Politics, Legal & Regulation

June 22, 2023 @ 6:42 pm By JD Alois  |  

Another Pig Butchering scam is in the news again. “Sha Zhu Pan” or “Pig Butchering” is a romance plot designed to fleece the funds of the unsuspecting. In this case, the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) has filed an enforcement action against Cunwen Zhu and… Read More

June 22, 2023 @ 3:31 pm By JD Alois  |  

Detractors of digital assets, or crypto, typically point to the utilization of crypto to pursue nefarious activities such as money laundering. Rules exist for financial transactions regarding “know your customer” (KYC) and “anti-money laundering” (AML), but they are enforced to various degrees depending on the… Read More

June 22, 2023 @ 1:44 pm By JD Alois  |  

The Bank of England has raised its benchmark interest rate by 50 bps, increasing from 4.5% to 5%. Today, the Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) voted by 7 to 2 to increase by 50 bps. Two of the members wanted to remain at the current 4.5%… Read More

June 22, 2023 @ 12:33 pm By JD Alois  |  

Bitgo has decided to terminate its preliminary agreement to acquire Prime Trust. Earlier this month, rumors circulated about troubles at Prime Trust, with Bitgo emerging as a white knight to acquire the firm. BitGo had signed a term sheet to acquire the equity of Prime… Read More

June 22, 2023 @ 9:10 am By Omar Faridi  |  

Ripple, which claims to be the leader in enterprise blockchain and crypto solutions, announced that its Singapore subsidiary Ripple Markets APAC Pte Ltd, has obtained In-Principle Approval of the Major Payments Institution License application from the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS). This license will allow… Read More

June 21, 2023 @ 1:26 pm By JD Alois  |  

The Canadian Securities Administrators (CSA), the entity that represents all provincial/territorial regulators, says some crypto trading platforms are siting relations with bogus regulatory or dispute organizations. These trading platforms are simply trying to burnish their creditability, hoping that an unsuspecting investor may fall for the… Read More

June 21, 2023 @ 1:00 pm By JD Alois  |  

The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has filed an enforcement action against audit firm Marcum LLP regarding its audit work for “hundreds” of SPACs. Marcum has settled the matter without admitting or denying the SEC’s findings, paying a $10 million penalty while agreeing to remedial… Read More

June 21, 2023 @ 9:53 am By Omar Faridi  |  

We recently caught up with Valerii Brizhatiuk, Chief Product Officer, Co-Founder at Swisstronik, a layer-1 solution designed to build scalable decentralized applications that ensure users’ data protection and privacy, while remaining in compliance with local regulations. According to the project team, Swisstronik is unique because… Read More

June 21, 2023 @ 7:49 am By Omar Faridi  |  

Deutsche Bank AG (ETR: DBK) has reportedly submitted an application for obtaining regulatory clearance to serve as a digital asset custodian, based in Germany, the bank revealed on Tuesday (June 20, 2023). As first reported by Bloomberg, this latest development from Deutsche Bank comes only… Read More

June 20, 2023 @ 9:21 am By Omar Faridi  |  

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) is reportedly working on a solution for central bank digital currencies (CDBCs) to support financial transactions between nations, IMF MD Kristalina Georgieva revealed on Monday (June 19, 2023). As reported by Reuters, Georgieva told a conference attended by various reserve… Read More

June 19, 2023 @ 7:37 pm By JD Alois  |  

Do Kwon, the creator of TerraUSD – LUNA, has been sentenced to four months in the slammer in Montenegro, according to multiple reports. Kwon’s attempt to create an algorithmic stablecoin TerraUSD has been cited as a huge catalyst in the crypto collapse of 2022. The… Read More

June 19, 2023 @ 11:35 am By Omar Faridi  |  

We recently connected with Andrew Saks, who talked about the importance of financial inclusion for the vast majority. Notably, 1.4 billion people remain unbanked, which takes several countries in Southeast Asia to allow a larger virtual currency ecosystem to take root in their countries. The… Read More

June 18, 2023 @ 9:36 am By Omar Faridi  |  

Only a couple months after finalizing a $155M acquisition of Apex Crypto, an established trading infrastructure provider, the New York–headquartered crypto-assets platform Bakkt Holdings, Inc. (NYSE: BKKT) is delisting three major digital currencies: Solana (SOL), Polygon (MATIC), and Cardano (ADA). Marc D’Annunzio, Bakkt General Counsel… Read More

June 17, 2023 @ 12:08 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

A senior US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) official on Friday (June 16, 2023) rejected the recent criticism of the regulatory authority’s crypto-related crackdown and also slammed the industry for violating applicable securities laws. As first reported by Reuters, the regulator’s increased scrutiny of cryptocurrency… Read More

June 17, 2023 @ 11:19 am By JD Alois  |  

Earlier today, the SEC revealed that it has received court approval for “emergency relief” from Binance and affiliated entities to require funds impacting US investors to be maintained in the US. The order states that funds must be repatriated and held for the benefit of… Read More

June 17, 2023 @ 9:56 am By JD Alois  |  

The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has received court approval for emergency relief regarding assets held by Binance for US customers. The SEC states that all defendants in its litigation against Binance Holdings Limited, BAM Management US Holdings Inc., BAM Trading Services Inc., and Changpeng… Read More

June 17, 2023 @ 9:44 am By JD Alois  |  

As part of the new European Crowdfunding Service Provider Regulation (ECSPR), which legalizes pan-EU securities crowdfunding, platforms must be approved by the relevant authority in a member state. France, the second largest economy in the EU, has incorporated rules for the approval process and today… Read More

June 16, 2023 @ 7:35 pm By JD Alois  |  

The commercial real estate (CRE) market is struggling a bit as the work-from-home (WFH) movement, combined with the flight of businesses away from certain markets that were once hot, has caused some observers to predict calamity at some point in the not-so-distant future. We have… Read More

June 16, 2023 @ 6:52 pm By JD Alois  |  

Binance is continuing its staggered retreat from another market. According to a Tweet from today, Binance is exiting the Netherlands market as they have been “unable to register as a VASP with the Dutch regulator.” A VASP is a virtual asset service provider, and the… Read More

June 16, 2023 @ 3:36 pm By JD Alois  |  

The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), Investor Advisory Committee (IAC) has posted its agenda for its meeting next week. Established under Dodd-Frank, the IAC is supposed to represent the interests of individual investors, including smaller ones. In the past, the Committee has largely focused on… Read More