It should come as no surprise that a rumoured $25 million cryptocurrency giveaway on the social media site formerly known as Twitter is indeed too good to be true. The Grayscale Bitcoin Trust (GBTC), which, as a result of a recent court victory, may be on the verge of being converted into a preferred traditional

The United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) claimed on Friday that the issue of whether or not Ripple broke the law when it made XRP available to ordinary investors by listing it on cryptocurrency exchanges requires the involvement of an appeals court. As part of its ongoing action against the cryptocurrency firm closely linked

The Chairman of the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), Gary Gensler, has come under fire from House Majority Whip Tom Emmer for allegedly increasing his authority in ways that are unfavourable to the American people. Emmer, who represents Minnesota’s 6th District, expressed his worries on Twitter. He made a scathing criticism of Gensler’s strategy, saying

The Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) has ordered Utah-based Jacob Orvidas to pay up to $2 million in restitution and pay a $500,000 civil monetary penalty. The given order reveals Orvidas’ deceptive solicitation of at least four people to invest in a leveraged Bitcoin commodity pool, which resolves concurrently filed accusations. The findings show that

The blockchain company Ripple has acquired Fortress Trust, a Nevada-based chartered trust organisation with a focus on cryptocurrencies and Web3, the business announced in an email on Friday. The acquisition’s financial details weren’t made public. When approached by CoinDesk, Ripple declined to provide any information, but a source familiar with the situation stated the cost

Due to Linus Financial, Inc.’s failure to register the offers and sales of its cryptocurrency loan product, known as the Linus Interest Accounts, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has settled charges with the company. Due to the Nashville-based company’s cooperation and prompt corrective action, the SEC decided not to levy civil fines on it.

After the Financial Accounting Standards Board (FASB) voted to change how businesses report their finances, MicroStrategy (MSTR) will soon be able to report its holdings of bitcoin (BTC) each quarter without having to recognize impairment losses if the cryptocurrency’s price drops during the period in question, investment bank Berenberg said in a report Wednesday.According to the report, MicroStrategy has declared $2.23 billion in cumulative impairment losses since adopting its bitcoin acquisition approach in August 2020. MicroStrategy’s largest impairment loss of $917.8 million was recorded in the second quarter of 2022, and the loss featured heavily in news coverage of the earnings, “giving the impression that the company’s inherent value had been negatively impacted when this was not the case,” the bank said. “The change should help MSTR and other

Coinbase (COIN), a cryptocurrency exchange, announced plans for a global expansion that would center on obtaining licenses in significant financial jurisdictions “that are enacting clear rules” for the crypto industry, with the European Union, U.K., Canada, Brazil, Singapore, and Australia as near-term priorities. The Nasdaq-listed company’s CEO, Brian Armstrong, stated in April that “everything was on the table” for it, including leaving its current location in the United States because of the murky regulatory environment there.He made it clear in August that he is “not even in the realm of possibility” of leaving the United States right now. The firm stated in a blog post published on Wednesday that it is “in the final stages of selecting the location” for its EU headquarters and that its goal is to “leverage our being the most trusted brand in the crypto space ahead of the European elections in June 2024.”The exchange also intends to cooperate with banks and payment processors and broaden the markets in which it offers derivatives.

According to a recent press release from the company, Pantera Capital sponsored an investment round in which the decentralised exchange (DEX) Brine Fi raised $16.5 million at a valuation of $100 million. The fundraising round also included participation from Elevation Capital, StarkWare Ltd, Spartan Group, Goodwater Capital, Upsparks Ventures, and Protofund Ventures. The new money

The largest financial firm in South Korea, Mirae Asset Securities, announced on Thursday that it is collaborating with Ethereum scaling platform Polygon Labs to improve tokenization in finance and accelerate the adoption of Web3 technologies. Mirae Asset Securities manages more than $500 billion in assets. According to a recent news release from the asset management,

The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission has been informed by Grayscale Investments that it has “no grounds” to object to the transformation of its Grayscale Bitcoin Trust (GBTC) into an exchange-traded fund.Grayscale’s argument that its proposed product is not materially different from bitcoin futures exchange-traded products (ETPs) that already trade in the United States was accepted by Circuit Judge Neomi Rao, who last week ordered the SEC to review its earlier rejection of the conversion in the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals. After the Commission has had the opportunity to fully analyze the court’s opinion in light of the record, including the reasons for rejection set forth … we believe the Commission should conclude that there are no grounds for treating the Trust differently from ETPs that invest in bitcoin futures contracts,” Grayscale’s legal team wrote

In order to fill the gap left by the collapse of companies like Genesis and BlockFi, Coinbase (COIN) has developed a new cryptocurrency lending service for institutional clients in the U.S.On September 1, the platform was covertly disclosed in a file with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, which showed that $57 million had already been raised for the program. A person with knowledge of the situation claims that customers can lend Coinbase money—typically crypto assets—and receive security that is worth more than the loan.Overcollateralization serves as a disaster safety net. In a manner similar to the prime brokerage service banks offer in conventional banking, Coinbase can then turn around and create secured loans to institutional trading clients, according to the person familiar.Similar loan services were offered in the United States by Genesis and BlockFi, but they incurred significant losses in the previous year that sent them, in whole or in part, into bankruptcy court. The new service is distinct from Coinbase’s contentious Lend program, which it discontinued in 2021.Officials from the SEC complained since that was targeted at retail customers.On the assumption that big investors have the sophistication to handle it, regulation is less onerous because this newest loan business is instead targeted toward institutions. “With this service, institutions can choose to lend digital assets to Coinbase under standardized terms in a product that qualifies for a Regulation D exemption,” a Coinbase spokesperson said in a statement. “Coinbase is working to update the financial system that was built over 100 years ago, leveraging crypto to provide

Sam Bankman-Fried, once one of the most influential executives in the crypto industry, is now content to argue with the prosecution over his use of a laptop.The U.S. Department of Justice wrote in a letter on Tuesday that the incarcerated creator of the defunct FTX exchange had access to a laptop and three hard drives with defense files every day.In response to a federal judge’s request for a report on the conditions Bankman-Fried faces while being held at the Manhattan Detention Center in Brooklyn, New York, the prosecution filed their response. In order to prepare for Bankman-Fried’s upcoming criminal trial, his defense team has argued that they “need” him out of custody so that he can work on it. They have told the case’s judge, Lewis Kaplan, that he is having trouble getting internet access and that his phone’s battery life is running low.Following a televised hearing last week, Kaplan instructed the parties to compile a report on these matters.Prosecutors said in their declaration on Tuesday that Bankman-Fried now had access to an air-gapped laptop for 7.5 hours on weekends and holidays and 11 hours throughout the week.Additionally, Bankman-Fried constantly has access to hard drives with defensive information. Bankman-Fried has use of a laptop with internet access twice a week.Defense lawyers had previously complained about the battery life and sluggish internet connection, but according to the letter sent on Tuesday, the defense team had provided a new battery that “has approximately 8 hours battery life,” and the internet speed throughout the day ranged from 7.5 megabits per second (mbps) to 34 mbps.In its letter, the DOJ stated that this was “sufficient for most internet review activities” (a number of websites claim that 5 mbps is adequate for streaming video). Judge Kaplan revoked Bankman-Fried’s bail in mid-August after finding that the FTX founder had repeatedly attempted to tamper with witnesses. As a result, Bankman-Fried has been detained since that time.The bail was revoked, and his defense team appealed it, but they claimed that his detention interfered with his Sixth Amendment right to prepare his own case.They moved to release him on a temporary basis. The defense team’s description of the technological difficulties had previously been disputed by the prosecution, who claimed they were annoying but not incapacitating.

According to Zodia Markets, a platform for digital assets supported by Standard Chartered Ventures, operating as an over-the-counter (OTC) cryptocurrency broker-dealer in Abu Dhabi has received approval in principle. The approval was given by the Abu Dhabi Global Market (ADGM), a global financial hub in the United Arab Emirates that has been making an effort

According to the company’s website, Steve Cohen’s Point72 Ventures, a prominent hedge fund manager, led a $15 million Series A fundraising round for GenTwo, a fintech platform that specializes in securitization. The Zurich-based company intends to utilize the investment to expand internationally and to build out its platform for financial engineering. With the use of the company’s PRO platform, investors may securitize and market any asset or investment plan as a bankable security.It enables the accessibility to all investors of non-bankable assets like real estate, fine art, or digital assets. The company announced that Pete Casella, senior partner and co-head of fintech investments at Point72 Ventures, has joined the board of directors of GenTwo.Global venture capital firm Point72 Ventures has offices in Menlo Park, California, and New York.From pre-seed to pre-IPO, it makes investments ranging from $250,000 to $50 million.

According to a poll conducted by trade organisation the World Federation of Exchanges (WFE), traditional financial exchanges have varying opinions about delivering crypto-related goods and services.The WFE polled its member exchanges as part of a study on the infrastructure for cryptocurrency trading, and 12 of the 29 respondents (or 41%) said that they already provide services or products connected to cryptocurrencies.In the future, seven more intend to provide them.The study found that more than a third of respondents stated they had no such intentions. The WFE also discovered that institutional demand for crypto goods is typically lower than retail demand.The sorts of products requested also differ, with institutional investors more likely to request custody services and security tokens than retail investors, who are more likely to be interested in non-fungible tokens (NFTs) and stablecoins.In the next five years, only about a quarter (26%) of respondents (the sample size) expect crypto assets to become widely used.The study was conducted between May and July 2022, a few months before the catastrophic failure of the cryptocurrency exchange FTX, which sent shockwaves through the market and fueled already-existing concerns about cryptocurrencies with regard to murky business practices and a lack of regulatory certainty. More than 250 companies, including Nasdaq, Deutsche Boerse, and Switzerland’s SIX Group, are members of the WFE.

California-based cryptocurrency custodian BitGo announced on Tuesday during Korea Blockchain Week that it has formed a strategic business partnership with Hana Bank, a South Korean commercial bank.According to Korea Economic Daily, the agreement includes tech alliances, security solutions, and a potential joint venture.According to a Forkast article, BitGo will help Hana Bank improve custody services in the second half of 2024. Three weeks ago, BitGo raised $100 million at a $1.75 billion value, which led to the announcement.Hana Bank, which manages $448 billion in assets, has previously showed interest in digital assets. According to sources, the bank is “actively participating” in the ongoing Bank of Korea central bank digital currency (CBDC) Proof of Concept project. Following the preparation of the required licenses to adhere to local rules, BitGo also expects to establish an office in Korea in the second half of 2019.

In order to increase the speed of cross-border payment transactions, Visa (V) is investing more in cryptocurrencies. According to a recent announcement from Visa, the San Francisco-based company has expanded its stablecoin settlement capabilities with Circle’s USDC stablecoin to the Solana (SOL) blockchain, designed to provide high-speed performance. One of the first significant financial institutions,

An email addressed to clients recently announced that Genesis’ spot crypto trading operation would close later this month. The over-the-counter trading platform of Genesis Global Trading (GGT) will close on September 18. By September 21st, all deals must be completed, and any open accounts that remain will be closed at the end of the day

Another senior executive has left Binance, with Global Product Lead Mayur Kamat leaving the cryptocurrency exchange after almost 1.5 years. A representative issued a statement via email that read, “We can confirm that Mayur has resigned from his position as product lead.” “We thank him for helping us navigate Binance through some of our most

Unusual withdrawals from Stake included $9.8 million in ether and $3.9 million in tether, both of which were sent to an account with no prior activity. On September 4, $16 million was withdrawn from the cryptocurrency gaming site Stake in what the security firm Cyvers Alerts is referring to as “suspicious transactions.” Etherscan has tagged

With on-chain analyst Cyvers stating that $16 million has been withdrawn on the Ethereum network as a result of a “private key leak,” cryptocurrency casino Stake looks to have been the subject of an exploit. ZachXBT, a blockchain investigator, confirmed Cyvers’ assertion, claiming that $25.6 million had been stolen across Polygon and the Binance Smart

On Monday, SNX, the native token of decentralized liquidity platform Synthetix, increased by 12.5% as a result of substantial outflows from top digital asset exchange Binance.According to CoinMarketCap, volume over the last day has increased by more than 250% to $96 million. According to Lookonchain, one newly established wallet withdrew SNX tokens worth $7.7 million from Binance. Token outflows often indicate a purchasing pattern since traders desire to keep complete control of their assets so they may participate in governance or guarantee a yield.Along with SNX withdrawals, the wallet in question also made livepeer token (LPT) withdrawals totaling $3.9 million, which led to a 17.5% increase in each withdrawal’s value.The price increases of these two assets coincide with a general downturn in the bitcoin market.Following a week that saw $60 billion erased from cryptocurrency’s total market cap, bitcoin (BTC) and ether (ETH) continue to trade below range lows of $26,000 and $1,300, respectively.During these downturns, cryptocurrency trading pairs’ liquidity frequently contracts, resulting in a volatile environment. In this instance, LPT token’s 2% market depth on Binance is just $70,000 to the upside and $270,000 to the downside.By buying or selling those sums, a trade can change the asset’s price by 2%.Conversely, astute traders might also lure this recent buyer into their position by using the fact that the assets were bought in low-liquidity circumstances with considerable slippage, meaning pressure would be applied even with the smallest move to the downside.

The Senate Economics Legislation Committee of Australia rejected the “The Digital Assets (Market Regulation) Bill 2023″ proposed by opposition senator Andrew Bragg, urging the government to “continue to consult with industry on the development of fit-for-purpose digital assets regulation in Australia.” The committee’s report is partisan in nature.New South Wales representative Bragg slammed the decision, claiming that the Labor administration had “put regulating crypto in the slow lane.” The committee said the bill lacked detail and certainty and was at odds with the government’s approach. The bill was “not congruent with international regimes” and caused “genuine concern for regulatory arbitrage and adverse outcomes to the industry,” it said. The Treasury, under the leadership of Prime Minister Anthony Albanese, released a consultation paper on token mapping in February. It was intended to be followed up by a further consultation document in the middle of 2023, which would have proposed a licensing and custody framework for companies that provide services related to digital assets. “The Senate Committee was expected to report on this Bill over a

The former finance minister of Singapore and current head of the central bank, Tharman Shanmugaratnam, who has referred to cryptocurrencies as “purely speculative” and “slightly crazy,” was chosen to lead the nation on Saturday with 70.4% of the vote, succeeding Halimah Yacob, the nation’s first female president.Although the position is mostly ceremonial, the 66-year-old’s background may give him some sway in influencing legislation concerning the future of finance, including cryptocurrencies, central bank digital currencies (CBDCs), and other topics.After the collapse of local crypto darlings Terraform Labs and Three Arrows Capital while Shanmugaratnam was chairman of Singapore’s central bank, the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS), Singapore went from being an early adopter of cryptocurrency to a jurisdiction trying to find the right regulatory balance. The tenure of that position, which he held from 2011 to 2023, overlapped with his tenure as finance minister, which he served from 2007 to 2015.His career as an economist at the MAS began in 1982 after he earned a Bachelor of Science in Economics from the London School of Economics, a Master of Philosophy in Economics from the University of Cambridge, and a Master in Public Administration from the Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University.The International Monetary Fund (IMF) also placed him on its short list for the position of chief executive.Deputy Prime Minister, among other positions, were held by Shanmugaratnam throughout his 22 years in the legislature. Early on, Shanmugaratnam took a laissez-faire attitude toward cryptocurrencies.When he wrote in 2018, there was no need to outlaw cryptocurrency trading because it did not pose a threat to Singapore’s financial system. He reiterated that stance in 2023, saying at the World Economic Forum, that crypto is “inherently purely speculative and in fact slightly crazy.” While it should remain an unregulated market, he suggested authorities should provide “ultra clarity” on the risks associated with crypto because to “start getting into a game of regulating

Gala Games’ internal problems have come to light as a result of a recent lawsuit that was filed in the Utah District Court of the United States. On August 31, 2023, co-founders Eric Schiermeyer and Wright Thurston filed lawsuits against one another, accusing the other of stealing Gala tokens from the business. The Gala Games

The CEO of ARK Invest expresses her opinions on the relationship between artificial intelligence and bitcoin, focusing on the ramifications for the economy. Cathie Wood, the CEO of ARK Invest, recently stated her upbeat perspective on the nexus between bitcoin and artificial intelligence (AI) in an X (formerly Twitter) post. In the article, Wood made

The blockchain and cryptocurrency environment has seen OKX Wallet announce a number of integrations in the space of just one week that diversify its products and strengthen its position. According to press releases supplied with Blockchain.News by OKX, Oxalus, a specialised NFT social commerce platform, will be the newest addition to the ecosystem of OKX

Prior to the main cryptocurrency exchange’s collapse in November 2022, FTX debtors have published a number of financial statements that show transactions that benefited firm leaders.Several payments, specifically those made or property transfers made within a year prior to the collapse of FTX, were disclosed in a recent court filing with the United States Bankruptcy Court for the District of Delaware. These payments directly benefited senior company executives at FTX and Alameda Research. However, FTX debtors claim that there are no assurances as to the data’s completeness or correctness, and they disavow any responsibility for any mistakes or omissions. Sam Trabucco, a former Alameda Research co-CEO, benefited from a $2.51 million transaction that was made from the business to the American Yacht Group in March 2022.Trabucco tweeted about his resignation in August 2022, just a few months after this purchase, confirming that he was the owner of a boat.Caroline Ellison, who served as Trabucco and Alameda’s co-CEO during that time, responded to his post with well wishes and the wish that he enjoy more time on his yacht. Sam Bankman-Fried, Gary Wang, Nishad Singh, Darren Wong, and Constance Wang, all former FTX executives, received cash payments in the year before the company’s collapse, along with other former directors of engineering, chief marketing officers, and chief operating officers.It does point out that the disclosures only cover fiat money and how easily cryptographic transactions may be tracked. “Responses to this question do not currently include all transfers of cryptocurrency, other digital assets or other assets,” it stated. The document also noted the $35,185,242 purchase of Robinhood shares made in April 2022 by Bankman-Fried and FTX co-founder Gary Wang.In May 2022, they invested an additional $19.45 million to continue buying Robinhood.According to the information provided, Wang owned the remaining 10% of the corporation through their company, Emergent Fidelity Technologies, while Bankman-Fried retained 90% of the shares.The shares that belonged to Bankman-Fried and Wang were, however, confiscated by the US Department of Justice in January. According to a report dated August 31, Robinhood has bought back all the shares that FTX and Alameda Research had previously possessed.Robinhood announced in a statement that it had finished buying 55,273,469 shares for about $606 million.Jason Warnick, chief financial officer of Robinhood, stated the company’s delight with the outcome after the announcement of the purchase. “We are happy to have completed the purchase of these shares and look forward to executing on our growth plans on behalf of our customers and shareholders.” He said.

Pro-XRP attorney John Deaton, who is defending several XRP token owners amid rumors of a possible resolution between Ripple and the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), has laid out the potential stages the two sides might follow if they decide to settle. The importance of the ongoing Coinbase v. SEC lawsuit was emphasized by Deaton.He said it would mean that token sales on the exchange are exempt from U.S. securities laws if the Coinbase case judge granted the company’s move to dismiss.It wouldn’t, nevertheless, apply to cryptocurrency staking. “The only way Ripple and the SEC (could) settle before the end of the year is if Judge Failla grants the Coinbase motion to dismiss or partially grants it – finding token sales on an exchange in a blind bid/ask transaction do not fall under U.S. securities laws.” He explained. The SEC’s ability to pursue an appeal, should the petition to dismiss be granted, would be severely restricted, making a settlement an obvious choice.Deaton stressed that the agency’s authority would be reduced even if an appeal were feasible in this circumstance. Ripple stated in a document filed on September 1 that the summary decision did not address the interlocutory appeal’s legal foundation.It based its resistance on the claim that the agency had deviated from accepted legal doctrine, particularly in regards to the application of the Howey test to XRP token sales.In December 2020, the SEC filed a lawsuit against Ripple, its CEO Brad Garlinghouse, and its co-founder Chris Larsen. As a result, XRP was removed from multiple exchanges to avoid any future legal issues.However, many exchanges announced their intention to relist the token after Judge Analisa Torres’ favorable verdict in July. In 2023, the SEC pursued a number of cryptocurrency companies, including Binance and Coinbase, on claims of securities breaches.Asset management Grayscale won a court case against the SEC on August 29 by requesting that its application for a spot Bitcoin exchange-traded fund be reviewed.