Dan Gallagher is the proposed next Chair of the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) in a prospective Donald Trump administration. The former agency commission welcomed his selection.

The shared sentiment is that with a Republican in office, crypto would enjoy a more favorable regulatory environment, with key commission members calling it out for problematic laws.

Crypto Investors Want Dan Gallagher for SEC Chair

Gallagher served as SEC commissioner during the tenure of former US President Barack Obama. Welcoming his selection, Gallagher said he would promote access to the markets while ensuring the US remains at the forefront of financial innovation.

Before this nomination, Hester Pierce, alias Crypto Mom, had been the likely successor in case a Republican administration took office. Her name was floated around multiple times ahead of the spot Bitcoin ETFs approval.

In September, John Reed Stark, formerly an official with the SEC’s internet office, highlighted Pierce’s name. Her lengthy track record of dissent and opposition to most crypto-related SEC actions made her the ideal candidate.

“Should a Republican get elected President, Chair Gensler would likely resign and the senior Republican appointed SEC Commissioner (in this case famed “crypto-mom” Hester Peirce) would possibly become acting Chair,” Reed Stark explained.

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

Notably, no more than three out of five Commissioners may belong to the same political party. This prevents partisan issues within the SEC. The President designates one of the Commissioners as the agency’s top executive when the current Chair resigns.

Popular belief is that a Republican taking office after the November elections would bode well for crypto. Expectations include the SEC’s crypto enforcement efforts to be reduced significantly, potentially focusing on fraud cases. This is as opposed to charging pure registration violations like crypto trading platforms failing to register as an exchange, broker-dealer, and clearing firm.

Another possible expectation is that the agency would be more open to taking significant crypto-friendly regulatory actions, such as approving more spot ETFs to give investors exposure to more financial instruments.

Under President Joe Biden’s administration, the current US SEC is said to be biased against crypto, as Democrats hold the majority. Besides Pierce, Commissioner Mark Uyeda is the only other Republican within the SEC.

Mark Uyeda Calls Out US SEC for Problematic Rules

Like Pierce, Commissioner Uyeda has also sided with the industry, criticizing the SEC’s approach to crypto disclosure rules as “problematic.”  He says Form S-1 filings need updates as they neither facilitate capital formation nor protect investors in their current state.

“The Commission should take steps to ensure that registration statement disclosure is material and informative to prospective purchasers. By the same token, the Commission should avoid requiring disclosures that are irrelevant and distract readers from the important information,” Uyeda wrote.

The critique comes after the financial regulator returned Ethereum ETF S-1 forms to issuers, calling for changes and instructing them to refile by July 8. The action suggests at least one more round of filings before the Ethereum spot ETFs can launch. Head of Government Affairs at Paradigm Alexander Grieve lauded Commissioner Uyeda, underscoring the significance of his statement.

“First time AFAIK Uyeda has been on record calling for a tailored disclosure regime for crypto assets. The SEC under a different admin would be a very different place,” Grieve remarked.

While the market anticipates the ETH ETFs will begin trading on July 4, the timeline hinges on how fast the SEC can review and respond to the issuers’ filings.

Read more: How to Invest in Ethereum ETFs?

Meanwhile, the SEC continues to clamp down on crypto firms. In a post on X, Binance.US highlighted a prolonged legal battle with the regulator. The trading platform expressed its commitment to compliance and criticized the agency’s enforcement tactics.

“On Friday, the Court decided that the SEC’s case against Binance.US will continue. We were prepared for this and look forward to having this case move forward in the judicial process,” read the announcement.

The case concerns securities law violations, offering unregistered investment products, and violating anti-fraud laws. As it prepares for the showdown, Binance.US slammed the SEC’s “regulation by enforcement,” calling out SEC Chair Gary Gensler for being politically motivated.

Crypto data platform Kaiko recently reported that the introduction of spot Solana exchange-traded funds (ETFs) did not significantly impact the market.

Despite initial enthusiasm and a brief price spike, Solana’s (SOL) market dynamics quickly returned to their prior state, reflecting skepticism and regulatory challenges.

Solana’s Brief Surge: Investor Hopes Fade Quickly Despite ETF News

On June 27, VanEck filed for the first spot Solana ETF with the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). A similar filing from 21Shares followed on June 28.

These filings initially generated excitement, causing Solana’s price to spike by 6%. However, Kaiko reveals the impact was fleeting, and market dynamics soon returned to their previous state.

Read more: Crypto ETN vs. Crypto ETF: What Is the Difference?

“The filings provided a temporary boost to market sentiment, which had been dampened by fears of a broad selloff due to Mt. Gox repayments,” the report reads.

This temporary shift was reflected in Solana’s cumulative volume delta (CVD) data, which measures cryptocurrencies’ net buying and selling. According to Kaiko, Solana recorded a net positive CVD of $29 million over the past week, primarily driven by increased spot buying on Coinbase.

Furthermore, Kaiko’s analysis suggests that investor expectations for spot Solana ETF were not as high as for other cryptocurrencies like Ethereum (ETH). Solana, often called an ‘Ethereum killer,’ struggled to maintain its momentum.

A comparative analysis with Ethereum highlighted this discrepancy. After spot Ethereum ETF received partial approval on May 23, its price showed a more sustained upward trend than Solana.

Kaiko also noted that the effect of the Solana ETF news on the derivatives market was limited. While there was a brief spike in the volume-weighted funding ratio of the SOL token on June 27, it soon returned to neutral levels. Open interest remained virtually unchanged and was 20% lower than its early June levels, underscoring the lack of sustained bullish demand.

Solana Ecosystem Continues to Expand Amid Regulatory Doubts

One possible explanation for the muted market reaction could be skepticism regarding the approval odds of a spot Solana ETF. Unlike Bitcoin and Ethereum, Solana has less data accumulated in the derivatives market, making it challenging to convince regulators about its price stability and resistance to manipulation. 

Kaiko cited these regulatory hurdles as a significant factor. Industry experts share Kaiko’s cautious outlook. ETF analyst James Seyffart from Bloomberg Intelligence noted that Solana’s status as a security could significantly hinder the approval process.

“Solana’s classification as a security presents a very rocky road for ETF approval,” Seyffart remarked.

Despite the challenges, there are positive developments within the Solana ecosystem. Data from the crypto exchange Bitget report shows that Solana’s decentralized finance (DeFi) ecosystem has experienced rapid growth, with its total value locked (TVL) rising from approximately $1.3 billion at the beginning of 2024 to about $4.5 billion at the end of June.

The Solana Foundation also continues to innovate. It recently expanded its ecosystem to include Solana mobile phones, SDKs, and the newly launched Solana Blinks.

“These products lay the foundation for Solana’s mass adoption, represent Solana’s adaptation to mobile internet development, and are key to the constant increase in active addresses on the chain,” Ryan Lee, Chief Analyst at Bitget Research, told BeInCrypto.

Read more: What Is Solana (SOL)?

Nonetheless, the Solana ecosystem’s continuous growth and innovation lay the groundwork for potential future success. Additionally, as regulatory conditions change, Solana’s prospects may improve.

Notcoin (NOT), the Telegram-based tap-to-earn coin, is muddled in a tricky situation. Some weeks back, the cryptocurrency outperformed crypto heavyweights, including Bitcoin (BTC), Ethereum (ETH), and Solana (SOL).

Yet, over the last 30 days, it has struggled to maintain the momentum. NOT trades at $0.013, representing a 27.17% decrease within the last month.

Notcoin Bulls Make Moves to Stop Bears

The 4-hour NOT/USD chart shows the cryptocurrency hitting an oversold point on July 1. BeInCrypto found this after analyzing the Money Flow Index (MFI), a technical tool that measures time and price to determine trading pressure.

When it increases, it means that there is buying pressure. However, a decrease implies selling pressure. Also,  a reading below 20.000 means an asset is oversold, while one above 80 means it is overbought. 

On the date mentioned above, the MFI was 17.42. However, as of this writing, the indicator’s reading is 63.31, even though NOT’s price dropped by 4.88% in the last 24 hours. A situation like this is called a bullish divergence.

It happens when price changes indicate a new low, but there is a boost in capital flow. When this occurs, it means selling pressure is subsiding while buyers are capitalizing on the lower values to buy at discount prices.

Read more: 5 Top Notcoin Wallets in 2024

If buyers eventually take over the market, Notcoin’s price may increase as it did between June 11 and 16. Before that period, as shown above, there was a bullish divergence, after which the price went from $0.014 to $0.020 in less than seven days.

While this does not imply that NOT will replicate the same performance, it indicates a notable price increase may be in the works. This could happen within the next five days if validated, and NOT may reach $0.016.

NOT Price Prediction: Will the Roadblock Prevail?

In the past, Open Interest (OI) was one factor that helped NOT sustain its uptrend. As commonly referred to, OI measures speculative activity in the market. An increase in this indicator implies a rise in liquidity allocated to contracts in the derivatives market

On the other hand, a decrease suggests an increase in closed positions. As of this writing, Notcoin’s Open Interest is $143.08 million. Six days ago, the value was $163.60 million, meaning contracts valued at $20 million had been closed.

For the price, this decrease implies that the downtrend is getting weak, aligning with the MFI indications. But to reverse to the upside, more money has to come into the derivatives market. If this happens, then NOT to $0.016 will begin its move.

Despite the bullish potential, the Ichimoku Cloud shows that NOT may face resistance as it attempts to erase some of its recent losses. The Ichimoku Cloud is a technical tool that measures momentum while gauging trend direction.

If the cloud is above the price, it means the trend is down. But when prices are above the cloud, it indicates an uptrend. As of this writing, the cloud is above NOT’s price, indicating that the cryptocurrency may face some form of resistance in trying to trade higher.

Read more: Tap-to-Earn: What to Know About the Crypto GameFi Trend

If successful, the NOT price may reach $0.016 or as high as $0.018 in the short term. However, bearish rejection and a further decline in Open Interest could lead the price to $0.011.