Jay Clayton, the former chair of the United States Securities and Exchange Commission, has accepted an advisory role with blockchain infrastructure provider Fireblocks — marking a significant addition to a company that only recently achieved unicorn status. In joining Fireblocks’ advisory board, Clayton acknowledged that he shares the company’s view that “digital asset custody requires the same level of service as traditional custody while also striving for better regulatory outcomes.” Michael Shaulov, CEO and co-founder of Fireblocks, said Clayton will “help to advance further the safety and security of the Fireblocks infrastructure for capital market participants and investors.” Clayton headed …

Tether Holdings Ltd, the issuer of the largest stablecoin, Tether (USDT), reported that its total market capitalization had crossed $64 billion for the first time in history. The company called the event a “milestone,” adding that it is another indication of the cryptocurrency market’s “continued trust and confidence” in its stablecoin. Tether’s $USDt market cap hits $64B! A new milestone reached and another indication of the market’s continued trust and confidence in #Tether ! pic.twitter.com/t85i6e6UQt — Tether (@Tether_to) August 16, 2021 In detail, Tether’s business model revolves around providing digitized dollars to cryptocurrency traders and investors. In doing so, the …

Two members of the United States House of Representatives have petitioned the heads of the United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) to work with participants in the crypto space for transparency and regulatory clarity. In a Monday tweet, Representative Glenn Thompson said he had submitted a letter with Representative Patrick McHenry to the CFTC and SEC, urging the agencies to "establish a joint working group on digital assets.” Thompson and McHenry requested SEC Chair Gary Gensler and acting CFTC Chair Rostin Behnam to “promote an active dialogue” between federal regulators and participants in …

New filings with the United States Securities and Exchange Commission reveal that four wealth management companies have acquired shares of Grayscale’s Bitcoin (BTC) investment trust, offering further evidence of institutional adoption of digital assets. As first reported by MacroScope — a Twitter feed devoted to institutional trading and asset management — the firms disclosed their GBTC holdings in new filings for the period ending June 30. Clear Perspective Advisors, an Illinois-based wealth manager, revealed direct ownership of 7,790 GBTC shares on Friday. In an SEC filing today, Clear Perspective Advisors, a wealth management firm in Aurora, Illinois, reported owning 7,790 …

XRP price almost surged to its three-month high following a strong uptrend continuation on Aug. 14. Nevertheless, its wild weekly run-up triggered overvaluation risks, thus raising possibilities of an imminent price pullback. In detail, the XRP/USD exchange popped 11.78% higher to reach $1.20 for the first time since May 22. The pair's gains appeared as a part of a prevailing bullish trend that started July 20 when it was trading for as low as $0.154 — a 134% upside retracement on the whole. On a week-to-date timeframe, the XRP/USD rates were up circa 54%. XRP overbought The latest bullish moves …

Delaware-based Kryptoin Investment Advisors has joined a score of other crypto ETF hopefuls by filing for an Ethereum exchange-traded fund (ETF) with the United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The crypto investment firm previously tried and failed to get a Bitcoin ETF greenlit back in 2019. The firm came back with another attempt this April, filing for a Bitcoin ETF that was set for a verdict by July 27 but is still under review by the SEC. According to a Thursday filing, the Kryptoin Ethereum ETF Trust plans to issue its common shares on the Chicago Board Options Exchange’s …

The United States Securities and Exchange Commission’s chairperson Gary Gensler announced this month that the crypto industry should not escape the purview of the regulator. He highlighted that decentralized finance (DeFi) trading and lending protocols need particular attention when it comes to investor protections. Regulation can extend into a menu of options that covers custody, reporting, counterparty verification and asset classification and issuance. Reports are surfacing that people are waiting with bated breath on how the SEC will regulate the DeFi industry, but Germany's Federal Financial Supervisory Authority, also known as BaFin, has found a way to apply existing securities …

Ripple's XRP token could hit $1 in the coming days, according to a classic technical chart setup. Dubbed a "double bottom," the trend reversal indicator appears after the price bottoms out at a level, rebounds toward a higher resistance level, and then pulls back to or near the first bottom level — only to rebound again to the previous resistance line (also called the "neckline"). Should the price close above the neckline, an extended move upward is anticipated, the length of which equals the total height between the neckline and the bottom level. It appears that XRP is closer to …

Asset manager VanEck is filing for a Bitcoin Strategy exchange-traded fund (ETF) after it unsuccessfully attempted to launch a similar fund four years ago. According to the United States Securities and Exchange Commission, or SEC, VanEck filed a prospectus for a Bitcoin Strategy exchange-traded fund on Monday. Unlike its Bitcoin (BTC) or Ether (ETH) ETFs currently under review by the federal agency, the proposed fund would not invest in BTC directly, but provide exposure through Bitcoin future contracts, pooled investment vehicles and other exchange-traded products. VanEck said the Bitcoin Strategy ETF would allow exposure through crypto ETFs listed and traded …

The legal battle between the United States Securities Exchange Commission (SEC and blockchain-based payments firm Ripple continues, with the regulator wanting further access to Ripple’s internal communications. The SEC filed a motion with the Southern District of New York on Monday, requesting Judge Sarah Netbrun to order Ripple to produce and submit its employee messaging on business communication platform Slack. The filing notes that Ripple’s previous production of Slack messages to the SEC was incomplete, with the firm eventually admitting that this was caused due to a “data processing mistake” after “repeatedly contending that its Slack production was complete.” The …

United States Securities and Exchange Commission Commissioner Hester Peirce, known colloquially as “Crypto Mom,” has slammed the SEC for its $10-million settlement with cryptocurrency exchange Poloniex. The SEC announced the $10-million settlement on Monday, with Poloniex being charged with facilitating trades in unregistered securities between July 2017 and November 2019. The SEC asserted that Poloniex employees “stated internally” that they wanted to be “aggressive” in circumventing securities regulation in a bid to increase market share by listing new digital assets that may be deemed securities under the Howey Test of 1946. Poloniex elected to neither admit nor deny any wrongdoing. …

Brett Redfearn, the former director of the division of trading and markets at the United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), has reportedly left his position at Coinbase after less than five months. According to a Wall Street Journal report, Redfearn resigned as the head of Coinbase’s capital-markets group at the end of July. People familiar with the matter claimed his departure was due to the crypto exchange shifting its priorities away from digital asset securities. During his time at Coinbase, Redfearn was responsible for the crypto exchange’s strategy for crypto capital markets, including digital asset securities. The U.S.-based crypto …