Despite being in the middle of a $1.3 billion lawsuit with the United States Securities and Exchange Commission, it appears that it is still business as usual for Ripple. Speaking to Reuters on Friday, Garlinghouse revealed that the company has not suffered any negative blowback in the APAC business theatre amid the current SEC lawsuit: “It (the lawsuit) has hindered activity in the United States, but it has not really impacted what’s going on for us in Asia Pacific.” In December 2020, the SEC charged Ripple and its principal executives of violating securities laws in the sale of XRP tokens …

U.S.-based crypto advocacy group, the Blockchain Association, is lobbying key figures in the Biden administration to advocate for more favorable regulations. The Association’s executive director, Kristin Smith, told Fox Business the group has already met with or is in the process of scheduling meetings with high-ranking Whitehouse officials including Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen, Deputy Secretary nominee and former BlackRock executive Wally Adeyemo, along with representatives of the Treasury Department. Citing reported comments from Yellen about how the primary utility of cryptocurrency is “illicit financing,” Smith said the association’s key aim was to assist the Treasury chief to “understand the value …

Chris Larsen — Ripple’s executive chairman — has joined company CEO Brad Garlinghouse in moving to dismiss the securities violation case filed by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. In a court letter filed on Wednesday, Larsen’s attorneys provided four arguments detailing the reasons why the case against the Ripple executive should be struck. According to the letter, the SEC cannot substantiate its claims that Larsen “knowingly or recklessly provided substantial assistance” towards the violation of Section 5 of the Securities Act of 1933. Arguing further, the letter stated that in 2015, when Larsen bore the designation of Ripple CEO, …

Major cryptocurrency tax compliance startup TaxBit has raised $100 million as it expands into Europe. According to a March 3 blog post, TaxBit has secured the funds in Series A round led by Paradigm and Tiger Capital. Additional investors included PayPal’s venture arm, major industry firms like Coinbase and Winklevoss Capital, as well as individual investors like Bill Ackman, Ryan Smith, Anthony Pompliano and others. According to the announcement, the new investment round comes in response to the increasing global demand for crypto services amid the crypto industry’s parabolic surge to hit a $1.5 trillion market capitalization. “The importance of …

Today, the Senate Banking Committee held its first hearing on the nomination of Gary Gensler to chair the Securities and Exchange Commission. The role will have major influence on the future of crypto regulation, as the SEC has been a chokepoint for major areas like the status of initial coin offerings, approval of new exchange-traded funds, and crypto firms going public. In his appearance before the committee, however, Gensler was evasive about any specific changes he would make to the SEC's crypto policy. He supported prior decisions, like Bitcoin’s (BTC) exclusion from the SEC’s purview, but dodged any real commitment …

The Security and Exchange Commission's Division of Examinations published on Friday a blueprint for investment managers and institutions on how the division will inspect the handling of crypto assets, or “digital asset securities,” moving forward. The division (formerly the Office of Compliance Inspections and Examinations) is the second-largest wing of the SEC and is tasked with overseeing securities industry players to ensure regulatory compliance. Targeted toward investment advisors, broker-dealers, exchanges and transfer agents, this Risk Alert provided a broad list of specific procedural, bookkeeping and advisory steps the division will be expecting from securities companies in future examinations. “As more …

As Coinbase plans to pursue a direct listing on the stock market, which would see its existing shares be traded on United States stock exchanges, the exchange has submitted an S-1 report to the Securities and Exchange Commissio, which details all the relevant data that would help investors conduct due diligence on the company. The document represents the first time that Coinbase publicly revealed sensitive details like revenue and ownership structure. The filing reveals that the exchange posted a direct revenue of $1.1 billion in 2020, a significant increase from $482 million in 2019. About 96% of this revenue is …

Hester Peirce, the commissioner for the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission known by the nickname "Crypto Mom," welcomes the challenge of regulating decentralized finance. In a speech for a George Washington University Law School event on the digital economy, Peirce said decentralized finance, or DeFi, could be the alternative legacy financial system many are seeking given the surge in anti-Wall Street sentiment surrounding the short squeeze of GameStop stocks. The SEC commissioner said the technology could provide a "very good test" for the regulatory body in protecting investors and markets. "Although a work in progress with all the growing pains …

M31 Capital, a New York-based global investment firm, has filed paperwork with the United States Securities and Exchange Commission, or SEC, to launch a new Bitcoin (BTC) hedge fund. The proposed fund, dubbed M31 Capital Bitcoin Access Fund, is a limited partnership hedge fund based in Delaware, according to a Form D SEC filing submitted on Tuesday. The minimum investment from any outside investor has been set at $10,000. Details about the fund’s structure were not disclosed. M31 Capital is focused exclusively on cryptocurrencies and blockchain technology. The company also operates M31 Ventures, whose investment thesis is based on uncovering …

Global money transfer service MoneyGram says it has changed its relationship with blockchain payments firm Ripple amid the latter's litigation with the Securities and Exchange Commission. According to MoneyGram's quarterly outlook, the company is "not planning for any benefit from Ripple market development fees" for the first quarter of 2021. MoneyGram said it had a more than $12 million net expense benefit from Ripple in the same quarter last year. "Due to the uncertainty concerning their ongoing litigation with the SEC, the Company has suspended trading on Ripple's platform," said MoneyGram. The collaboration between the two firms largely began three …

Shares of Long Bitcoin Corp (LBCC), a beverage company turned cryptocurrency mining company, have been officially delisted by the United States Securities and Exchange Commission, or SEC. The company was ordered to delist its stock after failing for years to produce any financial reports. Long Bitcoin Corp’s last earnings report was for the quarter ending Sept. 30, 2018, according to Bloomberg. Long Bitcoin Corp is registered in the state of Delaware, according to SEC filings. Originally known as Long Island Ice Tea, Long Bitcoin rebranded during the height of crypto euphoria in January 2018. That was shortly after Bitcoin (BTC) …

American electric car giant Tesla has seen some massive gains from its Bitcoin (BTC) investment, reportedly having made up to $1 billion in profit, according to a new report. An analyst at Wedbush Securities, a private investment firm in the United States, has calculated that Tesla has made “roughly $1 billion” in the aftermath of its $1.5 billion Bitcoin investment. Daniel Ives estimated Tesla’s Bitcoin profits in an investor note on Saturday, CNBC reports. Amid Bitcoin’s parabolic surge to become a $1 trillion asset, Ives said, “Tesla is on a trajectory to make more from its Bitcoin investments than profits …