Legislators in the United States seem to be reevaluating the crypto industry and its regulatory needs in light of FTX's collapse. According to the Wall Street Journal, since the crypto exchange filed for bankruptcy in November, lawmakers have been under pressure to set a new regulatory framework for cryptocurrencies. Several proposals are in the works that would apply existing banking, securities, and tax rules to cryptocurrencies, and lawmakers are calling on the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) to adopt an aggressive approach to the crypto market. In a December House hearing, Rep. Jake Auchincloss, who is also a member of …

Former FTX CEO Sam Bankman-Fried (SBF), currently free on a $250 million bail bond, will reportedly plead not guilty to the alleged FTX and Alameda-related financial frauds in court on Jan. 3. SBF was arrested in the Bahamas at the request of the U.S. government under suspicion of defrauding investors and misappropriation of funds held on the FTX crypto exchange. Following a court hearing on Dec. 22, SBF was released on bail and is slated to appear on court on Jan.3 before U.S. District Judge Lewis Kaplan in Manhattan. During the hearing, SBF is expected to enter a plea of …

Proof of reserves (PoR) has gone from a buzzword to a roar in recent weeks as the crypto world tries to recover from the shock and losses of the current crypto winter. After a flurry of discussion and work, criteria and rankings for adequate PoR are beginning to appear, but the fine points of how to conduct proof of reserves, or even who should do it, remain open questions. The difference between proof of assets and proof of reserves was pointed out quickly, along with their deficiencies by themselves. Traditional auditors’ attempts at providing PoR were soon frustrated, with major …

Former FTX CEO Sam Bankman-Fried met with government officials at the White House on at least four separate occasions in 2022, and reportedly a meeting just two months before the fall of his crypto empire. Most of the meetings were disclosed in visitor logs which are posted by the White House every month, showing that Bankman-Fried had met with Counselor to the President Steve Ricchetti on Apr. 22, 2022 and May. 12, 2022 along with another meeting on May 13 meeting with policy advisor Charlotte Butash However, according to a Dec. 29 Bloomberg report, the former FTX CEO also met …

The Central Bank of the Republic of Turkey (CBRT) has completed the first trial of its central bank digital currency (CBDC), the Digital Turkish Lira, and has signaled plans to continue testing throughout 2023. According to a statement released by the CBRT on Dec. 29, the central bank authority said it successfully executed its “first payment transactions” using the digital Lira. It said it will continue to run limited, closed circuit pilot tests with technology stakeholders in the first quarter of 2023, before expanding it to include selected banks and financial technology companies in the rest of the year. Press …

Avraham Eisenberg was arrested in Puerto Rico on Dec. 26 on commodities fraud and manipulation charges relating to the $110 million exploit of the decentralized Mango Markets exchange. Eisenberg had self-identified as the actor behind what he called a “highly profitable trading strategy” and insisted that he had taken “legal open market actions, using the protocol as designed.” Eisenberg’s arrest predictably lit up crypto Twitter, with some observers paying particular attention to the fact that commodities fraud charges were being pressed in a case involving a crypto coin: “AVRAHAM EISENBERG, the defendant, willfully and knowingly, directly and indirectly, used and …

Former FTX CEO Sam Bankman-Fried (SBF) may not be able to offset the two counts of wire fraud and six counts of conspiracy he faces with the credits to be received for entering a guilty plea instead of going to trial. Set to appear in court in the first days of January to enter a plea deal, Bankman-Fried is "unlikely to receive a favorable deal from prosecutors," argued Mark Kasten, counsel in Buchanan Ingersoll and Rooney’s Blockchain and Crypto Assets practice group. Speaking with Cointelegraph, Kasten explained the government often requires defendants to assist in the prosecution of others in …

The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has appealed to the country’s presidency of the G20 group of the world’s largest economies as a pulpit to call for the development of a global regulatory framework for crypto assets. In its latest financial stability report, released Dec. 29, the bank again expressed its concerns about the burgeoning crypto ecosystem and suggested parts of it could be banned. The report was generally upbeat about current conditions in the country, despite “strong global headwinds,” saying, “the Indian economy and domestic financial system remain resilient.” The tone changed drastically in its discussion of crypto, however, …

The largely disputed Robinhood shares might be transferred to a neutral broker or an escrow account while the courts determine the rightful owner. Digital asset lender BlockFi recently sued former FTX CEO Sam Bankman-Fried to claim the shares that were supposedly pledged as collateral for the more than $600 million that BlockFi loaned to Alameda Research. The 56 million Robinhood Markets shares, which are currently frozen, are worth around $450 million. These are owned by Sam Bankman-Fried's holding company called Emergent Fidelity Technologies which was formed in Antigua and Barbuda and held by a brokerage company called Marex Capital Markets. …

A newly elected pro-Bitcoin Prime Minister has taken office in the Pacific Islands of Fiji. The new leader, Sitiveni Rabuka, took the Fijian office on Dec. 24. Lord Fusitu’a, a Tongan noble and a former member of the Tongan parliament, took to Twitter to share the news from his neighboring nation. Fusitu’a stated that he had explained to Rabuka, step by step, "how Fiji can do Bitcoin legal tender like Tonga,” and there could be two “Legal Tender Bills for the Pacific in 2023.” A new pro-#Bitcoin friendly Prime Minister in the South Pacific.☀️️ Fiji ‘s newly elected Prime Minister …

30 cryptocurrency wallets linked to Alameda Research, the bankrupt sister company of crypto exchange FTX, became active on Dec. 28 following four weeks of inactivity. These wallets swapped and mixed over $1.7 million worth of crypto assets through various crypto-mixing services. Crypto mixers are often used by market exploiters and criminals to obscure the transaction path so that the funds cannot be traced to the original source. As Cointelegraph reported on Dec. 28, the sudden movement of funds from Alameda wallets just days after Sam Bankman Fried was released on bail raised suspicions across the crypto community. Nearly 24 hours …

The California Department of Financial Protection and Innovation (DFPI) has fired off 17 separate warnings over two days of crypto brokers and websites it suspects of being fraudulent. The list includes Tahoe Digital Exchange, TeleTrade Options, Tony Alin Trading Firm, Hekamenltd/Tosal Markets Limited, Trade 1960, Yong Ying Global Investment Company Limited, Unison FX, VoyanX.com, and ZC Exchange, to name a few. Additionally, there are two copycat sites posing as two big names in the crypto sector with eth-Wintermute.net, and UniSwap LLC. At the time of writing, the DFPI's consumer alert page has posted 17 warnings over Dec. 27 and Dec. …