Forbes - Litecoin lols ⚡

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	Good Tuesday morning. Billy Bambrough here with what's driving the day in the world of bitcoin and crypto.


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24-hour crypto market snapshot

$46,046

$3,348

$36.75

$167.90

Buy the fake news, sell the truth 🗞️


	Crypto prices are inching higher this morning after being sent on a wild ride by the litecoin Walmart hoax yesterday. Shortly after 9am EDT, a press release picked up by the likes of Reuters and Bloomberg—not to mention the official litecoin Twitter account—claimed Walmart would soon begin accepting litecoin, an old but relatively minor cryptocurrency. Originally forked from bitcoin, litecoin, positioned as a payment coin, has struggled to keep pace with other soaring tokens in recent years. The litecoin price leaped 35% before Walmart denied the reports, sending its price straight back down. It's not known who was behind the fake press release but it wasn't amateurs—and they likely did it in order to "pump and dump" litecoin tokens. The litecoin Walmart hoax also temporarily boosted the price of bitcoin and most other major cryptocurrencies that were losing ground before the bombshell. After the news was found to be fake, crypto prices across the board turned negative. Microstrategy, the business intelligence software company that's morphed into a bitcoin acquisition vehicle, helped support prices with the announcement it had bought a further 5,050 bitcoins for around $243 million. Ethereum rival polkadot is leading the market higher this morning with a near-10% gain as investors bet it will follow its fellow ethereum challengers solana and cardano sharply higher. Now read this: What Can We Learn From Today's Artificial Surge In Litecoin Prices?

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Grilling Gensler 💢



	Securities and Exchange Commission chairman Gary Gensler, then the chairman of the Commodity Futures Trading Commission, in 2012 Getty Images


	In the hot seat: Gary Gensler, the newly installed Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) chairman who's landed the unenviable task of reining in the "Wild West" crypto space, will be questioned by the Senate Banking Committee at 10 a.m. EDT today over his agency’s plans for crypto regulation. Ahead of the game: In prepared remarks released last night, Gensler said much of the crypto market and many crypto companies operate outside of the SEC’s regulatory frameworks and called on industry players to better communicate with the agency—even after last week's public row with U.S. crypto exchange Coinbase over its planned lending program that saw Coinbase chief executive Brian Armstrong claim the SEC refused to meet with him. Protect and serve: Gensler plans to emphasize the SEC's mission of protecting investors and to urge lawmakers to increase the SEC's resources. "We just don’t have enough investor protection in crypto finance, issuance, trading, or lending," Gensler will tell lawmakers. "Frankly, at this time, it’s more like the Wild West or the old world of ‘buyer beware’ that existed before the securities laws were enacted. This asset class is rife with fraud, scams, and abuse in certain applications." The big picture: Earlier this month, Gensler, who many thought would be a nurturing figure thanks to his academic background that saw him teach about blockchain technology at MIT, warned crypto platforms are putting their own survival at risk unless they do more to work within regulatory frameworks. Now read this: Gary Gensler on crypto, SPACs, and Robinhood

✨ The Mooch makes an NFT move

💱 Anthony Scaramucci, the founder of hedge fund SkyBridge Capital who's best known for his brief stint as Donald Trump's White House communications director, is launching a platform to trade NFTs (non-fungible tokens). The platform, called Flatter, will specialize in art, collectibles and experiences with 140 bottles of rare whiskey decorated with a portrait of Scaramucci's face among its first auctions.

⛓️ Speaking at SkyBridge’s own Salt conference in New York yesterday, Scaramucci also announced his hedge fund is teaming with trading platform NAX to raise $250 million for a fund that will be known as UNLOX and will target spreading blockchain availability to institutions using the algorand blockchain—which has seen its value soar this year.

🗣️ "Algorand is going to be the winner in building the backbone for what institutions need and financial services companies need," Scaramucci said in comments first reported by CNBC. In January, SkyBridge launched a bitcoin with $310 million in assets under management—with Scaramucci calling bitcoin still "in its early innings." Meanwhile, Salt also hosted a crypto panel that included FTX chief executive Sam Bankman-Fried, solana CEO Anatoly Yakovenko, Circle CEO Jeremy Allaire and the host of Shark Tank, Kevin O’Leary.

💰 Elsewhere, Recur, an sports media NFT company that launched in February, has raised $50 million in a funding round led by the billionaire owner of the New York Mets, Steve Cohen, valuing it at $333 million. Read the full story on Forbes.

Don't miss: Bitcoin cosplay is getting real

	Billy Bambrough
	Forbes Contributor

I am a journalist with significant experience covering technology, finance, economics, and business around the world. I write about how bitcoin, crypto and blockchain can change the world.

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Forbes - Litecoin lols ⚡

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