What happened in crypto this week?

It’s been another busy week in crypto: Wemix CEO delayed hack announcement to prevent “market panic,” Bitcoin, Ethereum prices struggle, Canary Capital files S-1 form for a Sui ETF, Paul Atkins SEC chair confirmation faces delay, EOS rebrands to Vaulta, SEC to drop Ripple case, and Gotbit founder to forfeit $23 million. Wemix CEO delayed […] The post What happened in crypto this week? appeared first on CoinJournal.

Mar 21, 2025 - 20:00

It’s been another busy week in crypto: Wemix CEO delayed hack announcement to prevent “market panic,” Bitcoin, Ethereum prices struggle, Canary Capital files S-1 form for a Sui ETF, Paul Atkins SEC chair confirmation faces delay, EOS rebrands to Vaulta, SEC to drop Ripple case, and Gotbit founder to forfeit $23 million.

Wemix CEO delayed hack announcement to prevent “market panic”

Kim Seok-hwan, Wemix Foundation’s CEO, said earlier this week there was “no attempt” to conceal a $6.2 million hack on it following an announcement four days later.

Kim was speaking at a press conference where he denied any intention to conceal the exploit.

On February 28, over 8.65 million WEMIX coins were withdrawn due to a malicious attack on the platform’s Play Bridge Vault. However, the South Korean platform only alerted its investors when an announcement was posted on its homepage on March 4.

At the press conference, Kim said: “The announcement was delayed due to concerns about the possibility of additional attacks and the possibility of market panic due to stolen assets.”

Bitcoin, Ethereum prices struggle

Bitcoin and Ethereum prices continued to struggle this week amid a broader market downturn.

At the beginning of the week, Bitcoin was trading at around $83,000 and Ethereum was at the $1,900 mark.

The outlook mirrored the broader crypto market, which has seen billions of dollars wiped off the market. Massive liquidations have also hit crypto prices since Bitcoin flipped negative with prices plummeting below $100k and then $90k. At its lowest point this year, Bitcoin dropped to $76,000 earlier this month.

Investors also pulled over $1.7 billion from crypto exchange-traded products (ETPs) and other investment products for the week ending March 14. Overall, it extended the negative flows to a five-week total of $6.4 billion.

Canary Capital files S-1 form for a Sui ETF

Canary Capital filed an S-1 form with the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) for, what’s believed to be, the first Sui exchange-traded fund (ETF) as institutional interest rises.

A blog from the Sui Foundation noted that the SEC had acknowledged the filing, which it said was a “critical early step” in the approval of the ETF.

The March 17 Sui ETF filing is the latest from Canary Capital. A few crypto ETFs it’s already filed with the SEC include Hedera, Litecoin, and XRP. The new filing follows a regulatory change within the agency after the re-election of US President Donald Trump last November.

The move for a Sui ETF comes after the crypto fund manager filed a trust entity in the state of Delaware on March 6. The next step for Canary Capital is to file a 19b-4 form with the SEC.

Paul Atkins SEC chair confirmation faces delay

The confirmation of Paul Atkins as the next US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) chair is being delayed due to the submission of paperwork.

Eleanor Mueller, Semafor’s Congress reporter, posted on X, saying:

“Senate Banking Chair Tim Scott is eyeing March 27 for a committee hearing on Trump’s nominee to chair the SEC, Paul Atkins, I’m told. As I wrote earlier this month, the committee has been waiting for the White House to send over his paperwork.”

Scooplet: Senate Banking Chair Tim Scott is eyeing March 27 for a committee hearing on Trump's nominee to chair the SEC, Paul Atkins, I'm told.
As I wrote earlier this month, the committee has been waiting for the White House to send over his paperwork: https://t.co/2sDebKDIAI
— Eleanor Mueller (@Eleanor_Mueller) March 17, 2025

This latest development follows from a March 3 report from Semafor. In it, Mueller detailed how the White House hadn’t produced the required paperwork to schedule a confirmation hearing for Atkins. This also included his financial disclosure given the fact that he married into a billionaire family.

In December, Trump selected Atkins to be the next SEC chair. This is a significant selection for Trump, as Atkins is considered a pro-crypto figure in the industry.

EOS rebrands to Vaulta

The EOS Network announced earlier this week that it was rebranding.

In a press release, the blockchain network said it was renaming to Vaulta, a move that aligns with the platform’s shift to web3 banking.

A New Era of Finance Begins.
After years of building the foundations behind the scenes, we’re excited to introduce Vaulta next frontier of finance Web3 Banking