Regulation

Presidential hopeful Vivek Ramaswamy came down hard on SEC chair Gary Gensler and other “three letter agencies” during the recent Republican presidential debate, claiming that regulators had failed to keep up with crypto. During the 4th Republican presidential debate of the 2024 cycle on Dec. 7, Ramaswamy said it was “nothing short of embarrassing” that

A United States House Committee has unanimously passed a pro-blockchain bill, which would task the U.S. commerce secretary to promote blockchain deployment and thus potentially increase the country’s use of blockchain technology. On Dec. 5, the House Committee on Energy and Commerce voted 46-0 to pass H.R. 6572, the Deploying American Blockchains Act of 2023,

Terraform Labs co-founder Do Kwon has launched his final attempt to appeal a Montenegrin court’s decision that could see him extradited from the country.  In a Dec. 6 report, local state media stated that lawyers for Kwon had officially appealed the Nov. 24 decision from the High Court of Podgorica, which approved that Kwon could

Despite the risks and the failures associated with central bank digital currencies (CBDCs), global policymakers are pushing forward to make them a reality.  In November alone, officials from the International Monetary Fund (IMF), Bretton Woods Committee, and Bank for International Settlements (BIS) issued rallying calls for governments to push forward on CBDCs with courage and

A federal judge has accepted Binance founder Changpeng “CZ” Zhao’s guilty plea to money laundering but hasn’t decided if he can leave the United States before his February sentencing date. In a Dec. 6 filing to a Seattle District Court, Judge Richard Jones said he accepted Zhao’s guilty plea to one count of Bank Secrecy

Anatoly Legkodymov, co-founder and former CEO of cryptocurrency exchange Bitzlato, pleaded guilty to one count of operating an unlicensed money services business on Dec. 6. Legkodymov appeared in New York Eastern District Court in Brooklyn before Judge Eric Vitaliano.  In court, Legkodymov agreed to dissolve Bitzlato and forfeit $23 million in cryptocurrency. He had filed

JPMorgan Chase chair and CEO Jamie Dimon told several United States lawmakers that if he had the authority in government, he would try to shut down crypto. In a Dec. 6 hearing of the Senate Banking Committee on oversight of Wall Street Firms, Dimon responded to questioning from Massachusetts Senator Elizabeth Warren, who claimed North

The Securities and Futures Commission (SFC) of Hong Kong has issued a warning related to suspected fraud involving crypto entities Hong Kong Digital Research Institute and BitCuped. In a Dec. 6 notice, the SFC said the Hong Kong Police Force had blocked access to the websites of BitCuped and Hong Kong Digital Research Institute —

Real bipartisan legislative efforts are rare in Washington, DC, these days, but Democratic Senators Elizabeth Warren and Joe Manchin and Republican Senators Lindsey Graham and Roger Marshall have managed to come together to co-sponsor a bill focused on crypto crime.  According to the senators, the Digital Asset Anti-Money Laundering Act of 2023 aims to close

In the race for market supremacy among artificial intelligence (AI) firms, a coalition of technology leaders spearheaded by IBM and Meta established the AI Alliance. Rather than competing, these companies aim to collaborate, emphasizing their commitment to fostering transparent innovation and responsible development in artificial intelligence. In a joint statement, IBM and Meta outlined the

Société Générale, France’s third-largest bank, has debuted its native euro-pegged stablecoin, making it one of the first European banking giants to venture into the stablecoin market. The EUR CoinVertible (EURCV) stablecoin will debut on the Luxembourg-based Bitstamp crypto exchange, the Financial Times reported. EURCV will be fully backed by the euro, allowing bank customers to participate

Four United States senators have written to Federal Trade Commission (FTC) Chair Lina Khan requesting information on efforts taken by the FTC to track the use of artificial intelligence (AI) in scamming older Americans. In the letter addressed to Khan, U.S. Senators Robert Casey, Richard Blumenthal, John Fetterman and Kirsten Gillibrand highlighted the need to

DEBT Box and other defendants in a Securities and Exchange Commission lawsuit want the case tossed after the court found the agency lied to secure a temporary restraining order against them. “The SEC got this case wrong. Badly wrong,” lawyers for Digital Licensing Inc., which does business as DEBT Box, told Utah federal court Judge

Elon Musk’s X-linked AI modeler xAI has an agreement for the private sale of $865.3 million in unregistered equity securities, according to a filing with the United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) made on Dec. 5. xAI filed the SEC’s Form D to allow it to engage in the private sale of securities without

The United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has delayed its decision on whether to approve or disapprove of a spot Ethereum exchange-traded fund, or ETF, offering from asset manager Grayscale. In a Dec. 5 notice, the SEC said it would designate a longer period on whether to approve or disapprove of a proposed rule

The New Jersey General Assembly may consider a bill that would decide when a digital asset or virtual currency is a security under state law.  All virtual currencies issued and sold to institutional investors would be considered securities in the U.S. state of New Jersey under the bill introduced by Democratic Assemblyman Herb Conaway, Jr.

Representative Patrick McHenry, chair of the United States House Financial Services Committee and a proponent of many pieces of crypto-focused legislation, will be retiring from Congress. In a Dec. 5 statement, McHenry said he would not seek reelection to the U.S. House of Representatives and is expected to leave Congress in January 2025. He will

Lawyers representing the United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) requested the judge in its civil case against Terraform Labs and co-founder Do Kwon determine whether certain crypto assets are securities rather than a jury. In a Dec. 4 filing in U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York, the SEC argued that

The former president of FTX US dishes the dirt on his falling out with former Jane Street colleague Sam Bankman-Fried and predicts the spot Bitcoin ETF will far outshine the record-breaking success of the Bitcoin Futures ETF. Who is this guy anyway? The ex-president of FTX US, Brett Harrison, tells Magazine that he didn’t say

A bill defining crypto assets as securities and featuring the capital gains tax on them made it through the Parliamentary Committee. It will be introduced to the lower chamber of Parliament as a next step.  As the Kenyan newspaper Business Daily reported on Dec. 4, the Capital Markets (Amendment) Bill, 2023, has been approved by