SEC Crushes Appeal: Crypto Middleman Liable in $300M Fraud Bust The First Circuit just slammed the door on relief defendant Raimund Gastauer’s appeal in a massive SEC fraud case, upholding his liability for disgorging $72 million tied to a pump-and-dump scheme involving unregistered crypto securities. This ruling reinforces the SEC’s iron grip on secondary actors…
US Crypto Bill Could Let Tesla, Meta Dodge SEC—Warren Sounds Alarm US lawmakers are fast-tracking a crypto market structure bill that might exempt giants like Tesla and Meta from strict SEC oversight, sparking fury from Senator Elizabeth Warren. Set for House consideration next week, this legislation aims to clarify digital asset rules but critics warn…
SEC Crushes Bilzerian’s Crypto Dreams in Contempt Ruling The SEC just slammed Paul Bilzerian with contempt for defying a 20-year-old injunction, blocking his latest crypto venture tied to penny stocks and digital tokens. This D.C. court smackdown reinforces the agency’s iron grip on repeat offenders, sending a chill through crypto promoters testing old SEC bans….
Chinese Creditor Fights FTX’s Bid to Block Payouts in Restricted Nations A Chinese creditor has thrown a wrench into FTX’s latest bankruptcy maneuver, challenging the exchange’s motion to halt repayments to users in countries like China, Russia, and North Korea. This standoff highlights the messy global fallout from FTX’s 2022 collapse, where billions in user…
SEC Overreach Smacked Down: CFTC Wins Trust Battle The Seventh Circuit just handed the Commodity Futures Trading Commission a major victory, upholding its authority to claw back $8.5 million in illicit profits from the Conway Family Trust for manipulating precious metals futures markets. This ruling reinforces the CFTC’s power to pursue commodity fraud even when…
Kalshi Raises $1 Billion to Double Valuation to $22 Billion: Reports Kalshi has raised $1 billion in new funding, according to reports, a round that would lift the company’s valuation to $22 billion. The reported valuation implies Kalshi’s value has doubled compared with its prior benchmark, highlighting a sharp step-up in investor interest in the…
SEC’s ‘Crypto Mom’ Peirce Warns: Tokenized Assets Still Count as Securities SEC Commissioner Hester Peirce, known as “Crypto Mom,” just dropped a reality check: tokenized securities remain firmly under the securities umbrella, no matter how blockchain-dressed they are. Echoing ex-SEC Chair Gary Gensler’s stance, she’s urging crypto players to huddle with regulators before diving in….
SEC Slaps Down in Coinbase Ruling: Private Coinbase Users Dodge Fraud Charges The Fifth Circuit just gutted part of the SEC’s case against Coinbase, ruling that secondary market sales of its tokens by private investors aren’t securities transactions under federal law. This 2-1 decision reverses a lower court, handing Coinbase a partial win and signaling…
# CFTC Fights SEC in Kraft Foods Derivatives Clash The Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals just slammed the door on the CFTC’s bid to seize a massive Kraft Foods derivatives portfolio, handing a stinging rebuke to the agency’s overreach. This mandamus petition stemmed from a bitter turf war with the SEC over who regulates Kraft’s…
SEC Crushed: Crypto Brokers Win Big in NY Court Fight New York’s Appellate Division just gutted the SEC’s reach over crypto brokers in Regal Commodities v Tauber, ruling that state precious metals dealers can’t be forced into federal registration just for touching digital assets. This 2024 smackdown hands a rare win to the crypto industry,…
US Debt Hits $36.6T as Recession Fears Threaten Bitcoin’s Rally to $95K Bitcoin surged to fresh all-time highs today, but America’s ballooning national debt now at $36.6 trillion and weakening housing data are flashing red recession signals. Investors fear this macro storm could yank BTC back down to $95,000, testing the crypto market’s resilience amid…
SEC Panel Backs Centralization of Crypto Cases in Illinois A federal judicial panel led by Chair Sarah S. Vance has greenlit plaintiff Anthony Motto’s motion to consolidate three crypto-related lawsuits into the Northern District of Illinois, pulling in actions from California’s Central District and Pennsylvania’s Eastern District alongside the lead case, Greene. This move streamlines…
Chinese Creditor Battles FTX’s Plan to Block Payouts in Restricted Nations A Chinese creditor has fired back at FTX’s latest bankruptcy maneuver, challenging the exchange’s motion to halt payouts to users in countries like China, Russia, and North Korea. This clash threatens to delay the already long-awaited repayments to FTX’s millions of victims. For investors…
SEC Smacked Down: Fifth Circuit Tosses Coinbase Fraud Charge The Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals just gutted one of the SEC’s key weapons against Coinbase, vacating a lower court ruling that let the agency pursue fraud charges under Section 9(b) of the Securities Exchange Act. In a sharp rebuke filed November 26, 2024, the appeals…
Morgan Stanley sets MSBT ticker and $1 million seed capital for bitcoin ETF Morgan Stanley has taken early administrative steps toward launching a bitcoin exchange-traded fund (ETF), setting the ticker symbol MSBT and establishing $1 million in seed capital for the product. Assigning a ticker is a standard part of preparing an ETF for listing…
Ripple’s Senate Web3 Summit Invite Sparks XRP Rally Hopes Ripple is heading to the US Senate’s “From Wall Street to Web3” summit next week, fueling speculation that XRP could smash new highs. Charts are flashing bullish signals amid this high-profile nod from regulators. For investors, it’s a potential turning point after years of SEC battles—legitimacy…
CFTC Crushes Crypto Trader in Landmark Fraud Win The Ninth Circuit just handed the CFTC a major victory, upholding a lower court’s ruling against James Devlin Crombie for orchestrating a $1.7 million crypto Ponzi scheme. Crombie, who peddled fake investment schemes promising sky-high returns on Bitcoin trading bots from 2011 to 2013, loses his appeal—cementing…
CFTC Clobbers Monex in Forex Broker Ruling The Ninth Circuit just handed the CFTC a major win, upholding a $20 million penalty against forex brokers Monex Deposit Company and Monex Credit Company for illegally pooling customer funds without registration. This decision reinforces the agency’s iron grip on retail forex trading, signaling to crypto markets that…
SEC Wins Seizure of 24 Crypto Accounts in IRS Probe A federal court in Washington D.C. has greenlit the U.S. government’s forfeiture of 24 cryptocurrency accounts holding millions in Bitcoin and other assets, stemming from an IRS probe into unreported income. The ruling bolsters federal authority to claw back crypto tied to tax evasion, sending…
SEC’s ‘Crypto Mom’ Peirce Warns: Tokenized Assets Still Count as Securities SEC Commissioner Hester Peirce, known as “Crypto Mom,” just dropped a reality check: tokenized securities remain firmly under securities law, no matter the blockchain hype. Echoing ex-chair Gary Gensler’s stance, she’s urging crypto players to chat with the SEC before diving in. This cuts…
