In episode 11 of Hashing It Out, Cointelegraph’s Elisha Owusu Akyaw speaks to Steven McClurg, the chief investment officer of Valkyrie Investments, about the state of Bitcoin (BTC) exchange-traded funds (ETFs) and the way forward. Regulators in the United States have mounted stiff opposition against listing Bitcoin spot ETFs even though Canadian and European regulators
Regulation
The United States’ Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) has reportedly asked potential rescuers of some failed U.S. banks to not support any crypto services. The FDIC regulators have asked banks interested in acquiring failed U.S. lenders like Silicon Valley Bank and Signature Bank to submit their bids by March 17, Reuters reported. The authority will
The District Court of the Southern District of New York declined the United States government’s reasonings for halting the acquisition of bankrupt brokerage company Voyager by Binance.US. According to Judge Michael Wiles, any protractions with the deal will harm the interests of Voyager’s former clients, who are waiting to return their funds. The decision to
Amid all the chaos around multiple bank runs in the United States, Cathie Wood, CEO of asset management firm ARK Invest, said cryptocurrencies acted as a safe haven amid the ongoing banking crisis in the United States. She blamed the recent downfall of the likes of Silicon Valley Bank (SVB), Signature and others on the
The Reserve Bank of Australia and Treasury have been holding private meetings with executives from Coinbase, with discussions revolving around the future of crypto regulation in Australia. Responding to Cointelegraph’s request for comment, an RBA spokesperson confirmed recent reports that these private meetings had occurred, stating that Coinbase met with the RBA’s Payments Policy and
The United States Federal Reserve has confirmed a July launch date for its long-awaited instant payments system, seen by some as an alternative to central bank digital currencies (CBDCs) and stablecoins. The instant payment network will settle payments in seconds and can support transactions between consumers, merchants and banks. It does not rely on blockchain
United States Securities and Exchange Commission Chair Gary Gensler has again suggested that proof-of-stake coins may be securities. He expressed his view on March 15 after a commission meeting on cybersecurity issues. Gensler was asked by reporters about his reaction to statements made by Commodity Futures Trading Commission Chair Rostin Behnam at a Senate Agricultural
Massachusetts Senator Elizabeth Warren, one of the more prominent anti-crypto voices in the United States Congress, has called on Jerome Powell to recuse himself amid an internal probe at the Federal Reserve. Speaking to reporters in Washington D.C. on March 15, Warren said Powell had led “the de-regulatory movement” at the Fed potentially touching upon
The United States Justice Department announced on March 15 that it was pressing charges against a resident of Hanoi, Vietnam, in connection to the operation of the ChipMixer. The announcement came shortly after it became known that a Europol action led by German law enforcement had closed down the Vietnam-based crypto mixer. The U.S. Attorney’s
Tom Emmer, Majority Whip of the United States House of Representatives, has reiterated concerns that the federal government is “weaponizing” concerns around the banking industry to go after crypto. In a March 15 letter, Emmer called on Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation chair Martin Gruenberg to answer questions as to whether the government corporation has specifically
At Tel Aviv FinTech Week 2023, Yoav Soffer, the advisor to the deputy governor at the Bank of Israel, touched on the topic of central bank digital currencies (CBDCs) as an efficient cross-border payment option. The talk comes after the Bank for International Settlements (BIS) concluded its research on international retail and remittance payments via
The adoption of blockchain is the right direction for Russia to solve its current settlement issues, according to an executive at Russia’s largest bank, Sberbank. Blockchain technology has matured over the past few years to offer new capabilities that potentially enable Russia to create more efficient payment systems, Sberbank’s first deputy chairman Alexander Vedyakhin said.
United States officials want to remove a provision included in bankrupt lender Voyager Digital’s plan to sell its digital assets to crypto exchange Binance.US that would prevent them from legally pursuing anyone involved with the sale. In a motion filed on March 14 in a New York Bankruptcy Court, U.S. Trustee William Harrington and other
Crypto bank Anchorage Digital announced it would be letting go of 75 employees, representing approximately 20% of its workforce, citing regulatory uncertainty in the United States as a factor in its decision. In a March 14 statement Anchorage labeled the layoffs as “a strategic realignment to better focus our resources,” and pointed to “broad macroeconomic challenges,
The cryptocurrency-friendly Signature Bank was reportedly being investigated by two United States government bodies prior to its collapse. According to a March 15 Bloomberg report citing people familiar with the matter, investigators with the Justice Department were examining whether Signature took adequate measures to detect potential money laundering by its clients. It was noted the
The United States Justice Department and the Securities Exchange Commission (SEC) have reportedly launched inquiries into the sudden collapse of Silicon Valley Bank (SVB) — which was shuttered by regulators last week amid a historic bank run. According to “people familiar with the matter,” — cited in a March 14 report from The Wall Street
The European Parliament passed the Data Act on March 14. The comprehensive bill was intended to “boost innovation by removing barriers obstructing access to industrial data.” Among its provisions is an article that would require smart contracts to be alterable. The legislation established rules for fairly sharing data generated by “connected products or related services,”
Cryptocurrency exchange Coinbase filed an amicus brief in support of a motion to dismiss the case brought by the United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) against former Coinbase product manager Ishan Wahi and other for insider trading. Coinbase condemns the defendants conduct, it said in the brief, but supports the defendants’ motion because of
The ongoing crisis of banks in the United States has many positive implications for Bitcoin (BTC), according to an executive at the hardware wallet firm Trezor. On March 14, Bitcoin broke $26,000, a price level not seen since June 2022, posting the biggest gains this year so far. The multi-month high followed a series of
Governor Mark Gordon of the United States state of Wyoming recently signed a bill preventing the forced disclosure of private keys in a move to protect the privacy of digital asset owners. The incoming law reads, “No person shall be compelled to produce a private key or make a private key known to any other