Latest News
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.
By Federal Newswire | Oct 27, 2023
Norbert Michel, vice president and director of the Cato Institute’s Center for Monetary and Financial Alternatives, said Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) is using Hamas as an excuse to advocate for her Digital Asset Anti‐Money Laundering Act. Warren sent a letter to the White House after Hamas's initial attack, citing now-debunked media reports that the terrorist group had raised tens of millions of dollars in cryptocurrency.
By Federal Newswire | Oct 27, 2023
Changpeng Zhao (CZ), the founder and CEO of Binance, the largest cryptocurrency exchange in the world, emphasized the importance of building trust in the industry during his speech at the Fintech Forward 2023 conference in Bahrain. His remarks came at a time when the ongoing fraud trial of Sam Bankman-Fried, the former CEO of FTX, a failed crypto exchange that used to rival Binance, was taking place.
By Federal Newswire | Oct 24, 2023
The blockchain analytics firm Chainalysis has refuted claims made by the Wall Street Journal (WSJ) that Hamas raised tens of millions of dollars in cryptocurrency. According to Chainalysis, the terrorist organization actually raised less than half a million dollars through crypto funding. This contradicts the WSJ's assertion that Hamas and other terror groups were evading US sanctions and funding their operations through crypto.
By Federal Newswire | Oct 23, 2023
The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has dropped its lawsuit against Ripple CEO Brad Garlinghouse and co-founder Chris Larsen. The regulator had accused the crypto executives of "aiding and abetting" in the sale of securities offerings on their platform.
By Federal Newswire | Oct 23, 2023
The U.S. Treasury Department has announced new sanctions targeting the terrorist group Hamas. The sanctions are aimed at disrupting Hamas's global financial networks that fund its operations in the Gaza Strip. According to Axios, these new sanctions are just the first of several rounds that will be directed at the group. Brian Nelson, Treasury undersecretary for terrorism and financial intelligence, emphasized that disrupting Hamas's financing has been a Treasury priority for decades.
By Federal Newswire Report | Oct 20, 2023
Shinhan Bank America was assessed a $15 million civil penalty from the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network for willful violations of the Bank Secrecy Act.
By Federal Newswire | Oct 19, 2023
During the criminal trial of crypto exchange FTX founder Sam Bankman-Fried, a list of donations he and his associates made prior to the exchange's collapse became public. The list detailed $230 million worth of donations FTX insiders made to their friends and family, as well as to politicians, political action groups, and special interests.
By Federal Newswire | Oct 13, 2023
The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) has reached a settlement with the bankrupt cryptocurrency company Voyager over false claims that customer accounts were insured by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC). Voyager, which lost more than $1 billion through cryptocurrency investments, misled its customers and is now permanently banned from handling consumers' assets.
By Federal Newswire | Oct 12, 2023
Caroline Ellison, the former CEO of Alameda Research, testified during Sam Bankman-Fried's fraud trial that one of her goals was to increase regulatory pressure on Binance in order to boost the market share of FTX, the crypto exchange associated with Alameda Research. Ellison revealed this information as she discussed her role in trying to prop up FTX and Alameda during the trial on October 11.
By Federal Newswire | Oct 12, 2023
John Reed Stark, the president of John Reed Stark Consulting LLC and a former chief of the SEC's Office of Internet Enforcement, has shared three reasons why he believes Sam Bankman-Fried (SBF), the founder and former CEO of crypto exchange FTX, will likely be convicted. According to Stark, one reason is that multiple former corporate insiders, including former Alameda Research CEO Carolina Ellison and FTX co-founder Gary Wang, have already pled guilty to charges of fraud and are cooperating with prosecutors.
By Federal Newswire | Oct 12, 2023
Binance, the largest cryptocurrency exchange in the world, has been assisting Israeli law enforcement in freezing accounts and seizing funds associated with terrorist organizations, specifically the militant group Hamas and its Lebanese ally Hezbollah. In a partnership with Israel's Ministry of Defense, Binance helped seize $1.7 million worth of digital assets from accounts linked to Hezbollah and Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps' Quds Force.
By Federal Newswire | Oct 10, 2023
The Blockchain Association has submitted its recommendations on how digital assets should be taxed in response to the Senate Committee on Finance's Request For Information. The association, which advocates for pro-innovation policies for the crypto community, sent a letter to the committee outlining its suggestions. The Senate Finance Committee had previously issued an open letter seeking guidance on how the Internal Revenue Code should be applied to digital assets, recognizing the regulatory challenges posed by their rapid emergence.
By Federal Newswire | Oct 10, 2023
Sam Altman, the CEO of artificial intelligence research lab OpenAI, believes that the U.S. government is waging a "war on crypto" following the collapse of the exchange FTX last year. Altman expressed his disappointment and sadness about the government's approach to cryptocurrency regulation. He stated, "There's many things that I'm disappointed that the U.S. government has done recently, but the war on crypto - which I think is a like, we can't give this up, like we're going to control this and all that - that's the thing that makes me quite sad about the country."
By Federal Newswire | Oct 10, 2023
A judge has denied the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission's (SEC) request to appeal the decision that Ripple did not violate securities laws by offering the token XRP to members of the public. Judge Analisa Torres ruled in July that the sale of XRP to the general public did not constitute a securities offering, but she determined that the sales of the token to institutional investors were securities.
