The long-awaited cryptocurrency regulation framework released by President Joe Biden’s Treasury Department this month attempted to outline a plan for managing the burgeoning crypto industry. Unfortunately, the department’s assessment failed to embody more substance than a mere mission statement. While Biden’s administration appears to be taking a “whole-of-government approach” toward overseeing the decentralized finance (DeFi) sector and its ripple effects on the traditional economy, they are focused predominantly on defending against negative events — such as financial crime — and failing to facilitate positive events, such as the wealth-building opportunities that crypto offers to Americans excluded from the traditional big-banking …
Regulators are tasked with balancing between protecting consumers and creating environments where entrepreneurs and the private sector can thrive. When markets face distortions, perhaps due to an externality or information asymmetry, regulation can play an important role. But regulation can also stifle entrepreneurship and business formation, leaving society and its people worse off. The United States Securities and Exchange Commission has been particularly hostile against cryptocurrency companies and entrepreneurs. For example, SEC Chairman Gary Gensler has remarked that he views Bitcoin (BTC) as a commodity but that many other “crypto financial assets have the key attributes of a security.” He …
Ripple's XRP took a break from its prevailing downtrend as its price rebounded from $0.68 to $0.72 in the last three days. Ripple scores vs. SEC Traders returned to buying XRP after a U.S. court denied the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission's (SEC) request to shield internal documents related to June 2018 speech made by its former director William Hinman, wherein he said Bitcoin (BTC) and Ether (ETH) are not securities. To recap, SEC filed a lawsuit against Ripple, a San Francisco payment services company, in 2020, alleging that it and its executives Brad Garlinghouse and Christian Larsen conducted illegal …
Ether (ETH) price tumbled below the $3,000 support on Jan. 21 as regulatory uncertainty continues to weigh down the sector and rumors that the United States Securities and Exchange Commission is reviewing DeFi’s high-yield crypto lending products continue to circulate. On Jan. 27, the Russian Finance Ministry submitted a crypto regulatory framework for review. The proposal suggests that crypto operations are carried out within the traditional banking infrastructure and that mechanisms to identify traders’ personal data are included. Further bearish news came as Ryan Korner, a top special agent from the United States Internal Revenue Service (IRS) Criminal Investigation’s Los …
Ether (ETH) has been facing a bearish regression channel since Sept. 1, although it is currently battling to break its resistance. But despite some headwinds, ETH bulls will likely profit $115 million on Oct. 8's weekly Ether options expiry. The 21% pump over the past week was just enough to make the entire $250 million worth of neutral-to-bearish put options worthless. Regulatory fear limits the upside Understandably, negative headlines about increasing regulatory scrutiny toward crypto may have subdued prices last month, particularly as China banned all cryptocurrency activity outright. Major crypto exchanges, including Binance and Huobi, halted most of their …
Singapore-based cryptocurrency derivatives exchange Bybit announced on Friday that it would be suspending services for its customers n the United Kingdom. Bybit offers a range of high-end trading products for cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin (BTC), Ether (ETH), Bitcoin Cash (BCH), Litecoin (LTC) and more. The move follows a blanket ban on all retail cryptocurrency derivatives trading by the Financial Conduct Authority, and U.K. customers will be given until March 31 to close out positions and withdraw their funds from the platform, a company announcement stated. The post also affirmed the company’s intention to continue dialogue with regulators in the hope …