Regulation

United States Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) chair Rostin Behnam highlighted his agency’s activity in the crypto sphere and the need for up-to-date legislation at the Financial Industry Association Expo 2023 event in Chicago. He described the CFTC Enforcement Division’s efforts as a “nonstop drumbeat.” In the text version of his keynote address to the

A parliamentary committee in Kenya’s government tasked with investigating Worldcoin has recommended that regulators shut down the project’s operations in the country. According to a report released on Sept. 30 by Kenya’s parliament, Worldcoin has continued to collect personal data of Kenya’s residents “in total disregard” of an order to stop issued in May —

A working paper published by the International Monetary Fund (IMF) proposed a count vulnerabilities and potential policy responses for the crypto sector.  On Sept. 29, the IMF published a working paper titled “Assessing Macrofinancial Risks from Crypto Assets.” Within the paper, authors Burcu Hacibedel and Hector Perez-Saiz proposed a crypto-risk assessment matrix (C-RAM) for countries

United States-based cryptocurrency exchange Coinbase is expanding operations in Singapore after securing major regulatory approval from the country’s central bank. Coinbase has obtained a Major Payment Institution (MPI) license from the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS), the firm announced on Oct. 1. The new license — coming one year after Coinbase’s initial in-principle approval in

Effective altruism was used to justify “increasingly risky and ridiculous” actions at crypto exchange FTX prior to its ultimate collapse in November 2022, says a former software engineer at Alameda Research. Speaking to Cointelegraph just days before FTX founder Sam Bankman-Fried’s Oct. 3 trial, Aditya Baradwaj shared how the ideology played a role in the

Former FTX CEO Sam Bankman-Fried once looked into paying Donald Trump not to run for United States president, according to Michael Lewis, the author of a new book documenting the rise and fall of SBF. Michael Lewis, author of “Going Infinite: The Rise and Fall of a New Tycoon,” spoke about the former crypto billionaire and

The Department of Justice (DOJ) has affirmed its plan to summon former FTX clients, investors, and staff as witnesses in the upcoming trial involving Sam Bankman-Fried, the former FTX executive. This will shed light on how these individuals viewed their interactions with Bankman-Fried and his company.  The DOJ submitted a letter motion in limine on

The United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has commenced legal proceedings against an accounting firm that had provided services to cryptocurrency exchange FTX prior to its bankruptcy declaration. According to a September 29 statement, the SEC alleged that Prager Metis provided auditing services to its clients without maintaining the necessary independence, as it continued

Aside from liquidity, what do institutions bring to crypto? What precisely is their value added? This is an instructive question to ponder, because there is little consensus on what deeper institutional participation means for an industry that is riven with contradictions. The long-running wait for Bitcoin ETF approval, giving pensions and funds exposure to BTC,

Venture capital firm Paradigm has criticized the United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) for bypassing the standard rulemaking procedures in its current legal action against the cryptocurrency exchange Binance. In a statement released on Friday, Sept. 29, Paradigm stated the SEC is attempting to use the allegations in its complaint to alter the law

The lawyer representing Sam Bankman-Fried, the former CEO of the now-defunct exchange FTX, has claimed that the proposed jury questions for the upcoming fraud trial might have the potential to elicit biased responses. In a court filing on September 29, lawyer Mark Cohen, representing Bankman-Fried, contends that the jury questions presented by the US government

The United States House of Representatives has rejected a bill passed on by the Senate aimed at funding the government, and Speaker Kevin McCarthy’s proposals have so far failed to gain traction with far-right lawmakers in the House — all actions suggesting that the U.S. government is heading toward at least a partial shutdown starting

Authorities in Hong Kong and Macau have recently revealed arrests connected to the JPEX crypto exchange fraud case and highlighted that they are currently tracking down several other suspected figures. On Sept. 29, local media outlet Radio Television Hong Kong reported that two Hong Kong men involved in the JPEX case were arrested. According to

The FTX bankruptcy lawsuit reached a key juncture in the second week of September after the United States Bankruptcy Court for the District of Delaware approved the sale of $3.4 billion worth of crypto assets. The court also approved $1.3 billion in brokerage and government-recovered assets as part of the liquidation process, with $2.6 billion

European cryptocurrency investment firm CoinShares is optimistic about cryptocurrency regulation in the United States as the firm enters the new market. On Sept. 22, CoinShares officially announced the launch of its new division, CoinShares Hedge Fund Solutions, marking the first time the firm introduce its offerings to qualified U.S. investors. CoinShares’ entrance into the U.S. market

New York-headquartered crypto exchange Gemini has decided to quit the Netherlands, following in the footsteps of crypto giant Binance. The company cites its inability to meet regulators’ requirements but says it intends to return to the Dutch market.  In a letter to its Dutch users on Sept. 26, Gemini asks them to either withdraw their

In a court filing, Circle argued that assets that are pegged to the U.S. dollar, like the Binance USD (BUSD) or its own stablecoin USDC, are not securities, partly because those who purchase the assets are not expecting any profit from acquiring them. According to Circle, payment stablecoins do not have the “features of an

Nvidia, one of the global leaders in artificial intelligence (AI) chip production with headquarters in California, reportedly faced a police raid in its French offices this week. The action came as a part of a general inquiry of French antitrust authorities into the cloud computing sector.  On Sept. 28, the Wall Street Journal reported the raid,

FTX founder Sam Bankman-Fried, once described as the “golden boy” of crypto, is set to stare down a jury next week for his role in the collapse of his $32 billion crypto exchange.  After a jury selection process on Oct. 3, the trial begins in earnest on Oct. 4, with Bankman-Fried staring down seven charges.

The World Federation of Exchanges (WFE) sees the potential for crypto-asset trading platforms (CTPs) to play a larger role in the “real” economy and society at large. It had some blunt observations about CTPs and suggestions for regulators in a paper released Sept. 28. “CTPs should welcome a degree of regulation as a mean[s] to