Politics, Legal & Regulation

May 11, 2022 @ 10:00 pm By JD Alois  |  

FTX US, part of FTX global, has applied for a trust charter issued by the New York Department of Financial Services. Under state law in New York, a digital asset business may conduct activity under either a BitLicense or a charger under New York Banking… Read More

May 11, 2022 @ 11:53 am By JD Alois  |  

“Most crypto tokens are investment contracts under the Supreme Court’s Howey Test.” SEC Chairman Gary Gensler is not wavering from his view that most all crypto assets are securities. Gensler has consistently voiced this belief queueing up expectations for a growing number of enforcement actions… Read More

May 11, 2022 @ 7:52 am By Omar Faridi  |  

Peppermint Innovation (ASX: PIL) has reportedly been granted a license in order to operate as an Electronic Money Issuer (EMI) by the Central Bank of the Philippines, “in one of the biggest regulatory milestones achieved by the company.” The EMI license authorizes the company “to… Read More

May 10, 2022 @ 9:30 am By Omar Faridi  |  

The Department of State is offering a reward of “up to $10,000,000 for information leading to the identification and/or location of any individual(s) who hold a key leadership position in the Conti ransomware variant transnational organized crime group.” In addition, the Department is also offering… Read More

May 9, 2022 @ 6:47 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

Under the background of the Russian- Ukrainian War and sanctions in western countries, a global commodity crisis is “brewing” and the new global monetary system – Bretton Woods Ⅲ may be developing, said Zoltan Pozsar, an analyst at UBS. A recent report by Huobi Research… Read More

May 9, 2022 @ 5:34 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

The team at Coinhako is pleased to confirm that their firm has been granted the Monetary Authority of Singapore’s (MAS) official approval “for a Major Payment Institution (MPI) license.” Securing the full license means that the firm will be able “to legally operate as regulated… Read More

May 9, 2022 @ 5:26 pm By JD Alois  |  

SPACs, once red hot topping the traditional IPO market, have dimmed in recent months as the Securities and Exchange Commission has proposed new rules that may make the financing vehicle less viable. Today, the most prominent investment bank in the US, Goldman Sachs (NYSE:GS), has… Read More

May 9, 2022 @ 11:58 am By JD Alois  |  

The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has extended the comment period on proposed ESG rules that may compel public firms to disclose their climate risks and impact on the environment. The SEC has received broad criticism in regards to the rushed nature of the rulemaking… Read More

May 9, 2022 @ 10:52 am By JD Alois  |  

A Twitter thread by CrypTones, an individual who says they are a securities attorney working for a crypto firm, said the Otherside NFT sale is unregistered security as it checks all of the boxes under the Howey Test. OtherSideMeta is a project created by YugaLabs,… Read More

May 9, 2022 @ 10:22 am By JD Alois  |  

Announced last week, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) revealed its intent to step up its crypto enforcement actions with a newly renamed Crypto Assets and Cyber Unit doubling its headcount. The SEC outlined its reinvigorated mission as targeting digital asset offerings, crypto exchanges, lending… Read More

May 8, 2022 @ 6:38 pm By JD Alois  |  

Last week it was reported that the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) was doubling the size of its crypto enforcement team. The SEC also revealed that it had rebranded its Cyber Unit to the Crypto Assets and Cyber Unit to reflect its additional focus on… Read More

May 8, 2022 @ 4:45 pm By JD Alois  |  

Senator Elizabeth Warren and Senator Tina Smith have sent a letter to Abigail Johnson, CEO of Fidelity Investments, taking her to task for allowing investors to include Bitcoin in their retirement accounts. Late last month, Fidelity announced the move claiming its workplace Digital Assets Account… Read More

May 8, 2022 @ 10:26 am By JD Alois  |  

The US Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) has targeted a crypto mixer platform for the very first time. According to a statement by Treasury, Blender.io (Blender) has been sanctioned by the US government. Blender is utilized by North Korea  for… Read More

May 6, 2022 @ 2:36 pm By JD Alois  |  

The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has once again filed fraud charges against a crypto operation. The SEC alleges that MCC International Corp. (MCC), which does business as Mining Capital Coin Corp., its founders Luiz Carlos Capuci, Jr. (aka Junior Caputti or Capuci) and Emerson… Read More

May 6, 2022 @ 10:31 am By JD Alois  |  

The Securities and Exchange Commission has settled charges against NVIDIA (NASDAQ:NVDA) regarding allegations of inadequate disclosures concerning the impact of cryptomining on the company’s gaming business. Without admitting or denying the SEC’s findings, NVIDIA has agreed to a cease-and-desist order and to pay a $5.5… Read More

May 6, 2022 @ 9:48 am By JD Alois  |  

The UK Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) has distributed a Dear CEO letter to firms pitching credit in relation to their potentially misleading advertising. The FCA states that it has issued almost 28,000 consumer credit firms warning them not to use terms such as “no credit… Read More

May 5, 2022 @ 6:30 pm By JD Alois  |  

California Governor Gavin Newsom issued an Executive Order this week claiming to be the first state in the nation to begin creating a comprehensive and harmonized framework for responsible Web3 technology. According to a statement posted by the Governor’s office, the goal is to foster… Read More

May 5, 2022 @ 2:46 pm By JD Alois  |  

The US House Committee on Financial Services has distributed its May Committee schedule. Several hearings of note are on the list. First, on May 11th at 10 AM ET, the Subcommittee on Investor Protection, Entrepreneurship, and Capital Markets will convene for a hybrid hearing entitled,… Read More

May 4, 2022 @ 10:29 pm By JD Alois  |  

This past March, Chairman Gary Gensler announced the Securities and Exchange Commission was aiming to require disclosure on climate impact for registered firms. The Fact Sheet may be viewed here. Climate-related information would be required in firms’ registration statements and annual reports, including information about… Read More

May 4, 2022 @ 4:54 pm By JD Alois  |  

The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has announced charges and a court-ordered asset freeze against two individuals who allegedly generated over $12 million by engaging in a ploy to “deceptively obtain stock pick information” from Motley Fool subscription services before it was disseminated to its… Read More