The United States Securities and Exchange Commission has again been accused of overstepping its authority and unfairly labeling crypto assets as securities, this time in its insider trading case against ex-Coinbase employees. In an amicus brief filing on Feb. 22, the U.S.-based Chamber of Digital Commerce argued the case should be dismissed as it represented an
Regulation
Cryptocurrency exchange CoinEx has been sued by the New York Attorney General, Letitia James, alleging the firm falsely represented itself as an exchange due to failing to register as a securities and commodities broker-dealer in the state. A 38-page petition filed by James in the New York Supreme Court on Feb. 22 alleged CoinEx “engaged
The founders behind the alleged $340 million “global Ponzi” scheme Forsage have been indicted by a federal grand jury in the District of Oregon. The four Russian founders — Vladimir Okhotnikov, Olena Oblamska, Mikhail Sergeev, and Sergey Maslakov — have been formally accused of having key roles in the scheme which raised approximately $340 million from
Updated (Feb. 22 at 9:00 pm in UTC): This article has been updated to include Dapper Lab’s comments on the case. NBA Top Shot Moments nonfungible tokens (NFTs) may be considered a security, as it meets the requirements under the United States security laws, according to court filings on Feb 22. The decision comes as
California Representative Maxine Waters, ranking member of the United States House Financial Services Committee, has called for coordination and cooperation between government agencies and lawmakers to address crypto regulation. Speaking to Cointelegraph, Representative Waters suggested that recent enforcement actions on the crypto space from the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and Commodity Futures Trading
On Feb. 13, a federal judge put the Securities and Exchange Commission and the Commodity Futures Trading Commission cases against former FTX CEO Sam Bankman-Fried on hold. You’ll be forgiven if you missed this story — headlines and social media were dominated by the breaking news that the SEC was suing crypto firm Paxos for
The Canadian Securities Administrators (CSA) published a notice on Feb. 22 describing new commitments it expects from crypto asset trading platforms (CTPs) seeking registration in Canada. The CTPs will enter into a new version of preregistration undertakings (PRUs), which are legally binding documents. Registered CTPs will be contacted by their principal regulators about compliance with
The United States Federal Trade Commission said it had started an investigation of crypto lending firm Voyager Digital parallel to the company’s bankruptcy proceedings. In a Feb. 22 filing in U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of New York, the FTC said it was investigating Voyager and its employees “for their deceptive and unfair
Minnesota Representative Tom Emmer has introduced legislation in the United States House of Representatives that could limit the Federal Reserve from issuing a central bank digital currency, or CBDC. In a Feb. 22 announcement, Representative Emmer said he had introduced the ‘CBDC Anti-Surveillance State Act’ in an apparent effort to protect Americans’ right to financial
The Bank for International Settlements (BIS) has long taken a cautious approach to Bitcoin (BTC) and cryptocurrencies. However, there is no need for caution anymore as the “battle has been won” between fiat and crypto, according to BIS. BIS general manager Agustín Carstens, who made the claim, highlighted that “technology doesn’t make for trusted money,”
The United States Congress needs to take control of crypto legislation to make it a more “open process” where the entire marketplace is looked over “comprehensively,” suggests the chief of the prominent U.S. crypto industry body. In a Feb. 22 Bloomberg interview, Blockchain Association CEO Kristin Smith said the industry needs U.S. lawmakers to lead
Attorneys working on behalf of former FTX CEO Sam Bankman-Fried have agreed to pay for a security expert to assist the federal judge overseeing his fraud case in navigating modern encryption technology to aid in possibly modifying Bankman-Fried’s bail terms. Bankman-Fried lawyers Christian Everdell and Mark Cohen sent a letter to Judge Lewis Kaplan on
The staking services offered by cryptocurrency exchange Coinbase are “fundamentally different” to what was offered by its peer exchange Kraken — which recently came under fire from the United States securities regulator — according to Coinbase’s head lawyer. Paul Grewal, Coinbase’s chief legal officer, made the comments in his response to a shareholder question regarding
The Proof of Stake Alliance (POSA), a nonprofit industry alliance, has published two white papers examining on the status of deposit tokens in United States securities and tax law on Feb. 21. The papers were authored by representatives of over 10 industry groups. Liquid staking is the practice on blockchains using a proof-of-stake consensus mechanism
The New York State Department of Financial Services (NYDFS) has announced enhancements to its ability to detect illegal activities with virtual currency among the entities its regulates. The new capacities are part of its efforts to keep pace with the industry and respond proactively to the virtual currency market, it said. The NYDFS released a
Stablecoin issuer Paxos was reportedly discussing the Binance USD (BUSD) stablecoin with the United States Securities and Exchange Commission following a Wells notice from the financial regulator. According to a Feb. 21 Reuters report, Paxos chief executive officer Charles Cascarilla said the firm was “engaged in constructive discussions” with the SEC and would continue to
The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) continues to develop its central bank digital currency (CBDC), the eNaira, but this time it’s calling for backup. According to a Feb. 21 Bloomberg report, the CBN is in talks with new “technology partners” to develop a new and improved system to manage the eNaira. According to sources close
The Moscow bureau of Interpol detained a British national charged by the United States Department of Justice (DoJ). The man is accused of conspiring to violate U.S. sanctions on North Korea. According to local media, on Feb. 21, Christopher Emms was arrested in Moscow upon the “red notice” from Interpol. Th 31-year-old British citizen was
Hong Kong’s ambition of becoming a cryptocurrency hub is reportedly seeing subtle support from the Chinese government, in what could be seen as a contrast to the mainland’s hard-line anti-crypto stance. In October last year, the government of Hong Kong floated the idea of introducing its own bill to regulate crypto and allow retail investors
Institutional investors may have gotten the jitters on crypto in the wake of the regulatory crackdown in the United States, with digital asset investment products seeing the largest weekly outflow of 2023. On Feb. 20, institutional crypto fund manager CoinShares reported that digital asset investment products saw outflows totaling $32 million last week, the largest