The New Jersey Bureau of Securities has issued a cease and desist order against Voyager Digital for selling unregistered securities through its Voyager Earn program. Voyager Digital (VGX) is a centralized, crypto-based staking, trading, and lending platform. The order claims that each of the crypto staking and lending accounts issued through the program since 2019 are unregistered securities because of their promise of interest rates as high as 12%. The Bureau cites as evidence for the claim messages on Voyager’s homepage encouraging users to “grow your portfolio” and “journey to the new frontier of investing.” New Jersey claims that about …

Grayscale CEO Michael Sonnenshein said the firm is gearing up for a legal fight if Grayscale’s Bitcoin Spot ETF product is denied by the United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). In an interview with Bloomberg on Tuesday, March 29, Sonnenshein was asked if he would consider the Administrative Procedure Act (APA) lawsuit option if the application for its Bitcoin Spot ETF was denied by the financial regulator. “I think all options are on the table,” he responded, highlighting the importance of continuing to advocate for investors. The next decision date for the approval or denial of the investment product …

Strong inflows into the ProShares Bitcoin Strategy ETF (BITO) in the past two weeks pushed its Bitcoin (BTC) exposure to a new record high. No Bitcoin outflows despite 'rollover' risks The fund, which uses futures contracts to gain exposure to Bitcoin's price movements, had a record 28,450 BTC under its management — worth about $1.27 billion at today's price — as of March 24, compared to nearly 26,000 BTC a month before, according to official data from ProShares. Interestingly, the inflows appeared in the days leading up to the "rollover" of BITO's 3,846 March future contracts in the week ending …

Eric Balchunas and James Seyffart, exchange-traded fund analysts for Bloomberg, said that a proposed rule change with the United States Securities and Exchange Commission could be the catalyst for the regulatory body approving a spot Bitcoin ETF in mid-2023. In a Thursday tweet, Balchunas said crypto platforms could fall under the SEC’s regulatory framework if the commission were to approve an amendment to change the definition of “exchange” proposed in January. The rule change would amend the Exchange Act to include platforms “that make available for trading any type of security” — seemingly including cryptocurrencies, making their investment vehicles more …

The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commision (SEC) has been granted an extension to submit a discovery schedule relating to individual defendants Brad Garlinghouse (CEO) and Chris Larsen (co-founder) as part of the case against Ripple Labs. The bitter legal dispute has been going since late December 2020, after the SEC alleged that Ripple Labs generated $1.3 billion from an unregistered security offering via its XRP token. The firm denies that XRP is a security and is instead a method for international payments, and has argued that the SEC failed to give Ripple fair notice that its token was a security. …

In an ongoing effort to carve out a regulated crypto market for the general public, the Thailand Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) announced a ban on the use of cryptocurrencies for payments. Parallelly, the Commission proposed a new rule that demands disclosure of service quality and IT usage information from crypto businesses including brokers, exchanges and dealers. According to the notice issued by the Thai SEC, businesses in the region have been advised against accepting crypto payments from April 2022 after discussing its implications with the Bank of Thailand (BOT). The joint study conducted by the BOT and SEC concluded …

The United States Securities and Exchange Commission has extended its window to approve or disapprove spot Bitcoin exchange-traded fund applications from asset managers WisdomTree and One River. According to separate Friday filings, the SEC will push the deadline for approving or disapproving a rule change allowing shares of the WisdomTree Bitcoin Trust and One River Carbon Neutral Bitcoin Trust to be listed on the Cboe BZX Exchange and New York Stock Exchange Arca, respectively. The regulator said it will extend its window for the decision on WisdomTree’s Bitcoin (BTC) investment vehicle to May 15 and One River’s to June 2. …

Major software cryptocurrency wallet Exodus has gone public on the digital asset securities firm Securitize Markets following a $75 million crowdfund capital raise. Exodus’ shares started trading on Securitize on Wednesday, allowing investors from all across the United States and international investors from more than 40 countries to trade the Exodus Class A common stock. Trading under the ticker symbol EXOD, the Exodus Class A common stock is digitally represented on the Algorand blockchain via common stock tokens. Tokenized shares in @Exodus_io are now trading on Securitize Markets. Retail investors included! With 24-7 order placement, 8am-8pm ET trading hours, near-instant …

The Biden Administration has just passed an executive order furthering research into crypto assets in view of regulating them, but politicians within the ruling Democrat party remain deeply divided on digital currency. The lack of consensus among Democrats could mean that a progressive regulatory framework for cryptocurrencies could still be a long way off —but also makes it more likely the eventual regulations won’t be too harsh thanks to the work of crypto-friendly representatives. The crypto community is familiar with the names cropping up time and time again in the digital asset debate. On the one side, you have vehemently …

In a bipartisan letter put forward by Republican Minnesota Congressman Tom Emmer, a cohort of Congress members has written to Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) Chairman Gary Gensler, challenging the regulator's scrutiny of cryptocurrency firms and expressing concern that “overburdensome” investigation may be suffocating the crypto industry. They suggest the SEC is drowning companies in paperwork in contravention of the SEC’s stated aims and mandated jurisdiction. Emmer tweeted to his 51,000 followers: “My office has received numerous tips from crypto and blockchain firms that SEC Chair @GaryGensler’s information reporting ‘requests’ to the crypto community are overburdensome, don’t feel particularly… voluntary… …

Securities and Exchange Commissioner Allison Herren Lee announced that she would be stepping down from her post at the end of her term in June. In a Tuesday announcement, Lee said that she will remain in the role until her successor has been confirmed. The SEC commissioner has spent less than three years at her current position, having been sworn in in 2019 to serve out the remainder of a five-year term expiring in June. With her departure, Lee, a Democrat who replaced former commissioner Kara Stein, will create a second vacancy at the SEC, with another left open by …

Southern New York District Court Judge Analisa Torres issued two rulings Friday on motions filed in the Security and Exchange Commission (SEC) lawsuit against Ripple Labs. Ripple argued that it was not given fair notice by the agency that it would consider the token a security, thus denying the company due process. Judge Torres denied the SEC motion, filed in April, to dismiss this defense, and by doing so affirmed that the defense is viable in the suit — in other words, that the defense, if accepted, could be used to win the case. The judge also denied a motion …