The Chief Legal Officer of Coinbase, Paul Grewal, recently took to social media to call out US SEC Chair Gary Gensler for what he believes to be misleading statements regarding the legal status of cryptocurrencies. Grewal refuted Gensler’s claims that numerous digital assets should be classified as securities, stating that the SEC’s own lawyers have
Regulation
The recent announcement by the Nigerian government to delist the national currency, the Naira, from all peer-to-peer (P2P) trading platforms has sparked controversy and concern within the country’s blockchain community. The Director General of the Nigerian Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), Emomotimi Agama, made this revelation during a virtual meeting with stakeholders in the industry.
Custodia Bank has recently made a strategic move by hiring two experienced solicitors to represent it in its ongoing case against the US Federal Reserve. The decision to bring on Ian Gershengorn and Michelle Kallen, both with impressive backgrounds in federal regulation and appellate litigation, demonstrates Custodia’s commitment to fighting for its rights in the
Rep. Maxine Waters has put forth the nomination of Ms. Kristin Johnson, a current Commissioner at the US Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC), for the position of Assistant Secretary for Financial Institutions at the US Department of Treasury. In a letter addressed to President Joe Biden, Waters praised Johnson’s vast expertise in financial regulation and
The recent statement by former Binance CEO, Changpeng Zhao, sheds light on the evolving nature of the crypto industry. Zhao emphasized the importance of compliance in the sector, marking a significant shift in focus. This comes in the wake of his own legal troubles and the heightened regulatory scrutiny faced by major crypto entities globally.
House Financial Services Committee Chairman Patrick McHenry has accused SEC Chair Gary Gensler of misleading Congress regarding the classification of Ethereum during his testimony in April 2023. This accusation has sparked escalating tensions over the regulatory approach to digital assets, with industry participants filing lawsuits against the SEC for overstepping its authority. Recent court documents
The recent SEC action against Uniswap has brought DeFi under scrutiny. The Wells notice suggests potential enforcement action against Uniswap for allegedly acting as an unregistered securities broker and an unregistered securities exchange. The SEC claims that certain tokens traded on Uniswap, such as those issued through ICOs, constitute investment contracts and therefore securities. This
In a bipartisan effort, US Senators Elizabeth Warren and Bill Cassidy have called on US authorities to take decisive action against the use of cryptocurrency in the illegal trade of child sexual abuse material (CSAM). The senators highlighted the pseudonymity of cryptocurrencies as a key enabler for the movement of payments in the digital realm,
The recent approval of new Anti-Money Laundering Regulations (AMLR) by the European Parliament has significant implications for Crypto Asset Service Providers (CASP) in Europe. These regulations mandate the implementation of stringent Know Your Customer (KYC) procedures to combat money laundering. As part of the new laws, obliged entities such as banks, assets and crypto assets
Recent reports have indicated that Nigerian authorities are stepping up their efforts to crack down on cryptocurrency trading, specifically targeting peer-to-peer (P2P) platforms such as OKX, Binance, KuCoin, and Bybit. A circulating document shared on social media platform X highlighted the government’s plans to take action against these exchanges. While the Central Bank of Nigeria