SabalLaw Week in Review: October 17–23, 2025

Catch up on this week’s key legal and regulatory updates impacting startups, funds, and emerging tech. @SabalLaw breaks it down:

• Ripple Acquires GTreasury: Ripple purchases treasury management provider GTreasury for $1 billion, enabling it to enter the multitrillion-dollar corporate treasury payments market and help Fortune 500 companies manage stablecoins and tokenized deposits in real time.

• Ex-SEC Officials Support Private Right of Action: Former SEC commissioners Robert Jackson and Allison Herren Lee file an amicus brief urging the Supreme Court to uphold investors' rights to sue funds over Investment Company Act violations, citing the agency's limited resources to enforce all cases.

• Evernorth Goes Public via SPAC: Digital asset treasury Evernorth merges with Armada Acquisition Corp II in a $1 billion SPAC deal, creating a Nasdaq-listed vehicle that offers XRP exposure through institutional lending, liquidity provisioning, and DeFi yields.

• States Oppose Jarkesy Extension: The North American Securities Administrators Association urges the Delaware Supreme Court to reject Swan Energy's challenge, arguing that applying the U.S. Supreme Court's Jarkesy ruling to state securities fraud actions would impair administrative enforcement nationwide.

• OCC Eases Stablecoin Fears: OCC Comptroller Jonathan Gould reassures bankers that stablecoin growth under the Genius Act won't abruptly drain deposits, as regulators will monitor for safety risks and promote smaller banks' participation in the market.

• Sripetch Seeks Supreme Court Review: Defendant Ongkaruck Sripetch petitions the Supreme Court to resolve a circuit split on SEC disgorgement, contending that the agency must prove investor losses to collect ill-gotten gains under the Liu decision.

• A16Z State of Crypto 2025: The crypto market reaches $4 trillion with 40-70 million active users, as stablecoins process $46 trillion annually, institutions like BlackRock launch products, and blockchains scale to 3,400 transactions per second amid AI convergence.

• Asia Exchanges Reject Crypto Treasuries: Hong Kong, India, and Australia stock exchanges block listed companies from pivoting to crypto hoarding strategies, enforcing rules against excessive liquid holdings to deter shell companies and maintain market substance.

• CFTC Accelerates Crypto Rules: Acting CFTC Chair Caroline Pham announces spot crypto trading on exchanges by year-end, tokenized collateral guidance soon, and stablecoin clearing rules by mid-2026, implementing the President's Working Group recommendations.

• Coinbase Buys Echo: Coinbase acquires onchain fundraising platform Echo for $375 million to build a full-stack crypto ecosystem, streamlining token sales, cap table management, and secondary trading for builders and investors.

• Tempo Raises $500M: Stripe- and Paradigm-backed blockchain Tempo secures $500 million at a $5 billion valuation from Thrive Capital and Greenoaks, targeting stablecoin payments with partners like OpenAI, Shopify, and Visa. The backing by Thrive Capital is notable here because Josh Kushner, in a rare public statement, said that Thrive was not investing in crypto and blockchain because those technologies are solutions looking for a problem. Something has changed. See Invest Like the Best, EP.337 July 18, 2023, re-released on March 28, 2025 as a classics episode.

• Hayes Seeks Buyout Fund: Arthur Hayes' family office Maelstrom aims to raise $250 million for a PE fund acquiring mid-sized crypto service providers in trading infrastructure and analytics, focusing on off-chain equity deals for undervalued targets.

• Li Lin Builds Ether Trust: Huobi founder Li Lin teams with Asian Ethereum pioneers like Shen Bo and Xiao Feng to launch a $1 billion regulated ETH treasury via a Nasdaq-listed acquisition, capitalizing on institutional demand post-Bitcoin ETF success.

• IOSCO Urges Crypto Alignment: IOSCO assesses global progress on 2023 crypto recommendations, finding steady adoption but gaps in enforcement and cross-border cooperation, and calls for urgent standards to protect investors and curb arbitrage.

• BC Bans Crypto Mining: British Columbia permanently prohibits new crypto mining grid connections to prioritize clean power for job-creating industries, while capping AI/data center electricity and launching competitive allocations in 2026.

• HighVista Backs Emerging VCs: HighVista Strategies closes a $270 million fund-of-funds targeting seed-to-Series B managers in AI, fintech, and blockchain, reflecting renewed LP interest in smaller funds post-market dislocation.

• AWS Outage Costs Billions: A major AWS failure disrupts global finance, halting trading on platforms like Coinbase and Robinhood, and prompts calls for multi-cloud strategies to mitigate concentration risks under regs like DORA and SS2/21.

• AWS Hits Crypto Infrastructure: The AWS outage downs Infura endpoints for Ethereum, Polygon, and L2s like Base, underscoring how centralized cloud reliance undermines blockchain decentralization and exposes single points of failure.

• US LPs Eye European PE: American investors increase European PE allocations amid U.S. policy uncertainty, aiding smaller GPs with larger checks but requiring adaptations in deal speed, waterfalls, and co-investment access.

• BlackRock Enables BTC Conversions: BlackRock facilitates $3 billion in in-kind Bitcoin-to-ETF exchanges, letting whales integrate holdings into brokerage accounts for easier collateral use, borrowing, and estate planning without tax events.

ICYMI

• Ondo Seeks Nasdaq Clarity: Ondo Finance urges the SEC to require more details on Nasdaq's tokenized securities proposal using DTC settlement, advocating open standards to foster innovation while protecting investors.

Sports Investing

• Oakley Backs NOX: Oakley Capital invests in premium padel brand NOX, partnering with founder Jesús Ballvé to drive 50%+ revenue growth through U.S./Asia expansion, digital marketing, and pickleball extensions amid 25% sport-wide growth.

• 26North Funds NEP: 26North leads a $700 million equity investment in live-event producer NEP, with Carlyle staying as majority owner to enhance broadcast tech for sports like the Super Bowl and Olympics.

• Kalshi Attracts $10B+ Offers: Prediction market Kalshi fields VC bids valuing it over $10 billion, boosted by $50 billion annualized volume in elections and sports betting, plus NHL data partnerships.

• Giants Top Franchise Value: The New York Giants become the most valuable NFL team at $7.4 billion after selling a minority stake to Koch Disruptive Technologies, reflecting rising sports valuations and private capital influx.

• NHL Partners with Prediction Markets: The NHL signs multiyear deals with Kalshi and Polymarket as official partners, granting access to proprietary data for real-time event betting and predictions.

• DraftKings Enters Predictions: DraftKings acquires CFTC-licensed Railbird to launch a mobile app for non-sports prediction markets in finance, culture, and entertainment, leveraging its betting scale.

• FIFA Ticket Probe: Switzerland's Gespa files a criminal complaint against FIFA, classifying blockchain-based World Cup "Right to Buy" tokens as unlicensed lotteries and sports betting under federal law.

• UC Targets Big Ten Stake: UC Investments proposes $2.4 billion for a minority stake in Big Ten Enterprises, a new media/revenue subsidiary, with schools able to buy down ownership for greater control.

Stay ahead with Sabal Law PLLC’s tailored solutions in securities, wealth management, private funds, co-investments, venture financing, private equity, FinTech, SportsTech, DefenseTech, and blockchain. Schedule a Consultation or visit www.saballaw.com to connect! #SabalLaw #StartupLaw #PrivateFunds #EmergingManagers #WealthManagement #PrivateEquity #VentureCapital #CoInvestments #FamilyOffices #Crypto #DigitalAssets