The United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has been probing traditional Wall Street investment advisors that may be offering digital asset custody to its clients without the proper qualifications. A Jan. 26 Reuters report citing “three sources with knowledge of the inquiry” said the SEC’s investigation has been going on for several months already
The Dutch central bank has imposed a fine on crypto exchange Coinbase for providing services in the past without the necessary registration. The trading platform, which has until March to object to the measure, is currently considering an appeal against the move. Dutch Monetary Authority Fines Coinbase for Operating Without Registration De Nederlandsche Bank (DNB)
The chairman of the newly formed U.S. congressional subcommittee on digital assets has pledged for progressive crypto regulations to ensure that “America is the place for innovation in fintech and blockchain.” Speaking on CNBC’s Squawk Box on Jan. 26, Congressman French Hill offered some of his first insights into what is anticipated for crypto regulations
A new survey shows that interest in cryptocurrency remains strong among financial advisors’ clients. “Despite market performance, the most common question was: ‘Should I consider an investment in crypto?’” the survey results reveal. Financial Advisors Bullish About Crypto Long Term Crypto asset manager Bitwise Asset Management published a report titled “Bitwise/Vettafi 2023 Benchmark Survey of
Despite the plans to turn the region into a bustling crypto hub, the United Kingdom’s financial watchdog says it has given the all-clear to only 41 out of 300 crypto firm applications seeking regulatory approval to date. The U.K. Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) implemented the new cryptocurrency-focused regulations on Jan. 10, 2020, to supervise businesses
Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) Commissioner Kristin Johnson has urged Congress to adopt legislation that “closes the current gap in the oversight of crypto spot markets.” During a speech at a digital assets conference at Duke University on Jan. 21, Johnson proposed a number of amendments that would enable the CFTC to conduct “effective due diligence”
A senator in the U.S. state of Arizona has introduced a set of cryptocurrency bills, one of which seeks to make bitcoin legal tender. “Centralized digital money controlled by the central bankers is slavery. Decentralized bitcoin is freedom,” the lawmaker said. Arizona Lawmaker Wants to Make Bitcoin Legal Tender Arizona State Senator Wendy Rogers has
XRP bulls are trying to ride the wave along with Bitcoin to reclaim previously lost territory. The bulls are targeting new annual highs. XRP has been trading in the green zone since the beginning of the year with a strong recovery and bullish sentiment from its investors. At press time, XRP is trading at $04.96,
Crypto proponents would be wise to keep their eyes on nonfungible token (NFT) and metaverse trademark applications this year, which are “reliable signals” of future-use plans. Speaking to Cointelegraph, intellectual property lawyer Michael Kondoudis said while many people may think big corporations are just jumping onto the NFT trend as a novelty, “it is not
Russia may issue a stablecoin backed by gold to use in international settlements, a high-ranking member of the Russian parliament has admitted. The matter has been discussed during a recent visit to Iran where officials have also signaled interest in such an initiative. Iran and Russia Talk Stablecoin Payments for Bilateral Trade Settlements The Russian
Our weekly roundup of news from East Asia curates the industry’s most important developments. Bithumb in turmoil On Jan. 25, Yonhap Infomax reported that South Korean authorities had requested an arrest warrant for Kang Jong-Hyun, chairman and owner of cryptocurrency exchange Bithumb, over embezzlement allegations. That same day, the Financial Investigation Second Division of the
Bitcoin (BTC) price had a mixed reaction on Jan. 25 after the United States reported a 2.9% gross domestic product growth in the fourth quarter, slightly better than expected. Still, the sum of all goods and services commercialized between October and December grew less than 3.2% from the previous quarter. Another data set limiting investors’
For much of 2022, the crypto market focused on the U.S. Federal Reserve’s actions. The central bank created a bearish environment for risk-on assets like stocks and cryptocurrencies by increasing the interest rates on borrowing. Toward the end of 2022, positive economic data, healthy employment numbers and a decreasing inflation rate provided hope that a much-awaited
The SEC has once again rejected a proposal to list the ARK 21 Shares Bitcoin ETF on equities exchange Cboe BZX, according to Jan. 26 statement from the SEC. The SEC rejected a similar proposal in April, 2022. The SEC has just now once again rejected ARK’s and 21Shares spot bitcoin, $BTC ETF listing. —
The Web3 Foundation, which supports the Polkadot protocol, has again presented its argument that its native DOT (DOT) token is not a security. In a Twitter thread, the foundation emphasized its efforts to comply with U.S. securities laws, as well as Securities and Exchange Commission guidance on digital assets, and declared that DOT had successfully
Two United States senators have taken their questions about the performance of accounting firms active in the crypto space to a higher power: the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board (PCAOB). Failure to uncover alleged criminality and poor recordkeeping at FTX has sullied the image of the PCAOB and the accounting profession, the senators said. In
The International Swaps and Derivatives Association (ISDA) is working on two papers to address fundamental legal risks in the crypto markets, such as the insolvency of crypto exchange firms, according to a statement released on Jan. 26. The initiative was motivated by the collapse of crypto exchange FTX and previous bankruptcy cases that “prompted a
The NBA has extended its current partnership with Meta to broadcast its games to the metaverse. The company announced that 52 games of the league will be available to be enjoyed using VR (virtual reality) tech, using Xtadium, a co-viewing platform. Five of these games will be presented in a more immersive way for Horizon
On a few occasions last year, crypto advocates discussed how a number of price models, leveraged to help predict the future value of bitcoin, ended up failing. However, since bitcoin’s value has increased by 36% over the last month, the price has entered the darkest band of the rainbow chart after breaking below the rainbow
Stablecoins in the cryptocurrency market help provide U.S. dollar-pegged tokens within the volatile industry. In bull markets, the market capitalization of stablecoins tends to decrease as investors flock to more volatile assets; and in bear markets, investors seek shelter in low-volatility stablecoins, thus increasing their market caps. On Jan. 26, the total market capitalization for