The worst isn’t yet over for the disgraced founder of crypto exchange FTX, Sam Bankman-Fried. On Dec. 12, the United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) said it is preparing to file charges against Sam Bankman-Fried, which will be separate from the ones leading to his most recent arrest in The Bahamas. In a statement on Twitter, the SEC tweeted a quote from its division of enforcement director Gurbir Grewal on Dec. 12 stating that the agency has “authorized separate charges relating to his violations of securities laws.” Gurbir Grewal: We commend our law enforcement partners for securing the arrest …

Crypto Twitter has blown up over the shocking news of Sam Bankman-Fried’s arrest in The Bahamas — many of whom weren’t expecting it to happen so soon. On Dec. 12, the disgraced FTX founder was arrested by the Royal Bahamas Police after receiving notification from the United States government that criminal charges has been filed against him. Within hours, politicians, crypto executives and influencers all booted up their Twitter apps to comment on the arrest of the FTX’s former CEO. New York Democratic Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, who’s held a fairly neutral view on the crypto industry to date, told her …

John Ray, who took over as CEO of crypto exchange FTX amid bankruptcy proceedings, has written detailed testimony in preparation for his appearance before the United States House Financial Services Committee. In testimony made available for the ‘Investigating the Collapse of FTX, Part I’ hearing on Dec. 13, Ray reiterated many of the claims made in bankruptcy court, saying the collapse of the collapse was due in part to “the absolute concentration of control in the hands of a very small group of grossly inexperienced and unsophisticated individuals.” Ray, who oversaw the liquidation of energy company Enron during the early …

2022 was a near-unprecedented year of extremes and black swan events for the crypto market, and now that the year is about to wrap up, analysts are reflecting on the lessons learned and attempting to identify the trends which may point to bullish price action in 2023. The collapse of Terra Luna, Three Arrows Capital and FTX created a credit crunch, a severe reduction in capital inflows and an increased threat that additional major centralized exchanges could collapse. Despite the severity of the market downturn, a few positives have emerged. Data shows long-term hodlers and smaller-sized wallets are actively accumulating …

Welcome to Law Decoded, your weekly digest of all the major developments in the field of regulation. So, Sam Bankman-Fried, public enemy number one, won’t appear in front of Senators on Dec. 14, as he missed the deadline for responding to a Senate Banking Committee request. However, we could witness the entrepreneur appear before Congress even a day earlier, on Dec. 13. Replying to a thread of tweets from Representative Maxine Waters, Chairwoman of the Financial Services Committee, the former CEO of FTX expressed his willingness to testify at a committee hearing in the U.S. House of Representatives. John Ray, …

Continuing his so-called apology tour, Sam Bankman-Fried appeared on a Twitter Spaces chat with Unusual Whales and told nearly 60,000 listeners that he intends to testify at the United States House of Representatives Financial Services Committee remotely on Dec. 13. He was previously confirmed to appear in person. Bankman-Fried, who is allegedly currently located in the Bahamas, missed the deadline to confirm his appearance before the Senate Banking Committee the following day, despite the threat of a subpoena. Despite his frequent public speaking, Bankman-Fried has gone silent on Twitter himself, not posting since Dec. 9, when he indicated his agreement …

The cryptocurrency exchange Bybit joins the parade of exchanges in the industry pushing for transparency post the FTX catastrophe. On Dec. 12, it announced that it has launched a Merkle Tree-based proof of reserve system. The new transparency initiative allows its users to directly verify Bybit’s holdings, along with their personal assets deposited into the exchange. The feature is available to all users with funds in both trading accounts and funding accounts, which also includes crypto holdings in Bybit Earn products. Additionally the new feature enables verification of Bybit’s wallet ownership, that assets are held with a 1:1 ratio. Ben …

Minnesota Senator Tom Emmer ha slammed United States Securities Exchange Commission (SEC) Chairman Gary Gensler for his flawed “crypto information-gathering efforts” and insisted Gensler should appear before Congress to explain the cost of his “regulatory failures.” Emmer’s comments came from a Dec. 10 tweet to his 67,500 Twitter followers, where he made reference to a bipartisan Blockchain Caucus letter he co-authored to the SEC Chairman on Mar. 16. Emmer said, “we now know Gensler's crypto information-gathering efforts were ineffective” citing the collapses of the Terra ecosystem and bankrupt crypto platforms Celsius, Voyager and FTX. He declined to provide Congress with …

Another crypto-skeptic United States senator is on the loose, with Democrat Jon Tester boldly stating that he sees “no reason why” crypto should exist. Tester is the senior senator of Montana and has held a seat there since 2007. He also serves on the Senate Banking Committee, which is one of the key players involved in the ongoing debate over U.S. crypto regulation. During a Dec. 11 appearance on NBC’s Meet the Press, Tester essentially argued that as crypto has no real value at all, the sector shouldn’t be regulated as that would give it legitimacy. “It's not been able …

The founder and former CEO of bankrupt cryptocurrency exchange FTX, Sam Bankman-Fried, said he’d be interested in forming a new venture aimed at paying back the customers he owes money to. "I would give anything to be able to do that. And I'm going to try if I can," Bankman-Fried responded when asked if he’d start a new business to repay FTX investors in a Dec. 10 interview with the BBC. "I'm going to be thinking about how we can help the world and if users haven't gotten much back, I'm going to be thinking about what I can do …

A former top crypto regulator in the United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) will represent Caroline Ellison, ex-Alameda Research CEO, in an ongoing federal probe, according to a report from Bloomberg on Dec. 10. Caroline will be represented by Stephanie Avakian and a team of attorneys from WilmerHale. Avakain is currently chair of the Securities and Financial Services department at the law firm. At the SEC, where she was a director at the Enforcement Division and responsible to expand cryptocurrency oversight, bringing cases against Robinhood and Ripple Lab. According to the law firm website, "Ms. Avakian oversaw the Division’s …

Bitcoin (BTC) is too “decentralized and transparent” for former FTX CEO Sam Bankman-Fried, says Cathie Wood. In a tweet on Dec. 10, Wood, who is CEO of investment giant ARK Invest, delivered a fresh damning appraisal of the FTX saga. Wood: SBF "couldn't control" Bitcoin As the legal ramifications of FTX and Bankman-Fried, also known as SBF, continue, Bitcoin loyalists are giving him little sympathy. ARK’s Wood is now firmly among them, not mincing her words as BTC price action continues to trade around 20% down over the month. “The Bitcoin blockchain didn’t skip a beat during the crisis caused …