Archives

February 21, 2025 @ 9:29 am By JD Alois  |  

In January 2024, the then Chairman of the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) had his X account hacked. The individual who commandeered the account used his access to announce the approval of Bitcoin ETFs, impersonating Chair Gary Gensler – one day before the SEC intended… Read More

February 20, 2025 @ 4:18 pm By JD Alois  |  

The Accredited Investor definition is one of the most obtuse rules enforced by the Securities and Exchange Commission. In place for decades, the rule defines who can participate in certain private securities offerings. Broadly speaking, an individual is deemed Accredited if they earn over $200,000… Read More

February 20, 2025 @ 1:17 pm By JD Alois  |  

The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has created a new Cyber and Emerging Technologies Unit (CETU). This new entity aims to protect investors from bad actors utilizing technology to commit fraud and replaces the previous Crypto Assets and Cyber Unit. CETU will be led by… Read More

February 20, 2025 @ 9:44 am By JD Alois  |  

DOGE or the Department of Government Efficiency, has been running through the various federal bureaucracies looking for fat to cut and employees to eliminate. While there has been much hand-wringing from opposition Democrats and individuals impacted, the majority of the US is supporting the move… Read More

February 17, 2025 @ 11:03 am By JD Alois  |  

The Securities and Exchange Commission has posted a request for candidates interested in serving on the SEC’s Investor Advisory Committee (IAC). The IAC was the creation of the Dodd-Frank Act and aims to support individual investors by providing guidance to the Commission. In the posting,… Read More

February 17, 2025 @ 10:38 am By JD Alois  |  

Climate rules, approved by the Securities and Exchange Commission, have been put on pause by the new leadership at the SEC. Former Chairman Gary Gensler has been replaced by more business and investor-friendly Acting Chair Mark Uyeda, who has moved quickly to address the shortcomings… Read More

February 14, 2025 @ 4:42 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

The US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) recently acknowledged Grayscale’s proposal for a Dogecoin (DOGE) exchange-traded fund and is currently interested in receiving public comments. In a 19b-4 form shared this past Thursday (February 13, 2025) confirming NYSE Arca‘s filing, on behalf of Grayscale, the… Read More

February 12, 2025 @ 5:03 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

Eric Council Jr. from Athens, Alabama, has confessed to his role in a scheme involving the unauthorized takeover of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC)‘s X account, which was then allegedly used to disseminate false and misleading information and manipulate Bitcoin (BTC) prices. The… Read More

February 11, 2025 @ 12:30 pm By JD Alois  |  

The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has announced a change regarding rules enacted by the Commission during the Biden Administration that sought to target climate disclosure for reporting firms. As part of the controversial ESG initiatives launched by the previous Chairman of the SEC, Gary… Read More

February 9, 2025 @ 11:50 am By JD Alois  |  

After years of actively undermining digital asset innovation, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) will take steps to recognize and enable new technology that will improve the securities ecosystem and potentially help create new asset classes traded around the world. During the Biden Administration,  the… Read More

February 3, 2025 @ 10:22 am By JD Alois  |  

The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has been criticized in the past for being overly aggressive in its enforcement actions. It should come as no surprise that regulators are going to regulate, and the SEC sometimes appears to be a hammer looking for a nail… Read More

January 27, 2025 @ 1:19 pm By JD Alois  |  

ICAN, or Investors Choice Advocates Network, is a non-profit that advocates on behalf of underserved investors and those individuals deemed to be unfairly targeted by the Securities and Exchange Commission. ICAN supports investors’ rights, which sometimes suffer from too much government and too little freedom…. Read More

January 25, 2025 @ 1:00 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

CLS Global FZC LLC, a financial services firm known in the cryptocurrency industry as a “market maker,” has agreed to resolve criminal charges relating to its fraudulent manipulation of cryptocurrency trading volume. As part of the criminal resolution, CLS Global will plead guilty to the… Read More

January 24, 2025 @ 4:00 pm By JD Alois  |  

The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has filed charges against the CEO of a startup artificial intelligence (AI) firm and his wife. The SEC alleges fraud involving fake audit reports and other financial documents. A criminal indictment has simultaneously been revealed, charging the duo with… Read More

January 23, 2025 @ 6:28 pm By JD Alois  |  

SEC Staff Accounting Bulletin (SAB) 121 is no more. Today, SAB 122 rescinded the guidance of SAB 121 – the bulletin that “expressed the views of the staff regarding the accounting for obligations to safeguard crypto-assets an entity holds for platform users.” Effectively, this made… Read More

January 22, 2025 @ 6:10 pm By JD Alois  |  

This past week, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) announced a new Crypto Task Force established with the mission of creating a regulatory framework for digital assets. After years of regulation by enforcement, the SEC is finally doing its job. The change arrived with the departure of Gary Gensler as… Read More

January 22, 2025 @ 12:26 pm By JD Alois  |  

The new Trump administration has moved quickly to reverse the Biden administration’s anti-digital asset innovation policies. This week, Commissioner Mark Uyeda was selected as the acting Chair of the SEC. His first act was to create a Crypto Task Force led by Commissioner Hester Peirce,… Read More

January 21, 2025 @ 9:27 am By JD Alois  |  

Commissioner Mark Uyeda has been designated the Acting Chair of the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) following the inauguration of President Donald Trump and the exit of the Biden Administration. Former SEC Chairman Gary Gensler officially exited his leadership role at the Commission on the… Read More

January 20, 2025 @ 10:10 am By Omar Faridi  |  

The US Securities and Exchange Commission has recently announced that, based on its preliminary results, it filed 200 total enforcement actions in the first quarter of fiscal year 2025, which ran from October through December 2024, including “118 standalone enforcement actions.” The Division filed a… Read More

January 16, 2025 @ 6:59 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has filed an appeal against a US federal judge’s decision in its partially unsuccessful case against enterprise blockchain firm Ripple Labs, a move that has been heavily criticized by Ripple’s chief legal officer. In a Jan. 15 filing… Read More