The Daily: Brazilian crypto launderer gets 128 years, Oregon AG sues Coinbase, Ripple backs XRP fund

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

Happy Friday! It's been a largely quiet day thanks to Good Friday today and Easter this weekend. The crypto market rebounded somewhat, with bitcoin hovering just below $85,000 as of writing.

In today's newsletter, the mastermind behind a $190 million cryptocurrency Ponzi scheme in Brazil gets a 128-year prison sentence, the Oregon attorney general sues Coinbase for alleged securities law violations, Ripple backs HashKey Capital's XRP Tracker Fund and more.

Meanwhile, Hyperliquid nabs 70% of the market share for onchain perpetual futures.

Let's get started.

Launderer in $190 million Brazilian crypto Ponzi scheme gets 128-year sentence

A Brazilian judge sentenced Joel Ferreira de Souza to a record 128 years in prison for masterminding the money laundering behind the Braiscompany crypto Ponzi scheme.

• De Souza used shell companies and proxy accounts to launder roughly $190 million defrauded from over 20,000 investors.
• His sentence ranks among the harshest ever in Brazil for financial crimes.
• His son, Victor de Souza, received a 15-year sentence, while top broker Gesana Rayane Silva was sentenced to over 40 years in total.
• Two other accused individuals, Mizael Moreira Silva and Clélio Cabral do Ó, were acquitted due to lack of evidence.
• Braiscompany's founders, a married couple, were captured in Argentina and sentenced to over 88 and 61 years, respectively, pending extradition.
• The company lured investors with promises of 8% monthly crypto returns before collapsing in early 2023, triggering a federal investigation called Operation Halving.

Oregon attorney general sues Coinbase

Oregon Attorney General Dan Rayfield filed a securities lawsuit against Coinbase, mirroring previously dropped federal charges related to unregistered crypto activity and consumer protection concerns.

• The lawsuit alleges Coinbase enabled the sale of risky, unregistered crypto assets to Oregonians and exposed them to potential financial loss.
• Coinbase criticized the move as politically motivated and counterproductive, arguing it undermines bipartisan efforts in Congress to establish clear national crypto regulations.
• With the SEC pulling back from several crypto investigations, Rayfield says states must now step up to enforce protections as federal regulators shift focus under new leadership.

Ripple backs new XRP Tracker Fund by HashKey Capital

HashKey Capital has launched Asia’s first XRP Tracker Fund, allowing professional investors to gain exposure to XRP without directly owning the cryptocurrency.

• The fund, backed initially by Ripple as the anchor investor, is part of a broader collaboration between the two firms to expand digital asset investment offerings.
• HashKey sees the tracker fund as a simplified and regulated investment tool for XRP, aligning with growing institutional interest in digital assets across Asia.
• With rising anticipation for a U.S. spot XRP ETF and multiple firms competing to launch one, industry experts expect significant market inflows if approval comes later this year.

Arizona leads crypto reserve legislation race

Arizona's Senate Bill (SB) 1373, which proposes a state-run digital assets reserve fund, passed a House committee and awaits a full floor vote before potentially reaching the governor.

• The bill would allow the state treasurer to manage seized crypto and legislative funds using approved custody solutions, with the option to loan assets for additional income.
• SB 1373 broadly defines digital assets to include cryptocurrencies, stablecoins, NFTs and other blockchain-based tokens with economic value.
• Despite progress, Arizona’s crypto bills could be stalled as Governor Katie Hobbs has pledged to veto all legislation until a disability funding measure is approved.

Galaxy proposes new 'market-driven' voting system for Solana emissions

Galaxy Research proposed a new voting method called MESA for Solana, allowing validators to express nuanced preferences on emissions rates rather than using a binary yes/no format.

• The MESA approach aims to better reflect community sentiment by averaging weighted votes across a range of options, addressing issues seen with the failed SIMD-228 proposal.
• Critics warned MESA could create strategic voting complexities but acknowledged its potential to reduce polarization compared to binary systems.

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