Terraform Labs and its founder Do Kwon being in the sights of the United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) have sparked various reactions from lawyers within the crypto community. On Feb. 16, the SEC accused and charged Kwon and Terraform Labs for allegedly selling a “suite of crypto asset securities.” While community members are not defending Kwon for his actions, they are questioning the manner in which the SEC is going after Terra and its founder. Web3 lawyer Mike Selig posted his thoughts on the issue on Twitter. According to Selig, the SEC characterizes the algorithmic stablecoin Terra USD …

A Bitcoin (BTC) price indicator has flashed green for just the fourth time ever this week in a major warning to bears. In a tweet on Feb. 16, crypto market analyst Mohit Sorout announced that the Dollar Cost Average (DCA) Indicator was now “suggesting a raging bull market.” DCA breakout last preceded 640% BTC price upside The latest Bitcoin metric to flip bullish on long timeframes, DCA is even getting attention from major Bitcoin investment circles. Its buy signals are rare, with Sorout seeing just three throughout Bitcoin’s history — but all of that precluded serious BTC price upside. “Today …

Japan, a nation where foreign stablecoins like USDT are prohibited, plans to begin its central bank digital currency (CBDC) pilot in April 2023. It will aim to include private businesses and test an ecosystem. On Feb. 17 the Bank of Japan (BoJ) released the opening speech of its executive director Shinichi Uchida at the CBDC committee meeting. In it, Uchida announces that the Bank decided to launch a pilot program for “digital yen” in April, after finishing its Proof of Concept testing, that has begun in 2021. The pilot test will continue the work on the technical feasibility of “digital …

Blockchain technology has been around for over a decade and has transformed many industries, from finance to supply-chain management to digital identity. It has the potential to revolutionize the way we live, work and transact in the near future. However, adoption is still far from the global scale that Web3 enthusiasts envision. According to QuickNode’s co-founder and co-CEO Dmitry Shklovsky, blockchain has the power to reshape the way people live — starting with their online presence. A decentralized internet is the next evolutionary stage of the digital world, and blockchain has the power to bring this to reality. Q: How …

The top Mt. Gox creditor chose to have an early payout in Bitcoin (BTC), deciding against waiting longer for an even larger payment. Mt. Gox Investment Fund, the largest creditor of the defunct crypto exchange, reportedly decided to take its chances with a lesser but earlier payout rather than waiting for all the legal processes to be resolved. This means that the creditor will be paid by September this year instead of potentially waiting another nine years before getting their funds back. According to Bloomberg, opting for the earlier payout means that the creditor will be taking only 90% of …

The Capital Market Authority (CMA), the regulator of Oman’s financial markets, looks to establish a new regulatory framework for the virtual asset industry in the Sultanate. According to a Feb. 14 press release, the new rules would include oversight of virtual asset activities, a licensing process for virtual asset service providers (VASPs), and a framework to identify and mitigate risks surrounding the new asset class. The announcement reads: “The aim of this new regulation is to establish a market regime for virtual assets that include rules to prevent market abuse, including [thorough] surveillance and enforcement mechanisms.” Several virtual asset activities …

The United States Securities and Exchange Commission’s (SEC's) lawsuit against Terraform Labs and its co-founder Do Kwon could be seen as an SEC “roadmap” to taking down other stablecoins, according to a lawyer. Gabriel Shapiro, general counsel at investment firm Delphi Labs, explained to his 33,800 Twitter followers on Feb. 16 that the SEC’s arguments in its complaint against Kwon and Terraform were “more thorough than usual.” whew lad, lots to digest in the SEC lawsuit vs Do Kwon and Terraform Labs right off the bat, a very interesting fact is that the SEC is being more thorough than usual--specifically …

The Californian Department of Financial Protection and Innovation (DFPI) has launched a new crypto scam tracker to help traders and investors spot possible industry threats. On Feb. 16, the DFPI launched the tracker based on user complaints. It has compiled a list of crypto-related grievances by victims that claim to have been scammed or have identified attempted scams. The complaints listed represent descriptions of losses incurred in transactions that victims have identified as part of a fraudulent or deceptive operation. However, the DFPI stated that it had not verified any of the scams listed, but noted that it receives thousands …

Cryptocurrency investors funneled as much as $4.6 billion into crypto tokens suspected to be part of “pump and dump” schemes in 2022. A Feb. 16 report from blockchain analytics firm Chainalysis “analyzed all tokens launched” in 2022 on the BNB and Ethereum blockchains and found just over 9,900 bore characteristics of a "pump and dump" scheme. A pump-and-dump scheme typically involves the creators orchestrating a campaign of misleading statements, hype, and Fear Of Missing Out (FOMO) to persuade investors into purchasing tokens while secretly selling their stake in the scheme at inflated prices. Chainalysis estimated investors spent $4.6 billion worth …

Former FTX CEO Sam Bankman-Fried could “conceivably” have his bail revoked after a federal judge said there was “probable cause” to believe he may have engaged in attempted witness tampering. In the Feb. 16 hearing on Bankman-Fried’s bail conditions, Judge Lewis Kaplan said there was “probable cause to believe that he [Bankman-Fried] has committed or attempted to commit a federal felony while on release, namely witness tampering” according to multiple reports. Kaplan suggested that this could “conceivably” see the FTX founder sent back to jail until his trial date in October. Kaplan noted however that the Feb. 16 hearing was …

Only days after reports of United States regulatory scrutiny of Paxos and Binance USD (BUSD), cryptocurrency exchange Binance has minted nearly $50 million worth of TrueUSD (TUSD). The transaction took place on Feb. 16, according to data from Etherscan, and also comes two days after Binance CEO Chanpeng 'CZ' Zhao said in a Feb. 14 Twitter Spaces that Binance would look to “diversify” its stablecoin holdings away from BUSD. We're live! Tune-in to our Twitter Space AMA with @cz_binance below https://t.co/bXIztCKdry — Binance (@binance) February 14, 2023 Despite minting nearly $50 million in TUSD from the TrustToken platform’s smart contract …

Our weekly roundup of news from East Asia curates the industrys most important developments. China blockchain SIM card Conflux Network says it is working with the second-largest telecommunications provider in China to develop a blockchain SIM card that will serve as a secure place to store digital private keys and nonfungible tokens. Conflux announced its partnership with China Telecom on Feb. 15, saying the BSIM has moved past the research and development phase. The card will have up to 10-20 times storage space compared to regular SIM cards, thereby ensuring optimized access to decentralized applications and digital communities. The first …