In a virtual fireside chat with the D.C. Bar, SEC Commissioner Hester Peirce criticized the commission’s long-standing resistance to a Bitcoin ETF. Moderator Ashley Ebersole asked about the SEC’s highly public dissatisfaction with a long series of Bitcoin ETF proposals in the U.S. Peirce, who is often known as "CryptoMom," responded with opposition to those rejects: “I’ve been pretty outspoken about my disagreement with my colleagues on disapproving some of these exchange-traded products.” Bitcoin is not uniquely volatile as a base investment for an exchange-traded fund, Peirce argued. “I would like us to look at how we’ve looked at similar …
The United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) is reportedly reviewing some of the high-yield crypto lending products offered by Gemini, Celsius Network and Voyager Digital. According to a report published in Bloomberg, the SEC is conducting an inquiry into digital asset lending services. The main focus of the inquiry is reportedly around whether the crypto lending services could be considered securities and therefore must be registered with the commission. Gemini and Celsius did not immediately respond to Cointelegraph’s request for comment. The SEC’s main concern reportedly lies with the high-yield offering by crypto lending services which are often considerably …
On June 2, 2022, the United States Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) initiated an action against Gemini, the crypto exchange founded by billionaire twins Tyler and Cameron Winklevoss. Among other things, the complaint alleges that Gemini made a number of false and misleading statements to the CFTC in connection with the potential self-certification of a Bitcoin futures contract, the prices for which were to be settled daily by an auction (the “Gemini Bitcoin Auction”). In the complaint, the CFTC specifically articulated the position that these statements were designed to mislead the commission as to whether the proposed Bitcoin futures contract …
An investor with nearly $2 million worth of funds frozen in bankrupt cryptocurrency lender BlockFi has filed a class action complaint against its founders, two directors and crypto exchange Gemini. In a Feb. 28 complaint filed in the U.S. District Court for the District of New Jersey, investor Trey Greene accused the defendants of numerous wrongdoings, including violating the consumer fraud and exchange acts, breaching its fiduciary duties, as well as offering and selling unregistered securities. “The unregistered securities sold by the BFI [BlockFi] Defendants on behalf of BlockFi were marketed and sold via a steady stream of misrepresentations and …
Sources say that the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) probe into Yuga Labs is actually part of a wider investigation into the nonfungible token (NFT) market, which already came to light in March. On Oct. 11, a report from Bloomberg citing a source “familiar with the matter” said the SEC is investigating Yuga Labs over whether certain NFTs are “more akin to stocks” and whether the sales of certain digital assets violate federal laws. However, Cointelegraph understands that the investigation is part of the ongoing SEC probe into the wider NFT market, which is looking at whether certain NFTs …