The chairman of the newly formed U.S. congressional subcommittee on digital assets has pledged for progressive crypto regulations to ensure that "America is the place for innovation in fintech and blockchain." Speaking on CNBC’s Squawk Box on Jan. 26, Congressman French Hill offered some of his first insights into what is anticipated for crypto regulations in the country. The Financial Services Subcommittee on Digital Assets, Financial Technology, and Inclusion, which is chaired by Hill, was put together on Jan. 12 with the remit of “identifying best practices and policies that continue to strengthen diversity and inclusion in the digital asset …

The SEC has once again rejected a proposal to list the ARK 21 Shares Bitcoin ETF on equities exchange Cboe BZX, according to Jan. 26 statement from the SEC. The SEC rejected a similar proposal in April, 2022. The SEC has just now once again rejected ARK's and 21Shares spot bitcoin, $BTC ETF listing. — unusual_whales (@unusual_whales) January 26, 2023 The proposed ETF would have been managed jointly by Cathie Wood’s Ark Investment Management and 21Shares if it had been approved. The purpose of the proposed fund was to allow investors to gain exposure to Bitcoin’s price within the confines …

The approach to crypto regulatory enforcement by the United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) stalled the advancement of Bitcoin (BTC) in the country, according to the CEO of Grayscale Investments. In a letter published in The Wall Street Journal on Jan. 23, the chief of the cryptocurrency asset management firm, Michael Sonnenshein, said he agreed with an assertion that the SEC was “late to the game” regarding crypto regulation and preventing the bankruptcy of FTX, adding: “‘Late’ doesn’t capture what transpired here. The problem is the Securities and Exchange Commission’s one-dimensional approach of regulation by enforcement.” Grayscale is currently …

South Africa’s Advertising Regulatory Board (ARB) has included a new clause for the cryptocurrency industry aimed at protecting consumers from unethical advertising. Companies and individuals in South Africa must abide by certain advertising standards pertaining to the provision of cryptocurrency products and services in a new clause introduced to Section III of the country’s advertising code. The first clause requires that adverts, including cryptocurrency offerings, must ‘expressly and clearly’ state that investments may result in the loss of capital ‘as the value is variable and can go up as well as down.’ Furthermore, adverts must not contradict warnings about potential …

A former Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) official has slammed "cryptocurrency lobbyists" for labeling SEC enforcement actions as "regulation by enforcement" — calling the term a "Bogus Big Crypto Catch Phrase." John Reed Stark, a former chief of the Securities and Exchange Commission Office of Internet Enforcement and a crypto skeptic, opined in a Jan. 22 post that the argument is "sorely misguided" as it was just how securities regulations worked. "Litigation and SEC enforcement are actually how securities regulation works," he argued. "The flexibility of SEC statutory weaponry is an SEC hallmark, enabling SEC enforcement to keep fraud in …

Bitcoin mining powers network transactions and BTC price. During the 2021 bull run, some mining operations raised funds against their Bitcoin ASICs and BTC reserves. Miners also preordered ASICs at a hefty premium and some raised funds by conducting IPOs. As the crypto market turned bearish and liquidity seized within the sector, miners found themselves in a bad situation and those who were unable to meet their debt obligations were forced to sell the BTC reserves near the market bottom or declare bankruptcy Notable Bitcoin mining bankruptcies in 2022 came from Core Scientific, filing for bankruptcy, but BTC’s early 2023 …

Several crypto industry commentators have laid skepticism on FTX CEO John Ray’s vision to potentially reboot the crypto exchange, citing trust issues and “second-class” treatment of customers as some reasons why users may not “feel safe to go back.” Former FTX CEO Sam Bankman-Fried tweeted on Jan. 20 praising John Ray for looking at a reboot of FTX, suggesting it is the best move for its customers. I'm glad Mr. Ray is finally paying lip service to turning the exchange back on after months of squashing such efforts! I'm still waiting for him to finally admit FTX US is solvent …

Bitcoin (BTC) price and the wider crypto market corrected as news of coordinated “international cryptocurrency enforcement action” stirred up uncertainty among traders. Given the number of black swan events and the proliferation of crypto-oriented scams in 2022, most investors expect United States and global regulators to eventually lay down a strong hammer on centalized exchanges and other businesses connected with the crypto sector. At the time of writing, BTC price had dipped to an intraday low at $20,400, and Ether (ETH) gave back its daily gains to trade as low as $1,500. As shown by the charts below, the revelation …

The final vote on European Union’s much-awaited crypto regulations called Markets in Crypto Assets regulation (MiCA) was deferred to April 2023. This marks the second delay in the final vote, earlier deferred from November 2022 to February. The latest delay is attributed to a technical issue where the official 400-page document couldn’t be translated into the 24 official languages of the EU, reported The Block. Legal documents like the MiCA, which were drafted in English, must comply with EU regulations and be published in all 24 official languages of the union. The first delay in November that deferred the final …

Financial regulators in Japan have urged global regulators to treat crypto the same way as they do banking, calling for tougher rules for the sector. According to the deputy director-general of the Financial Services Agency’s Strategy Development and Management Bureau, Mamoru Yanase, crypto needs to be controlled. “If you like to implement effective regulation, you have to do the same as you regulate and supervise traditional institutions,” he said according to a Jan. 17 Bloomberg report. The comments from Japan’s financial watchdog come in the wake of the collapse of FTX in November, which rattled the industry and sparked urgency …

Crypto and stock markets are usually forward-looking. Meaning, traders tend to ignore the near-term negatives and focus on the positives down the line. With Bitcoin’s (BTC) next halving in 2024, analysts are shifting their attention to this event. Independent market analyst Rekt Capital highlighted this unique market dynamic in 2015 and 2019, a year before halving, Bitcoin rallied 234% and 316% respectively. If history repeats itself, Bitcoin’s price action may spring a surprise in 2023. However, the near term remains uncertain and the Consumer Price Index (CPI) data on Jan. 12 may lead to a sharp uptick in volatility. Some …

The power that influencers have in affecting public perception and therefore causing alterations in the value of a product, service, asset or currency has increased to the point where they can crash or uplift entire markets with their content and takes. The Elon Effect In 2021, Elon Musk could send the price of the famous memecoin Dogecoin (DOGE) up by 50% with just a single tweet. He still has a lot of power over the crypto markets, and several people in the cryptocurrency world and traditional finance have accused Musk of manipulating the cryptocurrency market with just a few tweets. …