SEC’s XRP reversal marks crypto industry victory ahead of SOL futures ETF launch: Finance Redefined
Crypto investors rejoiced this week after the US Securities and Exchange Commission dismissed one of the crypto industry’s most controversial lawsuits — one that resulted in an over four-year legal battle with Ripple Labs.
In another significant regulatory development, Solana-based futures exchange-traded funds (ETFs) have debuted in the US, a move that may signal the approval of spot Solana (SOL) ETFs as the “next logical step” for lawmakers.
SEC’s XRP reversal a “victory for the industry”: Ripple CEO
The SEC’s dismissal of its years-long lawsuit against Ripple Labs, the developer of the XRP Ledger blockchain network, is a “victory for the industry,” Ripple CEO Brad Garlinghouse said at Blockworks’ 2025 Digital Asset Summit in New York.
On March 19, Garlinghouse revealed that the SEC would dismiss its legal action against Ripple, ending four years of litigation against the blockchain developer for an alleged $1.3-billion unregistered securities offering in 2020.
“It feels like a victory for the industry and the beginning of a new chapter,” Garlinghouse said on March 19 at the Summit, which Cointelegraph attended.
Ripple’s CEO said the SEC is dropping its case against the blockchain developer. Source: Brad Garlinghouse
Solana futures ETF to grow institutional adoption, despite limited inflows
The crypto industry is set to debut the first SOL futures ETF, a significant development that may pave the way for the first spot SOL ETF as the “next logical step” for crypto-based trading products, according to industry watchers.
Volatility Shares is launching two SOL futures ETFs, the Volatility Shares Solana ETF (SOLZ) and the Volatility Shares 2X Solana ETF (SOLT), on March 20.
Volatility Shares Solana ETF SEC filing. Source: SEC
The debut of the first SOL futures ETF may bring significant new institutional adoption for the SOL token, according to Ryan Lee, chief analyst at Bitget Research.
The analyst told Cointelegraph:
“The launch of the first Solana ETFs in the US could significantly boost Solana’s market position by increasing demand and liquidity for SOL, potentially narrowing the gap with Ethereum’s market cap.”
The Solana ETF will grow institutional adoption by “offering a regulated investment vehicle, attracting billions in capital and reinforcing Solana’s competitiveness against Ethereum,” said Lee, adding that “Ethereum’s entrenched ecosystem remains a formidable barrier.”
Pump.fun launches own DEX, drops Raydium
Pump.fun has launched its own decentralized exchange (DEX) called PumpSwap, potentially displacing Raydium as the primary trading venue for Solana-based memecoins.
Starting on March 20, memecoins that successfully bootstrap liquidity, or “bond,” on Pump.fun will migrate directly to PumpSwap, Pump.fun said in an X post.
Previously, bonded Pump.fun tokens migrated to Raydium, which emerged as Solana’s most popular DEX, largely thanks to memecoin trading activity.
According to Pump.fun, PumpSwap “functions similarly to Raydium V4 and Uniswap V2” and is designed “to create the most frictionless environment for trading coins.”
“Migrations were a major point of friction – they slow a coin’s momentum and introduce needless complexity for new users,” Pump.fun said.
“Now, migrations happen instantly and for free.”
Raydium’s trading volumes surged in 2024, largely due to memecoins. Source: DefiLlama
Bybit: 89% of stolen $1.4B crypto still traceable post-hack
The lion’s share of the hacked Bybit funds is still traceable after the historic cybertheft, with blockchain investigators continuing their efforts to freeze and recover the funds.
The crypto industry was rocked by the largest hack in history on Feb. 21 when Bybit lost over $1.4 billion in liquid-staked Ether (stETH), Mantle Staked ETH (mETH) and other digital assets.
Blockchain security firms, including Arkham Intelligence, have identified North Korea’s Lazarus Group as the likely culprit behind the Bybit exploit as the attackers continue swapping the funds in an effort to make them untraceable.
Despite the Lazarus Group’s efforts, over 88% of the stolen $1.4 billion remains traceable, according to Ben Zhou, co-founder and CEO of crypto exchange Bybit.
The CEO wrote in a March 20 X post:
“Total hacked funds of USD 1.4bn around 500k ETH. 88.87% remain traceable, 7.59% have gone dark, 3.54% have been frozen.”
“86.29% (440,091 ETH, ~$1.23B) have been converted into 12,836 BTC across 9,117 wallets (Average 1.41 BTC each),” said the CEO, adding that the funds were mainly funneled through Bitcoin (BTC) mixers, including Wasbi, CryptoMixer, Railgun and Tornado Cash.
Source: Ben Zhou
The CEO’s update comes nearly a month after the exchange was hacked. It took the Lazarus Group 10 days to move 100% of the stolen funds through the decentralized crosschain protocol THORChain, Cointelegraph reported on March 4.
Libra, Melania creator’s “Wolf of Wall Street” memecoin crashes 99%
The creator of the Libra token has launched another memecoin with some of the same concerning onchain patterns that pointed to significant insider trading activity ahead of the coin’s 99% collapse.
Hayden Davis, co-creator of the Official Melania Meme (MELANIA) and Libra tokens, has launched a new Solana-based memecoin with an over 80% insider supply.
Davis launched the Wolf (WOLF) memecoin on March 8, banking on rumors of Jordan Belfort, known as the Wolf of Wall Street, launching his own token.
The token reached a peak $42 million market cap. However, 82% of WOLF’s supply was bundled under the same entity, according to a March 15 X post by Bubblemaps, which wrote:
“The bubble map revealed something strange — $WOLF had the same pattern as $HOOD, a token launched by Hayden Davis. Was he behind this one too?”
Source: Bubblemaps
The blockchain analytics platform revealed transfers across 17 different addresses, stemming back to the address “OxcEAe,” owned by Davis.
“He funded these wallets months before $LIBRA and $WOLF launched, moving money through 17 addresses and 2 chains,” Bubblemaps added.
Source: Bubblemaps
The Wolf memecoin lost over 99% of its value within two days, from the peak $42.9 million market capitalization on March 8 to just $570,000 by March 16, Dexscreener data shows.
DeFi market overview
According to Cointelegraph Markets Pro and TradingView data, most of the 100 largest cryptocurrencies by market capitalization ended the week in the green.
Of the top 100, the BNB Chain-native Four (FORM) token rose over 110% as the week’s biggest gainer, followed by PancakeSwap’s CAKE (CAKE) token, up over 48% on the weekly chart.
Total value locked in DeFi. Source: DefiLlama
Thanks for reading our summary of this week’s most impactful DeFi developments. Join us next Friday for more stories, insights and education regarding this dynamically advancing space.
According to Norwegian authorities, more than 73,000 people in the country reported on $4 billion in crypto holdings for the 2024 tax year.
The local industry has welcomed the Australian Securities and Investments Commission’s expanded crypto guidance, but resourcing concerns remain.
Migrant sex offender Hadush Kebatu has been deported to Ethiopia following his mistaken release from prison.
Footage captured from Heathrow Airport showed the moment he was escorted on to a plane on Tuesday night.
The government says he has no right to return to the UK.
Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood said she “pulled every lever” to deport Kebatu.
“I am pleased to confirm this vile child sex offender has been deported. Our streets are safer because of it,” she said.
Hadush Kebatu was arrested on Sunday after his mistaken release
Kebatu was found and arrested by the Metropolitan Police in the Finsbury Park area of north London at around 8.30am on Sunday following a manhunt.
Last month he was found guilty of sexually assaulting a schoolgirl and a woman in Epping, Essex, just over a week after arriving in the UK on a small boat.
He was expected to be deported, but instead of being handed over to immigration officials he was released from HMP Chelmsford on Friday.
He spent just under 48 hours at large before he was apprehended.
The accidental release sparked widespread alarm and questions over how a man whose crimes sparked protests in Epping over the use of asylum hotels was able to be freed.
Ms Mahmood said: “Last week’s blunder should never have happened – and I share the public’s anger that it did.”
Anti-asylum demonstrators in Epping, Essex. Pic: PA
On Sunday, Justice Secretary David Lammy said an exclusive Sky News interview will be used as part of an independent inquiry into the mistaken release.
Speaking to Sky’s national correspondent Tom Parmenter, a delivery driver who spoke to Kebatu at HMP Chelmsford described him as being “confused” as he was being guided to the railway station by prison staff.
The migrant is said to have returned to the prison reception four or five times before leaving the area on a train heading to London.
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‘My family feels massively let down’
Mr Lammy, who put Kebatu’s release down to human error, said he ordered an “urgent review” into the checks that take place when an offender is released from prison, and new safeguards have been added that amount to the “strongest release checks that have ever been in place”.
From Monday, new checks include five pages of instructions and demands that more senior prison staff sign off a release, according to documents obtained by Sky News.
“I have been clear from the outset that a mistake of this nature is unacceptable, and we must get to the bottom of what happened,” said Mr Lammy.
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