The Daily: NYSE parent ICE invests in OKX at $25B valuation, suspect arrested in FBI operation over alleged $46M US Marshals crypto theft, and more

The following article is adapted from The Block’s newsletter, The Daily, which comes out on weekday afternoons.

Happy Thursday! Bitcoin may be reviving its “safe haven” narrative, according to analysts, after spot BTC ETFs attracted over $1 billion worth of inflows in three trading days.

In today’s newsletter, Intercontinental Exchange invests in OKX at a $25 billion valuation, the FBI and French authorities arrest a suspect in the alleged $46 million U.S. Marshals crypto theft, the SEC submits a crypto assets framework to the White House, and more.

Meanwhile, Pudgy Penguins is accused of trademark infringement by PEI’s Penguin apparel brand.

P.S. Don’t forget to check out The Funding, a biweekly rundown of crypto VC trends. It’s a great read — and just like The Daily, it’s free to subscribe!

NYSE parent ICE invests in crypto exchange OKX at $25 billion valuation amid tokenized stocks push

Intercontinental Exchange, the parent company of the New York Stock Exchange, has invested in OKX at a $25 billion valuation as traditional finance pushes further into blockchain infrastructure.

• The deal grants ICE a seat on OKX’s board and signals a deeper collaboration between the traditional exchange operator and the crypto platform, though the financial terms were not disclosed.
• A central pillar of the collaboration involves integrating traditional equities with crypto infrastructure.
• ICE will license OKX’s spot crypto price data to support the launch of U.S.-regulated cryptocurrency futures products.
• Meanwhile, OKX plans to offer its roughly 120 million users access to ICE’s U.S. futures markets and tokenized equities tied to listings on the NYSE.
• OKX’s native token, OKB (OKB), jumped more than 36% on Thursday following the news.

Suspect in alleged $46 million US Marshals crypto theft arrested in Saint Martin, FBI says

John Daghita, a suspect in the alleged theft of more than $46 million in cryptocurrency from U.S. Marshals Service wallets, was arrested in Saint Martin in a joint operation between the FBI and French authorities.

• Blockchain investigator ZachXBT previously linked Daghita to the online persona “Lick” and identified him as the son of the president of CMDSS — a U.S. government contractor that manages seized crypto.
• ZachXBT alleged Daghita siphoned funds from wallets holding cryptocurrency confiscated from the 2016 Bitfinex hack and moved them through a network of addresses and exchanges.
• The case has drawn scrutiny to the U.S. Marshals Service’s process for managing confiscated digital assets and its reliance on outside contractors.

SEC submits framework to White House on applying securities laws to crypto assets

The SEC submitted commission-level interpretive guidance to the White House outlining how federal securities laws could apply to cryptocurrencies.

• The framework is expected to focus on a “token taxonomy,” according to Bloomberg, to help determine which crypto assets fall under SEC jurisdiction as securities.
• Such jurisdictional clarity would shape how crypto firms register with regulators, meet disclosure requirements, and operate in U.S. markets.
• Separately, the CFTC submitted a measure on prediction markets to the White House’s Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs as it prepares rulemaking to set clearer standards for event-based contracts.

SOL Strategies shares jump as firm posts validator network growth

SOL Strategies shares rose about 21% on Wednesday after the Solana-focused treasury and infrastructure firm reported continued growth in its validator and staking operations.

• The company said its validator network expanded to 33,568 unique wallets in February, up from roughly 31,000 earlier in the month.
• The firm reported 3.87 million SOL (SOL) in total assets under delegation while its validators generated roughly 1,276 SOL in rewards during February.
• Meanwhile, SOL Strategies’ STKESOL liquid staking platform has surpassed 691,000 SOL staked and more than 1,000 holders after launching in January.

‘Straight up anti-American’: Eric Trump slams banks for lobbying against stablecoins

Eric Trump accused major U.S. banks of lobbying to block stablecoin yields, calling the effort “anti-consumer” and “anti-American” because it denies people higher returns on their savings.

• He added that the American Banking Association and other lobbyists are “spending millions” to ban stablecoin yields — which he said can reach up to 5% — through the Clarity Act.
• Earlier this week, JPMorgan CEO Jamie Dimon argued that stablecoins paying yield should face bank-like regulation, while banks have warned such products could siphon trillions of dollars from traditional deposits.
• White House crypto advisor Patrick Witt rejected Dimon’s claim, saying yield payments alone do not justify bank-style regulation if issuers are not lending or rehypothecating reserves.

In the next 24 hours

• U.S. nonfarm payrolls data are due at 8:30 a.m. ET on Friday.
• U.S. FOMC member Mary Daly will speak at 10:15 a.m.
• Access Protocol, Hyperliquid, Wormhole, and RedStone are among the crypto projects set for token unlocks.

Never miss a beat with The Block’s daily digest of the most influential events happening across the digital asset ecosystem.

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