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During a panel at the 2019 MIT Bitcoin Expo, Gensler called out the securities regulator for its ‘inconsistent’ approach to spot Bitcoin ETF approvals. Gary Gensler once criticized the United States securities regulator for its “ inconsistent ” approach to spot Bitcoin (BTC) products, according to a resurfaced video of Gensler from 2019. The video clip, which has recently made the rounds again on social media, shows the pre-SEC Gensler discussing blockchain regulation at the 2019 MIT Bitcoin Expo in a fireside chat with Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) commissioner Hester Peirce. “Bitcoin futures, and I think Ethereum futures and so forth, will exist and Bitcoin ETFs have not and that feels a little inconsistent to me [...]It feels a little inconsistent ,” Gensler said. “Even though the laws aren’t exactly the same, they’re quite similar,” he added. Meanwhile, on X (Twitter), the crypto community couldn’t help but highlight the contrast with Gensler’s views toward spot Bitco...

Bloomberg analysts Eric Balchunas and James Seyffart predict that a spot Bitcoin exchange-traded fund (ETF) has a 90% chance of approval by January 2024. In a note sent yesterday, Balchunas and Seyffart explain that there is an ongoing, constructive discussion between the SEC, Ark, and 21Shares. The latter two have pending applications for spot bitcoin ETFs. JUST IN: Spot #Bitcoin ETFs now have a 90% chance of being approved, according to Bloomberg analysts. — Watcher.Guru (@WatcherGuru) October 13, 2023 The communication between Ark and the SEC is promising. It’s the first reported conversation between the US regulator and an asset manager regarding Bitcoin ETF. The Bloomberg analysts say that five pages of text hold new changes and dialogue in a back-and-forth between the SEC and Ark. According to the analysts, this practice is standard practice for new launches, but “a first” for Spot Bitcoin. I've gotten a lot of questions regarding my cur...

Circle has filed a note of protest as part of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission’s (SEC) litigation against Binance, a crypto exchange. The firm asked the court to exclude stablecoin s from the lawsuit because they cannot be considered to be securities. The appeal states that these tokens do not have the characteristics of investment contracts. “Decades of case law support the view that an asset sale — decoupled from any post-sale promises or obligations by the seller — is not sufficient to establish an investment contract.” Circle’s filing You might also like: Coinbase increases USDC interest rate after SEC confirms stance on stablecoins In February, Circle CEO Jeremy Allaire stated that stablecoin s should be regulated by the banking regulator, not the SEC. He made this statement in response to the SEC’s lawsuit  against Paxos for its involvement in the release of BUSD, which the Commission classified as a security.  In J...

The United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has again postponed its decision concerning spot Bitcoin ETFs. This time, the deferred applications belong to investment management behemoth Blackrock. Moreover, Invesco, Valkyrie, and Bitwise have also seen their crypto initiatives put on hold. Most of these firms had initiated their applications for a spot Bitcoin ETF in June 2023. The first postponement from the SEC surfaced in late August 2023. In their recent declaration, the SEC mentioned, “The Commission is instituting proceedings… to determine whether the proposed rule change should be approved or disapproved.” The SEC emphasized that this move doesn’t imply any predetermined conclusions. Interestingly, this announcement came on the heels of a robust interrogation of Gary Gensler, the SEC Chairman, during a Congressional hearing. At the Wednesday (27 September) session, Gensler maintained his cautious perspective on the crypto arena. The SEC...

USDC issuer Circle recently submitted a filing advocating for stablecoin s. The firm contended that this particular asset niche should not be categorized as ‘ sec urities.’ Circle ’s filing marks the firm’s intervention in the SEC’s lawsuit against the world’s largest exchange, Binance. To be more specific, the filing falls under the ‘amicus curiae’ or friend of the court category. The filing was made in part by Circle ’s Chief Legal Officer, Heath Tarbert. Interestingly, he has served as the Chair of the CFTC in the past. Also Read: Chainlink’s 33% Recovery May Trigger Positive Q4 2023 Stablecoins Don’t Have ‘Investment Contract’ Features: Circle In Q2 2022, the SEC filed a lawsuit against Binance and its executive, Changpeng Zhao, for securities law violations. The regulator accused the exchange of mishandling customer funds. Additionally, it also blamed the exchange for allegedly lying to both regulato...

The SEC is delaying a decision on multiple Spot Bitcoin ETF applications, including Valkyrie, WisdomTree, and Invesco. The US sec urities regulator was expected to delay a decision on most of the pending Bitcoin ETF applications after a US court overturned the SEC blocking Grayscale’s application earlier this week. JUST IN: 🇺🇸 SEC delays Valkyrie, WisdomTree, and Invesco Spot #Bitcoin ETF applications. — Watcher.Guru (@WatcherGuru) August 31, 2023 The SEC has yet to allow any Spot Bitcoin ETF to come to market. The filings say it would delay its ruling on the proposals by at least another 45 days. “The Commission finds it appropriate to designate a longer period within which to take action on the proposed rule change so that it has sufficient time to consider the proposed rule change and the issues raised therein,” documents said in response to the three proposals. The SEC has until September 1 to address an appl...

Grayscale has scored a win in its case against the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) concerning the conversion of its Grayscale Bitcoin Trust (GBTC) product into an exchange-traded fund (ETF). The judge in the case specifically found that the “denial of Grayscale ’s proposal was arbitrary and capricious because the commission failed to explain its different treatment of similar products.” The SEC has previously approved futures-based bitcoin ETFs but has yet to approve any spot-based bitcoin ETFs. Grayscale filed this lawsuit after the SEC originally denied the conversion of its GBTC product to an ETF.   The SEC’s denials of spot bitcoin ETFs and approval of futures-based ETFs have frequently appeared to hinge on a belief that the futures were more resistant to manipulation . The judge specifically detailed how “Grayscale presented uncontested evidence that there is a 99.9% correlation between bitcoin’s spot market and CME futures contract ...

Solana , XRP, and Stellar -based crypto investment products have seen a rise in Assets Under Management [AUM] and a spike in activity. On a monthly basis, XLM products surged by 62.7% to $17.3 million. The rise came on the back of a pump registered by Grayscale’s XLM product. XRP and SOL products recorded 33.2% and 55.7% increases in AUM. The figures currently stand at $65.7 million and $87.8 million respectively. Source: CCData Also Read: $7.4 Million Asset Managing Stellar Lumens Fund Shares Pump 430% Investors pick ETCs over ETFs Over the past few weeks, a flurry of ETF-related developments has taken place. Specifically, asset managers from around the world, right from the U.S. to Europe and Australia, filled out applications and launched their products. However, in July, Exchange Traded Commodities [ ETCs ] registered the highest increase in AUM. They recorded a 31.4% rise to $2.67 billion. In that process, their market share rose from 6.11% to 7.91% in a month. ETCs were fo...

Ripple CTO Thoughts on Uniswap According to the Ripple CTO , Uniswap is not decentralized, a statement that many commenters believe is derisive to the decentralized exchange (DEX) protocol. The conversation bordering on the decentralization of the platform sprang up as a debate on Twitter where there is an ongoing argument bordering on whether or not open source protocols are decentralized or not. advertisement Referring to his earlier arguments on the subject, the Ripple CTO argued that a decentralized exchange whose underpinning technology is not open source cannot necessarily be deemed as decentralized. Uniswap is not decentralized either https://t.co/Ze2RvJ3Pl0 https://t.co/FtlEXj8P5S — David "JoelKatz" Schwartz (@JoelKatz) June 14, 2023 Recommended Articles Crypto Presale Projects For 2023 To Invest; Updated List Must Read ...

Bored Apes look a lot like baseball cards. But regulators — particularly at the Securities and Exchange Commission — are making a strained case to the contrary. Should a Bored Ape be considered a security akin to stock in Apple or Microsoft? TL;DR? No! Winston Churchill, anticipating Securities and Exchange Commission Chair Gary Gensler, once called out “this world of sin and woe.” Let us now add to the litany of woe the possibility that Bored Apes, CryptoPunks and many other nonfungible tokens (NFTs) might be considered securities . There are even some pro-crypto people out there who would welcome treating NFTs as securities. They are, as we here argue, flat wrong as to most (but not all) NFTs for reasons both operational and legal. As two of our colleagues wrote in The National Interest almost a year ago, “Typical non-fungible tokens (NFTs) are no more securities than baseball cards. Some high-profile investors, such as Canadian entrepreneur Kevin O’Leary, are on record as seeing b...

“Huge DJs” no longer appear at crypto events, instead, attendees are seeing more “well thought out, intelligent questions” being asked. The extended crypto winter has pushed crypto event organizers to tone down on the lavishness, allowing attendees to focus on asking more “intelligent questions” about regulation and tax. Crypto conferences attract all sorts from the crypto space, from founders and high-level executives to crypto influencers and everyday users. Tiffany Fong, a crypto vlogger who gained fame interviewing former FTX CEO Sam Bankman-Fried following the collapse of the exchange, is attending crypto conferences for the first time this year. Speaking to Cointelegraph, Fong — who attended both Bitcoin Miami 2023 and NFT NYC 2023 — said she “can’t speak to how conferences used to be in the bull market s,” but has been told by other attendees that it is lighter on the entertainment side this year. “People have named dropped huge DJs that have performed in past conferences durin...

The US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) is launching an investigation into First Republic Bank executives over allegations of insider trading. Moreover, Bloomberg reported that the investigation is observing the conduct of executives prior to the bank’s seizure and subsequent sale to JP Morgan Chase & Co.  The SEC is specifically investigating whether members of its executive team improperly traded using inside information. Additionally, two people familiar with the matter disclosed the existence of the investigation and its content.  JUST IN: SEC launches investigation into First Republic Bank $FRC executives for insider trading. — Watcher.Guru (@WatcherGuru) May 5, 2023 SEC Probe First Republic Insider Trading Claims The fall of First Republic Bank was one of many bank failures that have been observed this year. Moreover, the determination followed a similar fate for both Silicon Valley Bank and Signature Bank. Conversely, the SEC seems to be launchi...

On this week’s episode of The Market Report, Cointelegraph’s resident experts discuss the recent FUD surrounding Binance and why Solana went down yet again. This week on The Market Report, the resident experts at Cointelegraph discuss the recent fear, uncertainty and doubt (FUD) around the popular cryptocurrency exchange Binance and what the CEO of Solana had to say about recent outages.  We kick things off with this week’s top stories Binance CEO respond s to Forbes claims: ‘They don’t know how an exchange works’ In the aftermath of the FTX collapse, Forbes published an article focused on the recent “shuffling” of funds by the Binance cryptocurrency exchange. However, the following day on Feb. 28, Binance co-founder and CEO Changpeng “CZ” Zhao took to Twitter to respond. Our experts weigh in on what CZ had to say and also what exactly the FUD surrounding Binance was. If you are a Binance user, should you be worried? Solana CEO hoses down claims network outages caused by on-chain voti...