Archives

July 24, 2022 @ 8:53 pm By JD Alois  |  

Last week, the  Securities and Exchange Commission filed a lawsuit against the perpetrators of an alleged insider trading scam utilizing privileged information from Coinbase. A former Coinbase manager, along with two co-conspirators, have been charged as well. The former Coinbase manager, Ishan Wahi, his brother… Read More

July 18, 2022 @ 3:59 pm By JD Alois  |  

The Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CTFC) has issued a statement regarding U. S. District Court for the Southern District of New York entering a consent order on for a permanent injunction, monetary sanctions, and disgorgement of ill-gotten proceeds against Jimmy Gale Watson of Dallas, Texas…. Read More

July 13, 2022 @ 1:49 pm By JD Alois  |  

IOSCO or the International Organization of Securities Commissions and the Bank for International Settlements (BIS) – Committee on Payments and Market Infrastructures (CPMI) have published final guidance on stablecoins. The guidance follows a proposal for consultation in 2021. The publication is called a “major step… Read More

June 30, 2022 @ 12:23 pm By JD Alois  |  

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

June 2, 2022 @ 2:34 pm By JD Alois  |  

Gemini Trust Company is the target of an enforcement action filed by the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC). The complaint was filed in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York against Gemini for making false or misleading statements of material facts… Read More

May 27, 2022 @ 4:33 pm By JD Alois  |  

SEC Commissioner Hester Peirce and CFTC Commissioner Caroline Pham have partnered on an Op-Ed published this week in the Hill calling for progress on the regulation of decentralization. Alluding to possible friction between the two agencies as regulators jostle as to which sector of crypto… Read More

May 19, 2022 @ 4:49 pm By JD Alois  |  

The Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) has filed an enforcement action alleging that Sam Ikkurty (aka Sreenivas I Rao), Ravishankar Avadhanam, and Jafia LLC, a company Ikkurty owns in Florida, with fraudulently soliciting at least $44 million to invest in a “so-called income fund” that sought… Read More

March 29, 2022 @ 7:03 pm By JD Alois  |  

The Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) has announced a consent order against defendants Abner Alejandro Tinoco, and his company, Kikit & Mess Investments, LLC. The order was entered in the Western District of Texas in regards to an enforcement action. The order imposes injunctive relief, including… Read More

March 24, 2022 @ 11:18 am By JD Alois  |  

The Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) says it has received inquiries from derivatives clearing organizations (DCO) or potential DCO applicants seeking to offer clearing of margined products directly to participants, such that participants would not clear through a futures commission merchant intermediary a non-intermediated model… Read More

October 15, 2021 @ 12:17 pm By JD Alois  |  

At the same time the CFTC announced its enforcement actions against Bitfinex and Tether, Commissioner Dawn D. Stump has issued a statement regarding the action by the regulator. Commissioner Stump says she agrees with the action taken by the Commission while expressing her concern regarding… Read More

September 29, 2021 @ 7:05 pm By JD Alois  |  

The Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) has filed charges against 14 entities for either failing to register as futures commission merchants (FCMs) or else making false and misleading claims of having CFTC registration and National Futures Association (NFA) membership. The CFTC is pursuing cease and… Read More

August 24, 2021 @ 9:15 am By JD Alois  |  

The Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) has created an infographic outlining how the agency regulates digital assets. The CFTC seeks to clarify “the fallacy of the question ‘Is it a commodity or a security’.” Posted by CFTC Commissioner Dawn D. Stump, the Commissioner says the… Read More

January 26, 2021 @ 3:22 pm By JD Alois  |  

The Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) has filed a federal civil enforcement action in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York charging Jeremy Spence of New York, alleging fraud for operating a Ponzi scheme involving digital assets such as Bitcoin and… Read More

December 17, 2020 @ 5:27 pm By JD Alois  |  

The Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) has published a Digital Assets Primer to provide information to the public about emerging concepts in digital assets. The document is said to be part of a series by LabCFTC, a relatively new division at the Commission that focuses… Read More

November 2, 2020 @ 3:57 pm By JD Alois  |  

The US Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) and the South African Reserve Bank (SARB) have signed a Statement of Intent to cooperate and support innovation through each authority’s respective financial technology (Fintech) initiative. More specifically, the CFTC’s LabCFTC and SARB’s Fintech Unit. LabCFTC’s mission is… Read More

October 21, 2020 @ 9:51 pm By JD Alois  |  

The Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC), Division of Swap Dealer and Intermediary Oversight (DSIO) has issued an advisory to futures commission merchants (FCMs) regarding the holding of virtual currency in segregated accounts. The advisory, in the form of a Staff Letter, provides guidance to FCMs… Read More

October 12, 2020 @ 2:31 pm By JD Alois  |  

Coinciding with DC Fintech Week (DCFW), LabCFTC, the innovation branch of the US Commodities Futures Trading Commission (CFTC), will host an event on October 21, 2020, entitled, “Empower Innovation 2020.” According to the CFTC, This is the second of three interactive virtual events hosted by… Read More

September 14, 2020 @ 10:25 pm By JD Alois  |  

The Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) has filed charges against four individuals pertaining to “fraudulently soliciting funds from customers to speculate in Bitcoin price movements.” Filed in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Texas, the CFTC alleges that Texas residents Mayco Alexis Maldonado… Read More

September 2, 2020 @ 1:36 pm By JD Alois  |  

The Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) has approved an Amended Order of Registration for LedgerX, LLC to clear additional products, subject to the terms and conditions specified in the order, as a derivatives clearing organization under the Commodity Exchange Act. LedgerX previously was approved to… Read More

July 3, 2019 @ 5:16 am By Cali Haan  |  

A judge in the state of New York has sentenced Blake Kantor (also known as “Bill Gordon”), 44, to 86 months’ (~7 years’) imprisonment and three years’ supervised release for defrauding 700 people in a binary options and cryptocurrency scheme. Kantor pleaded guilty to charges… Read More