Regulation

Venezuela’s president Nicolás Maduro has announced the reorganization of the National Superintendency of Crypto Assets, known as Sunacrip in Spanish, according to a decree issued on March 17. A new board will lead the reorganization, headed by Anabel Pereira Fernández, a lawyer who served as president of the Fondo de Garantía de Depositos y Protección

Before crypto exchange FTX and its founder Sam Bankman-Fried (SBF) got tied down around allegations of misappropriation of users’ funds, SBF was among the most influential crypto entrepreneurs. Long before FTX collapsed, an allegedly leaked email exchange with a top regulator shows SBF’s intent to get the exchange federally regulated. On May 28, 2022, nearly

The recent fall of major banks in the United States and the need for federal intervention reignited discussions to identify the most effective ways to safeguard the crumbling economies. Comparing the episode to the financial crisis of 2008, prominent economist Peter Schiff found that increasing banking regulations contribute to the worsening financial crisis. A deeper

Silicon Valley Bank UK (SVB UK) has granted millions of pounds in employee bonuses, just days after it was rescued by global banking giant HSBC for just 1 pound, according to unnamed sources. In a March 18 Sky News report citing unnamed sources, it was reported that payouts to SVB UK staff and senior executives

The Swiss National Bank (SNB) and Switzerland’s financial regulator reportedly believe that the acquisition of investment bank Credit Suisse by UBS, Switzerland’s largest bank, is the “only option” to prevent a “collapse in confidence” in Credit Suisse. According to a March 18 Financial Times report citing three people familiar with the situation, Switzerland is preparing

The Mid-size Bank Coalition of America (MBCA) has reportedly asked United States federal regulators to extend insurance on all deposits for the next two years. According to a March 18 Bloomberg report, the MBCA – a coalition of mid-size U.S. banks – sent a letter to the U.S. Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) asserting that extending

The lawyer representing crypto entrepreneur Sam Bankman-Fried (SBF) in the ongoing FTX case will soon present a revised bail package to Judge Lewis Kaplan of the Southern District of New York. The move comes after Kaplan expressed displeasure about SBF’s use of encrypted-messaging apps and virtual private network (VPN) services while out on bail. Legal

Institutional cryptocurrency custodian Protego’s conditional national trust banking charter has expired without it receiving permanent approval, according to a report in Fortune on March 17. Protego failed to meet pre-conversion requirements, the magazine reported. A spokesperson for the United States Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) told Fortune that the firm did not

Representatives from the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation and Federal Reserve will be testifying before the United States House Financial Services Commission in a newly announced hearing investigating the collapse of two major banks. In a March 17 notice, Representatives Maxine Waters and Patrick McHenry — ranking member and chair of the committee, respectively — said

Global economic conditions are tightening; interest rates are in flux; and inflation has yet to be curbed. Considering the economic headwinds, the fact that Silvergate Bank, Silicon Valley Bank and other banks are breaking is not surprising.  But why now? Quickly rising interest rates are extremely disruptive to banking models, but the collapse of these

Johan Van Overtveldt, a member of the European Parliament and the former Minister of Finance of Belgium, has called for a “strict ban” on crypto as a result of the current banking crisis. In a March 17 tweet, Overtveldt suggested lawmakers should consider banning cryptocurrencies as a “lesson” from the collapses of Silicon Valley Bank,

Signature Bank in particular served the likes of Paxos Trust and Celsius and other major crypto firms that suffered as a result of the decisions taken by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation and New York State Department of Financial Services. Meanwhile Silicon Valley Bank (SVB) reportedly handled over $5 billion of funds for a handful

Troubled SVB Financial Group has filed a voluntary petition for a court-supervised reorganization under Chapter 11 in the United States Bankruptcy Court to preserve value. Announcing the news on March 17, SVB said that the funds of its venture capital arm SVB Capital and the broker-dealer SVB Securities, as well as funds of general partner

Signum Digital, a joint venture of Coinstreet and Somerley, has announced that it has received an approval-in-principle from the Hong Kong Securities and Futures Commission (SFC) for its security token offering (STO) and subscription platform. Security tokens are a new category of digital assets built on blockchain technology representing ownership of tangible assets, such as

As the United Kingdom gradually develops its own comprehensive crypto framework, His Majesty’s Treasury is introducing a separate category for crypto assets in tax return forms. The particular line should appear in tax forms in 2024–25. On March 15, the U.K. Treasury published a report paper on the national budget for Spring 2023. The document

College students wishing to intern for the United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) are in luck — the regulator has opened applications for its Scholars Program for Fall 2023. The SEC is after “student trainees” for its business and legal programs, with the business program paying between $15.09 to $28.83 per hour for the

Michael Bennet, a United States senator representing the state of Colorado, has suggested that banks associated with crypto firms did not make “prudentially sound” decisions. Speaking at a March 16 hearing of the Senate Finance Committee, Bennet brought up the recent closure of the crypto-friendly Signature Bank with lawmakers and Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen in

The Solana-based decentralized exchange (DEX) Orca will block all United States users from trading using its web interface beginning March 31, according to a March 16 notice posted to its official website.  The exchange did over $634 million worth of trading volume in February and has over $46 million total value locked in Solana smart

The United States-based crypto advocacy group Blockchain Association called on financial regulators to provide information related to the potential “de-banking of crypto firms” in the wake of the failures of banks including Signature, Silicon Valley Bank, and Silvergate. In a March 16 notice, the Blockchain Association said it had submitted Freedom of Information Act requests

European lawmakers are moving forward with the introduction of a European Union-wide digital wallet by passing a plenary vote on moving the initiative to interinstitutional negotiations. The European Parliament on March 15 voted in favor of negotiating a mandate for talks with the EU member states on the revision of the new European Digital Identity