Major crypto exchange Binance will pay $2.7 billion in disgorgement and penalty to the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC), thereby concluding the regulator’s enforcement action against the company. Binance founder and former CEO Changpeng Zhao (CZ) will also pay $150 million to the regulatory watchdog. CFTC’s Case Against Binance Comes to an End In a...Read More
The United States Justice Department (DOJ) has charged four people for their alleged roles in laundering millions of dollars from cryptocurrency investment scams. According to a press release from the DOJ, the four individuals, Lu Zhang of Alhambra, California, Justin Walker of Cypress, California, Hailong Zhu of Naperville, Illinois, and Joseph Wong of Rosemead, California,...Read More
Tether, the company behind the largest stablecoin, has released the two letters it had sent to the US Senate Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs and House Financial Services Committee. The letters are specifically addressed to pro-Bitcoin Senator Cynthia Lummis and Rep. French Hill. The main goal of Tether’s letters is to address issues...Read More
The United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has responded to Coinbase’s petition, seeking a tailored regulatory framework for the crypto market, stating that the rulemaking petition is “unwarranted.” However, two out of the five Commissioners disagreed with the decision, believing the agency should engage in robust public conversations that could result in rulemaking or...Read More
A former senior security engineer, Shakeeb Ahmed, pled guilty to the hacking incident on the decentralized finance yield protocol, Nirvana Finance, along with another unnamed decentralized exchange (DEX). Ahmed will also forfeit over $12.3 million in stolen assets, with the United States Attorney’s Office of the Southern District of New York (SDNY) describing the case...Read More
Cryptocurrency exchange and token listing platform CoinList agreed to pay the Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) of the United States Department of Treasury over $1.2 million in settlement relating to violations of the agency’s Russia/Ukraine sanctions. According to OFAC, while CoinList mostly abided by several compliance measures, the platform still opened accounts for users...Read More
The US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has extended its decision on whether to approve or disapprove a spot Ethereum exchange-traded fund (ETF) application by investment management company Invesco and crypto financial services firm Galaxy Digital. The SEC gave a 45-day extension, allowing itself until February 6, 2024, to make its decision on the product....Read More
Major crypto exchange KuCoin has reportedly settled with New York authorities to stop offering its services in the local market, along with a payment of $22 million. The settlement deal comes months after the New York Attorney General (NYAG) sued KuCoin for selling unregistered securities to users in the state. KuCoin Leaves New York According...Read More
The crypto industry is at an unprecedented inflection point, which could serve as a “generational investment opportunity” that will be fleeting as more institutions enter the space and network effects lead to exponential growth, according to new research. Digital asset manager Hashdex, which is currently eyeing a spot Bitcoin ETF approval, believes prospects for such...Read More
Conversations about launching spot Bitcoin exchange-traded funds (ETFs) in the United States have moved to advanced stages, Reuters reported Thursday, citing unnamed sources. According to the report, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has begun to ask potential spot Bitcoin ETF issuers detailed and technical questions about the products, a move the sources said indicated...Read More
A United States district judge has ruled that Changpeng Zhao (CZ), the founder and former CEO of the world’s largest cryptocurrency exchange Binance, will remain in the country until his sentencing on February 23, 2024. According to an official document, Judge Richard Jones agreed with the U.S. government that CZ’s return to his home in...Read More
Bitcoin has gained recognition in the financial sector within two decades after its launch. This is evident in the increasing number of times the leading digital asset has been mentioned in official filings over the past years. According to recent research, the world’s largest cryptocurrency was mentioned in more than a thousand filings with the...Read More
A circuit court in Estonia overturned a previous ruling allowing the extradition of two Estonian citizens charged with cryptocurrency fraud and money laundering to the United States. According to the court, the Estonian government did not consider certain circumstances before agreeing to extradite the individuals involved in the case. New Court Ruling Cancels Extradition Approval...Read More
The Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) of the United States Department of the Treasury has placed sanctions on cryptocurrency mixing service Sinbad, alleging that the mixer served as a money laundering channel for the notorious North Korean hackers Lazarus Group. According to the enforcement agency, Sinbad has been used to launder millions of dollars...Read More
The largest US-based crypto exchange experienced a threefold increase in law enforcement requests in the current year compared to 2020, as revealed in its latest transparency report. The total number of requests during the reporting period amounted to 13,079, marking approximately a 6% rise from the previous year. Notably, the United States maintained its position...Read More
Soccer star Cristiano Ronaldo has been hit with a $1 billion class action lawsuit for promoting the world’s largest cryptocurrency exchange, Binance. According to a document filed at the United States District Court for the Southern District of Florida Miami Division, the plaintiffs accuse Ronaldo of promoting, assisting, and participating in the offer and sale...Read More
Arthur Hayes, the founder of the BitMEX crypto exchange network, issued a statement expressing his perspective on the unfair treatment of Changpeng Zhao (CZ), the co-founder and former CEO of Binance, by American authorities. Hayes criticized the treatment, deeming it absurd and inconsistent, emphasizing that it only highlights the arbitrary nature of punishment. BitMEX Founder...Read More
A United States district judge issued an order temporarily preventing former Binance CEO Changpeng Zhao from returning to the United Arab Emirates (UAE) before his sentencing in February 2024. Zhao previously pleaded guilty to charges relating to anti-money laundering violations. Judge Richard Jones of the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Washington at...Read More
United States prosecutors arrested three people for allegedly stealing $10 million from financial institutions and laundering the stolen funds using cryptocurrency exchanges. The individuals could each get up to over 80 years in prison if found guilty of the allegations. Defrauding Banks and Channeling Proceeds to Crypto Exchanges A press release by the U.S. Attorney’s...Read More
The United States has persistently stumbled in delivering clear regulatory guidance for digital assets. The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) presides over instruments and assets deemed as securities, while the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) regulates the trading of derivatives on commodities. This landscape leaves a regulatory gap for digital assets that defy the categorization...Read More
Research conducted by TRM Labs reveals that the growth rate of crypto-denominated fentanyl sales has slowed down in 2023. The first three quarters of the year saw an increase of just under 60% in these sales, a sharp decline from the 155% average growth rate recorded since 2019. TRM Labs Study Shows Slowdown in Crypto...Read More
The New York State Department of Financial Services (NYDFS) has published a set of new rules guiding the listing and delisting of digital assets to ensure the activities of crypto firms protect investors from financial harm. According to an official post from the department, the new guidance is effective immediately and will replace older standards...Read More
New Jersey’s U.S. Attorney’s Office has filed a civil forfeiture action against Christopher Castelluzzo and two other members of an unnamed drug trafficking group based in New Jersey. According to the filing, the other two members of the group are Luke Atwell – a friend and business partner of Castelluzzo’s who is currently serving a...Read More
The US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has accused two former CEOs of collapsed California-based tech company Bitwise Industries, of alleged misrepresentation and fraud, which they used to raise funds from unsuspecting investors. The defunct company is not associated with the major crypto asset manager, Bitwise, even though both entities bear identical names. Former Bitwise...Read More
In a move aimed at preserving the autonomy of cryptocurrency users and safeguarding their ability to self-custody digital assets, U.S. Senator Ted Budd (R-NC) has introduced the Keep Your Coins Act. This legislative proposal, which came after last year’s FTX exchange collapse, seeks to protect individuals’ rights to conduct cryptocurrency transactions without relying on third-party...Read More
The founders behind the once multi-billion dollar cryptocurrency, SafeMoon (SFM), have been charged with multiple counts of fraud and conspiracy by U.S. government, with accompanying charges from the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). On Wednesday, founders Braden John Karony (aka “CPT_HODL_T_MUN”) and Thomas Smith (aka “papa”) were arrested in Provo, Utah and Bethlehem, New Hampshire,...Read More
Major crypto exchange Bittrex has on Oct. 30 been given the go-ahead by the US bankruptcy court to shutter operations in the United States and also liquidate its assets to repay creditors. While the company is closing down its US business, the international arm based in Lichtenstein continues to serve customers in other jurisdictions. Bittrex...Read More
The United States is the world’s largest cryptocurrency market, accounting for 24.4% of global transaction activity, according to a recent report by Chainalysis. The report, released on October 23, revealed that there was an estimated $1.2 trillion in value received on-chain between July 2022 and June 2023 in the U.S. Moreover, institutional activity makes up...Read More
In a recent study conducted by Coinbase, a paradigm shift has emerged among the young American population. An impressive 38% of younger Americans now believe crypto and blockchain technology can provide significant economic opportunities not commonly found in the traditional finance sector. Interestingly, this stands in stark contrast to older generations, where approximately 26% share...Read More
U.S. Deputy Treasury Secretary Wally Adeyemo confirmed in a speech on Friday that crypto plays a relevant, but still relatively minor role in global terrorist financing operations. His comments bear a stark contrast to claims from a massive lineup of congresspeople earlier this month, asserting that crypto is responsible for over $130 million in Hamas...Read More