Regulation

Joseph Bankman, the father of former FTX chief executive officer Sam Bankman-Fried, has reportedly hired an attorney as the criminal case against his son moves forward. According to a Jan. 12 report from Reuters, Bankman retained Sean Hecker of New York-based law firm Kaplan Hecker & Fink LLP. Bankman-Fried’s father reportedly advised and assisted his

Setting aside the criminal investigations of failed crypto businesses like FTX, Celsius, 3AC, Terra and others, 2022 set the record in illicit on-chain transactions. According to a yearly report published by Chainalysis on Jan. 12, the total cryptocurrency value received by illicit addresses reached $20.1 billion in the last year. The numbers aren’t final, as the

The names of up to nine million FTX customers are set to remain confidential for at least three more months following the latest ruling in FTX bankruptcy proceedings.  The decision was reportedly made by Judge John Dorsey in the Delaware-based bankruptcy court on Jan. 11 in response to a 168-page filing by FTX on Jan.

The City of London has teamed up with a variety of trade associations to form the UK Forum for Digital Currencies, an alliance that will advocate for “better policies, practice and regulation around digital currencies,” according to a statement released by the five members.  Besides the City of London Corporation, the city’s municipal governing body,

When the new licensing program that is scheduled to take off in June arrives, retail traders in Hong Kong will be limited to “highly-liquid” digital assets, according to the new CEO of Hong Kong’s Securities and Futures Commission (SFC), Julia Leung Fung-yee. At the recent Asia Financial Forum, Leung reportedly pointed out that many digital

Bankrupt crypto lender Voyager Digital has received initial court approval for its proposal to sell its assets to Binance.US for $1.02 billion. The approval comes amid a national security probe concerning Binance.US that Voyager is seeking to speed up. On Jan. 10, Judge Michael Wiles of the United States Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District

A group of four United States senators have criticized one of the law firms involved in the bankruptcy case of crypto exchange FTX for conflicts of interest. In a Jan. 9 letter to Judge John Dorsey of the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the District of Delaware, Senators John Hickenlooper, Thom Tillis, Elizabeth Warren, and Cynthia

As one of the world’s pioneers in adopting its own central bank digital currency (CBDC), Nigeria declares its readiness to accept the existence of private stablecoins as well. The necessity to create a legal framework for stablecoins is marked in the latest central bank strategy paper.  Published under the headline “Nigeria Payments System Vision 2025”,

The United States Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) filed suit against self-described digital artist Avraham Eisenberg on Jan. 9, charging him with two counts of market manipulation in connection with an exploit of decentralized finance platform Mango Markets. Eisenberg was arrested on related charges on Dec. 27 and is currently in custody. The CFTC claimed

Xiao Yi, the former Chinese Communist Party secretary of Fuzhou, has confessed to “acting recklessly” in support of crypto mining during a state-run television broadcast.  In an interview released by state-run media on Jan. 8, Xiao seemed to speak with a very subdued voice from what appeared to be prison, apologizing for being a “sinner”

Australian crypto exchange Swyftx is set to shutter its crypto-interest product this week, citing a “constantly changing regulatory landscape” for crypto products in the country.  From Jan. 10, the crypto exchange will cease to operate the “Earn” program, with users having their entire Earn balances returned to their trade wallets. Swyftx said while the decision might

Fourteen years after Bitcoin’s genesis block launched a profound disruption in financial services and other industries through the rise of blockchain technology, United States authorities are finally becoming more interested in cryptocurrencies’ future and economic impact. On Dec. 14, the Financial Accounting Standards Board discussed new accounting and disclosure requirements for entities holding crypto assets in

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

Top Stories This Week Sam Bankman-Fried enters not guilty plea for all counts in federal court Former FTX CEO Sam Bankman-Fried (has pleaded not guilty to all charges related to the collapse of the crypto exchange, including wire fraud and securities fraud. He faces eight criminal counts, which could result in 115 years in prison

United States prosecutors are investigating hedge funds’ relationships with cryptocurrency exchange Binance for money-laundering violations. According to anonymous sources cited by the Washington Post, the U.S. attorney’s office for the Western District of Washington in Seattle subpoenaed investment firms to provide records of communications with Binance in the past months. The allegedly subpoenas do not

A crypto lobbying group based in Singapore has voiced its opposition to the proposal from the central bank to prohibit crypto firms from lending crypto tokens. On Oct. 26, Singapore’s central bank issued consultation papers and proposed banning digital payment token service providers from offering “any credit facility” to consumers, including both fiat and cryptocurrencies.