On this date in 2020, investment manager Stone Ridge disclosed a Bitcoin treasury position worth more than $100 million. Two years later, Uniswap Labs announced a $165 million funding round while Tether confirmed the elimination of commercial paper from its reserves.
October 13, 2023, brought another significant series of developments, including the SEC’s decision not to appeal its courtroom defeat against Grayscale, California’s adoption of cryptocurrency licensing legislation, and testimony about BlockFi’s billion-dollar exposure to FTX and Alameda Research.
October 13, 2017: Saxo Bank Adds Ethereum Exchange-Traded Notes to Its Trading Platforms
On October 13, 2017, Danish investment bank Saxo Bank announced that customers could trade Ethereum exchange-traded notes issued by XBT Provider through its SaxoTraderGO and SaxoTrader platforms.
The Ethereum products had been listed on Nasdaq Stockholm earlier that week, providing investors with access to ETH-linked financial instruments through conventional securities accounts.
Saxo Bank already offered two Bitcoin Tracker exchange-traded notes, and the Ethereum addition expanded its cryptocurrency-related investment products to four.
The bank said the products were available without leverage and responded to increasing client demand for cryptocurrency exposure.
The announcement came during the 2017 cryptocurrency boom, when Bitcoin and Ethereum were attracting investors who wanted exposure without directly purchasing and safeguarding digital assets.
Unlike direct cryptocurrency ownership, exchange-traded notes also introduced issuer credit risk and depended on the financial instrument’s structure and market liquidity.
The October 13 announcement illustrated one of the earliest stages of cryptocurrency investment products becoming available through established multi-asset brokerage platforms.
Historical source: Saxo Bank announcement, October 13, 2017.
October 13, 2018: Researcher Demonstrates a 51% Attack on Bitcoin Private
On October 13, 2018, security researcher operating under the pseudonym Geocold attempted to demonstrate a majority-hashrate attack against Bitcoin Private, a relatively small proof-of-work cryptocurrency.
The researcher rented mining capacity through NiceHash and livestreamed portions of the operation, intending to demonstrate how attackers could temporarily dominate smaller blockchain networks.
Bitcoin Private was selected after the researcher encountered complications involving other potential targets.
During the demonstration, Geocold reportedly controlled approximately 70% of Bitcoin Private’s network hashrate, giving him the computational capacity needed to challenge the network’s existing chain history.
However, the livestream was interrupted by streaming-platform restrictions and technical disruptions. The demonstration did not establish that a successful double-spending transaction had occurred.
The incident illustrated a known vulnerability of smaller proof-of-work blockchains: when the cost of obtaining a majority of network computing power is relatively low, an attacker may be capable of reorganizing transactions.
Contemporaneous sources: BleepingComputer investigation and October 14, 2018, account of the demonstration.
October 13, 2020: Stone Ridge Reveals More Than $100 Million in Bitcoin Holdings
On October 13, 2020, investment management company Stone Ridge Holdings Group disclosed that it had accumulated more than 10,000 Bitcoin, valued at over $100 million at the time, as part of its corporate treasury reserve strategy.
The announcement came through its subsidiary New York Digital Investment Group, which also disclosed a $50 million growth-equity financing round.
Stone Ridge described Bitcoin as the principal component of its treasury reserve strategy, citing concerns about monetary policy, negative real yields and conventional currency purchasing power.
The company managed approximately $10 billion in assets and had spent several years researching Bitcoin before publicly announcing the treasury position.
Its investment followed similar corporate Bitcoin acquisitions by MicroStrategy and Square earlier in 2020.
NYDIG also reported that its custody, asset management and financing balances had surpassed $1 billion, reflecting increasing institutional demand for cryptocurrency services.
The disclosure became an early milestone in the corporate Bitcoin treasury movement, which subsequently expanded to include publicly traded companies and other institutional investors.
Original source: NYDIG and Stone Ridge announcement, October 13, 2020.
October 13, 2021: White House Opens International Talks on Cryptocurrency-Linked Ransomware
On October 13, 2021, the White House convened representatives from more than 30 countries and the European Union for an international initiative aimed at combating ransomware attacks and disrupting the financial systems supporting cybercriminal operations.
The virtual meetings addressed cybersecurity resilience, international law-enforcement cooperation, diplomatic measures and the misuse of virtual currencies.
Cryptocurrency payments had become a prominent feature of ransomware operations, allowing criminal groups to demand funds from victims across borders.
According to a White House fact sheet released that day, reported ransomware payments exceeded $400 million globally during 2020 and surpassed $81 million during the first quarter of 2021.
The United Kingdom coordinated discussions concerning virtual currencies, while other participating governments led sessions addressing resilience, disruption and diplomacy.
The initiative followed several high-profile cyberattacks targeting critical infrastructure, including the Colonial Pipeline incident earlier in 2021.
The October 13 meeting marked a significant expansion of international cooperation concerning cryptocurrency-related cybercrime and ransomware financing.
Original source: White House fact sheet, October 13, 2021.
October 13, 2022: Uniswap Labs Raises $165 Million in Series B Funding
On October 13, 2022, Uniswap Labs announced that it had raised $165 million in Series B financing to expand its decentralized finance infrastructure and consumer-facing applications.
The funding round was led by Polychain Capital, with participation from existing investors including Andreessen Horowitz’s a16z crypto, Paradigm, SV Angel and Variant.
Uniswap founder Hayden Adams announced the investment in a company blog post, explaining that the funding would support improvements to the protocol’s web application, developer tools, NFT-related products and mobile accessibility.
At the time, Uniswap had facilitated approximately $1.2 trillion in cumulative trading volume since its creation in 2018.
Unlike centralized exchanges, Uniswap’s trading model relied on automated market makers and liquidity pools rather than conventional order books.
The financing announcement came during the prolonged 2022 cryptocurrency downturn, when digital asset valuations and venture capital activity had weakened considerably.
Uniswap Labs also highlighted the recently established Uniswap Foundation, whose planned grants were intended to support the protocol’s broader development ecosystem.
Original source: Uniswap founder Hayden Adams, October 13, 2022.
October 13, 2022: Tether Eliminates Commercial Paper From USDT Reserves
On October 13, 2022, stablecoin issuer Tether announced that it had eliminated commercial paper holdings from the reserves backing its USDT stablecoin, replacing those investments with US Treasury bills.
The disclosure marked the completion of a reserve restructuring process that had become increasingly important to investors following earlier concerns about Tether’s reserve composition.
Commercial paper represents short-term corporate debt and may expose holders to different credit and liquidity risks than short-duration government securities.
Tether said its commercial paper holdings had fallen to approximately $3.5 billion by July 2022 and below $50 million by the end of September before reaching zero in October.
The issuer presented the change as an effort to strengthen its reserve portfolio and improve confidence in USDT’s backing.
The announcement did not represent an independent audit of all Tether liabilities or eliminate every risk associated with stablecoin ownership and redemption.
For further explanation of those distinctions, Dave Finances examines how stablecoin reserve composition, liquidity and redemption rights affect investor recovery.
Original source: Tether announcement, October 13, 2022.
October 13, 2023: SEC Declines to Appeal Grayscale Bitcoin ETF Court Defeat
On October 13, 2023, it emerged that the US Securities and Exchange Commission would not appeal a federal appeals court ruling that had overturned its rejection of Grayscale Investments’ application to convert the Grayscale Bitcoin Trust into a spot Bitcoin exchange-traded product.
The decision followed an August 29 ruling by the US Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit, which found that the SEC had acted arbitrarily and capriciously in rejecting Grayscale’s proposal without adequately explaining its different treatment of comparable Bitcoin futures products.
October 13 was the deadline for the regulator to seek further appellate review, and its decision not to challenge the judgment removed an important procedural obstacle.
The development did not amount to immediate approval of Grayscale’s proposed ETF. The court formally issued its mandate on October 23, returning the matter to the SEC for reconsideration.
On January 10, 2024, the SEC approved the listing and trading of multiple spot Bitcoin exchange-traded products, including Grayscale’s converted trust.
The October 13 development contrasted with earlier rejections, including the SEC’s October 9, 2019, Bitwise decision, discussed in Dave Finances’ earlier crypto history retrospective.
Historical sources: Reuters, October 13, 2023 and Grayscale’s SEC litigation timeline.
October 13, 2023: California Governor Signs Cryptocurrency Licensing Law
On October 13, 2023, California Governor Gavin Newsom signed Assembly Bill 39 and Senate Bill 401, establishing the state’s Digital Financial Assets Law.
The legislation created a regulatory framework for certain companies conducting cryptocurrency activities involving California residents, including licensing requirements and additional consumer protections.
The California Department of Financial Protection and Innovation was assigned responsibility for implementing and supervising the framework.
The legislation covered a range of digital asset activities and introduced additional requirements involving cryptocurrency kiosks, which had attracted attention because of consumer fraud risks.
The signing represented a reversal from the previous year, when Newsom vetoed an earlier crypto licensing bill after raising concerns about implementation and costs.
The original legislation contemplated licensing requirements beginning in July 2025. Subsequent legislation signed in September 2024 extended the compliance deadline.
Under the updated framework, certain businesses serving California customers were required to obtain a license or submit a completed application by July 1, 2026.
Original sources: California Governor’s October 13, 2023, announcement and California DFPI regulatory overview.
October 13, 2023: BlockFi CEO Testifies About More Than $1 Billion in FTX and Alameda Exposure
On October 13, 2023, former BlockFi CEO Zac Prince testified in the federal fraud trial of Sam Bankman-Fried, describing the cryptocurrency lender’s extensive financial exposure to FTX and Alameda Research.
Prince told the court that BlockFi had approximately $1.1 billion in combined exposure to the exchange and its affiliated trading firm when the businesses collapsed in November 2022.
BlockFi had provided loans to Alameda and maintained assets on FTX, making its financial position closely dependent on the two companies’ ability to meet their obligations.
According to Prince’s testimony, BlockFi had relied on financial information provided by Alameda when assessing its creditworthiness.
He said the lender would not have extended the same financing if it had known that Alameda was using funds belonging to FTX customers.
Prince also told jurors that BlockFi would not have filed for bankruptcy in November 2022 if its Alameda loans remained sound and the assets held at FTX were available.
The testimony followed several days of evidence from Caroline Ellison about Alameda’s borrowing practices and its use of FTX customer deposits.
Contemporaneous sources: CoinDesk courtroom reporting, October 13, 2023 and Los Angeles Times courtroom report.
Johan Shamshad is a financial markets writer at Dave Finances covering cryptocurrencies, trading platforms, brokers, fintech, financial regulation, and developments across global markets. He previously worked at Gulf News, adding newsroom experience to his coverage of fast-moving financial and digital-asset markets.
His work focuses on identifying market-moving events, company developments, regulatory changes, product launches, and shifts in trading and financial infrastructure.
Johan contributes news and analysis designed to help readers understand not only what happened, but why a development matters and how it may affect the wider financial landscape. You can reach out to him via his social media accounts:
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