gary gensler
Nexo agrees to $45M settlement with SEC and states over earn product
Crypto lender Nexo Capital has agreed to pay $45 million in penalties to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and the North American Securities Administrators Association (NASAA) for failing to register the offer and sale of its Earn Interest Product (EIP). The news was announced by the SEC and NASAA in two separate statements on Jan. 19. According to the statement from the SEC, Nexo agreed to pay a $22.5 million penalty and cease its unregistered offer and sale of the EIP to U.S. investors. The additional $22.5 million will be paid in fines to settle similar charges by state regulatory authorities, the report said. NASAA said in its statement that the settlement in principle comes after investigations into Nexo’s alleged offer and sale of securities after the past year of inv...
Gary Gensler finds new audience for his crypto skepticism: the US Army
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 Spaces event 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 West,” Gensler answered, adding that “most of these 10,000 or 15,000 tokens will fail.” “History tells us there’s not much room for micro currencies...
SEC seeks to keep Hinman documents hidden in Ripple case
The United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has requested to seal the infamous Hinman Speech documents, claiming that they are not relevant to the court’s summary judgment decision. The Motion to Seal Summary Judgment Document was filed by the SEC on Dec. 22, requesting the sealing of various information and documents, most notably the Hinman Speech documents. The Hinman Speech documents refer to the speech given by former SEC Corporation Finance Division Director William Hinman at the Yahoo Finance All Markets Summit in June 2018, where he reportedly stated that Ether (ETH), the native token of the Ethereum blockchain, is not a security. Ripple believes it is a vital piece of evidence to help them with its case against the U.S. regulator. In its latest motion, the SEC said ...
US senator calls on SEC’s Gensler to answer for ‘regulatory failures’
Minnesota Senator Tom Emmer has slammed United States Securities Exchange Commission (SEC) Chairman Gary Gensler for his flawed “crypto information-gathering efforts” and insisted Gensler should appear before Congress to explain the cost of his “regulatory failures.” Emmer’s comments came from a Dec. 10 tweet to his 67,500 Twitter followers, where he made reference to a bipartisan Blockchain Caucus letter he co-authored to the SEC Chairman on Mar. 16. Emmer said, “we now know Gensler’s crypto information-gathering efforts were ineffective” citing the collapses of the Terra ecosystem and bankrupt crypto platforms Celsius, Voyager and FTX. He declined to provide Congress with the information requested in the letter, which would’ve informed Congress of the apparent inconsistencies...
Belgium says BTC, ETH and other decentralized coins are not securities
Belgium’s financial regulatory body has confirmed its position that Bitcoin (BTC), Ether (ETH) and other cryptocurrencies that are issued solely by computer code do not constitute securities. The explanation came from Belgium’s Financial Services and Markets Authority (FSMA) in a Nov. 22 report, a draft of which was opened for comment in Jul. 2022. The clarification comes following an increase in demands for answers as to how Belgium’s existing financial laws and regulations apply to digital assets, according to the FSMA. While not legally binding under Belgium or European Union law, the FSMA stated that under its “stepwise plan,” cryptocurrencies would be classed as a security if it was issued by an individual or entity”: “If there is no issuer, as in cases where instruments are cre...
Blockchain Association throws support behind Ripple in SEC duel
United States-based crypto advocacy group Blockchain Association has come out in support of Ripple Labs amid its ongoing legal battle with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), claiming the case could be very important for the future of the crypto industry. In an Oct. 28 post, the advocacy group announced it will “stand” with the American crypto economy by filing an amicus brief, also known as “friend of the court,” in the SEC enforcement action against Ripple. Nearly two years ago, the SEC announced they were suing Ripple, former CEO Christian Larsen and current CEO Brad Garlinghouse in Dec. 2020 for allegedly raising $1.3 billion through unregistered securities sales through XRP (XRP). “This case, which is just one in a long line of SEC efforts to regulate by enforcement, h...
How Crypto Twitter reacted to Kim Kardashian’s $1.26M SEC fine
The crypto community reacted with a mix of disbelief and amusement after reality star Kim Kardashian was fined for promoting the cryptocurrency EthereumMax (EMAX). The United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) fined Kardashian $1.26 million on Oct. 3, for “touting on social media” about the EMAX without disclosing she was paid $250,000 to post about it. Kardashian has neither admitted to nor denied the SEC’s allegations, but settled the charges and agreed to not promote any cryptocurrency assets until 2025. SEC chairman Gary Gensler tweeted the fine was a reminder that celebrity endorsement of investment opportunities doesn’t “mean those investment products are right for all investors.” Today @SECGov, we charged Kim Kardashian for unlawfully touting a crypto securi...
Coinbase is fighting back as the SEC closes in on Tornado Cash
On Sept. 8, Coinbase announced it was bankrolling a lawsuit against the United States Treasury Department. The cryptocurrency exchange is funding a lawsuit brought by six people that challenges the sanctions on Tornado Cash. And on Sept. 9, Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) Chair Gary Gensler announced he was working hard with Congress to create legislation to increase cryptocurrency regulations. But these two stories are not mutually exclusive. The sequence of events proves that governments are purely reactive rather than proactive when it comes to decentralized finance (DeFi). Tornado Cash was sanctioned by the Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) back in August. OFAC claimed the smart contract mixer has helped to launder more than $7 billion worth of cryptocurrency since ...
Crypto developers should work with the SEC to find common ground
Regulators are tasked with balancing between protecting consumers and creating environments where entrepreneurs and the private sector can thrive. When markets face distortions, perhaps due to an externality or information asymmetry, regulation can play an important role. But regulation can also stifle entrepreneurship and business formation, leaving society and its people worse off. The United States Securities and Exchange Commission has been particularly hostile against cryptocurrency companies and entrepreneurs. For example, SEC Chairman Gary Gensler has remarked that he views Bitcoin (BTC) as a commodity but that many other “crypto financial assets have the key attributes of a security.” He reiterated the line in an explosive Aug. 19 op-ed penned for The Wall Street Journal, arguing t...
Community reacts after SEC’s Gensler affirms BTC’s commodity status
Securities and Exchange Commission Chairman Gary Gensler riled up Crypto Twitter on Monday after affirming that Bitcoin (BTC) is a commodity. Questions were raised about its impact on Grayscales’ proposed Bitcoin ETF and why Ethereum wasn’t mentioned. Speaking to Jim Cramer on CNBC’s Squawk Box on Monday, June 27, the SEC chair said while many crypto-financial assets have the key attribute of a security, Bitcoin is the “only one” that he was comfortable publicly labeling as a commodity. “Some, like Bitcoin — and that’s the only one I’m going to say because I’m not going to talk about any one of these tokens, but my predecessors and others have said they’re a commodity.” Grayscale Bitcoin ETF The remarks kicked up chatter about Grayscale’s application to convert its Bitcoi...
SEC chair has a new senior adviser for crypto
United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) chair Gary Gensler has added a new staff member who will offer advice related to crypto policymaking and interagency work. In a Thursday announcement, the SEC said Corey Frayer would be joining Gensler’s executive staff as a senior adviser on the agency’s oversight of cryptocurrencies. Frayer has worked as a professional staff member of the Senate Banking Committee as well as a senior policy adviser for the House Financial Services Committee with Representatives Maxine Waters and Brad Miller. Frayer’s appointment to the SEC chair’s executive staff came alongside those of Philipp Havenstein, Jennifer Songer and Jorge Tenreiro, who will be working as operations counsel, investment management counsel and enforcement counsel, respect...
