JD Alois

Singapore: MAS Responds to Parliamentary Question on Crypto Trading

A member of the Singapore Parliament has inquired as to whether, or not, the government intends on further restrictions on crypto trading. Tharman Shanmugaratnam, Senior Minister and Minister in charge of MAS (the Monetary Authority of Singapore) has issued a response. Shanmugaratnam states that this… Read More

Uphold Head of Blockchain and Crypto Research Calls a Bottom

Uphold, a crypto trading platform that is registered with the UK Financial Conduct Authority (FCA), is calling a bottom in the crypto markets. Since the beginning of 2022, digital assets have tumbled in value. At one point in 2021, crypto hovered around $3 trillion in… Read More

FATF Issues Update on Virtual Asset Standards, Virtual Asset Service Providers (VASPs)

FATF (Financial Action Task Force) has issued an update on virtual assets (VAs) and virtual asset service providers (VASPs) and approved standards and implementation. FATF is a global entity but does not have rule-making authority as regulations must be set by members. FATF has pursued… Read More

OneCoin Founder, Ruja Ignatova, Who Defrauded Investors of up to $4 Billion Makes FBI Most Wanted List

Ruja Ignatova, founder of OneCoin and sometimes referenced as the Cryptoqueen, is in the news again – this time for joining a very exclusive club – the FBI’s Most Wanted List. Ignatova is accused of having defrauded investors out of $4 billion via her company… Read More

Huge Haircut: Klarna to Raise Money at $6.5 Billion, Down from Whopping $45.6 Billion Valuation

  Multiple reports are indicating that Fintech lender and digital bank Klarna will be raising new capital at a $6.5 billion valuation. This is a huge haircut from its last valuation which saw the firm raise money at a whopping $45.6 billion. It was reported… Read More

FTX to Buy BlockFi for $240 Million, Plus $400 Million Credit Facility

FTX, the trading platform founded by CEO Sam Bankman-Fried, has agreed to purchase BlockFi for up to $240 million, along with providing a $400 million credit facility. FTX had previously provided BlockFi access to a $250 million credit line when things started to go sideways…. Read More

Crypto Contagion: Voyager Halts All Withdrawals, Hires Law Firm, Advisors

Voyager Digital  (TSX: VOYG) (OTCQX: VYGVF) has issued a statement indicating they have halted all withdrawals due to the collapsing crypto market. Voyager stated that as of 2PM today all trading, deposits, withdrawals and loyalty rewards have been suspended. Stephen Ehrlich, Chief Executive Officer of… Read More

Celsius Posts Opaque Update: No Resolution Yet

Yesterday, Celsius Network, a large crypto lender and yield platform that abruptly halted all withdrawals recently, posted an update of sorts. While disclosing very little, Celsius shared the following comment on its blog: “Across Celsius today, we are focused and working as quickly as we… Read More

Deal to Buy BlockFi Moving Forward – FTX and Ledn in the Mix: Report [u]

BlockFi, a crypto trading marketplace and yield generator, apparently has another suitor. As has been previously reported, FTX, founded by Sam Bankman-Fried, has provided a $250 million line of credit while entering into a discussion to potentially purchase the firm. Rumors published by CNBC indicate… Read More

GoCardless to Acquire Nordigen Open Banking Platform

GoCardless has announced its intent to acquire Nordigen an open banking data provider. The deal is expected to close later this summing. The terms of the acquisition were not revealed. GoCardless is based in the UK with offices around the world. Nordigen is regulated in… Read More

President’s Working Group Convenes to Discuss Stablecoins

The President’s Working Group (PWG) on Financial Markets met today to discuss the topic of stablecoins. In 2021, the PWG published a report on stablecoins requesting legislation stating: “…in the absence of Congressional action, which is urgently needed to address the prudential risks inherent in… Read More

European Union Agrees on Markets in Crypto Assets (MiCA) Regulation: “Will shape the digital asset ecosystem for years to come”

The European Union has agreed on crypto-asset regulation under the Markets in Crypto Assets (MiCA) legislation. According to tweets distributed by Member of European Parliament (MEP) Stefan Berger, Europe will be the first continent with crypto asset regulation as the European Parliament, European Commission and… Read More

BlockFi CEO Denies Rumors they Are Being Sold for $25 Million

Recently, BlockFi, a leading crypto trading and yield platform, was rocked by the crypto market collapse and overall market volatility. Sam Bankman-Fried, founder and CEO of FTX, swooped in to backstop the firm by providing a $250 million credit facility. Bankman-Fried tweeted they were partnering… Read More

Scott Purcell’s New Startup Fortress Trust Hires More Former Regulators

Scott Purcell, founder of Prime Trust, has announced that his newest venture, Fortress Trust, has hired more former regulators. Purcell is founder and CEO of Fortress Blockchain Technologies, the parent company of Fortress Trust. First, Fortress Trust has added Joe Mulberry to the executive team… Read More

OpenSea Emails Pilfered, “Assume You Were Impacted”

OpenSea, the most popular NFT marketplace in the world, has experienced a breach of user information. According to a blog post yesterday, an employee of Customer.io, a service provider for OpenSea, downloaded OpenSea’s email list, apparently to use or sell for illegal objectives. OpenSea stated:… Read More

$1.7 Billion Bitcoin Fraud: CFTC Announces Charges Against South African Individual and Firm

Largest CFTC Enforcement Action Ever Involving Bitcoin. The Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) has announced its largest enforcement action regarding Bitcoin ever. According to the CFTC, charges have been filed in a case involving a South African individual, Cornelius Johannes Steynberg, and his organizations involving… Read More

Bitcoin Trolls New 52 Week Lows, Has Lost 60% of its Value Since Beginning of the Year

Bitcoin is bombing once again – proving if anything, that the world’s most popular digital asset is a great vehicle for volatility and swing trading. While it could be the overall slumping markets as traditional assets are lower too, or perhaps it is the fact… Read More

BNPL Zilch Reports Series C at $160 Million

Zilch, a UK based buy now – pay later (BNPL) provider has extended Series C by $50 million now raising $160 million now valued at around $2 billion. Zilch claims to be the fastest-growing Fintech Unicorn in Europe. In total, ZIlch has raised $460 million… Read More

Bitcoin ETF Denied: Grayscale’s Attempt to Offer BTC ETF Blocked by SEC

Grayscale’s most recent attempt of migrating Bitcoin-based GBTC, traded on OTC Markets, to an exchange-traded fund (ETF), has been denied. In an Order posted by the SEC yesterday, the Commission disapproved a proposed rule change that would have allows the spot Bitcoin ETF to trade… Read More

Germany: Future Finance Act Aims to Boost Access to Capital, Embraces Digital Securities

Earlier today, Germany’s Federal Minister of Finance, Christian Lindner, and the Federal Minister of Justice, Dr.Marco Buschmann, announced regulatory and policy changes designed to boost entrepreneurship, access to capital, and embrace the digitization of finance with digital securities – or security tokens. The Financing Act. Das… Read More

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