The Daily: US appeals court overturns Nathanial Chastain’s conviction in OpenSea case, analysts say it’s ‘still early’ in the crypto bull cycle, and more

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

Happy Thursday! Bitcoin and Ethereum look set to clock their best July in three years, posting gains of over 10% and 50%, respectively, as the month draws to a close — defying the seasonal “sell in May and go away” adage.

In today’s newsletter, a U.S. appeals court overturns Nathanial Chastain’s conviction in the OpenSea case, analysts claim it’s “still early” in the crypto bull cycle, The Ether Machine surpasses the Ethereum Foundation’s holdings after another 15,000 ETH buy, and more.

Meanwhile, SEC Chair Paul Atkins debuts “Project Crypto” to update rules and regulations, with an onchain focus.

Let’s get started.

US appeals court overturns Nathanial Chastain’s fraud and money laundering conviction in OpenSea case

A U.S. appeals court has overturned Nathanial Chastain’s wire fraud and money laundering conviction, agreeing that jury instructions misrepresented what qualifies as property in the OpenSea case.

• Chastain was charged in June 2022 for allegedly using insider info to buy NFTs before they appeared on OpenSea’s homepage, then selling them at a profit of two to five times the original price.
• The former head of product at OpenSea was then convicted in May 2023 in the first-ever digital asset insider trading case, and later sentenced to three months in prison and three years of supervised release that August.
• The court ruled that misusing intangible information not tied to traditional property can’t justify a wire fraud conviction.
  Judges said the jury may have ruled differently if properly instructed on the legal definition of property.
• The judges also noted that Chastain accused OpenSea co-founder and CEO Devin Finzer of buying MATIC (now POL) before Polygon’s blockchain was integrated into the NFT marketplace.
• Chastain argued that, as the OpenSea co-founder allegedly also used company info for personal gain, it undermined the idea that his actions broke policy.

Bernstein says it’s ‘still early’ in the crypto bull cycle amid growing traction for digital assets

“We are still early in the crypto bull cycle,” according to analysts at Bernstein, with Robinhood and Coinbase among the platforms set to benefit from rising volumes and mainstream adoption.

• Robinhood posted a “breakout” Q2, with revenues up 46% year-over-year and July crypto volumes rebounding on renewed interest in Ethereum, Solana, and DeFi tokens, the analysts said in a note to clients on Thursday.
• In an earlier note, Bernstein also highlighted Coinbase’s deal with JPMorgan as a “huge adoption unlock,” describing it as a turning point for bank-crypto interoperability.
• Bernstein reaffirmed its “outperform” rating on both companies, signaling continued confidence in their performance despite already witnessing significant 175% and 47% respective rallies this year.

The Ether Machine adds 15,000 ETH to surpass Ethereum Foundation’s holdings

The Ether Machine has bought another 15,000 ETH for $57 million, pushing its total holdings to 334,757 ETH ($1.3 billion) — making it the third treasury company to surpass the Ethereum Foundation’s stash after Tom Lee’s BitMine and Joe Lubin’s SharpLink.

• The firm funded the purchase with cash proceeds from its previously announced private placement, with up to $407 million in remaining funds earmarked for future ETH acquisitions.
• The Ether Machine plans to go public in Q4 under the ticker ETHM after completing a merger with Nasdaq-listed Dynamix Corp, targeting a $1.6 billion raise.
• Co-founder Andrew Keys framed the move as a long-term bet on Ethereum as the backbone of the new internet economy.

OG bitcoin wallets move nearly $30 million after 15 years; each mined 50 BTC in 2010

Five Satoshi-era wallets that mined bitcoin in 2010 moved 250 BTC, now worth nearly $30 million, on Thursday after more than 15 years of dormancy, according to Arkham data.

• Each wallet earned 50 BTC when block subsidy rewards were nearly worthless, with a value of around $0.15 at the time.
• The coins were consolidated from the legacy addresses into two more modern native SegWit address formats, signaling a simple upgrade or a potential change of ownership.
• Dormant whale activity has exploded this summer as bitcoin trades near all-time highs and institutions ramp up their accumulation.

Tether-focused Layer 1 Stable raises $28 million seed round to boost USDT adoption

Stable has raised $28 million in a seed funding round co-led by Bitfinex and Hack VC to build a USDT-native Layer 1 “stablechain” network optimized for payments and remittances.

• The network will use Tether’s USDT as its gas token and aims to eliminate high fees, slow confirmations, and reliance on bridges by batching transactions and settling in stablecoins.
• Stable targets a mainnet launch in late 2025 and says USDT will remain central to the chain’s design, with support for other stablecoins possible based on demand.
• Meanwhile, Tether announced a record $4.9 billion in net profit for the second quarter on Thursday.

In the next 24 hours

• Eurozone CPI inflation data are due at 5 a.m. ET on Friday. U.S. nonfarm payrolls follow at 8:30 a.m.
• Sui, dYdX, Moca Network, and Euler are 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.

© 2025 The Block. All Rights Reserved. This article is provided for informational purposes only. It is not offered or intended to be used as legal, tax, investment, financial, or other advice.