Gary Gensler News

Amid lawsuits against United States-based exchanges like Coinbase and Binance.US, an exec at a domestic digital asset firm has noted the legal implications of these recent enforcement actions for the industry.

Once again, the United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) became the week’s headliner. Its intention to freeze the entirety of Binance.US’s assets got a reality check from U.S. district court Judge Amy Berman Jackson, who advised the regulator and the crypto exchange to negotiate a deal bilaterally. 

Coinbase has slammed the United States securities regulator for failing to answer questions asked in the U.S. Court of Appeals as part of its ongoing legal battle with the regulator.

New York Stock Exchange listed company Bakkt is delisting Solana, Polygon and Cardano citing regulatory uncertainty, according to Fortune. 

Billionaire tech investor and Shark Tank star Mark Cuban called out the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) earlier this week for throwing crypto startups “under the bus” with its approach to regulating the blockchain industry.

The Hinman documents were finally unsealed and made publicly available on June 12 after a lengthy back and forth between Ripple and the United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), but what exactly do they reveal?

Among other things, the SEC alleges that, while Zhao and Binance publicly claimed that US customers were restricted from transacting on the firm's international exchange, in reality they "subverted their own controls" to skirt this rule.Further, the SEC alleges that, while Zhao and Binance publicly claimed that the company's US exchange was created as a separate, independent trading platform for US investors, they secretly controlled Binance.US operations behind the scenes.According to the SEC, Zhao and Binance have been able to commingle customer assets or divert customer assets as they please, including to an entity Zhao owned and controlled called Sigma Chain. SEC chair Gary Gensler says: "Through thirteen charges, we allege that Zhao and Binance entities engaged in an extensive web of deception, conflicts of interest, lack of disclosure, and calculated evasion of the law."As alleged, Zhao and Binance misled investors about their risk controls and corrupted trading volumes while actively concealing who was operating the platform, the manipulative trading of its affiliated market maker, and even where and with whom investor funds and crypto assets were custodied.

Crypto Twitter was witness to a fierce debate this wee, with billionaire investor Mark Cuban accusing SEC’s Gary Gensler of throwing crypto under the bus while a former SEC official was quick to come to the regulator’s defense.

A proposed Securities and Exchange Commission rule would shut down the development of the digital asset industry and should be withdrawn, House Republicans said. 

Enforcement actions on cryptocurrency firms by regulators in the United States could result in a Bitcoin (BTC)-focused industry that will push its price over $250,000, according to MicroStrategy co-founder Michael Saylor.

The final quarter of 2020 saw the launch of a precedent-setting lawsuit by the United States Securities and Exchange Commission against Ripple Labs, CEO Bradley Garlinghouse and co-founder Christian A. Larsen. The allegation: raising north of $1 billion in 2013 through the unregistered sale of a purported security, XRP (XRP).

The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) filed a lawsuit against Binance on June 5, alleging that the exchange was involved in the sale of unregistered securities. In its 136-page complaint, the SEC accuses Binance and its founder, Changpeng “CZ” Zhao, of participating in a complex conspiracy that involved fraud, conflicts of interest, a lack of disclosure and willful disregard for the law. 

In the latest episode of The Market Report, analyst and writer Marcel Pechman explains that United States inflation slowed for an 11th straight month in May, even though the Consumer Price Index increased 4% year-over-year. That’s down from 4.9% in April but still above the 2% target.

According to a June 15 announcement, cryptocurrency exchange Coinbase has entered into an agreement for the redemption of $64.5 million in 0.50% Convertible Senior Notes due 2026. However, the company estimates it will only need $45.5 million in cash to consummate the agreement due to the notes' 29% discount to par value. Coinbase wrote: 

The United States securities regulator has asked for four more months to provide a response to Coinbase’s request for crypto regulatory clarity.

Jay Clayton – former chairman of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) – expressed a view of the crypto market on Wednesday that largely mirrors that of his current successor, Gary Gensler. 

Francis Suarez, the mayor of Miami and a known crypto advocate, has filed paperwork signaling his intention to run for United States presidency in 2024.

Gemini co-founder Cameron Winklevoss has warned that the Democratic Party risks losing crucial support from younger voters due to what he perceives as an aggressive stance on cryptocurrencies by notable figures within the party. In a series of tweets, Winklevoss asserted that Democrats are alienating Millennials and Generation Z—groups which, he says, have wholly embraced the emerging asset class.

The United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and BAM Trading (Binance’s U.S. arm) recently filed a request for a consent order that would ease some of the restrictions from a previous SEC request to freeze the company’s assets. 

The United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) extended the comments period for its proposal to amend Rule 3b-16 of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 ended June 13. The Blockchain Association and Republican members of the House of Representatives Committee on Financial Services filed last-minute comments.

The price of Bitcoin has entered a consolidation phase, trading within a range of $25,400 to $26,200.