diverse, equitable community, then launch its first digital collection — shaped by its members — in 2023.

Shortly after the first digital collection drops, members will be able to enter a community challenge to win the opportunity to co-create virtual product with Nike. Those winners can earn a royalty on the virtual product they help co-create.

▌25% to 40% of crypto hedge funds have some level of direct exposure to FTX/FTT

Between 25% and 40% of cryptocurrency-focused hedge funds had some level of direct exposure to FTX or the exchange’s native token, FTT, according to a new research note. Crypto Fund Research CEO Josh Gnaizda said in an email sent to institutional investors that the hedge funds’ exposure to the beleaguered exchange — which initiated bankruptcy proceedings last week — has been on average between 7% and 12% of assets under management. Binance, which moved last week to potentially acquire its rival for $1 amid FTX’s “liquidity crunch,” backed out of the deal, citing “news reports regarding mishandled customer funds and alleged US agency investigations.” Crypto Fund Research also estimated that Pantera Capital has about $100 million in exposure to FTX. A spokesperson for the firm did not immediately return a request for comment.

▌Federal judge grants Coinbase's request to file an application to support Ripple in the SEC case

Just a fortnight back, Coinbase asked the court permission to file a friend of the court brief in the ongoing lawsuit. Coinbase parallelly argued that the SEC had been inconsistent about its enforcement approach, which created “uncertainty” for other companies in the sector. Now, in what is the latest development, Coinbase’s request to file for support has been granted.

▌JPMorgan Identifies Centralized Players as Root Cause of Recent Crypto Collapses

JPMorgan, the banking giant, provided insight into the entire drama surrounding the fall of the cryptocurrency giant, FTX. Sam Bankman-Fried’s FTX was one of the key players in the centralized portion of the cryptocurrency industry. Fried was also acting as a last resort liquidity provider for the financially troubled projects similar to Terra. However, after facing liquidity crunches and other issues, the FTX empire has now collapsed. The fall of the giant has alerted and concerned global regulators and investors worldwide. Alexopoulos mentioned that the fall of FTX will prove to be a catalyst that will move cryptocurrencies two steps forward. JPMorgan also identified centralized players as the root cause of the recent collapses.