Sam Bankman-Fried, the former CEO of crypto exchange FTX, may no longer be able to play League of Legends and other video games if newly proposed changes to his bail conditions from United States prosecutors are approved. In a Feb. 15 letter to United States District Judge Lewis Kaplan, U.S. Attorney Damian Williams asked the
Regulation
The European Commission announced the launch of the European Blockchain Regulatory Sandbox on Feb. 15. The sandbox will provide a space for regulatory dialog for 20 projects per year through 2026. The sandbox was first announced in 2020 and is being facilitated by a number of private firms that won tenders in 2022. Funding will
The United States Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) has sent a letter to executives of cryptocurrency exchange CEX.IO warning them that they are potentially in violation of federal law due to false and misleading statements about the exchange’s insurance status. The agency has given the exchange 15 days to make corrections. The statement in question
The settlement between Kraken (Payward Ventures) and the United States Securities and Exchange Commission set off alarm bells in the crypto community this month. Apparently, Kraken — one of the most compliance-minded crypto exchanges in existence — decided to buy its peace rather than fight with the SEC for years over whether it was offering
Alabama Senator Tommy Tuberville has reintroduced legislation aiming to allow United States 401(k) retirement plans to include exposure to cryptocurrencies. In a Feb. 15 announcement, Tuberville said the Financial Freedom Act — which he first introduced to the U.S. Senate in May 2022 — aimed to reverse policy from the Department of Labor directing what
A federal judge has allowed identities of guarantors who signed on sureties for former FTX CEO Sam Bankman-Fried’s $250 million bond to be made public following a request from several news outlets. Court documents released on Feb. 15 showed that the two previously unidentified individuals were Andreas Paepcke, a senior research scientist at Stanford University
Lawmakers in the Kansas House of Representatives have introduced a bill proposing to amend the legislature’s rules on political campaign donations. According to the bill, no person would be allowed to make or accept crypto contributions of more than $100 for any political candidate in the state’s primary or general election. For donations under $100,
Judge John Dorsey of the United States Bankruptcy Court for the District of Delaware has denied a motion appointing an independent examiner for FTX. In a Feb. 15 hearing, Judge Dorsey said he had some discretion under the law to choose whether to appoint an examiner in the FTX bankruptcy case despite some of the
South Korean prosecutors have requested an arrest warrant for the former CEO of Tmon, a Korean e-commerce platform, after taking billions of South Korean won in Terra (LUNA), now known as Terra Classic (LUNC), for promoting Terra as a simple payment gateway. Seoul prosecutors requested an arrest warrant on the former CEO of ecommerce giant
As reported by a local publication on Feb. 15, Korean financial authorities are looking into the staking services market. However, as the unnamed official specified to the journalists: The fears of the crypto community about the possible repercussions of the recent court deal between the United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and Kraken are
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 in 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
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 for the Northern District of
A bi-partisan anti-money laundering (AML) bill that covers “decentralized entities” such as decentralized finance (DeFi) protocols and DAOs will soon be reintroduced to Congress, according to United States Senator Elizabeth Warren. Warren, a vocal crypto critic, argued at the Feb. 14 Senate Banking Committee’s hearing entitled “Crypto Crash: Why Financial System Safeguards are Needed for
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
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
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 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
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
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