A five-member panel of the United States Securities Exchange Commission (SEC) has voted 4-1 in favor of a proposal that may make it more difficult for cryptocurrency firms to serve as digital asset custodians in the future. The proposal, which is yet to be officially approved by the SEC, recommends amendments to the “2009 Custody Rule” will apply to custodians of “all assets” including cryptocurrencies, according to a Feb. 15 statement from SEC Chairman Gary Gensler. Gensler stated that currently, some crypto trading platforms that are offering custody services are not actual “qualified custodians.” According to the SEC, a qualified …

The settlement between Kraken (Payward Ventures) and the United States Securities and Exchange Commission set off alarm bells in the crypto community this month. Apparently, Kraken — one of the most compliance-minded crypto exchanges in existence — decided to buy its peace rather than fight with the SEC for years over whether it was offering unregistered “securities” through its staking program. The nature of the settlement is that Kraken neither admitted nor denied the SEC’s allegations, and the existence of the settlement, technically speaking, cannot be used as legal precedent for any argument either side of the issue might present. …

The decentralized autonomous organization (DAO) behind Lido — the largest Ethereum staking pool — is deliberating whether it should sell or stake the $30 million in Ether (ETH) from its treasury. A proposal was submitted on Feb. 14 by the DAO’s financial unit, Steakhouse Financial that considers four choices, one of which contemplates staking part or all of its ETH on Lido in the form of Lido Staked ETH (stETH). Another would see LidoDAO selling a part or all of its 20,304 ETH for a stablecoin, with the purpose being to extend the DAO’s runway. The proposal comes as ETH …

The United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) settled with Kraken on Feb. 9 for an action taken against the exchange’s staking rewards program. Kraken paid a $30 million fine and agreed to halt the program. Set aside for a moment the irony that the SEC is going after a solvent firm in the crypto space with a decade-long reputation as a good actor. Kraken has been helping settle verified Bitcoin (BTC) claimants from the hacking of rival exchange Mt. Gox over a decade ago. It invented the use of Merkle Root data to create verifiable proof of reserves. It …

The United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) is reportedly planning to propose new rule changes this week that could impact what services crypto firms can offer their clients. According to a Feb. 14 report from Bloomberg citing “people familiar with the matter,” the securities regulator is working on a draft proposal that would make it difficult for crypto firms to hold digital assets on their client’s behalf as “qualified custodians.” This may, in turn, affect the many hedge funds, private equity firms and pension funds that work alongside such crypto firms. According to those cited, a five-member SEC panel …

The percentage of Ethereum blocks complying with orders set by the United States Office of Foreign Asset Control (OFAC) has now fallen to 47% — the lowest since Oct. 11. The latest milestone in reversing censorship comes nearly three months after the percentage of OFAC-compliant blocks reached its peak at 79% on Nov. 21. OFAC-compliant blocks are those that exclude transactions involving parties sanctioned by the U.S. Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control. A fall in compliant blocks could be seen as a win for those that oppose censorship within the Ethereum ecosystem. In a statement, blockchain consulting firm …

Recently reported planned enforcement action against Paxos by the United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) over Binance USD (BUSD) has many in the community questioning how the regulator could see a stablecoin as a security. Blockchain lawyers told Cointelegraph said that while the answer isn't black and white, there exists an argument for it if the stablecoin was issued out in the expectation of profits or are derivative of securities. A report from the Wall Street Journal on Feb. 12 revealed that the SEC is planning to sue Paxos Trust Company in relation to its issuance of Binance USD, …

Members of the crypto community are seemingly outraged over the recent charges laid against crypto exchange Kraken in relation to its staking-as-a-service program in the United States. On Feb. 9, the United States Securities Exchange Commission (SEC) announced it had settled charges with Kraken over “failing to register the offer and sale of their crypto asset staking-as-a-service program,” which it claims is qualified as securities under its purview. Kraken agreed to settle the charges by paying $30 million in fines and to immediately cease the staking services to U.S. retail investors, though it would continue to be offered offshore. The …

The crypto community celebrated a victory in court on Jan. 30 when the United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) admitted in the remedies hearing of the LBRY case that secondary sales of its LBC coin were not securities sales. John Deaton, who represents Ripple in court in the SEC’s case against it, was so excited that he created a video for his Twitter-hosted CryptoLawTV channel that evening. Deaton, a friend of the court, or amicus curiae, in the case, recounted a conversation he had with the judge that day. “Look, let’s not pretend. Secondary market sales are a problem,” …

This year, investors are watching for big spikes in biotech companies working with psychedelics, especially as the once-controversial compounds return to the spotlight touting mental health benefits — and uniting lawmakers at the United States Capitol across party lines. The category’s future could make big legal gains in 2023, but due to the American government’s built-in checks and balances, even a Congress in agreement can’t shape drug policy alone. In May 2022, New Jersey Democratic Senator Cory Booker and Hawaii Democratic Senator Brian Schatz co-published a letter imploring the National Institutes of Health and the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) …

On Jan. 24, the dYdX Foundation, the entity responsible for the dYdX decentralized crypto exchange, announced “changes” to its tokenomics — the way it distributes tokens to early investors, employees and contractors, and, of course, the public. So, what’s uncommon about the situation? The project’s foundation, in agreement with dYdX Trading Inc. and its early investors, decided to amend the project's tokenomics and extend the period for which such investors’ initial batch of tokens would be locked, changing the date from Feb. 1 to Dec. 1, 2023. Whether this was a good or a bad thing depended on which side …

The New Jersey Bureau of Securities has ordered three website operators to stop luring romance-seeking victims into their fraudulent cryptocurrency investment schemes. The three firms hit with the cease and desist orders were Meta Capitals Limited, Cresttrademining Limited and Forex Market Trade, according to a Feb. 3 press release from New Jersey’s Attorney General Matthew Platkin. All three firms claimed to be cryptocurrency trading platforms, where they would allegedly entice victims into copying the trades of their “expert traders” so that they can make big returns. But to get them into the scheme, these companies often resort to romance seekers …