Regulation
EU lawmakers vote for more restrictive capital requirements on banks holding crypto
Banks could be required to hold a “risk-weighted exposure amount” of up to 1,250% of capital based on exposure to crypto if the full parliament passes the measures. News Own this piece of history Collect this article as an NFT The Economic and Monetary Affairs Committee of the European Parliament has voted for measures requiring banks holding cryptocurrencies to set aside a punitive amount of capital. In a Jan. 24 notice, the European Parliament announced the committee had voted overwhelmingly in favor of amendments to its Capital Requirements Regulation and Capital Requirements Directive applying to banks holding crypto. According to a draft law, banks would be required to hold a “risk-weighted exposure amount” of up to 1,250% of capital based on exposure to crypto. On Tuesday 24/01 @EP_E...
Europol reports $19.5M in crypto seized in enforcement action against Bitzlato
The operation conducted by authorities across Europe and the U.S. resulted in the arrest of 5 individuals linked to the exchange, including Bitzlato founder Anatoly Legkodymov. News Own this piece of history Collect this article as an NFT The European Union Agency for Law Enforcement Cooperation, or Europol, has reported authorities took control of crypto wallets containing more than $19 million in cryptocurrency as part of enforcement actions against crypto firm Bitzlato. In a Jan. 23 announcement, Europol reported that roughly 46% of assets — 1 billion euro, or $1.09 billion at the time of publication — moved through Bitzlato were linked to illicit activities. The government agency’s analysis suggested that Bitzlato received more than 2.1 billion euro in cryptocurrencies including Bitcoi...
SEC charges Mango Markets exploiter for allegedly stealing $116M in crypto
The SEC has accused Avraham Eisenberg of manipulating the Mango Markets platform by manipulating the MNGO token, which the company allegedly sold as a security. Breaking news Own this piece of history Collect this article as an NFT The United States Securities and Exchange Commission has followed the Commodity Futures Trading Commission and others in filing parallel charges against the crypto user allegedly behind a multimillion-dollar exploit of decentralized exchange Mango Markets. In a Jan. 20 notice, the SEC alleged Avraham Eisenberg manipulated Mango Markets’ MNGO governance token, allowing him to steal roughly $116 million worth of cryptocurrency from the platform. According to the complaint, Eisenberg allegedly executed a series of large MNGO purchases in order to artificially raise...
FTX bankruptcy lawyer: debtors face ‘assault by Twitter’ stemming from Sam Bankman-Fried
James Bromley, one of the lawyers representing debtors in FTX’s bankruptcy case, has criticized social media activity against his law firm promulgated by posts from former CEO Sam Bankman-Fried. In a Jan. 20 hearing in the District of Delaware, lawyers spoke on motions dealing with potential conflicts of interest between Sullivan & Cromwell, the law firm tasked with the investigation of FTX’s bankruptcy, and the crypto exchange. Bromley, a partner at Sullivan & Cromwell, pushed back against the narrative that the law firm would be unable to act as a disinterested examiner given it had previously provided legal services to FTX and one of its former partners, Ryne Miller, went on to become the FTX US lead counsel. On Jan. 19, former FTX chief regulatory officer Daniel Friedberg filed...
US authorities seize crypto website Bitzlato as part of international enforcement action
The United States Department of Justice is expected to announce a “major international cryptocurrency enforcement action.” According to a Jan. 18 announcement, U.S. Deputy Attorney General Lisa Monaco will lead a press conference in which the Justice Department will announce a major enforcement action — now believed to be against the crypto firm Bitzlato. The U.S. Treasury Department is also expected to announce a similar enforcement action. Other speakers at the event will include Assistant Attorney General Kenneth Polite of the Department of Justice’s criminal division, U.S. Attorney Breon Peace of the Eastern District of New York, FBI Associate Deputy Director Brian Turner, and Deputy Treasury Secretary Wally Adeyemo. This story is developing and will be updated. [flexi-common-too...
US authorities launch page to notify FTX’s alleged victims about SBF’s case
The United States Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York has launched a page on its website appealing to Sam Bankman-Fried’s alleged victims of fraud at FTX to come forward and informing them about court proceedings. In a Jan. 6 filing, Assistant U.S. Attorney Danielle Sassoon requested the federal court allow her office to take “reasonable, accurate, and timely notice” to inform alleged fraud victims from crypto exchange FTX while under the leadership of Bankman-Fried. According to Sassoon, the government proposed an “alternative plan” for notifying victims in the FTX case through an online notice which went live on Jan. 6. According to the court filing, the number of victims in the FTX case — more than one million creditors — made it “impractical” to rely on more traditi...
US authorities are turning their attention to FTX’s Nishad Singh: Report
The United States Securities and Exchange Commission and Commodity Futures Trading Commission and prosecutors are reportedly investigating former FTX engineering director Nishad Singh for potentially having a role in defrauding investors and users. According to a Jan. 5 report from Bloomberg, U.S. officials are looking at individuals in former FTX CEO Sam Bankman-Fried’s inner circle as part of their criminal probe of the exchange’s collapse. Bankman-Fried has pleaded not guilty to all criminal charges against him, but former Alameda Research CEO Caroline Ellison and FTX co-founder Gary Wang reached plea deals with prosecutors in December, admitting to fraud at the company. Sam Bankman-Fried has arrived in court for his arraignment. We’re told he will plead not guilty to all the cha...
Alex Mashinsky sued by NY AG for allegedly hiding Celsius’ ‘dire financial condition’
New York Attorney General Letitia James has filed a lawsuit against Alex Mashinsky, alleging the Celsius founder and CEO made numerous “false and misleading statements” which led to investors losing billions. In a Jan. 5 announcement, the New York Attorney General’s office announced the lawsuit, which allegedly involved defrauding investors — including more than 26,000 residents of the U.S. state — out of billions of dollars worth of crypto. According to James, Mashinsky’s actions leading up to Celsius declaring bankruptcy contributed to investor losses by misrepresenting the platform’s financial condition and failing to abide by certain regulatory requirements. “As the former CEO of Celsius, Alex Mashinsky promised to lead investors to financial freedom but led them down a path of f...
US authorities are seizing $460M in Robinhood shares tied to FTX: Report
The United States Departure of Justice has reportedly seized or was in the process of seizing more than $400 million worth of Robinhood shares linked to FTX as part of the case against the crypto exchange. According to a Jan. 4 report from Reuters, U.S. officials told a judge they were in the process of seizing assets tied to FTX and its former CEO, Sam Bankman-Fried, which included 56 million shares of Robinhood — worth roughly $468 million at the time of publication. The report comes a day after a judge in the criminal case against SBF orderedyu7po him not to access or transfer any cryptocurrency or assets from FTX or Alameda. Amid FTX’s bankruptcy proceedings, control of the Robinhood shares has been under contention as many investors and creditors look to be made whole. BlockFi, B...
Coinbase agrees to $100M settlement with NY regulator
The New York State Department of Financial Services, or NYDFS, has reached an agreement with Coinbase following an investigation into the cryptocurrency exchange’s compliance program. In a Jan. 4 announcement, the NYDFS said Coinbase will pay a $50-million fine in response to violations of New York’s financial services and banking laws, as well as invest $50 million to correct its compliance program. According to the financial regulator, the crypto exchange had many compliance “deficiencies” related to anti-money laundering (AML) requirements. The NYDFS reported issues with Coinbase’s process for onboarding users and monitoring transactions. “Coinbase has acknowledged its failures in this respect to the Department,” said the NYDFS. “Furthermore, certain of these issues have been known to C...
Sam Bankman-Fried’s legal team warns of ‘harassment and threats’ to parents in latest court filing
The legal team behind former FTX chief executive officer Sam Bankman-Fried has petitioned a court to redact certain information on individuals acting as sureties for his $250-million bond, citing threats made against his family. In a letter dated Jan. 3 filed to Judge Lewis Kaplan for the United States District Court in the Southern District of New York, Bankman-Fried’s legal team requested the court order “names and other identifying information” of two bail sureties not be disclosed to the public and redacted from bonds once they were signed on Jan. 5. Mark Cohen of the law firm Cohen & Gresser said that if the individuals’ personal information were to be available, they could be subject to similar harassment as the former FTX CEO’s parents, Barbara Fried and Joseph Bankman. “In...
Former Alameda CEO confirms firm borrowed billions from FTX customer deposits as part of plea deal
Caroline Ellison, the former CEO of Alameda Research, said as part of her plea deal that she was aware FTX funds had been made available for the venture capital firm’s investments. In a transcript of proceedings for her plea deal in the Southern District of New York released on Dec. 23, Ellison acknowledged the financial ties between FTX and Alameda at the center of prosecutors’ case against former FTX CEO Sam Bankman-Fried. According to the former Alameda CEO, Alameda had access to a “borrowing facility” through FTX from 2019 to 2022. “I understood that FTX executives had implemented special settings on Alameda’s FTX.com account that permitted Alameda to maintain negative balances in various fiat currencies and crypto currencies,” said Ellison. “In practical terms, this arrangement permit...
