Catch of the day? Regulation filet

GM citronauts. The market's extra zesty today. Lucky for you, we're your crypto lemonade stand, turning market chaos into a refreshing news digest.

🐟 The SEC faces criticism after a $750K settlement with Flyfish Club over unregistered NFT sales.

🍊 News drops: the Trump family's DeFi project involves a governance token, Singapore's largest bank plans to launch OTC crypto options trading and structured notes for institutions, Democratic Senators are urging the Fed to cut interest rates + more

🍍 Market flavour today

Find out more about the Fear & Greed Index here.

Name	Price	24H %	7D %
Crypto Market Cap $2.14 Trillion -0.7% (24H)
Bitcoin BTC	$58,915.85	1.43%	3.89%
Ethereum ETH	$2,305.48	0.92%	-1.14%
BNB BNB	$540.08	-0.86%	4.51%
Solana SOL	$131.37	0.07%	-1.64%

Prices as of 10:00 AM EST. Click here to see live data.

The crypto market's feeling a bit jittery, with the Fear and Greed Index dipping to 33. Prices are a mixed bag today, with Bitcoin showing some green while others are struggling to keep up. No big news driving the market, but all eyes are on tomorrow's Fed meeting. There's buzz about a possible 0.5% rate cut, which could signal economic worries. Watch out for the Fed chair's comments after the decision - they could spark some serious price swings.

MicroStrategy doesn't seem fazed, though - they're looking to borrow another $700 million for more Bitcoin after just dropping a cool billion. CoinShares reports Bitcoin ETFs bounced back with $436 million in inflows last week, while Ethereum ETFs continued to see outflows, albeit smaller ones.

🐟 This fish ain't flying, it's frying

I feel like I should start my own business. I've always been a foodie, so maybe a restaurant? But not just any random place; I want it to be high-end, maybe even invite-only. What if it was a paid membership? Sounds exclusive. But a regular membership sounds boring. Oh, I know. It could be a membership in the form of an NFT—exclusive, modern, luv it. What if people don't want to come back? Well, they could then resell their memberships to other peo…

Oop. Nvm. Glad it was just a thought.

For Flyfish Club, tho? Not just a thought. They sold 1,6K NFTs, raking in around $14.8M to build an exclusive restaurant in Manhattan. Holders of the NFTs have access to the restaurant, which is supposed to open this Friday.

All fun and games 'til the SEC entered the chat, saying that these NFTs checked all the boxes of being investment contracts. The reasoning? Buyers can resell their memberships at higher prices = they can expect profits if the club is successful = the NFTs fall under securities laws = your lawsuit delivery has arrived.

While Flyfish didn't admit to violating securities laws, they did agree to a settlement, requiring them to pay a $750K civil penalty, destroy any leftover NFTs, and not collect royalties from future resales.

However, not all members of the SEC agreed with this decision. Commissioners Hester Peirce (aka "crypto mom") and Mark Uyeda pointed out that these NFTs were just a different way of selling memberships, so they shouldn't be regulated as securities. They added:

"Creative people should be able to experiment with NFTs without having to consult a high-priced tea-leaf reader—ahem, lawyer. The Commission can change its menu to include a healthy serving of guidance to give non-securities NFT creators the freedom to experiment."

Ahem, thank you, chefs, this was cooked perfectly.

And this wasn't the first time the SEC had targeted NFT sellers—they sued Impact Theory and Stoner Cats 2 last year and more recently hit the OpenSea NFT marketplace with a Wells notice, which is basically a we're suing you threat.

In response to all this, the blockchain advocacy group Digital Chamber started pushing Congress to define certain NFTs as consumer products, arguing that many of them are more like the digital version of artwork or collectibles, not securities.

Republican Rep. William Timmons then went like, I hear you, and served the New Frontiers in Technology Act (NFT Act), a bill that would classify NFTs as collectibles if they're meant to be art, music, or other creative works and not investments.

If enacted, the bill would bring much-needed clarity for NFTs. 'Cause now, it feels like suing The Weeknd for selling concert tickets. Make it make sense.