The United States Department of Justice is expected to announce a “major international cryptocurrency enforcement action.” According to a Jan. 18 announcement, U.S. Deputy Attorney General Lisa Monaco will lead a press conference in which the Justice Department will announce a major enforcement action — now believed to be against the crypto firm Bitzlato. The U.S. Treasury Department is also expected to announce a similar enforcement action. Other speakers at the event will include Assistant Attorney General Kenneth Polite of the Department of Justice's criminal division, U.S. Attorney Breon Peace of the Eastern District of New York, FBI Associate Deputy …

Caroline Pham, the commissioner of the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC), has recently called on regulators to provide clearer guidance on crypto assets in 2023. In an interview with Bloomberg, Pham mentioned that discussions with global players over crypto regulations are currently ongoing. The government official said that there are many foreign discussions currently happening about global industry standards for crypto regulation. According to Pham, she has gone through more than 75 meetings with various parties to discuss various topics concerning crypto regulation. The CFTC commissioner highlighted that there are “very advanced discussions” happening outside of the United States about …

The world's first cryptocurrency Bitcoin (BTC) is one day away from matching its historic 15-day win streak if its positive price movement keeps up. In November 2013 Bitcoin posted a 15-day consistent positive price movement, the longest in its history. ₿REAKING: #Bitcoin price has increased 14 days in row — A single day away from making a historic new record! pic.twitter.com/qclJhikcds — Documenting ₿itcoin (@DocumentingBTC) January 17, 2023 Right now, BTC is on day 14 of its win streak, hitting four-month highs in the process. One more day of upwards price movement will match its 2013 streak. If it continues …

The case of LBRY highlights a wave of renewed regulatory pressure that could affect both blockchain token-issuing companies and their investors. In November, an over year-long court battle between the United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and blockchain development company LBRY and its LBRY Credits (LBC) token culminated in the ruling of the token as an unregistered security, despite the company's argument of its use as a commodity within the platform. The court’s decision in this case sets a precedent that could influence not only the regulatory perception of blockchain-based platforms, but cryptocurrencies as well. The old Howey Old …

Classroom adoption of Bitcoin and cryptocurrency courses continue to skyrocket, with Texas A&M now being the latest U.S. College to offer a Bitcoin course to some of its 74,000+ students. The news was announced on Jan. 13 by Associate Professor Korok Ray of Mays Business School at Texas A&M, who will be teaching the “Bitcoin Protocol” course to students in the College of Engineering and Mays Business School when the Spring Semester starts on Jan. 17. I will be teaching the first ever Bitcoin class at Texas A&M this spring! — Korok Ray (@KorokRay) January 12, 2023 Ray stated in …

Hot on the heels of its Bitcoin (BTC) futures exchange-traded fund (ETF) in Hong Kong, Samsung Asset Management has indicated it's considering the launch of a spot Bitcoin ETF on the city's exchange if policies allow for it. In an interview with Bloomberg published on Jan. 13, Hong Kong chief executive for Samsung Asset Management, Sam Park, said: “It really depends on how policy is going to be developed,” adding that the Hong Kong administrators are “clearly” interested in developing the city into a crypto hub. An ETF analyst at Bloomberg Intelligence, Rebecca Sin, noted that “Hong Kong is well …

A group of crypto fraud victims of the BitConnect investment scheme will see some respite from the multi-billion dollar fraud scheme after a court ordered they receive a share in a $17 million restitution. The United States District Court for the Southern District of California ordered the restitution for the “massive” scheme on Jan. 12 according to a release on the same day by the Department of Justice (DOJ). 800 victims of the scheme, hailing from 40 countries will be able to take a small slice of the $17 million restitution, a term that refers to returning property or monetary …

Republicans in the United States House of Representatives reportedly plan to step up their oversight of the crypto industry with the creation of a new subcommittee. According to a Jan. 12 report from Politco, North Carolina Representative Patrick McHenry, chair of the House Financial Services Committee, said he planned to set up the subcommittee in part due to “a big hole” in how the committee is currently structured. Arkansas Representative French Hill and Ohio Representative Warren Davidson will reportedly be the chair and vice chair of the subcommittee, respectively, focused on issues related to digital assets, financial technology, and financial …

The crypto and blockchain space has had a turbulent past year, but that is not stopping users and enterprises from looking into the industry. A new survey from CasperLabs and Zogby Analytics revealed that the sentiment around blockchain adoption is especially positive among enterprises. The poll was conducted via 603 business enterprise “decision makers” in the United States, the United Kingdom and China. Nearly 90% of the businesses surveyed reported deploying blockchain technology in some capacity, with 87% saying they plan to invest in blockchain in the next year. This is particularly pronounced in China, where over half of the …

The United States House of Representatives finally elected a speaker last week, concluding a four-day, 15-ballot ordeal that left many wondering if political gridlock was now the new normal in the U.S., and if so, what the consequences would be. For example, were the concessions made by Republican Kevin McCarthy to secure his election as speaker ultimately going to make it difficult to achieve any sort of legislative consensus, making it impossible for the U.S. to raise its debt ceiling and fund the government later this year? Not all were optimistic. The House of Representatives will be largely “ungovernable” in …

With the start of the new year, the crypto market has seen a new bullish resurgence, with Bitcoin (BTC) and other altcoins hitting multi-month highs. Apart from the spot market, the equity exchange-traded fund (ETF) market is also dominated by BTC, wherein Valkyrie’s Bitcoin Miners ETF (WGMI) is the leading equity ETF market and is up by 40% year to date. The Bitcoin mining ETF is not just leading the traditional equity ETF market but also the leveraged equity ETFs as well, which is considered a rare occurrence. Bloomberg senior ETF analyst Eric Balchunas pointed out that the Valkyrie Bitcoin …

United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) chair Gary Gensler has found a new audience for his crypto-skeptical pep talks — the United States Army. On Jan. 11 the U.S. Army hosted its first Twitter Space of 2023 with Gensler and SEC commissioner Caroline Crenshaw joining the discussion to provide financial advice on how and where U.S. soldiers should invest their money. https://t.co/oRjE3pDc8C — U.S. Army (@USArmy) January 11, 2023 Sergeant Lawrence Holmes noted “there are soldiers that look for those alternative investments [such as] crypto assets” asking the pair what risks there were to crypto investing. “It’s the Wild …