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... Tokenization of financial and real-work assets could be the killer use case driving blockchain breakthrough with tokenization expected to grow by a factor of 80x in private markets and reach up to almost $4 trillion in value by 2030. ...
Remember when DCRB tried to drag us all kicking and screaming in the nascent Bitcoin experiment (long before the Mt Gox implosion)? Bitcoin was around $10 (or was it $100?) per coin back then IIRC. He sent me a couple dollars worth of BTC back then when I offered to create a wallet and help him experiment with transfering coins around. It's worth a lot more than a couple of bucks today.... Ive followed Bitcoin from the start, ...
Remember when DCRB tried to drag us all kicking and screaming in the nascent Bitcoin experiment (long before the Mt Gox implosion)? Bitcoin was around $10 per coin back then IIRC. He sent me a couple dollars worth of BTC back then when I offered to create a wallet and help him experiment with transfering coins around. It's worth a lot more than a couple of bucks today.
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After seizing the ill-gotten cryptocurrencies, authorities have to secure and then liquidate them. However, a court order is usually required to do this, and as you can imagine, that can take years to arrive in some cases. When the assets are eventually liquidated, the sale proceeds are given to the victims of a crime (hack) or distributed between government agencies.
Authorities have also turned to auction houses to sell recovered crypto assets. For instance, in February 2019, an independent auction house in the UK sold crypto assets as law enforcement did not have any other option. The auction attracted bidders from over 90 countries, and one middle-aged woman who had purchased half a Bitcoin insisted on carrying it home in a bag with all the other items she had purchased, as per a Bloomberg report.
The US Marshals Service — with experience in disposing of assets like houses and artworks — faces challenges in ridding itself of cryptocurrencies. From 2014 to 2020, they too had no option but to auction off recovered crypto assets.
In an interview with CNBC, Jarod Koopman, director of the IRS’s cybercrime unit said that the auction proceeds are usually deposited into the Treasury Forfeiture Fund or the DoJ’s Assets Forfeiture Fund. He also stated that federal agencies can use this money to fund upcoming operations. Of course, they would have to put in a formal request that would need to be approved by the Executive Office of Treasury.
However, the marshals seldom turn to auctions these days. Instead, they seek proposals from companies that can store and sell cryptos for them. They also use a secure online platform for disposing of digital assets and have an asset forfeiture manual that dictates how the authorities should deal with cryptos. One of the instructions is to transfer the crypto pronto from the criminal's wallet to an agency-controlled wallet.
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No longer does this Commission think creatively about regulatory alternatives that advance the Commission’s mission while preserving space for potentially disruptive innovation. No longer does this Commission worry that regulatory bullheadedness often produces absurd consequences.
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The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission alleged that crypto exchange Bittrex simultaneously operated a national securities exchange, broker and clearing agency in violation of federal statutes. Former CEO Bill Shihara and Bittrex Global GmbH are also facing charges.
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Bittrex announced last month it planned to exit the U.S. by the end of April, citing "the current U.S. regulatory and economic environment." This past weekend, the company shared more information, when general counsel David Maria told the Wall Street Journal that the company had received a Wells Notice – a statement that the SEC's Enforcement Division found evidence of legal violations – in March. Maria told the Journal that Bittrex would fight the suit unless the SEC provided a "reasonable settlement offer."
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Coinbase is preparing for a years-long court battle with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, the company's chief executive told CNBC Tuesday, after the regulator warned the cryptocurrency exchange of potential violations of securities law.
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Brian Armstrong, CEO of Coinbase, called the issuing of the Wells notice "unfortunate" and said the company has not got any more information on the specific issues the SEC has.
"We've met with them over 30 times in the last year … never got a single piece of feedback from them about what we can be doing better or differently, and then this Wells Notice arrived," Armstrong told CNBC in an interview.
"I think we're going to have to actually end up going to court to get the clarity we need and create the case law."
Case law refers to judicial precedent.
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The cryptocurrency industry has complained that the SEC has not given companies clarity on what they can and cannot do. The SEC, meanwhile, argues that the rules are clear under existing laws.
Armstrong accused the SEC of an "abdication of responsibility."
"The regulators' job is to publish a clear rulebook and allow that market to be safe but also to flourish in that country and I think they've completely abdicated responsibility," Armstrong said.
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Committee Republicans Blast Chair Gensler’s Misrepresentation of Non-Existent Digital Asset Trading Platform Registration Process
Gensler continues to try to force trading platforms to “come in and register,” while failing to provide a workable process
Washington, April 18, 2023 -
In advance of today’s hearing, all Republicans on the House Financial Services Committee—led by Chairman Patrick McHenry (NC-10)—sent a letter to Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) Chair Gary Gensler. Republicans are slamming the Commission’s approach to digital asset regulation and attempts to force digital asset trading platforms to “come in and register” under the ill-fitting national securities exchange (NSE) framework. Republicans are urging Chair Gensler to work with Congress to develop clear rules of the road for digital assets that foster innovation and protect investors.
Read the full letter here.
Read key excerpts from the letter below:
“We write regarding the Securities and Exchange Commission’s (SEC) approach to the digital asset ecosystem under your tenure. To date, the SEC has forced digital asset market participants into regulatory frameworks that are neither compatible with the underlying technology nor applicable because the firms’ activities do not involve an offering of securities. Both approaches hamper the digital asset ecosystem’s ability to realize the unique benefits the new technology offers, which harms consumers, investors, and the economy as a whole.
“As Chair, you have acknowledged that digital asset trading platforms do not perfectly fit under existing laws and regulations. You have been outspoken in your push for digital asset trading platforms to ‘come in and register’ under the national securities exchange (NSE) framework. Yet, at the same time, you have failed to provide a path that allows digital asset trading platforms to register. As you know, many digital assets are developed for the purpose of being used within a developing system, are capable of being used in non-securities transactions, and are meant to be consumed and used in the protocol for which it was designed. Existing regulations under the NSE framework do not contemplate these features.
“Given an NSE can only list securities that have been offered in compliance with the securities laws, the inability to register makes the current NSE framework ill-suited for digital asset trading platforms. Moreover, the lack of clarity provided by the SEC as to what digital assets are considered securities also limits what an NSE can list. It is not clear whether a NSE could list non-securities assets even if such assets were otherwise in compliance with the law.
“Without clear rules of the road, your push for firms to ‘come in and register’ is a willful misrepresentation of the SEC’s non-existent registration process. The only entity to blame for the lack of registrants is the SEC itself. The SEC should take this opportunity to work with Congress to ensure innovators and investors have the regulatory clarity and protections that they deserve.
“We look forward to continuing our discussion on these critical issues.”
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It is a scenario that concerns U.S. regulators, ...
Crypto exchange Coinbase filed suit against the Securities and Exchange Commission on Monday, asking that the regulator be forced to publicly share its answer to a months-old petition on whether it would allow the crypto industry to be regulated using existing SEC frameworks.
The July 2022 petition asked that the SEC “propose and adopt rules to govern the regulation of securities that are offered and traded via digitally native methods,” referring to digital assets like cryptocurrencies.
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... The whale had purchased some 900 bitcoin in 2012, holding on to the asset ever since and seeing a nearly 40,000% gain on the initial investment.
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I like to read things like this and think to myself - that could be @DoChenRollingBearing .
The crypto community is calling out the alleged hypocrisy of Gary Gensler, the head of the United States securities regulator, after a 2018 video emerged of him stating that cryptocurrencies are on par with commodities or cash and are not securities.
The video came from a “Blockchain and Money” class in the Fall Semester of 2018 taught by Gensler, a former professor at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) before he became chair of the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).
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The changing face of the cryptocurrency ecosystem is on full display at the annual Consensus conference in Austin, Texas, as projects focused on facilitating institutional adoption and providing professional services to crypto investors now populate the booths on display.
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Franklin Templeton, which recently made headlines when it announced the launch of the first U.S. registered fund hosted on a public blockchain network, revealed that it has integrated its fund with the Polygon network to go along with its integration on Stellar.
According to Travis Fishstein, a corporate communications consultant with Franklin Templeton, the firm sees a lot of promise in the cryptocurrency industry and wanted to be one of the first to offer regulated crypto products and actually utilize blockchain technology.
And it's not just institutions in the U.S. showing interest as multiple companies present at the conference are focused on increasing adoption among the international institutional investing crowd.
One example is Parfin, a leading Web3, institutional-grade infrastructure provider in the Latam region. As opposed to the U.S., which has adopted an oppositional stance towards the crypto industry as of late, countries in Latin America, and Brazil in particular, have adopted an open stance and are eagerly integrating blockchain technology into their financial systems.
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Another firm that reported seeing an uptick in interest from institutional players is Infstones, a blockchain infrastructure provider that specializes in helping individuals and companies set up nodes, stake proof-of-stake tokens, and connect Web3 applications to more than 80 blockchain networks.
The recent Shapella upgrade on the Ethereum network, which enabled the withdrawal of staked Ether for the first time, has led to an increase in interest from institutional investors in staking services, a representative from Infstones said.
Crypto tax service providers were also a prevalent sight at Consensus as the slowly increasing adoption of cryptocurrencies in the U.S. has created a niche accounting market that is full of confusion and unclear securities laws.
Overall, the booths on display at Consens signal the increasing legitimacy of the cryptocurrency industry in the U.S. and around the world and suggest that institutions are beginning to show a higher level of interest in engaging with the ecosystem.
The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) is making decisions about alleged legal violations “on the fly,” crypto exchange Coinbase (COIN) said Thursday.
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Much of Coinbase’s arguments rest on the idea that cryptocurrencies listed on the exchange are not securities – a sharp contrast to claims by SEC Chair Gary Gensler, who has repeatedly stated that, in his view, the majority of digital assets do indeed meet the standards of a security under federal law. Other arguments outlined in the document say that even if certain digital assets listed on the exchange are securities, Coinbase’s own products don’t meet the standards for securities law violations.
The SEC warned Coinbase last month it could sue when it filed the notice. The SEC claims Coinbase’s staking service, Prime and Wallet products, along with its general listing process, may all violate federal securities law.
In a video shared earlier on Thursday, Gensler reiterated his view that crypto intermediaries must register as regulated entities in the U.S. “Crypto markets suffer from a lack of regulatory compliance. It's not a lack of regulatory clarity,” he said.
“An investment contract exists when you invest money in a common enterprise with a reasonable expectation of profits to be derived from the efforts of others. Intermediaries for investment contracts, whether they're exchanges, brokers, dealers, clearinghouses, they need to comply with the securities laws and register with the Securities and Exchange Commission,” he said. “Instead, many crypto platforms are just pretending that these investment contracts that they offer are more like goldfish,” using an analogy about pets.
In its response, which was filed on April 19 to the regulator, Coinbase said it had “repeatedly” answered SEC staff questions about how it determined whether listed assets were securities or not. The exchange also pushed back against SEC allegations that it was simultaneously operating a national securities exchange, brokerage and clearinghouse.
“The threat of imminent litigation appears to be intended to pressure Coinbase to accept demands that the Commission simply does not have the authority to order; namely, that Coinbase (i) agree that virtually all digital assets listed on Coinbase’s platform are securities; and (ii) overhaul its entire business model to register as an NSE [national securities exchange] and clearing agency, potentially requiring Coinbase to jettison its entire customer-facing business and overhaul its public company governance structure to conform to limits on concentrated voting control of NSEs and clearing agencies,” the exchange argued. “Neither of those objectives is supported by law or within the bounds of the Commission’s authority.”
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The popular trading platform Robinhood Markets (HOOD) has unveiled "Robinhood Connect," a new feature for users to fund their Web3 wallets without having to leave a decentralized app (dapp) or be in their crypto accounts.
Robinhood Connect will also let developers embed the feature directly into their dapps, so that Robinhood users can buy, transfer and fund their self-custody wallets, the company announced at CoinDesk's Consensus 2023 conference in Austin, Texas. "With the introduction of [Robinhood] Connect, customers will be able to access their Robinhood credentials and bypass additional steps," the firm said in a statement.
Robinhood Connect is already live with MyDoge, Giddy and Slingshot wallets, while integration with other wallets such as Exodus and Phantom are coming soon ...
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