Latest News
By Federal Newswire | Nov 22, 2023
The Blockchain Association, a nonprofit advocating for "pro-innovation" policies for the digital asset industry, announced on X, formerly Twitter, that a group of cryptocurrency experts with U.S. military and national security backgrounds has sent a letter to Congressional committee leadership outlining their concerns with the misrepresentation of crypto's role in terror financing. This announcement was made in an attempt to address the prevailing misconceptions surrounding the use of cryptocurrencies.
By Federal Newswire | Nov 22, 2023
Stuart Alderoty, the chief legal officer of the crypto company Ripple, said U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) Chair Gary Gensler's recent remarks are false in light of the prosecution Ripple has faced from the SEC. Gensler's remarks came ahead of the 2023 Securities Enforcement Forum on Oct. 25, and he shared a clip of them on X on Nov. 16. These statements have ignited a debate about accountability and regulatory fairness in the crypto industry.
By Federal Newswire | Nov 22, 2023
Binance, the largest cryptocurrency exchange in the world, announced on Nov. 21 that it has reached a settlement with the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ), the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC), the Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC), and the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN). As part of the resolution, CEO Changpeng Zhao (CZ) will step down from his role after acknowledging that he "made mistakes" in the company’s early days. The settlements come as Binance seeks to move past historical compliance violations.
By Federal Newswire | Nov 21, 2023
Binance CEO Changpeng Zhao has pleaded guilty to criminal charges and stepped down from the company as part of a $4 billion dollar settlement with the Department of Justice. This dramatic development transpires amidst rising regulatory scrutiny of cryptocurrency exchanges globally.
By Federal Newswire | Nov 21, 2023
U.S. Sen. Cynthia Lummis (R-WY) said the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) continues to punish crypto companies that do not have the legal framework they need to be compliant. This announcement came on November 20th, following the news that SEC had filed a complaint against the San Francisco-based crypto exchange, Kraken.
By Federal Newswire | Nov 21, 2023
Sam Altman will be joining Microsoft and leading a new advanced AI research team, while former Twitch CEO Emmett Shear is set to run OpenAI. This shift comes amid significant changes in the leadership structure of OpenAI.
By Federal Newswire | Nov 17, 2023
Jane Khodarkovsky, a partner of Arktouros and former Human Trafficking Finance Specialist with the U.S. Department of Justice’s Money Laundering and Asset Recovery Section, said during a Congressional hearing that the traceability of blockchain enables prosecutors and other professionals to track bad actors who are trying to use cryptocurrency for illicit activities. Khodarkovsky offered several recommendations on how to reduce the volume of criminal activity related to crypto both within the U.S. and in other jurisdictions.
By Federal Newswire | Nov 17, 2023
Bill Hughes, senior counsel & Director of Global Regulatory Matters at Consensys, a blockchain software company, said during a Congressional hearing that blockchain technology offers unprecedented insights into the movement of funds, so anti-money laundering efforts should optimize blockchain's traceability. Hughes previously served as an associate deputy attorney general at the Department of Justice.
By Federal Newswire | Nov 16, 2023
Jonathan Levin, co-founder and chief strategy officer of leading blockchain analytics firm Chainalysis, said during a Congressional hearing that criminal activity represents a small portion of cryptocurrency transactions, and terror-related activity is a small quantity of those transactions. Levin offered several recommendations for the U.S. government to reduce those numbers even further.
By Federal Newswire | Nov 15, 2023
Senator Cynthia Lummis (R-WY) said cryptocurrency is involved in a very small portion of illicit financial activity, and she believes that percentage would decrease further if the crypto industry had regulatory clarity in the U.S. Lummis's statement came after almost 20% of her Congressional colleagues signed onto a letter led by Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) citing now-debunked reports of Hamas raising tens of millions of dollars in crypto.
By Federal Newswire | Nov 13, 2023
FTX is suing Bybit for $953 million for fraudulently transferring funds leading up to FTX's bankruptcy filing in Nov. 2022.
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By Federal Newswire | Nov 13, 2023
House Majority Whip Tom Emmer (MN-06) said his amendment to ban the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) from funding its enforcement actions against crypto companies with taxpayer money until Congress gives the industry regulatory clarity has passed the House. Emmer attached the amendment to the Financial Services and General Government Appropriations Act on Nov. 8, and it passed unopposed.
By Federal Newswire | Nov 9, 2023
Paul Grewal, the chief legal officer of Coinbase, the largest crypto exchange in the United States, said the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission's (SEC) response to Binance's motion to dismiss the SEC's lawsuit demonstrates the necessity of a legislative regulatory framework for digital assets. Binance, the largest crypto exchange in the world, filed a motion to dismiss the lawsuit in September on the grounds that the SEC lacks the authority to regulate the crypto industry.
By Federal Newswire | Nov 9, 2023
DeIriana Dilkinska, head of legal and compliance of cryptocurrency pyramid scheme OneCoin, pled guilty on wire fraud and money laundering charges on Nov 9th.
By Federal Newswire | Nov 7, 2023
Sam Bankman-Fried, the founder and former CEO of defunct crypto exchange FTX, has been pronounced guilty on all seven criminal charges following a trial that spanned over four weeks. His sentencing is set for March 28, and he could face up to 110 years in jail.
By Federal Newswire | Nov 7, 2023
The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) said in a recent report that the agency is struggling to hire cryptocurrency experts because the candidates would be required to sell any crypto assets they hold. The report, titled The Inspector General’s Statement on the SEC’s Management and Performance Challenges, was published in October and modified on Nov. 2.
By Federal Newswire | Nov 6, 2023
The leader of a fraudulent cryptocurrency and binary options scheme worth $70 million has been extradited to the US, where the Serbian national is facing charges from two federal indictments, in the Northern District of Texas and the Eastern District of New York. "Serbian man charged with cryptocurrency fraud has been arrested," reports say.
By Federal Newswire | Oct 31, 2023
In a press release, the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) announced that they awarded over $15 million to crypto whistleblowers, which led to the firm bringing two separate successful enforcement cases. The CFTC commissioner, Christy Goldsmith Romero, stated that the whistleblowers provided significant information and assistance that played a crucial role in the enforcement cases.
By Federal Newswire | Oct 31, 2023
A 20-year-old Florida man has been arrested and imprisoned for his involvement in a $1 million crypto SIM-swap scam. Jordan Persad, along with several co-conspirators, purchased access logs containing victims' email credentials, hijacked their cell phone numbers, and gained unauthorized access to their online crypto accounts. Persad personally made $475,000 from the scheme, and the group defrauded victims of around $1 million in crypto.
By Federal Newswire | Oct 30, 2023
Chris Larsen, the co-founder and executive chairman of crypto exchange Ripple, has criticized federal agencies' actions against crypto companies, stating that they are driving innovators out of the United States and into other countries. Larsen's comments come after the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) dropped a lawsuit against him and Ripple CEO Brad Garlinghouse. A judge ruled that Ripple's sale of the token XRP to the public did not constitute securities offerings.
