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The founder of the now-defunct crypto exchange BitConnect is being sued for a US$2 billion “textbook Ponzi scheme” by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, according to a Reuters report. Fast facts The SEC alleges BitConnect’s founder Satish Kumbhani, an Indian citizen, lied about the exchange’s ability to earn 40% returns on investments of BitConnect’s […]

Amid a period of increasing regulatory interest in stablecoins, Circle, the digital payment company that issues USDC, the world’s second-largest stablecoin , has announced plans to become a full-reserve national digital currency bank in the U.S. Fast facts In a company blog post, CEO and co-founder Jeremy Allaire said the company was prepared to operate […]

Cryptocurrency platform Poloniex has agreed to pay more than US$10 million to settle charges for operating an unregistered online digital asset exchange, according to an announcement by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). Fast facts According to the SEC’s order, Poloniex violated securities laws from July 2017 to November 2019 as the company did […]

Will Google greenlighting US crypto ads, Ethereum’s London upgrade and clearer regulations pave the way for another Ether price rally?

In a long-awaited reversal of a 2018 policy decision, Google will allow crypto exchanges and wallets to advertise on its platform in the U.S. But not everyone’s happy.

The cryptocurrency trading industry has been labeled a “Wild West,” riddled with fraud and investor risk, by U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission Chair Gary Gensler, according to a Reuters report. Fast facts Calling on Congress at the Aspen Security Forum to give the SEC more power to regulate the industry, Gensler said many of the […]

World’s largest stablecoin dismisses report suggesting possibility of U.S. investigation, despite claims of recent Justice Department interest and track record of legal woes.

Valkyrie is among a growing number of asset managers at the SEC’s door, seeking approval to offer a Bitcoin ETF. Will a Bitcoin ETF ever get the green light in the United States?

US Securities and Exchange Commission staffers say their appointed leaders’ views do not reflect the agency’s stance on Ripple and XRP.

U.S. Senator Elizabeth Warren has written to Securities and Exchange Commission Chair Gary Gensler enquiring about the SEC’s authority to regulate cryptocurrencies and asking what future congressional regulatory action is needed, according to a Reuters report. Fast facts Requesting a reply by July 28, Warren, who heads the Senate Banking Committee’s Subcommittee on Economic Policy, […]

Is William Hinman a former ‘high-ranking’ SEC official exempt from disclosing his prior communications on XRP, or must he provide testimony to Ripple?

Top blockchain and crypto news: Ethereum upgrade, torque of the town. SEC in snafu over Bitcoin ETFs. Crypto miners flourish amid China fallout.

Dashing hopes of greater regulatory clarity for the cryptocurrency industry, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission’s recently released annual regulatory agenda does not mention Bitcoin or cryptocurrency regulations.

Other top blockchain and crypto news: Australia signals progressive approach to crypto as Hong Kong moves closer to banning retail crypto trading.

As retail interest in crypto grows, countries around the world are grappling with consumer protection. Asia offers a window into the array of policy responses.

Other top blockchain and cryptocurrency news: Can China be warming up to digital assets and crypto investing? Ethereum ETFs roll out in Canada.

Battlefield for SEC v. Ripple lawsuit goes global as defense lawyers seek to stop SEC from obtaining information on Ripple and XRP from foreign regulators.

Bitcoin’s soaring prices are attracting traditional investors who want in, but with an entourage rather than solo. When will the velvet ropes lift in US and Asia?

Court ruling favoring Ripple executives and slapping down SEC catapults XRP — now the world’s 4th most popular crypto — to its highest prices in 3 years.

As Ripple and SEC intensify their legal battles, attorney John Deaton and his clients are trying to jump into the fray. Will XRP investors get their day in court?

In its latest court filing, Ripple also says SEC led market to believe that XRP was not an investment contract. Outside court, Ripple pursues the CBDC business.

Blockchain association leader Perianne Boring explains the controversial rule and how the industry pulled together to force FinCEN to consider public input.

Other top blockchain and crypto news: Bill Gates on bitcoin. Nvidia protects gamers from crypto miners with separate CMP and GeForce RTX graphics cards.

Ripple and SEC face off in a pretrial conference as MoneyGram, the world’s second largest money transfer provider, suspends trading on Ripple’s platform.

Congress investigates links between Robinhood, Citadel, Reddit’s WallStreetBets and GME prices amid shifting investor interest to cryptocurrency and DeFi.

Other top blockchain and crypto news: DeFi under Fed study. Andrew Yang, Wyoming vie for crypto attention. Hong Kong and India edge toward crypto bans.

Blockchain Research Institute’s Don Tapscott outlines how Biden administration can lead technology policy for US to stay ahead in the innovation race.

Securities lawyers read the tea leaves of SEC’s lawsuits against Ripple XRP and Bitcoiin2Gen. Will DeFi be next for SEC enforcement actions or regulations?

Other top blockchain and cryptocurrency news: Twitter’s blue sky initiative. In China, Conflux Network wins another government deal.

Securities and Exchange Commission’s acting enforcement chief Marc Berger helped lead high-profile lawsuits against crypto firms, including Ripple and Telegram.

Blockchain-based gaming and remittances among top drivers toward adoption in central and South Asia.

In the second in a series of 1-on-1 interviews from the Token 2049 crypto conference in Singapore held Sept. 13-14, Michael Gronager, founder of blockchain analytics firm Chainalysis, spoke to Forkast about crypto use in the Ukraine conflict, tracking illicit on-chain activity and digital asset adoption in Asia.

Blockchain analytics are key to understanding the nascent crypto industry. But the analysis sector is far from immune from the pressures of the ongoing crypto bear market. In the first of a series of 1-on-1 interviews from the Token2049 conference held in Singapore Sept. 13-14, Alex Svanevik, CEO of blockchain analytics firm Nansen, sat down with Forkast to discuss current crypto challenges, the Asia growth market and the increasing use of artificial intelligence in the industry.

Last year was memorable in the emerging world of digital assets for the sheer number of corporate failures. The industry itself has been asking for clearer legal guidelines to help development. Is that what’s happening now?

Panelists at Forkast’s live-streamed event ‘Crypto Rising: The Role of Law: An International Debate post Tornado Cash’ co-hosted by the Crypto Council for Innovation (CCI) said attempting to regulate DAOs highlights the shortcomings of international enforcement.

Perianne Boring of the Chamber of Digital Commerce sees agencies elbowing each other to oversee the crypto industry while investors start to pay big taxes.

The US Infrastructure Act has provisions that should make crypto advocates shudder, writes Alex Shipp of Offshift. Who will stand up for crypto’s core values?

Markets on Tuesday in the U.S. were unsettled by the prospect that energy crises in Europe and China could lift inflation to new highs, compelling central banks to reverse accommodations sooner than expected. US Treasuries reacted with a fierce rise in yields and that spilled over to the equity markets.  Although the markets drove down […]

As the crypto sell-off continued over the weekend, Bitcoin once again proved its resilience relative to other cryptocurrencies in not bleeding as much.

Bitcoin and altcoin prices take heavy hits and sell-off deepens as more bad news, including a blatant DeFi exit scam, continue battering crypto markets.

Will DeFi replace centralized finance, and how might regulators respond? An all-star panel with leaders from SEC, WEF, ConsenSys and USDC explains.

CasperLabs, a new smart contract blockchain network, announces its CSPR token sale — which CTO Medha Parlikar likens to a ‘gas futures market.’

The founder and CEO of the world’s largest crypto exchange explains why he thinks bitcoin prices will keep rising but DeFi won’t be as hot as it was in 2020.