The United States Securities and Exchange Commission is looking to cooperate with Congress and other regulators to increase its oversight of cryptocurrency exchanges. Gary Gensler, the newly appointed chairman of the SEC, said that the commission is looking forward to working with fellow regulators and Congress to fill gaps in investor protection in crypto markets. The official announced the plans at a Wednesday hearing before the Financial Services and General Government subcommittee of the House of Representatives. Gensler said that the SEC needs to provide similar protections for crypto exchanges that an investor would get on the New York Stock …

Powers On... is a monthly opinion column from Marc Powers, who spent much of his 40-year legal career working with complex securities-related cases in the United States after a stint with the SEC. He is now an adjunct professor at Florida International University College of Law, where he teaches a course on “Blockchain, Crypto and Regulatory Considerations.” These past few weeks have been tumultuous, especially for newbies to the crypto market. First, on May 8, Elon Musk, CEO of Tesla, was the host of Saturday Night Live where he promoted Dogecoin (DOGE) — a highly speculative, volatile cryptocurrency with present …

Teucrium Trading, an agriculture-focused exchange-traded fund provider, is planning to expand its ETF suite with Bitcoin. On Thursday, the company filed an application with the United States Securities and Exchange Commission to launch a Bitcoin (BTC) ETF that would track a benchmark of Bitcoin futures contracts. Dubbed Teucrium Bitcoin Futures Fund, the planned ETF is designed to provide investors with a way to gain price exposure to the Bitcoin market. Should the SEC approve the new product, Teucrium will issue shares that trade on the NYSE Arca stock exchange under the symbol BCFU. The contract would be settled in cash, …

An NBA Top Shot user is suing Dapper Labs and its CEO, Roham Gharegozlou, for allegedly selling nonfungible tokens (NFTs) as unregistered securities. Plaintiff Jeeun Friel served Dapper Labs with a summons last week, ordering the firm to respond to a complaint alleging the company sold unregistered securities through the NBA Top Shot marketplace in the form of its tokenized National Basketball Association highlight collectibles. The plaintiff also alleges that NBA Top Shot intentionally prevented collectors from withdrawing funds for “months on end” to artificially prop up the market value on the platform, pointing to a CNN article from April …

After an agonizing 35% loss in the past 24-hours, Bitcoin (BTC) finally bounced at $30,000 earlier today in the May 19 trading session. A total of $3.5 billion in liquidations took place, which might have accelerated the movement, but they can't really be entirely blamed for the move. However, the weakness in derivatives markets did give some strong signals that panic was instilled, causing unsustainable levels. These can be measured by the price gap between the futures markets and regular spot exchanges, along with the negative funding rate on perpetual contracts. Multiple culprits catalyzed the drop, including Elon Musk, Tether …

The second-largest bank in the United States is now reportedly using blockchain technology for settling stock trades. According to a Bloomberg report on Monday, Bank of America has joined Paxos Settlement Service, a platform capable of same-day settlement of stock trades using blockchain technology. Kevin McCarthy, head of financing and clearing, said the bank “has been conducting internal transactions for the past few months” and would offer the service to Bank of America clients upon approval as a clearing agency. The move would reportedly allow for a “more flexible and speedier” stock settlement system compared with that of the Depository …

Just this week, Ether (ETH) breached the $4,000 mark while Bitcoin (BTC), the world’s most popular cryptocurrency, recently hit another all-time high at over $63,000. Meanwhile, Dogecoin (DOGE) continues its roller-coaster ride after "Dogefather" Elon Musk's appearance on Saturday Night Live and news about digital artwork fetching eye-watering prices in the form of nonfungible tokens is all over the airwaves. Crypto is hot, whether you like it or not. Still, not everyone is convinced. Janet Yellen, the newly-minted United States secretary of the treasury, previously questioned the legitimacy and stability of cryptocurrency as a store of value. After all, it …

Earlier in May, INX Limited — a Gibraltar-based blockchain trading platform — announced the completion of its INX token sale event, which took place via an initial public offering. The event marked the first time that the United States Securities and Exchange Commission approved a crypto-asset IPO. The SEC has been consistent in its characterization of most crypto assets as securities. Indeed, this stance has been at the forefront of the commission’s campaign against startups that issued digital assets during the initial coin offering mania of 2017 and 2018. Regulated security token offerings, or STOs, have since been hailed as …

Grayscale has filed its third Form 10 with the United States Securities and Exchange Commission to convert one of its investment funds into an SEC-reporting company. Tweeting on Thursday, Grayscale announced that the company’s Digital Large Cap Fund, or GDLC, has filed the application with the SEC. Today we voluntarily filed for Form 10 with the SEC for $GDLC. If effective, it would designate GDLC as Grayscale’s third digital currency investment vehicle to become an SEC reporting company, following $GBTC as the first and $ETHE as the second in the US.https://t.co/z0KkJ7OMbu — Grayscale (@Grayscale) May 13, 2021 If approved, the …

The United States Securities and Exchange Commission was one of the top regulatory enforcers for cryptocurrency projects in the last seven years, resulting in $1.77 billion in penalties. According to a report released yesterday by Cornerstone Research, the Securities and Exchange Commission, or SEC, brought 75 enforcement actions against crypto firms and individuals from July 1, 2013 to Dec. 31, 2020, mainly involving allegations of fraud or unregistered securities offerings. Many of the actions were litigated in U.S. district courts including the Southern District of New York, while others were resolved within the commission as administrative proceedings. Both often resulted …

The United States Securities and Exchange Commission, or SEC, has issued an investor warning pointing out risks of mutual funds that have exposure to Bitcoin (BTC) futures. In an official statement on Tuesday, the SEC strongly encouraged investors to thoroughly consider risks disclosure of a mutual fund on the Bitcoin futures market, stressing that Bitcoin is a “highly speculative investment.” The authority emphasized that investors should take into account the volatility of both Bitcoin and the Bitcoin futures market, as well as the lack of regulation and potential fraud or manipulation in the underlying Bitcoin market. “As with any fund …

The Chicago Board Options Exchange, or CBOE, has filed Fidelity’s Wise Origin Bitcoin (BTC) exchange-traded fund with the United States Securities and Exchange Commission. CBOE filed a Form 19b-4 on Monday seeking to list Fidelity’s Wise Origin Bitcoin Trust Bitcoin ETF that was initially submitted to the SEC by the $4.9-trillion asset manager back in March. Monday’s Form 19b-4, which puts CBOE as the exchange partner for Fidelity’s Bitcoin ETF filing, has triggered the SEC approval process. The SEC’s first response window will close in 45 days, upon which the SEC will elect to extend or reject the application altogether. …