Today in crypto, a US court has ended Coin Center’s appeal against the Treasury Department over Tornado Cash. Meanwhile, memecoin launcher LetsBonk doubled Pump.fun’s daily revenue with $1.04 million on Monday and UAE authorities denied reports that Toncoin holders can obtain a golden visa by staking $100,000 worth of TON.
Court ends Coin Center-US Treasury appeal over Tornado Cash
The US Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit has dismissed an appeal filed by crypto advocacy organization Coin Center against the US Treasury Department over its Office of Foreign Assets Control’s 2022 sanctions against the Tornado Cash mixing service.
In a Thursday filing, the appellate court granted a motion to vacate a lower court ruling and remand with instructions to dismiss as part of a joint filing with Coin Center and the US Treasury. The dismissal, according to the court, would essentially conclude Coin Center’s legal challenge against the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC).
In 2022, OFAC added multiple wallet addresses connected to Tornado Cash to its list of sanctioned entities. Coin Center filed a lawsuit alleging that the Treasury Department “exceeded [its] statutory authority” in the sanctions, though there were other lawsuits filed by interested parties, including one from six Tornado Cash users backed by crypto exchange Coinbase.
The price of Tornado Cash’s native token (TORN) briefly surged by more than 14% to $10.55 on the news on Monday, before retracing to trade at $9.47 at the time of publication.
“This is the official end to our court battle over the statutory authority behind the [Tornado Cash] sanctions,” said Coin Center executive director Peter Van Valkenburgh in a Monday X post. “The government was not interested in moving forward and defending their dangerously overbroad interpretation of sanctions laws.”
LetsBonk flips PumpFun in 24-hour revenue: DefiLlama
Solana memecoin launchpad LetsBonk surpassed rival Pump.fun in 24-hour revenue, according to data aggregated by decentralized finance (DeFi) platform DefiLlama.
The latest DefiLlama figures show that LetsBonk generated $1.04 million in revenue in the last 24 hours, nearly doubling Pump.fun’s revenue of $533,412. LetsBonk’s revenue surge marked a rare shift in dominance in the Solana memecoin sector, where Pump.fun has typically held the top spot.
Both platforms offer simplified tools for launching and trading memecoins. However, LetsBonk appears to be gaining traction due to the support of the Bonk (BONK) memecoin community and its social campaigns.
BONK is one of the most popular Solana-based memecoins, with more than 430,000 followers on X. CoinGecko shows that the memecoin has a market capitalization of nearly $1.8 billion and a 24-hour trading volume of $1.2 billion, making it the No. 58 crypto token by market capitalization.
The LetsBonk memecoin launchpad was released on April 25. Its team dubbed the protocol a “self-serving launchpad for memecoins” and aims to address what its developers say are predatory practices in the space.
TON coin dips 6% after UAE authorities deny golden visa claim
The native cryptocurrency of The Open Network has retraced 6% from its 24-hour high after United Arab Emirates regulators refuted claims that staking Toncoin (TON) could create a pathway to UAE residency.
Toncoin initially shot up 10% to $3.03 on Sunday after The Open Network claimed that applicants staking $100,000 worth of Toncoin for three years make applicants eligible for the UAE’s golden visa program.
However, the Emirates News Agency later reported on Monday that the Federal Authority for Identity, Citizenship, Customs and Port Security, the Securities and Commodities Authority, and the Virtual Assets Regulatory Authority have said golden visas are not issued to digital asset holders.
They also clarified that digital currency investments are governed by specific regulations and are unrelated to golden visa eligibility.
“The authority further confirmed that digital currency investments are governed by specific regulations and are unrelated to golden visa eligibility. It urged investors to obtain information from credible, official sources to avoid misinformation or fraud,” the Emirates News Agency reported.
