MicroStrategy, the fortune 500 company with a 125,051 Bitcoin (BTC)-strong treasury, announced its Q4 2021 financial results on Feb. 2. The institutional software solution provider reported a net loss of $146.6 million incurred in impairment charges on its Bitcoin holdings. The high impairment losses added to the company’s operating expenses which saw a 125% increase at $248 million as compared to the same quarter last year. An impairment loss is a recognized reduction in the acquisition cost of an asset that is triggered by a decline in its fair value. When the fair value of an asset declines below its …
Hester Peirce, a commissioner for the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission known by many in the space as Crypto Mom, is warning that a proposed rule from the agency could potentially affect the regulation of firms involved with decentralized finance. According to a Tuesday Bloomberg report, Peirce said that the 654-page proposal recently released by the SEC to amend the definition of “exchange” as defined by the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 could impact the digital asset space. The SEC commissioner reportedly opposed opening the proposal to public comment and said the text could impose additional regulations on decentralized finance, …
Major Bitcoin (BTC) investor MicroStrategy has announced another major BTC purchase during a market dip to collect a total of 125,051 BTC as of Monday. According to an official form with the United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) filed on Tuesday, MicroStrategy purchased 660 BTC between Dec. 30, 2021, and Jan. 31 for “approximately $25 million” in cash. The average BTC price of the purchase amounted to $37,865 per BTC, including fees and expenses, the report notes. As of Jan. 31, MicroStrategy held about $3.78 billion worth of BTC at the average purchase price of approximately $30,200 per BTC, …
Tusk Ventures CEO and founder Bradley Tusk says that the failure to regulate cryptocurrency and social media effectively in the United States is a “really good lesson for how we should handle the Metaverse.” In a Feb. 1 interview on CNBC’s “Closing Bell,” Tusk urged U.S. policymakers to “get ahead” of the Metaverse and implement regulations sooner rather than later. “Typically speaking, our policy has been that we wait for technology to be introduced to gain market fit and traction [before introducing regulation].” However, “It’s very hard to do that retrospectively,” he said. “We know the Metaverse is coming — …
The Boston Security Token Exchange (BSTX), a new facility of the Boston-based BOX exchange, received regulatory approval from the United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) to operate as a blockchain-based securities exchange. BSTX was launched jointly by BOX and Overstock’s blockchain arm tZERO, originally seeking approval for launching publicly-traded registered security tokens. However, the SEC approval to operate as a national securities exchange allows BSTX to use blockchain technology for faster settlements in traditional markets. According to the SEC, “The Commission notes that the [BSTX] Exchange’s current proposal does not involve the trading of digital tokens and such a …
Fidelity Investments appeared undeterred by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission's, or SEC's, rejection of its Wise Origin Bitcoin Trust spot ETF on Thursday. Following the setback, the company filed two more prospectuses involving crypto-metaverse ETFs for regulatory approval. The proposals are titled are the Fidelity Crypto Industry and Digital Payments ETF and the Fidelity Metaverse ETF respectively. In rejecting the Wise Origin Bitcoin ETF, the SEC cited the exchange listing the ETF, the Cboe BZX, does not have a proper "surveillance-sharing agreement with markets trading" to prevent fraud and protect investor interests. However, neither of the two new ETF …
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 …
Blockchain payments company Ripple made it abundantly clear this week that it's not letting its feud with the United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) hold back its business plans. On Wednesday, the company announced it had repurchased all Series C shares that it issued to private investors back in December 2019 — even though a court ruling in 2021 said it didn't have to. This week's Crypto Biz explores Ripple's share repurchase and provides an overview of the biggest funding stories of the week. We also weigh a new exchange-traded fund (ETF) proposal by Valkyrie that seeks to provide …
The United States Securities and Exchange Commission has disapproved asset manager Fidelity’s Wise Origin Bitcoin Trust spot exchange-traded fund application. According to a Thursday filing, the SEC rejected a proposed rule change from the Cboe BZX Exchange to list and trade shares of Fidelity’s Wise Origin Bitcoin (BTC) Trust. The regulatory body said any rule change in favor of approving the ETF would not be aimed at preventing “fraudulent and manipulative acts and practices” nor would it necessarily “protect investors and the public interest.” The SEC extended its deliberation window to approve or deny the offering in July and November …
The United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) is reportedly reviewing some of the high-yield crypto lending products offered by Gemini, Celsius Network and Voyager Digital. According to a report published in Bloomberg, the SEC is conducting an inquiry into digital asset lending services. The main focus of the inquiry is reportedly around whether the crypto lending services could be considered securities and therefore must be registered with the commission. Gemini and Celsius did not immediately respond to Cointelegraph’s request for comment. The SEC’s main concern reportedly lies with the high-yield offering by crypto lending services which are often considerably …
The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission has extended its window to approve the ARK 21Shares Bitcoin exchange-traded fund originally proposed in July 2021. According to a Tuesday filing from the SEC, the regulatory body will push the deadline for approving or disapproving the ARK 21Shares Bitcoin ETF from Feb. 2 for an additional 60 days, to April 3. SEC assistant secretary J. Matthew DeLesDernier noted in the filing that it was “appropriate to designate a longer period” for the regulatory body to consider the proposed rule change allowing the ETF to be listed on the Cboe BZX Exchange. The exchange …
Crypto asset manager Valkyrie has filed an application with the United States Securities and Exchange Commission to trade an exchange-traded fund with exposure to Bitcoin mining firms on the Nasdaq Stock Market. In a Wednesday SEC filing, Valkyrie said its Bitcoin Miners ETF will not invest directly in Bitcoin (BTC) but at least 80% of its net assets would offer exposure to the crypto asset through securities of companies that “derive at least 50% of their revenue or profits” from BTC mining or providing hardware or software related to mining. The filing added Valkyrie would invest up to 20% of …