An SEC filing on Friday indicates that the next Wall Street institution to take a public position in Bitcoin may also be among the largest yet: the $275 billion financial services firm Guggenheim Partners. The Guggenheim filing allows the Macro Opportunities fund to purchase GBTC, a publicly-traded Bitcoin investment vehicle from Grayscale, at an indeterminate point in the future. “The Guggenheim Macro Opportunities Fund may seek investment exposure to bitcoin indirectly through investing up to 10% of its net asset value in Grayscale Bitcoin Trust (“GBTC”),” the filing reads. According to independent ratings firm Morningstar, the Guggenheim Macro Opportunities fund …

Ripple CEO Brad Garlinghouse believes his company can still thrive under a hypothetical scenario where XRP is declared a security by United States lawmakers. Appearing on episode 439 of the Pomp Podcast, Garlinghouse talked about the implications of XRP being declared a security by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, or SEC. He said such a position would run contrary to the prevailing view among G20 markets. While acknowledging that “it’s very hard to look at XRP as a security,” Garlinghouse said: “You know if XRP were deemed a security here in the United States that, you know, we have …

The United States national security apparatus is warning other agencies about China’s upcoming digital currency. On Wednesday, news outlet the Washington Examiner reported on a letter that National Intelligence Director John Ratcliffe had sent Securities and Exchange Commission Chairman Jay Clayton earlier in the month. According to the report, Ratcliffe offered to have staff brief Clayton on the security issues that derive from China’s dominance in crypto mining as well as the country’s progress in digitizing the yuan. Ratcliffe’s letter also apparently pushed Clayton to ensure that U.S. crypto firms remain competitive. Cointelegraph has reported extensively on the race for …

On Friday, investment management firm VanEck released new research indicating that Bitcoin’s price movements are less volatile than between a quarter and a third of the stocks listed on the S&P 500. In a blog post, the German issuer of exchange-traded products said that while Bitcoin (BTC) has long been considered a “nascent and volatile asset outside of the traditional stock and capital markets,” the reality shows that the world’s largest cryptocurrency trades with volatility comparable to that of some of the largest companies in the world. On a year-to-date basis, 29% of S&P 500 stocks experienced more volatile price …

Editor's note Amid a political news cycle that has been stuck in a nauseating loop, covering crypto is often refreshing. Partisan forces have yet to dig out the trenches. A lot of the current task is just getting working definitions in play. Meanwhile, the technology advances at a mind-boggling rate, and there are still enough outrageous scams, absurd tomfoolery and indeed general skullduggery to keep everything from getting dull. Speaking of skulduggery, I will begin this week with a comment on a challenge to journalism in the crypto industry that has wide-spanning implications. Not many people think about the relationship …

Morgan Creek Capital Management and Exos Financial filed a new Bitcoin (BTC) fund with the United States Securities and Exchange Commission on Thursday. If approved, the fund will offer institutional investors another way to long the flagship cryptocurrency without the volatility of owning it outright. Kevin Rooke reported Friday that the Morgan Creek-Exos Risk Management Bitcoin Fund has been filed with U.S. regulators. The fund intends to provide direct exposure to Bitcoin with built-in mechanisms to reduce allocation when quantitative signals turn negative. As Rooke reports, the fund “handles technical details around trade, transfer, and custody of Bitcoin.” In its …

The outgoing SEC Chairman Jay Clayton, who oversaw the rejection of nine Bitcoin (BTC) exchange-traded funds during his tenure, has told CNBC that “inefficiencies” in the current payments systems are continuing to drive the popularity of Bitcoin. Appearing on CNBC’s Squawk Box yesterday, Clayton, who is due to step down by the end of the year, confirmed his agency’s general assessment that Bitcoin was not a security but a payment mechanism and store of value. "We determined that bitcoin was not a security, it was much more a payment mechanism and stored value," says SEC Chairman Jay Clayton on #btc. …

The United States Securities and Exchange Commission has requested a default judgment against three companies and four individuals associated with the allegedly fraudulent art- and gold-backed cryptocurrency Meta 1 Coin. The SEC filed its Nov. 18 motion for a default judgment after the defendants failed to appear for their case, despite having corresponded with both the court and legal representation prior. The defendants are Meta 1 Coin Trust, Clear International Trust, and Ironheart Trust, and individuals Robert Dunlap, Nicole Bowdler, Wanda Traversie-Warner and Alfred Warner, Jr. They are accused of defrauding at least 500 investors worldwide out of $9 million …

The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, or SEC, has issued a rare no-action letter in response to a request from a blockchain-backed platform over the issuance of a digital asset. The SEC letter issued on Nov. 19 says that its Division of Corporation Finance would “not recommend enforcement action” against avatar social platform IMVU issuing its VCOIN digital asset under certain conditions. The commission will allow the firm to offer the token without registering it as a security. Crypto firms issuing their own tokens often have to abide by the SEC’s regulatory framework, which has proved contentious. The classification of …

Three associates of Clifford Joseph Harris Jr., a rapper also known as T.I. who was responsible for helping launch the FLiK token, have agreed to pay more than $100,000 after a U.S. district court approving a settlement. According to records filed Nov. 17 in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Georgia, Chance White, Owen Smith, and William Sparks Jr. will pay $102,992 in a settlement covering penalties, fees, and disgorgements for their role in selling tokens in initial coin offerings, or ICOs, for FLiK and CoinSpark. T.I., a rapper, singer, and songwriter, has won three Grammy Awards …

Bill Hinman, outgoing director of the Division of Corporation Finance at the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission chose to focus one of his last speeches on the commission’s achievements in regulating crypto during his tenure. In remarks published on the Securities and Exchange Commission, or SEC, website on Nov. 18, Hinman cited the SEC’s record as being open to technologies like cryptocurrencies and blockchain without the need for overhauling the existing regulatory framework. “Being able to apply the federal securities laws to new and emerging technologies like digital assets without having to create an entirely new regulatory framework — as …

Thailand’s Securities and Exchange Commission has revised its net capital rules regarding digital assets. According to a Nov. 18 report by The Bangkok Post, the Thai SEC now allows firms dealing with digital assets to include the value of those assets when calculating their net capital funds. The new rules follow a surge in volume on Thai exchanges. The Bangkok Post states that, following the United States presidential election, the Stock Exchange of Thailand saw one-day trading value hit $5.5 billion while futures contracts on the Thailand Futures Exchanges increased to 1 million per day. The new rules aim to …