Alexander Grieve, Paradigm’s VP of Government Affairs, detailed what is wrong with the US Securities and Exchange Commission’s (SEC) policies.

It marks the second dissection that Paradigm, an investment firm known for throwing money behind many of the crypto industry’s mainstays, has made of the infamous securities regulator.

US SEC’s Hand Always Ready To Hit Wells Notice Buzzer

Grieve slams the US SEC for “carpet-bombing” the crypto industry in the name of “investor protection.” This includes issuing Wells Notices against anything value-adding that sprouts in the crypto market.

“Under this Chair, and this Enforcement Director — if you have built anything of value in crypto, you’ve found yourself on the receiving end of a subpoena, a Wells Notice, or an enforcement action/lawsuit, or all three,” Grieve wrote.

Coinbase was one of the victims of regulatory action, receiving a Wells Notice in September 2021 regarding its proposed Lend product, just five months after the SEC approved its business model, products, and IPO. In March 2023, Coinbase received another Wells Notice.

Read more: What Does It Mean To Receive a Wells Notice From the SEC?

Similarly, the SEC sued Kraken over its staking activities, forcing the exchange to relocate those services outside the US and pay a $30 million fine. This occurred despite Kraken settling with the regulator earlier that February.

Binance, the largest crypto exchange by trading volume, has also faced regulatory scrutiny across its operations. Other cases include actions against Robinhood, Uniswap, ConsenSys, OpenSea, and D.E.B.T. Box.

Regulator Forum Shops and Uses Barbell Approach

Highlighting that the cases against Kraken, Coinbase, and Binance were each filed in different jurisdictions, Paradigm’s Vice President accused the SEC of “forum shopping.” This legal term refers to choosing the most favorable court for a claim. It’s a strategy used by litigants to increase their chances of a favorable outcome.

The Paradigm executive also criticized the SEC’s “barbell” approach to crypto regulation. According to the VP, the SEC targets smaller entities that opt for settlements over legal battles due to limited resources. The regulator then uses these precedents to pursue larger companies, leveraging the initial settlements in subsequent cases.

“This is part of the SEC’s strategy: instead of just focusing on just one single company, they sue a company and allege that all sorts of other companies/projects/tokens/protocols (who may not be able to defend themselves) are securities as part of the case,” Grieve added.

This is not the first time Paradigm has criticized the SEC. BeInCrypto recently reported the venture capitalist’s dissection of Gary Gensler’s tenure chairing the commission. The dissection came after the SEC’s joint testimony revealed 784 enforcement actions in 2023, resulting in $4.9 billion in penalties and disgorgement.

In the research, Paradigm policy manager Brendan Malone detailed that the SEC has taken 171 enforcement actions against the crypto space since 2021. The pace of enforcement escalated since Gensler started leading the commission.

Read more: Crypto Regulation: What Are the Benefits and Drawbacks?

Malone criticized the SEC for using litigation to address policy matters instead of establishing clear regulations. He further condemned the agency for targeting individuals with limited resources, aiming to set precedents on token issuance cases by pressuring them into settlements.

On the same note, Hester Peirce recently admitted to the flaws in SEC crypto policy enforcement, as the agency’s handling of cryptocurrency regulations came under scrutiny before Congress and the Senate Banking Committees last week.

Shiba Inu (SHIB) has faced a rough week, dropping 13% in value. Despite the decline, a group of whales has shown confidence in the leading meme coin, steadily increasing their holdings over the past few weeks.

However, short-term holders (STHs) have been selling off their SHIB, adding downward pressure on the price. This analysis explores why the selling activity from SHIB’s STHs may prevent any significant rally in the short term. 

Shiba Inu Whales Fight Its Short-Term Holders

BeinCrypto’s assessment of Shiba Inu’s supply distribution shows that a cohort of whale investors holding between 10,000 and 100,000 coins has increased their supply over the past few weeks.

Read more: Dogecoin (DOGE) vs Shiba Inu (SHIB): What’s the Difference?

This group of large SHIB holders now controls 3.06 billion SHIB, a 2% increase from the 3.01 billion SHIB they held just a month ago. Their decision to accumulate more tokens may have been driven by SHIB’s undervalued status throughout September, as reflected by its market value to realized value (MVRV) ratio.

According to this metric, SHIB’s 30-day and 90-day MVRV ratios were negative for most of September, suggesting that the coin was trading below its historical value, which may have prompted these whales to buy more coins. 

However, SHIB’s STHs, those who have held their coins for less than 30 days, have taken a more cautious stance. True to their “paper hands” nature, they have been selling off their coins in recent weeks. 

Their selling activity is noteworthy, as STHs tend to be risk-averse, offloading their assets at the slightest sign of trouble. Given that they hold a sizable portion of SHIB’s circulating supply, their selling activity puts substantial downward pressure on the coin’s price.

SHIB Price Prediction: Coin Eyes $0.000010

SHIB’s falling on-balance volume (OBV) reflects the selling activity from SHIB’s STHs. At 24.79 trillion, the meme coin’s OBV, which measures its buying and selling pressure based on trading volume, has maintained a downward trend since the beginning of the month.

A dropping OBV is typically a bearish indicator, suggesting potential downward price movement. When accompanied by a price decline, it points to a lack of buyer support. If demand for SHIB continues to plummet, it could revisit its August 5 low of $0.000010.

Read more: 6 Best Platforms To Buy Shiba Inu (SHIB) in 2024

However, if STHs become bullish and begin to accumulate, it may drive Shiba Inu’s price up by 69% to test the resistance formed at $0.000028.

Telegram-linked Toncoin (TON) has shed almost 10% of its value over the past week and continues showing signs of market weakness. Its downward trend has pushed its price toward the lower line of its horizontal channel, forming a crucial support floor since March.

The token’s technical setup hints at the possibility of another double-digit decline soon if the support level fails to hold. This analysis delves into what TON holders need to know.

Toncoin Traders Look the Other Way

Toncoin’s funding rate has remained predominantly negative recently, signaling traders’ lack of confidence in a near-term price rebound. As of this writing, this stands at -0.0068%. 

The funding rate refers to the periodic fee paid to ensure that an asset’s contract price stays close to its spot price. Put simply, it represents the cost of holding a long or short position over a specific period.

A negative funding rate means more traders are shorting the asset than going long. This can put downward pressure on the price as these traders are incentivized to sell to reduce their exposure.

Read more: What Are Telegram Bot Coins?

TON’s falling price, combined with its negative funding rate, can create a self-reinforcing cycle where the falling price leads to more shorting, pushing the value down further.

Moreover, an assessment of buying and selling pressures in the TON market reveals the balance of power in favor of the bears. Readings from the token’s Directional Movement Index (DMI), which measures strength, show TON’s positive directional indicator (blue) below its negative directional indicator (red). 

When set up this way, the asset is witnessing more downtrends than upward movements. Traders view this as a bearish signal, suggesting that sellers are stronger than buyers.

TON Price Prediction: Will History Repeat Itself?

At press time, TON trades at $5.34 and trends toward the lower line of its horizontal channel, which has formed support since March. It fell to this line in early September but failed to break below it as the bulls could defend it.

If this repeats, Toncoin’s price will reverse its course and rally toward resistance at $7.96.

Read more: What Are Telegram Mini Apps? A Guide for Crypto Beginners

However, if the support level fails to hold, the price will plummet by 17% to a monthly low of $4.43, thereby invalidating the bullish projection above.