Here’s what happened in crypto today

Today in crypto, a cryptocurrency endorsed by Argentine President Javier Milei turned into a financial catastrophe after insiders staged a rug pull, the New York Stock Exchange has proposed allowing Grayscale to stake Ether within its spot Ether ETFs, and the US Securities and Exchange Commission’s Crypto Task Force is actively meeting with digital asset firms to discuss regulatory frameworks for the industry.Javier Milei-endorsed Libra token crashes after $107 million insider rug pullThe launch of Libra (LIBRA), a cryptocurrency endorsed by Argentine President Javier Milei, turned into a financial catastrophe after insiders cashed out over $107 million, wiping out nearly 94% of the token’s value within hours.According to onchain intelligence firm Lookonchain, at least eight wallets linked to the Libra team siphoned liquidity from the token, pocketing 57.6 million USD Coin (USDC) and 249,671 Solana (SOL) worth $49.7 million:“The $LIBRA team has cashed out $107M! 8 wallets related to the $LIBRA team have obtained 57.6M $USDC and 249,671 $SOL($49.7M) by adding liquidity, removing liquidity and claiming fees.”The Libra token briefly rose to a peak market capitalization of $4.56 billion at 10:30 pm UTC on Feb. 14 before falling over 94% to the current $257 million market cap in just 11 hours since the token debuted for trading on decentralized exchanges, Dexscreener data shows.The token’s rally began shortly after a now-deleted X post from President Milei, which shared a website and token contract address for Libra, which was a “private project” dedicated to “encourage the growth of the Argentine economy.”After the token’s collapse, Milei deleted his endorsement, later issuing a statement on X blaming political opponents:“To the filthy rats of the political caste who want to take advantage of this situation to do harm, I want to say that every day they confirm how vile politicians are, and they increase our conviction to kick them in the ass.”NYSE proposes rule change to allow ETH staking on Grayscale’s spot Ether ETFsThe New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) has filed with the US regulator on behalf of asset manager Grayscale, seeking approval to introduce staking in its spot Ethereum exchange-traded funds (ETFs).If approved, Grayscale will be permitted to stake Ether within the Grayscale Ethereum Trust ETF (ETHE) and the Grayscale Ethereum Mini Trust ETF (ETH), as per a Feb. 14 filing with the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).The filing said Grayscale would earn staking rewards from any staking activity the funds engage in, which would be considered income for the funds.It also said that Grayscale would not promote or guarantee any specific level of returns for investors.“The Sponsor’s staking activities on behalf of the Trust will not constitute “delegated staking” and will not form part of a “staking as a service” offering,” it said.SEC Crypto Task Force met with firms to discuss staking, litigation reviewThe US Securities and Exchange Commission’s Crypto Task Force met with several representatives from the cryptocurrency and traditional finance sectors to discuss regulatory issues impacting digital assets in early February. Key themes included staking, clear guidelines for exchange-traded products (ETPs) and a new framework for policing the emerging asset class. According to memoranda available on the SEC’s website, the Crypto Task Force met with the Blockchain Association, an industry lobby group, on Feb. 4.The lobby group suggested six priority areas the task force should focus on to “tackle issues that impact the digital asset industry.”On Feb. 5, representatives from Jito Labs and Multicoin Capital met with the Crypto Task Force to discuss the possibility of adding staking to ETPs. According to the SEC document, the representatives described staking as the “true nature” of proof-of-stake tokens.Also on Feb. 5, the task force met with Andreessen Horowitz’s capital management group, AH Capital Management. The discussion centered around token classification and issuance and market intermediaries. A separate SEC document showed that the Crypto Task Force met with representatives from Nasdaq on Feb. 6. In addition to bringing regulatory clarity to digital assets, the SEC’s Task Force was requested to clarify the “venues” that are permitted to trade cryptocurrencies.