United States Senators Elizabeth Warren and Ron Wyden asked the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board (PCAOB) to hold auditors accountable for failed crypto projects. The PCAOB — a non-profit overseeing the audits of public companies and other issuers — recently stated that proof-of-reserves (POR) are not equivalent to audits and are not conducted in accordance
Regulation
Almost immediately after USD Coin (USDC) issuer Circle revealed it was not able to withdraw $3.3 billion of its $40 billion from Silicon Valley Bank (SVB), the resultant sell-off caused the price of the stablecoin to fall below its $1 mark. On March 9, Circle had initiated a wire transfer for the removal of its
On March 10, Blockchain payment tech company and USD Coin (USDC) issuers Circle confirmed that wires initiated on Thursday to remove balances have not yet been processed, leaving $3.3 billion of its $40 billion USDC reserves at Silicon Valley Bank (SVB). Concerns have been growing over USDC late this week due to Circle disclosing in
The United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ordered against a rule change to allow investment manager VanEck to create a spot Bitcoin Trust on March 10. Commissioner Mark Uyeda joined his colleague Hester Peirce in releasing a statement that criticized the commission’s decision not to approve the listing and trading of the financial product.
Welcome to Finance Redefined, your weekly dose of essential decentralized finance (DeFi) insights — a newsletter crafted to bring you significant developments over the last week. DeFi has become a prominent choice for investors after multiple centralized finance (CeFi) collapses throughout 2022. Some key interest areas for investors include “NFTfi,” on-chain derivative platforms, decentralized stablecoins
USD Coin (USDC) issuer Circle exposure to the United States banking system sits near to $9 billion, according to its latest audit report from January. Circle’s reserves are held in a number of regulated financial institutions in the country, including Silvergate, Silicon Valley Bank, and Bank of New York (BNY) Mellon. According to the report,
Kristi Noem, the governor of South Dakota, has used her authority to veto legislation aimed at changing the definition of money to exclude cryptocurrencies. In a March 9 notice to South Dakota house speaker Hugh Bartels, Noem said she had vetoed House Bill 1193, which proposed amending the state’s Uniform Commercial Code, or UCC, to
Four United States Republican senators led by Bill Hagerty have written a letter to the heads of federal banking regulatory agencies, questioning the ideological motivation behind recent regulatory moves in regard to cryptocurrency. They compared the regulators’ policies to the Obama administration’s Operation Choke Point. The senators addressed Federal Reserve Board Chair Jerome Powell, Federal
Nigerian President-elect Bola Tinubu has recently released a manifesto that, if implemented, would enable the use of blockchain technology and cryptocurrencies in the nation’s banking and finance sector. The manifesto suggests reviewing existing Nigerian Security Exchange Commission (SEC) regulations on digital assets to make them more business-friendly. The new regulation provides a framework for regulating
A federal judge in Florida, United States, is considering dismissing NBA superstar Shaquille O’Neal and tennis athlete Naomi Osaka from the FTX lawsuit, pointing out that it’s unclear whether the two have been served. In a paperless order, U.S. District Judge K. Michael Moore reportedly told the plaintiffs to provide cause on why O’Neal and
Thailand’s Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) is preparing to hold a new public hearing on a potential ban on staking and lending services in the country. Thailand’s SEC officially announced on March 8 that the authority is seeking public comments on a draft regulation prohibiting virtual asset service providers (VASPs) from providing or getting involved
A crypto startup backed by the American rapper Jayceon Terrell Taylor, better known as “The Game,” had its registration revoked by the United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) for violating securities laws after failing to file periodic reports. ParagonCoin Limited, a crypto firm focusing on the marijuana industry, had its license revoked by the
The United States Department of Justice (DOJ) has filed an appeal against the latest decision in the case for the selling of assets between Voyager Digital and Binance.US. On March 8, the U.S. Trustee for Region 2 made the appeal to the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York against the approval
The United States Federal Reserve is set to create a “specialized team of experts” to keep up with developments in the cryptocurrency industry, according to a Fed official, amid concerns from the Fed of “unregulated” stablecoins. Speaking at the Peterson Institute for International Economics in Washington on Mar. 9, Vice Chair for Supervision Michael Barr
The collapse of crypto exchange FTX and other bearish events in the space were at the center of discussions among lawmakers and witnesses at the inaugural hearing of the United States House Committee on Financial Services’ Subcommittee on Digital Assets, Financial Technology and Inclusion. Addressing lawmakers at the March 9 hearing, BitGo co-founder and CEO
A phased-in 30% tax on cryptocurrency mining electricity costs has been proposed by United States president Joe Biden in his administration’s 2024 fiscal year budget. A Department of the Treasury supplementary budget explainer paper released Mar. 9 said any firm using resources — whether they be owned or rented — would be “subject to an
New York state Attorney General Letitia James announced that she has filed suit against cryptocurrency exchange KuCoin after she was able to buy and sell crypto on the exchange, which is not registered in New York. “This action is one of the first times a regulator is claiming in court that ETH, one of the
The closure of Silvergate Bank is not a systematic risk for the United States banking system but could have a significant impact on the crypto markets, multiple sources told Cointelegraph. The consequences may include increasing banking concentration among a few partners and presenting challenges for venture capital firms seeking to establish banking relationships in the
Statements from Republican lawmakers ahead of the inaugural hearing of the United States House of Representatives subcommittee focused on digital assets, financial technology and inclusion suggest partisan divides on crypto regulation. In a March 6 memo, House Financial Services Committee Republicans said the first hearing of the Subcommittee on Digital Assets, Financial Technology, and Inclusion
The United States Treasury has announced deputies of the multilateral Russian Elites, Proxies, and Oligarchs, or REPO, Task Force have targeted crypto in Russian entities’ attempts to evade sanctions. In a March 9 announcement, the U.S. Treasury said the task force had blocked or frozen more than $58 billion worth of assets subject to sanctions