Uncategorized

Solana’s Biggest Protocol Jito Leans In on a Changed DC

Published

6 месяцев ago

18 марта, 2025

admin

Solana infrastructure project Jito on Tuesday claimed its protocol’s flagship token, JitoSOL, is not a security. That a crypto project would believe such a thing of its $2.4 billion asset is hardly surprising. More interesting: the very public method with which Jito delivered its opinion.

Jito Foundation’s new «Securities Classification Report» explains in 24 footnoted pages precisely why JitoSOL is not, cannot and will not fall under SEC oversight. It’s the kind of inside baseball perspective that crypto lawyers often prepare for their clients, but seldom for public consumption.

Trump’s embrace of crypto emboldened Jito to say in public what they already thought behind closed doors, people at Jito Labs – the company building the widely-used piece of Solana infrastructure – told CoinDesk. The project’s Swiss-based Jito Foundation drafted and released its own report to encourage other industry players to do the same.

«There’s a lot of optimism right now from builders, and more willingness to try to work with regulators to create better rules for builders,» said Jito Labs CEO Lucas Bruder.

Under former President Joe Biden and former SEC Chairs Jay Clayton and Gary Gensler, the agency filed suit against many top crypto companies’ alleged wrongdoings, including registration claims. Now it’s pulling back, dropping high-profile lawsuits that questioned the regulatory status of many hotly contested corners of crypto – including liquid staking tokens.

LSTs are a sort of depository receipt that let people access the value of assets (usually ETH or SOL) that they locked up in staking contracts, where those assets contribute to a blockchain network’s security and also earn staking rewards.

The sub-industry has exploded in prominence across crypto’s staking blockchains. Ethereum is host to $26 billion of LSTs, while Solana boasts a more modest $6 billion. Jito’s is the largest Solana LST by more than double the value of the runner-up.

The SEC never accused Jito of breaking U.S. law, nor did it so much as talk to the project’s backers in years past, people at Jito Labs told CoinDesk. But the new administration’s new look regulator opened the door for a newly aggressive Jito: founder Lucas Bruder met with the crypto task force in early February to discuss staking.

The new classification report compares JitoSOL against the well-known Howey Test, a legal framework for determining whether an asset is an investment contract, and therefore a security. Among its main points: the program that issues JitoSOL operates independently atop a blockchain.

«The most important takeaway is this is pure technology,» said Rebecca Rettig, Jito Labs’ legal counsel.

But the report also delves beyond staid securities laws to touch on the pro-crypto vibes emanating from the White House. In one section it invokes his executive order on making the U.S.A. the global crypto capital.

«The consequence of applying federal securities law and regulation as they currently stand to liquid-staking solutions would be to render them unavailable by regulating them out of existence, contrary to the goals of the Executive Order,» the report said.

Business

Crypto Trading Firm Keyrock Buys Luxembourg’s Turing Capital in Asset Management Push

Published

3 часа ago

16 сентября, 2025

admin

Crypto trading firm Keyrock said it’s expanding into asset and wealth management by acquiring Turing Capital, a Luxembourg-registered alternative investment fund manager.

The deal, announced on Tuesday, marks the launch of Keyrock’s Asset and Wealth Management division, a new business unit dedicated to institutional clients and private investors.

Keyrock, founded in Brussels, Belgium and best known for its work in market making, options and OTC trading, said it will fold Turing Capital’s investment strategies and Luxembourg fund management structure into its wider platform. The division will be led by Turing Capital co-founder Jorge Schnura, who joins Keyrock’s executive committee as president of the unit.

The company said the expansion will allow it to provide services across the full lifecycle of digital assets, from liquidity provision to long-term investment strategies. «In the near future, all assets will live onchain,» Schnura said, noting that the merger positions the group to capture opportunities as traditional financial products migrate to blockchain rails.

Keyrock has also applied for regulatory approval under the EU’s crypto framework MiCA through a filing with Liechtenstein’s financial regulator. If approved, the firm plans to offer portfolio management and advisory services, aiming to compete directly with traditional asset managers as well as crypto-native players.

«Today’s launch sets the stage for our longer-term ambition: bringing asset management on-chain in a way that truly meets institutional standards,» Keyrock CSO Juan David Mendieta said in a statement.

Business

Crypto Trading Firm Keyrock Buys Luxembourg’s Turing Capital in Asset Management Push

Published

3 часа ago

16 сентября, 2025

admin

Crypto trading firm Keyrock said it’s expanding into asset and wealth management by acquiring Turing Capital, a Luxembourg-registered alternative investment fund manager.

The deal, announced on Tuesday, marks the launch of Keyrock’s Asset and Wealth Management division, a new business unit dedicated to institutional clients and private investors.

Business

Gemini Shares Slide 6%, Extending Post-IPO Slump to 24%

Published

3 часа ago

16 сентября, 2025

admin

Gemini Space Station (GEMI), the crypto exchange founded by Cameron and Tyler Winklevoss, has seen its shares tumble by more than 20% since listing on the Nasdaq last Friday.

The stock is down around 6% on Tuesday, trading at $30.42, and has dropped nearly 24% over the past week. The sharp decline follows an initial surge after the company raised $425 million in its IPO, pricing shares at $28 and valuing the firm at $3.3 billion before trading began.

On its first day, GEMI spiked to $45.89 before closing at $32 — a 14% premium to its offer price. But since hitting that high, shares have plunged more than 34%, erasing most of the early enthusiasm from public market investors.

The broader crypto equity market has remained more stable. Coinbase (COIN), the largest U.S. crypto exchange, is flat over the past week. Robinhood (HOOD), which derives part of its revenue from crypto, is down 3%. Token issuer Circle (CRCL), on the other hand, is up 13% over the same period.

Part of the pressure on Gemini’s stock may stem from its financials. The company posted a $283 million net loss in the first half of 2025, following a $159 million loss in all of 2024. Despite raising fresh capital, the numbers suggest the business is still far from turning a profit.

Compass Point analyst Ed Engel noted that GEMI is currently trading at 26 times its annualized first-half revenue. That multiple — often used to gauge whether a stock is expensive — means investors are paying 26 dollars for every dollar the company is expected to generate in sales this year. For a loss-making company in a volatile sector, that’s a steep price, and could be fueling investor skepticism.