Politics, Legal & Regulation

September 14, 2022 @ 9:41 pm By JD Alois  |  

The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) is continuing its pursuit of platforms that are issuing digital assets without being registered as securities. In a lawsuit filed today against Chicago Crypto Capital LLC (CCC) and several executives, the SEC alleges the defendants defrauded investors. According to… Read More

September 14, 2022 @ 3:49 pm By JD Alois  |  

Do Kwon, creator of the failed algorithmic stablecoin TerraUSD and LUNA, is the target of an arrest warrant in South Korea, according to a report. South Korean publication Chosun writes, that Kwon is being pursued by the Seoul Southern District Prosecutor’s Office’s Financial and Securities… Read More

September 14, 2022 @ 10:48 am By JD Alois  |  

On Monday, the US Department of Justice announced it had received a guilty plea from the “first-ever cryptocurrency insider trading case.” Originally covered this past July, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) simultaneously filed insider trading charges along with the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the… Read More

September 13, 2022 @ 8:57 pm By JD Alois  |  

This is interesting. At some point today, the Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC), part of the US Department of Treasury, posted an FAQ on Tornado Cash, a crypto mixer that was recently the target of an action by OFAC. Last month, Tornado Cash was… Read More

September 13, 2022 @ 12:42 pm By JD Alois  |  

The Financial Technology Association (FTA) has posted research on the Buy Now Pay Later (BNPL) sector that highlights the positives of the Fintech service. The survey, created in partnership with the Morning Consult, arrives on the same day that the Senate Banking Committee held a… Read More

September 13, 2022 @ 9:45 am By JD Alois  |  

Today, the Senate Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs, will hold a hearing on New Consumer Financial Products and the Impacts to Workers – typically these products are provided by Fintechs. Last week, Committee Chairman, Senator Sherrod Brown, hosted a “listening session” regarding new… Read More

September 13, 2022 @ 8:27 am By JD Alois  |  

Yesterday, several US Senators, all Democrats, issued a statement regarding concerns of crypto scams proliferating on Meta (Facebook) (NASDAQ:META). A letter signed by these Senators was sent to Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg. Signed by, Senators Bob Mendez, Sherrod Brown, Elizabeth Warren, Diane Feinstein, Bernie Sanders… Read More

September 12, 2022 @ 11:24 am By JD Alois  |  

Earlier today, the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) posted a letter addressed Tharman Shanmugaratnam, Senior Minister and Minister in charge of MAS. An MP, Derrick Goh, inquired about buy now – pay later (BNPL) activity in the country. Responding to the inquiry, the Minister shared… Read More

September 11, 2022 @ 6:35 pm By JD Alois  |  

The JOBS Act of 2012, the legislation that also legalized online capital formation, included multiple regulatory updates. One, Title 1, has been a notable success as it has helped a growing number of smaller firms to go public. Title III created Regulation Crowdfunding or Reg… Read More

September 10, 2022 @ 3:22 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

As Dubai seeks to support crypto and blockchain innovation, Blockchain.com has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with the Dubai Virtual Assets Regulatory Authority (VARA). That means that soon both retail and institutional clients will be able “to access the financial system of the future… Read More

September 9, 2022 @ 6:08 pm By JD Alois  |  

The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has created two new offices – one focused specifically on the digital asset or crypto-asset sector. According to the SEC, the Office of Crypto Assets has been added to the Division of Corporation Finance’s Disclosure Review Program (DRP). The… Read More

September 9, 2022 @ 9:48 am By JD Alois  |  

Last month, the US Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) applied sanctions to Tornado Cash, a crypto mixing platform. The second sanctions hitting a mixer, the enforcement action is still the first of its kind as the code running Tornado.cash was open… Read More

September 8, 2022 @ 2:12 pm By JD Alois  |  

SEC Chairman Gary Gensler continues to assert that pretty much all digital assets are securities and should be regulated as such. As part of the SEC Speaks series, Chair Gensler said that of the approximately 10,000 “tokens” he believes they are securities and the few… Read More

September 8, 2022 @ 9:54 am By JD Alois  |  

The drums keep pounding louder in regards to the need to regulate cryptocurrencies – perhaps, more importantly, stablecoins which act as a proxy for fiat currency. As was reported earlier, Fed Vice Chair Michael Barr echoed the above sentiment. Today, Fed Chair Jerome Powell is… Read More

September 8, 2022 @ 8:53 am By JD Alois  |  

The European Central Bank (ECB) announced an interest rate increase of 75 basis points – matching the US Federal Reserves’ last bump – as it targets a 2% rate of inflation. The rate increase was the largest ever in the history of the ECB. The… Read More

September 8, 2022 @ 8:40 am By JD Alois  |  

Yesterday, during a speech delivered at the Brookings Institute, Federal Reserve Vice Chairman Michael Barr, addressed the topic of risk in financial markets along with pointed criticism of stablecoins specifically. While warning about private money, Barr embraced the broader topic of innovation in financial services…. Read More

September 6, 2022 @ 11:57 am By JD Alois  |  

The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), Investor Advisory Committee (IAC) has scheduled a meeting for September 21st. According to the Sunshine Act Notice, the IAC will be discussing Climate Disclosure along with a recommendation made by the Committee. Currently, the SEC is proposing new rules… Read More

September 6, 2022 @ 10:41 am By Freddie Digby  |  

As firms battle with reduced revenue, Freddie Digby, CCO of Adsum, stresses that halting your investment in tech should be the last thing a business should be considering ahead of a recession The identity of the nation’s next Prime Minister was just one of many… Read More

September 5, 2022 @ 1:07 am By Omar Faridi  |  

BXM Link AG has been granted membership confirmation from the Financial Services Standards Association (VQF), a Swiss self-regulatory organization (SRO) officially recognized by FINMA, the Federal Financial Market Supervisory Authority. The VQF membership granted to BXM Link AG, which will be “completely finalized soon after… Read More

September 3, 2022 @ 3:44 pm By JD Alois  |  

The Blockchain Association posted a series of tweets last week critizing pending legislation they believe will undermine the digital asset ecosystem in California. The Association claims that State Assembly Bill A.B. 2269 is “shortsighted” creating “unhelpful restrictions that would impede crypto innovators’ ability to operate.”… Read More