Prosecutors with the United States attorney’s office in the Manhattan district of New York have reportedly begun investigating the fall of crypto exchange FTX. According to a Nov. 14 report from Reuters, a source with knowledge of the investigations said authorities in New York were looking into the collapse of the major crypto exchange following FTX declaring bankruptcy on Nov. 11. The report followed news the state of California’s Department of Financial Protection and Innovation announced it would be investigating the “apparent failure” of FTX. The ongoing saga with FTX may be shifting to the regulatory and legal implications of …

United-States-based cryptocurrency exchange Kraken has frozen the accounts associated with “FTX Group, Alameda Research, and their executives,” on its exchange after engaging with authorities. In a Twitter post on Nov. 13, Kraken said the accounts were frozen “to protect their creditors” and added it “maintains full reserves” and other users' funds aren’t affected, likely seeking to stamp out fears from users that the exchange might face liquidity issues due to the fund freeze. Kraken has spoken with law enforcement regarding a handful of accounts owned by the bankrupt FTX Group, Alameda Research and their executives. Those accounts have been frozen …

The Securities and Exchange Commission of Cyprus, or CySEC, reportedly issued a statement amid FTX filing for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in the United States that the regulator requested the exchange halt operations for its Europe arm. According to a Nov. 11 Reuters report, the CySEC said it had asked FTX Europe to “suspend its operations and to proceed immediately with a number of actions for the protection of the investors” on Nov. 9. It’s unclear why the financial regulator chose to reiterate its call to the crypto exchange, given FTX Europe was one of roughly 130 companies in FTX Group …

Maxine Waters, chair of the United States House of Representatives’ Financial Services Committee, pushed for additional federal oversight of crypto trading platforms and consumer protection amid FTX facing liquidity issues. In a Nov. 10 statement, Waters cited FTX’s difficulties as the latest example of incidents “involving the collapse of cryptocurrency companies” and how such events could potentially impact consumers in the United States. The committee chair pushed for legislation establishing a framework for crypto assets, highlighting her efforts with Financial Services Committee ranking member Patrick McHenry in a bill aimed at regulating stablecoins. “Although FTX’s U.S.-facing company is reportedly operational, …

Changpeng Zhao, the chief executive officer of crypto exchange Binance also known as “CZ,” warned users its intention to acquire FTX may invite scrutiny from global regulators — but the firm is ready. In a letter to Binance staff tweeted on Nov. 9, CZ said though the deal to acquire another major crypto exchange was still in the works, regulators would likely “scrutinize exchanges even more” and make it difficult to acquire operating licenses. He added that if the deal resulted in FTX going down, it would be a loss for the crypto industry and not a “win” for Binance. …

As countries around the world race to launch a central bank digital currency (CBDC), some jurisdictions have slowed down or dropped out of the race altogether. While many observers were pushing a narrative of urgency around CBDCs, some countries have decided that launching a CBDC isn’t currently necessary, while others have tested CBDCs only to dismiss them. Each country had its own reasons, with global central banks providing very different insights on why their CBDC-related project didn’t go well or didn’t need to launch in the first place. Cointelegraph has picked up four countries that have either stopped or paused …

Recent developments in the Ripple vs Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) case appear to have bolstered investor confidence in XRP-tied investment products, according to investment data from CoinShares’ head of research James Butterfill. In its latest Digital Asset Fund Flows published on Nov. 7, Butterfill noted that XRP investment products have seen a third consecutive week of institutional inflows, clocking $1.1 million. Butterfill said the figures imply "improving investor confidence as the SEC case against Ripple looks increasingly fragile." The last few weeks have seen Ripple Labs gaining increasing support from heavy hitters in the crypto industry including Coinbase and …

Countries failing to adhere to anti-money laundering (AML) guidelines for cryptocurrencies could find themselves added to the Financial Action Task Force’s (FATF's) “grey list." According to a Nov. 7 report from Al Jazeera, sources say the global financial watchdog is planning to conduct annual checks to ensure countries are enforcing AML and counter-terrorist financing (CTF) rules on crypto providers. The grey list refers to the list of countries the FATF deems as “Jurisdictions under Increased Monitoring." The FATF says countries on this list have committed to resolving "strategic deficiencies" within agreed timeframes and are thus subject to increased monitoring. It …

In his regular column, J.W. Verret, a law professor, attorney, CPA, and head of the Crypto Freedom Lab, covers law and regulation of cryptocurrency with a focus on decentralized finance (DeFi) and financial privacy. Institutional adoption is an exciting yet frustrating topic in crypto. The true modern-day crypto inheritors of the 90s cypherpunk legacy have a vision for crypto as human empowerment through decentralization. That vision includes breaking down the intermediaries that charge rents and threaten human freedom and privacy. On the other hand, Crypto Twitter becomes abuzz when a large financial institution makes new moves into crypto. Dogecoin (DOGE) …

The 2022 midterm elections will be held in the United States on Nov. 8. Thirty-four senators and all 435 members of the House of Representatives will be running. According to media reports, cryptocurrency lobbyists and political action committees have poured millions of dollars into select campaigns, and extensive polling has shown crypto to be on voters’ minds. Fundraising and polling are normal parts of the American political system, but the numbers associated with crypto may have raised some eyebrows. Sam Bankman-Fried called $1 billion his “soft ceiling” for 2022 election contributions, for example. Even though he backpedaled on some of …

Amid Twitter beginning mass layoffs, the company employees are launching a class-action lawsuit against the new Twitter CEO, Elon Musk. According to multiple sources, Musk started massive layoffs at Twitter on Nov. 4, reducing the company’s workforce of 7,500 people. The CEO was speculated to cut as much as 50% of Twitter’s staff, or about 3,500 people, just a few days after acquiring Twitter for $44 billion on Oct. 27. In response to the layoffs, Twitter employees filed a class-action lawsuit against Musk in San Francisco federal court, Bloomberg reported. The suit argues that Twitter is violating federal and California …

The Canadian federal government is set to launch a consultation on cryptocurrencies, stablecoins, and Central Bank Digital Currencies (CBDCs) as revealed in its new mini-budget. The government's “2022 Fall Economic Statement” released on Nov. 3 by Deputy Prime Minister Chrystia Freeland works as a fiscal update in conjunction with its main yearly budget. The statement included a small section on “Addressing the Digitalization of Money” that outlined the government’s crypto plans. It said the rise in cryptocurrencies and money digitalization is “transforming financial systems in Canada and around the world” and the country’s financial system regulation “needs to keep pace.” …