Here’s what happened in crypto today

Today in crypto, an unsubstantiated Tether investigation report shakes the crypto market, Ripple has filed a Form C in the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit, challenging a recent ruling from the US Securities and Exchange Commission, and a Microsoft shareholder has proposed the firm assess whether to invest in Bitcoin, with a vote on the proposal set for December.

Unsubstantiated Tether investigation shakes crypto market 

On Oct. 25, The Wall Street Journal released a report claiming that stablecoin firm Tether, the issuer of the Tether-USD stablecoin (USDT), was under investigation by the Treasury Department and the United States Department of Justice (DOJ).

According to the outlet, the DOJ has been conducting a multi-year criminal investigation of Tether’s purported use in illicit finance and money laundering operations. Similarly, the article claimed the United States Treasury Department is considering sanctioning Tether due to its alleged use by sanctioned entities.

US government response to Freedom of Information Act request. Source: Jacob Silverman

Tether CEO Paolo Ardoino denied the allegations and asserted: “As we told the WSJ there is no indication that Tether is under investigation. WSJ is regurgitating old noise. Full stop.”

Ripple files Form C, appeals SEC ruling on XRP institutional sales

Ripple’s chief legal officer, Stuart Alderoty, confirmed the filing in an X post on Oct. 25, adding that “the SEC can’t submit new evidence or ask [Ripple] to produce more.”

The filing follows an August decision by the US District Court for the Southern District of New York, which imposed a $125 million fine on Ripple for institutional XRP (XRP) sales, ruling that they constituted securities transactions.

Source: Stuart Alderoty

Ripple’s appeal disputes the district court’s determination that its institutional sales of XRP made directly to accredited investors were securities transactions. 

The appeal specifically contests the court’s application of the Howey test, a legal standard used to determine whether a transaction qualifies as an investment contract.

Microsoft shareholder proposes firm look into investing in Bitcoin

Microsoft shareholders are set to vote in December on whether the tech giant should publicly assess adding Bitcoin to its balance sheet, a filing with the United States securities regulator reveals.

In the Oct. 24 filing, Microsoft disclosed that “Assessment of Investing in Bitcoin” is currently proposed to certain shareholders who will cast their vote in a Dec. 10 meeting.

Source: Master

However, the Microsoft board is already recommending they vote against it because they already “evaluate a wide range of investable assets,” including Bitcoin (BTC).

The proposal was pushed by the National Center for Public Policy Research (NCPPR), which highlighted business intelligence firm MicroStrategy’s Bitcoin investment strategy and that it has outperformed Microsoft by over 300% this year “despite doing a fraction of the business” of Microsoft.