In the aftermath of criminal charges against BitMEX, the crypto community is debating whether the decentralized finance sector is also set to face the wrath of regulators. On Oct 1, the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission announced charges against three BitMEX executives for violating the Bank Secrecy Act (BSA) due to the exchange’s allegedly weak anti-money laundering and know-your-customer (KYC) policies. DeFi protocols, including Decentralized Exchanges (DEXs) have made a virtue of having minimal AML and KYC procedurs. However many now wonder if DEXs are also obliged to comply with the BSA, even though most projects seek to decentralize ownership …

In a blog post published Thursday afternoon, Bitmex lashed out at charges that the Commodity Futures Trading Commission and Department of Justice filed against the exchange and its management earlier today. Bitmex's statement claimed that "From our early days as a start-up, we have always sought to comply with applicable U.S. laws, as those laws were understood at the time and based on available guidance." What exactly "applicable U.S. laws" are will likely be central to the case. Bitmex has long maintained that it does not serve customers in the U.S., though others before the CFTC and DOJ have argued …

Within the last few hours Bitcoin (BTC) price plummeted as the U.S. Commodities and Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) charged BitMEX with facilitating money laundering and operating an illegal cryptocurrency derivatives exchange. An even larger shock occurred as authorities announced the arrest of Samuel Reed, one of the co-founders of BitMEX. BitMEX has been the most dominant Bitcoin futures exchange for a long time, at least until March 2020 when the massive $1 billion Black Thursday liquidation pulled the price below $3,750. In recent months, new competitors like Binance Futures and ByBit have significantly increased their market share. Although the industry …

The United States Commodity Futures Trading Commission, or CFTC, has charged derivatives exchange BitMEX with operating an unregistered trading platform and violating Anti-Money Laundering regulations. According to a statement released Thursday, the CFTC filed a civil enforcement action in the Southern District of New York against five entities and three individuals who allegedly own and operate the exchange. The individuals charged include Arthur Hayes, publicly known as the CEO of BitMEX, as well as Ben Delo and Samuel Reed. The CFTC alleges that these individuals are owners and operators of BitMEX through a “maze of corporate entities.” The aforementioned corporate …

Two bills introduced last week looked to solidify the roles of the Securities and Exchange Commission and the Commodity Futures Trading Commission — respectively the regulators for securities and commodities in the United States. The bills featured many of the usual suspects in legislation touching on crypto but one less familiar face was U.S. Representative Mike Conaway (R-TX). Currently serving as the ranking member of the House Agriculture Committee, Conaway has been in Congress since 2005, predating Bitcoin’s whitepaper. His tenure has not been especially crypto-heavy. Nonetheless, he’s behind a bill that could transform how the U.S. handles crypto exchanges, …

On Monday, the Commodity Futures Trading Commission filed charges against Laino Group for soliciting U.S. investors to trade in futures on commodities including Ether, Litecoin and Bitcoin without registering with the commission. Per the CFTC's complaint the St. Vincent-registered Laino Group, doing business as PaxForex, used a network of U.S.-based affiliates to solicit American retail investors. In doing so, Laino Group violated the Commodity Exchange Act. The CFTC did not specify the extent of Laino Group's activities. The commission's request for relief indeed suggest that they themselves don't know how much the trading platform took in without registering. In addition …

Every Friday, Law Decoded delivers analysis on the week’s critical stories in the realms of policy, regulation and law. Editor’s note The final scene of Animal Farm, Orwell’s classic fable of revolution gone wrong and a staple of secondary-school reading lists throughout the English-speaking world, features a card game. The pigs who run the farm with an iron hoof host the humans who have gone from enemies of the revolution to drinking buddies of the revolution’s leaders. The book ends with accusations of cheating and a metamorphosis realized. The pigs and the men look just the same. If you squint, …

Two major crypto bills were introduced in the U.S. House of Representatives on Thursday. One aims to establish which cryptocurrencies are securities. The other looks to put regulation of exchanges in the hands of the country's commodities regulator. The securities bill The Securities Clarity Act, from the office of Representative Tom Emmer (R-MN) establishes a new distinction in securities law between an investment contract and the "an asset sold pursuant to an investment 22 contract, whether tangible or intangible (including an 23 asset in digital form)." The new bill is basically a direct response to recent controversy over the Simple …

The United States Commodity Futures Trading Commission will still be allowing New York-based fintech firm Tassat to proceed with its Bitcoin swap contracts before it gets the usual approval for reinstatement. According to a Sept. 15 statement from the CFTC’s Division of Market Oversight (DMO), the regulatory body will not stop Tassat from launching a swap execution facility (SEF) in Q4 2020, even after the firm failed to renew its registration following 12 consecutive months without trading. Today’s action gives Tassat one month to file for reinstatement of its registration and will protect the firm from legal action for beginning …

On Aug. 20, Representative Tom Emmer (R-MN) held the first ever Cryptocurrency Town Hall, bringing together a number of leaders from the Blockchain space. Conducted in collaboration with the Chamber of Digital Commerce PAC, the event featured major crypto figures like Circle CEO Jeremy Allaire, Ripple CEO Brad Garlinghouse, eToro’s Guy Hirsch, BitPay’s CEO Stephen Pair, and Paxos’ Chad Cascarilla. Ripple CEO Garlinghouse outlined that the biggest challenge faced by Ripple so far is the lack of clarity around the regulatory status of XRP. “The biggest challenge Ripple has faced and anyone developing in the XRP community has faced is …

In the case of United Kingdom-based Control-Finance and its AWOL operator Benjamin Reynolds, the United States Commodity Futures Trading Commission asked the court to order Reynolds pay nearly half a billion dollars on Aug. 20. In a legal action that began in June of last year, the CFTC has been unsuccessful in its attempts to locate Reynolds. The commission alleges that Reynolds laundered 22,858 Bitcoin from May to October of 2017 — by their estimates worth $147 million at the time, but as of press time valued at $269 million. The CFTC’s proposed judgment asks for $429 — nearly three …

Another good week for Bitcoin last week. The dollar price rose more than 5 percent, taking it to around $11,700. That rise wasn’t smooth. A flash crash took $1,500 off the price at one point, although investors remain bullish and the VIX volatility index, which is based on the S&P 500, is “extremely bullish.” Other volatility measures, though, suggest another drop to $10,000 before a new rally, while the Winklevoss twins think that the amount of infrastructure and capital in the crypto markets will make this bull run very different from the 2017 run. It’s not just Bitcoin that’s been …