JD Alois

Senate Banking Committee Delays Markup on Crypto Market Infrastructure Bill as Draft Legislation Criticized [u]

Reports indicate that legislation on crypto market infrastructure has been delayed. The bill had been scheduled for a markup hearing tomorrow (January 15th) at the Senate Banking Committee, but following criticism from Coinbase and a statement that they no longer support the bill, Senator Cynthia… Read More

Coinbase CEO Slams Crypto Infrastructure Legislation: “Can’t Support the Bill”

Coinbase (NASDAQ:COIN) CEO Brian Armstrong took to X today to slam the crypto infrastructure bill, which is scheduled for a markup hearing tomorrow at the Senate Banking Committee. Armstrong did not mince his words: “After reviewing the Senate Banking draft text over the last 48hrs,… Read More

Tasq AI, BLEND Merge

  BLEND and Tasq AI have announced a business combination. Specific details on the agreement were not revealed. Founded in 2019, Tasq AI created the “Data Refinery” approach to AI training. The tech claims to help AI models train up to 10x faster than other… Read More

ESMA Publishes Report on EU Securities Crowdfunding

ESMA, or the European Securities and Markets Authority, has published a report on crowdfunding in the EU. In recent years, online capital formation has been operating under ECSPR or European Crowdfunding Service Provider regulation. This allows a platform to solicit investors across all member states…. Read More

Senate Banking Committee Still on Track for Markup on Crypto Infrastructure Legislation, Senate Agriculture Committee Happens End of Month

While there have been multiple reports regarding horse trading related to the crypto infrastructure legislation, at this moment, the Senate Banking Committee still has a markup hearing tomorrow, January 15th, at 10AM ET. Reports emerged yesterday of dozens of amendments to the bill as members… Read More

NYC Token memecoin launched by former New York City Mayor Eric Adams Criticized by Nansen. Rug Pull?

A memecoin launched by former New York City Mayor Eric Adams has experienced significant volatility. The NYC Token had no fixed issue price, launched at $0.15-$0.20, peaked near $0.70, and is now trading around $0.13. Crypto data and security firm Nansen has examined the on-chain… Read More

Cambridge Centre for Alternative Finance (CCAF) Pursues Artificial Intelligence (AI) in Finance Survey

The Cambridge Centre for Alternative Finance (CCAF), the leading global research group for Fintech, is in the process of gathering information for a global study on Artificial Intelligence (AI) in financial services. AI is quickly becoming ubiquitous – especially in financial services. The ability to… Read More

Senate Banking Committee Shares “Myth vs. Fact” on Crypto Infrastructure Bill, the CLARITY Act

The Senate Banking Committee, which will soon hold a markup hearing on the crypto infrastructure bill, has posted a “Myth vs. Fact” document sharing its perspective on the legislation, which aims to create a regulatory ecosystem to enable digital asset innovation. The Committee, controlled by… Read More

Locked and Loaded. Senate Crypto Infrastructure Bill Emerges for Markup as Negotiations Persist

The crypto infrastructure bill has been working its way through Congress for months. The CLARITY Act was approved by the House of Representatives in July. The Senate’s version of the bill, the Digital Asset Market Clarity Act, has emerged after months of wrangling among digital asset… Read More

Private Securities Secondaries Topped $110 Billion in 2025 – Report

Private securities secondaries topped $110 billion in 2025, easily beating 2024, which reportedly totalled $89 billion. This is according to HarbourVest Partners, as outlined in the FT. According to the report, private markets continue to grow, with secondary transactions boosting that growth. Liquidity, or the… Read More

Polygon Labs to Acquire Coinme, Sequence

Polygon Labs says it has signed a deal to acquire Coinme and Sequence in a transaction valued at around $250 million. The Sequence transaction is expected to close this month, and the Coinme transaction is expected to close in Q2 2026 subject to normal regulatory… Read More

Netcapital Announces First Tokenized Offering as Markets Shift to Digital Securities

Netcapital (NASDAQ: NCPL, NCPLW), an operator of a FINRA-regulated funding portal and a broker-dealer, has announced its first tokenized offering. Digital assets, including digital securities, are the future of both private and public offerings, including primary and secondary trading. By incorporating blockchain technology, issuers, platforms,… Read More

Capping Credit Card Interest Rates Would Reduce Credit Available to Less Affluent, Harm Individuals with Poor Credit Scores

President Donald Trump roiled the financial services sector this past week with his declaration that credit card interest rates would be capped at 10%. Of course, this would probably take an act of Congress and is unlikely, but the statement highlighted Trump’s lack of understanding… Read More

Trump Administration May Be Backing Away from Investigation of Fed Chair Jerome Powell

In one of the outlandish moves by the Trump Administration, it emerged this past weekend that the US Department of Justice was investigating Fed Chair Jerome Powell over cost overruns for renovations at the US Federal Reserve. Powell took to X to declare he would… Read More

Ripple Approved in the UK by the Financial Conduct Authority as EMI

Digital asset firm Ripple has been approved in the UK as an Electronic Money Institution (EMI) by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA). The firm was approved on January 9, 2026, under RIPPLE MARKETS UK LTD. Via a post on X, Ripple said that it had… Read More

Dubai Financial Services Authority Launches Crypto Regulatory Framework

The Dubai Financial Services Authority (DFSA) has launched a new crypto regulatory framework. According to a statement distributed by the DFSA, they have monitored market developments over the past three years, while working with policy counterparts and industry insiders to ensure the new rules are… Read More

70 European Academics Support Digital Euro/CBDC: “A robust public digital euro is our only defence”

“Without a meaningful digital Euro, our dependence will deepen as US-backed private digital currencies are gaining ground.” Sustainable Finance Lab has posted an open letter signed by 70 European Academicians supporting a central bank digital currency (CBDC) or digital Euro. The supporters included economists and… Read More

A Full Blown Banana Republic. Trump Administration Slammed for Indictment of Fed Chair Jerome Powell

The independence of the US Federal Reserve is sacrosanct. Removing it from the vicissitudes of elected officials, many of whom do not have a clue about economics and finance, has been foundational to the stability of the US economy. The revelation that the US Department… Read More

Private Securities: Report States UK Venture Funding Shifts to Later Stage, Ranks Second in the World

The United Kingdom is a leading jurisdiction in the world for private firms and funding.  According to a new report published by Tracxn, the UK is the second most funded ecosystem in the world behind the US, but surpassing India and China. The report states… Read More

SpaceX Secondary Values Firm at $800 Billion, Republic Touts Mirror Token Offered at $400 Billion Valuation

SpaceX may go public this year. As has been widely reported, the private space firm founded by Elon Musk is sizing up a public offering with major investment banks currently vying to lead the IPO. Estimates of the firm’s valuation are currently around $800 billion,… Read More

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