United States
Nexo leaving US, says country lacks clear regulations
The crypto borrowing and lending platform Nexo plans to gradually cease operations in the United States “over the coming months,” according to a blog post on Dec. 5. Nexo has stated that the decision to leave the U.S. is “regrettable but necessary.” Today we are announcing the regrettable but necessary decision that Nexo will be phasing out its products and services in the United States due to a lack of regulatory clarity. — Nexo (@Nexo) December 5, 2022 In the post, Nexo said that it has been talking to U.S. regulators for 18 months in an attempt to determine how to comply with U.S. financial laws. But these talks have not resulted in an agreement between the company and U.S. officials. “Our decision comes after more than 18 months of good-faith dialogue with US state and federal reg...
US House committee chair pushes back against SBF’s excuse to potentially delay testimony
Maxine Waters, chair of the United States House Financial Services Committee, has called out former FTX CEO Sam Bankman-Fried for announcing on social media he intended to testify after “learning and reviewing what happened” at the exchange. In a Dec. 5 Twitter thread, Waters cited Bankman-Fried’s numerous media interviews in the wake of FTX’s bankruptcy as evidence that his information was “sufficient for testimony” before the committee. Waters will preside over a hearing investigating the collapse of FTX on Dec. 13, in which committee leadership said they expected Bankman-Fried and other individuals associated with the events around the exchange’s downfall to appear. “The collapse of FTX has harmed over one million people,” said Waters, in a statement directed to Bankman-Fried. “Your tes...
Canada crypto regulation: Bitcoin ETFs, strict licensing and a digital dollar
In October, Toronto-based Coinsquare became the first crypto trading business to get dealer registration from the Investment Industry Regulatory Organization of Canada (IIROC). That means a lot as now Coinsquare investors’ funds enjoy the security of the Canadian Investment Protection Fund in the event of insolvency, while the exchange is required to report its financial standing regularly. This news reminds us about the peculiarities of Canadian regulation of crypto. While the country still holds a rather tight process of licensing the virtual asset providers, it outpaces the neighboring United States in its experiments with crypto exchange-traded funds (ETFs), pension funds’ investments and central bank digital currency (CBDC) efforts. An era of restricted dealers Coinsquare, which...
SEC chair’s crypto oversight strategy in question as ecosystems collapse
While regulations are often aimed at protecting citizens from bad actors, the effectiveness of crypto regulations in the United States is in question owing to the colossal fall of major exchanges and ecosystems over the past year — FTX, Celsius, Voyager, and Terra (LUNA). Congressman Tom Emmer showed concerns about the oversight strategy implemented by Gary Gensler, the chair of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) for the crypto ecosystem. Emmer has been vocal against Gensler’s “indiscriminate and inconsistent approach” toward crypto oversight. On March 16, the Congressman revealed being approached by numerous crypto and blockchain firms that believed Gensler’s reporting requests to be overburdensome and stifling innovation. We are even more concerned now as we’ve...
Approving a spot crypto ETF is ‘all about political power’ — Perianne Boring
Perianne Boring, founder and CEO of blockchain advocacy group Chamber of Digital Commerce, placed the lack of approval of a Bitcoin exchange-traded fund in the United States squarely on Securities and Exchange Commission chair Gary Gensler, suggesting politics played more of a role than economics. Speaking to Cointelegraph at the Texas Blockchain Summit in Austin on Nov. 18, Boring said the events surrounding FTX’s collapse may have “emboldened the regulation by enforcement approach” from the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission and Treasury, with Republican lawmakers likely to focus on oversight using their House majority in the next Congress. According to the Chamber of Digital Commerce CEO, passing any kind of legislation — including bills on crypto, blockchain, and stablecoins — wil...
Celsius bankruptcy victims get proof-of-claim deadline from US court
The ongoing case of the Celsius bankruptcy continues as the United States Bankruptcy Court in the southern district of New York State approved a new filing deadline. According to an official document, a deadline has been set for those filing any claims against the former digital assets lender. Any person or entity – which covers individuals, partnerships, corporations, joint ventures and trusts – who wishes to do so must submit a proof of claim by Jan. 3, 2023, 5:00 pm Eastern Time. Celsius itself made a thread on Twitter, informing its former users of the recent court deadline approval, along with step-by-step information as to how claims are filed: We created this video to help explain the claims process: https://t.co/jXmL1VQNxg — Celsius (@CelsiusNetwork) November 20, 2022 T...
American CryptoFed registration at risk as SEC alleges filing anomalies
Disclaimer: The article has been updated based on an official response from American CryptoFed DAO. COO Xiaomeng Zhou explained why the SEC is not legally allowed to issue a stop order. American CryptoFed DAO, the first decentralized autonomous organization (DAO) to get legal recognition in the United States, is at risk of losing its registration after the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) dug up anomalies in the Form S-1 registration statement dated Sept. 17, 2021. The Wyoming Secretary of State’s office recognized American CryptoFed as a legal entity in July 2021, at a time when the organization’s CEO, Marian Orr, believed that “Wyoming is arguably the top blockchain jurisdiction in the world.” However, on Nov. 18, 2022, the SEC instituted administrative proceedings...
FTX leadership pressed for information by US subcommittee chairman
The former and current CEOs of the bankrupt FTX cryptocurrency exchange have been pressed by the chair of a United States House subcommittee calling for documents relating to the exchange’s finances. “FTX’s customers, former employees, and the public deserve answers,” Raja Krishnamoorthi, Chairman of the Subcommittee on Economic and Consumer Policy wrote in a Nov. 18 letter addressed to both former FTX CEO Sam Bankman-Fried and the exchange’s current CEO John J. Ray III, who took over in the wake of FTX’s bankruptcy filings. Krishnamoorthi added the subcommittee was “seeking detailed information on the significant liquidity issues faced by FTX, the company’s abrupt decision to declare bankruptcy, and the potential impact of these actions on customers who used your exchange.” He...
Banks still show interest in digital assets and DeFi amid market chaos
The cryptocurrency sector is the Wild Wild West in comparison to traditional finance, yet a number of banks are showing interest in digital assets and decentralized finance (DeFi). This year in particular has been notable for banks exploring digital assets. Most recently, JPMorgan demonstrated how DeFi can be used to improve cross-border transactions. This came shortly after BNY Mellon — America’s oldest bank — announced the launch of its Digital Asset Custody Platform, which allows select institutional clients to hold and transfer Bitcoin (BTC) and Ether (ETH). The Clearing House, a United States banking association and payments company, stated on Nov. 3 that banks “should be no less able to engage in digital-asset-related activities than nonbanks.” Banks aware of potential While ba...
Bahamian liquidators reject validity of FTX’s US bankruptcy filing
Brian Simms, the court-appointed provisional liquidator overseeing the bankruptcy proceedings of FTX Digital Markets in The Bahamas, has called into question the validity of a Chapter 11 bankruptcy filing by subsidiary FTX Trading and 134 other affiliates in a Delaware court on Nov. 14. In the Nov. 15 document, Simms filed for Chapter 15 Bankruptcy in the United States Bankruptcy Court in the Southern District of New York, which is used when a foreign representative of the debtor seeks recognition in the U.S. for a pending foreign insolvency proceeding. In the filing Simms notes FTX Digital is not part of the Delaware Petition, and says as the provisional liquidator he is the only one, “authorized to take any act including, but not limited to, filing the Delaware Petition,” add...
FDIC acting chair says no crypto firms or tokens are backed by agency
Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation acting chair Martin Gruenberg said the agency does not back any crypto firms in the United States, nor does its insurance cover losses from tokens. In a Nov. 15 hearing of the Senate Banking Committee on the oversight of financial regulators, New Jersey Senator Bob Menendez said lawmakers needed to “take a serious look at crypto exchanges and lending platforms” over risky behavior. Gruenberg responded to Menendez’s questions confirming there were “no cryptocurrency firms backed by the FDIC” and “FDIC insurance does not cover cryptocurrency of any kind.” FDIC acting chair Martin Gruenberg addressing the Senate Banking Committee on Nov. 15 FDIC insurance normally protects deposits at financial institutions in the United States in the event of bank failur...
Joe Biden unhappy with Elon Musk for buying a platform that “spews lies”
The relevance of social media platforms in swaying global politics was first highlighted with the rise of Facebook (rebranded later to Meta), which was accused of manipulating information based on user demographics. Twitter, which was recently acquired by Elon Musk, got the short end of the stick as US President Joe Biden accused the website of spewing lies. Biden attended a fundraising event in Chicago for upcoming elections, wherein he called out Elon Musk for purchasing Twitter. He stated: “Now what are we all worried about? Elon Musk goes out and buys an outfit that sends and spews lies all across the world.” While the Biden administration has previously clarified its stance to promote the suppression of hate speech and misinformation on social media platforms, the president highlighte...
