A Quick Look at Last Month’s U.S. Crypto Crime Log
While our attention was focused on exchange-traded funds earlier this month, federal regulators in the U.S. announced charges or sentences for various crypto parties.
State of Crypto
How the Crypto Industry Responded to FinCEN’s Proposed Mixer Rule
Last October, the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network proposed implementing a new regulatory regime for crypto mixing services that would treat the entire class of privacy tools as money laundering threats and force new recordkeeping rules on U.S. people or entities that use them. The industry had a chance to weigh in. Here’s the gist of their responses.
What’s Uniting the SEC’s Crypto Cases
Earlier this week, a federal judge asked attorneys with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission why – “big picture” – there wasn’t any sort of uniting regulation addressing crypto.
The SEC Goes Back to Court
Last summer, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) sued crypto exchanges Coinbase and Binance, alleging they listed and traded unregistered securities in the form of various cryptocurrencies. This week, the regulator’s legal teams faced the exchanges in court as the companies argued the SEC did not make the case that those cryptos are securities.
Will 2024 Be the Year of the Bitcoin ETF?
Excitement over a spot bitcoin ETF – a regulated financial product that would give institutional and retail investors easier exposure to bitcoin’s price without requiring them to invest directly in the asset – continues to grow.
Elections, SEC Cases, DOJ Cases: What Crypto Regulation May Bring in 2024
The CoinDesk policy team is scattered throughout the world; in the final edition of this newsletter, each member explains what they’re watching in 2024 in the world of crypto regulations. Happy holidays, and we’ll see you next year!
SEC Chair Gary Gensler: ‘Far Too Many Frauds and Bankruptcies’
Earlier this month, I had the opportunity to speak with U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) Chair Gary Gensler, recognized by CoinDesk as one of the most influential figures in the crypto industry over the past year, about how he views his agency’s role in the digital asset world.
In Search of the Elusive Crypto Voter
On Monday, a New Hampshire state representative asked a mostly-filled room at an industry campaign event to raise their hands if they were visiting from another state. More than half the people in the room raised their hands. These visitors had come to hear from industry representatives, state lawmakers and – perhaps most importantly – three presidential candidates talk about the upcoming election.
Binance’s Busy Day, Kraken’s Second SEC Fight
Binance is paying one of the largest fines in corporate history to the U.S. Department of Justice, while its founder and CEO, Changpeng “CZ” Zhao, stepped down from his role running the platform as part of a settlement with multiple federal agencies. Meanwhile, Kraken is facing a lawsuit from the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission that echoes the SEC’s previous wave of suits.
Delaware, We Need to Talk
Some sectors of the crypto industry were excited (and/or confused) by an apparent BlackRock XRP Trust filing in the state of Delaware, suggesting the massive asset manager may try to launch an XRP exchange-traded fund (ETF) after applying to launch bitcoin and ether ETFs. But, this filing was “false.”