Silvergate Bank and its CEO Alan Lane have been accused of “aiding and abetting” a “multibillion-dollar fraudulent scheme orchestrated by Sam Bankman-Fried (SBF)” and two of his entities, FTX and Alameda Research, in a newly proposed class action lawsuit. The proposed class-action lawsuit was filed in the United States District Court of the Northern District
Regulation
Users of bankrupt crypto exchange FTX have reportedly taken aim at financiers who promoted the platform suggesting their efforts added an “air of legitimacy” to the now-defunct exchange, a case labeled as “tricky” by a crypto lawyer. A Feb. 15 Bloomberg report revealed a class-action suit filed Feb. 14 by FTX investors against venture capital
The official committee of Celsius creditors is proposing to sue Celsius co-founder Alex Mashinsky and other executives for “fraud, recklessness, gross mismanagement and self-interested conduct” that eventually led to the collapse of the crypto lender. In a proposed complaint filed in a New York Bankruptcy Court on Feb. 14, attorneys representing the Official Committee of
Despite attempts to police cryptocurrency through enforcement actions, United States financial regulators “are bound by legal reality” and Congress will ultimately decide crypto regulations the policy expert for the crypto advocacy group Blockchain Association has suggested. The association’s chief policy officer, Jake Chervinsky, shared his views in an extensive Feb. 14 Twitter thread on the
USD Coin (USDC) issuer Circle has denied rumors that it received a “Wells Notice” over its United States dollar-pegged stablecoin. On Feb. 14, a now-deleted tweet from Fox Business reporter Eleanor Terrett claimed Circle had been ordered by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) to cease the sale of USDC — due to the
The Blockchain Association filed an amicus brief Feb. 13 in the United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) case against former Coinbase Global product manager Ishan Wahi and his associates. The advocacy group expressed its support for the defendants’ argument for dismissal, where they claimed the SEC had exceeded its authority in the case. The
The United States Securities and Exchange Commission and its chair Gary Gensler were the targets of many lawmakers and witnesses at a hearing exploring the crash of the crypto market. In a Feb. 14 hearing at the Senate Banking Committee titled ‘Crypto Crash: Why Financial System Safeguards are Needed for Digital Assets’, ranking member Tim
The United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) settled with Kraken on Feb. 9 for an action taken against the exchange’s staking rewards program. Kraken paid a $30 million fine and agreed to halt the program. Set aside for a moment the irony that the SEC is going after a solvent firm in the crypto
United States Federal Reserve Board Vice Chair Lael Brainard has been chosen to be the director of the National Economic Council, making her President Joe Biden’s top economic adviser, according to media reports. In her new position, Brainard will oversee the implementation of the Biden administration’s multibillion-dollar economic agenda, which includes the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law and
This week on The Market Report, the resident experts at Cointelegraph discuss why the United States Securities and Exchange Commission is going after crypto staking and why stablecoins have been in the news recently. We start off this week’s show with the latest news in the markets: SEC lawsuit against Paxos over BUSD baffles crypto community
Prosecutors behind the criminal case against former FTX chief executive officer Sam Bankman-Fried have requested additional time to consider the legal implications of him using a virtual private network, or VPN. In a Feb. 13 filing with the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York, U.S. Attorney Damian Williams said the
Indian authorities once again demonstrated their tough stance on cryptocurrencies with a preemptive ban on crypto advertising and sponsorships in the local women’s cricket league. As reported by Planet Sport on Feb. 14, the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) sent a 68-page advisory to the Women’s Premier League teams, specifying the activities
The United Kingdom’s financial regulator, Financial Conduct Authority (FCA), is coming for unregistered cryptocurrency automated teller machines (ATMs). THe FCA and the cyber team at West Yorkshire Police have taken action against several sites in and around Leeds city suspected of hosting illegally operated crypto ATMs. Announcing the news on Feb. 14, the FCA emphasized
The United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) is reportedly planning to propose new rule changes this week that could impact what services crypto firms can offer their clients. According to a Feb. 14 report from Bloomberg citing “people familiar with the matter,” the securities regulator is working on a draft proposal that would make
The percentage of Ethereum blocks complying with orders set by the United States Office of Foreign Asset Control (OFAC) has now fallen to 47% — the lowest level since Oct. 11. The latest milestone in reversing censorship comes nearly three months after the percentage of OFAC-compliant blocks peaked at 79% on Nov. 21. OFAC-compliant blocks
A New York judge has granted a request from prosecutors to defer civil proceedings against Sam Bankman-Fried from the Commodities Futures Trading Commission and the Securities Exchange Commission until after the FTX founder’s criminal trial in October. U.S. District Judge of Manhattan Kevin Castel on Feb. 13 granted the motions to stay the civil proceedings
New York State’s Department of Financial Services, or NYDFS, reportedly received a complaint from stablecoin issuer Circle regarding Binance’s reserves prior to its crackdown on BUSD. According to a Feb. 13 Bloomberg report, Circle alerted NYDFS in an autumn 2022 complaint that Binance’s reserves were insufficient to support its tokens, seemingly including stablecoin Binance USD
Last week, the United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) reached an agreement with cryptocurrency exchange Kraken. The latter will stop offering crypto staking services to American customers and pay $30 million in disgorgement, prejudgment interest and civil penalties. While the sum of fines could hardly get an entity like Kraken off balance, the future
Cyber criminals used a variety of novel ways to carry out hacks and exploits in 2022, with over $2.8 billion of cryptocurrency stolen last year. According to a report from CoinGecko using data sourced from DeFiYield’s REKT Database, nearly half of the total crypto stolen in 2022 was fleeced using diverse methods. This includes bypassing
The European Parliament has released a report on a draft bill proposing that banks holding cryptocurrencies set aside a large amount of capital in an effort to address potential risk. In a Feb. 9 notice, EU lawmakers said any framework applied to crypto assets should “adequately mitigate the risks of these instruments for the institutions’