First Mover Americas: Uniswap's Token Slides on SEC Lawsuit

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Decentralized crypto exchange Uniswap received a notice from the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission that it intends to pursue an enforcement action, the company said Wednesday. Uniswap's native token, UNI, dropped 9.5% immediately after the news and has lost 18% over the past 24 hours. Uniswap CEO Hayden Adams announced receipt of the so-called Wells notice on X, saying he wasn’t surprised, “just annoyed, disappointed, and ready to fight.” Wells notices are preliminary warnings that inform respondents of the charges the regulator is considering bringing against them. They usually lead to enforcement actions. In a press conference on Wednesday afternoon, COO Mary-Catherine Lader and Chief Legal Officer Marvin Ammori told reporters that the Wells notice was focused on Uniswap acting as an unregistered securities broker and unregistered securities exchange. It remains unclear whether the UNI token was implicated as a potential security in the SEC’s notice.

Bitcoin’s (BTC) much anticipated halving event later this month could see a flurry of bets on related networks and ecosystem tokens, with traders expecting upside on both technical and meme-coin projects. Halving reduces the rate at which new coins are created and lowers the available new supply. The current block reward is 6.25 BTC, and it will drop to 3.125 BTC after the halving. This event has historically preceded a bull market for the token. Crypto traders say participants seek a “reason to buy” as money narratives continuously shift in the current bullish environment and they may turn their focus on the bitcoin ecosystem in the coming weeks.

Heightened anticipation for spot-based bitcoin ETFs in the U.S. and the eventual inflows supercharged bitcoin's run-up to all-time highs, and now Hong Kong's regulators are reportedly inching closer to approving similar funds, news that thus far has been mostly unnoticed in crypto circles. These vehicles, however, could open the floodgates for Chinese investors looking for a new haven next to gold, overseas real estate and stocks in which to store their wealth. "[They] will be a big deal," Noelle Acheson, macro analyst and author of Crypto Is Macro Now newsletter, said in an email interview with CoinDesk. "It's not just for the access to hedge funds and family offices based in the region; it's also because of the access it gives to mainland investors."