FreeCryptoCurrency.Me

Consensus 2023 attendees unpack the future of Web3 and its implications for creator-first digital economies in an excerpt from CoinDesk’s first-ever Consensus @ Consensus Report.

Attendees at Consensus 2023 argue that the crypto industry should embrace ESG and not hide from it in an excerpt from CoinDesk’s first-ever Consensus @ Consensus Report.

Coinbase responded to the SEC’s lawsuit against the exchange, claiming that the agency’s approach is damaging America’s ability to compete economically.

“The SEC’s reliance on an enforcement-only approach in the absence of clear rules for the digital asset industry is hurting America’s economic competitiveness and companies like Coinbase that have a demonstrated commitment to compliance,” said Paul Grewal, chief legal officer and general counsel at Coinbase, in a statement.

Yet he added that the exchange plans to continue as normal.

“The solution is legislation that allows fair rules for the road to be developed transparently and applied equally, not litigation. In the meantime, we’ll continue to operate our business as usual,” said Grewal.

© 2023 The Block Crypto, Inc. All Rights Reserved. This article is provided for informational purposes only. It is not offered or intended to be used as legal, tax, investment, financial, or other advice.

Coinbase’s stock (COIN) took a major hit on Tuesday after the company was sued by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) on allegations of violating federal securities law.

Gensler’s comments follow landmark suits filed this week against Binance and Coinbase.

The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission honed in on Coinbase’s staking service in its lawsuit, alleging that the offering amounts to an investment contract under American law — and one the exchange failed to register.

That staking would factor heavily into the SEC lawsuit is unsurprising, given the Wells notice Coinbase received this spring and past comments from SEC chair Gary Gensler about staking services, alongside similar action against Kraken.

Gensler said this morning that “Coinbase never registered its staking-as-a-service program as required by the securities laws, again depriving investors of critical disclosure and other protections.” Further, the SEC alleges that the tokens offered via the service are themselves securities, as The Block reported. 

In arguing that Coinbase’s service is an investment contract, the complaint discusses “benefits that may not be available to those investors if they were to stake crypto assets on their own” and highlights marketing language the SEC says points to investment opportunities via the service. 

Today’s action has a U.S. state dimension as well.

The Alabama Securities Commission issued a show-cause order to Coinbase in conjunction with nine other state regulators. The show-cause order focuses on Coinbase’s staking service and “gives Coinbase 28 days to show cause why they should not be directed to cease and desist from selling unregistered securities in Alabama.”

The statement notes that “the ASC action does not prohibit Coinbase from offering staking as a service, so long as it complies with Alabama’s laws.”

Kraken redux?

The situation echoes the $30 million settlement struck earlier this year between the SEC and crypto exchange Kraken.

Similarly, the SEC accused Kraken of offering unregistered securities. Kraken neither admitted nor denied the findings, but agreed to stop offering on-chain staking to U.S. customers.

“Today’s action should make clear to the marketplace that staking-as-a-service providers must register and provide full, fair, and truthful disclosure and investor protection,” Gensler said at the time. 

Still, the settlement established that the SEC was turning its attention to staking within the crypto exchange space. 

© 2023 The Block Crypto, Inc. All Rights Reserved. This article is provided for informational purposes only. It is not offered or intended to be used as legal, tax, investment, financial, or other advice.

In a new set of experiments Swift will collaborate with major financial market institutions like Australia and New Zealand Banking Group Limited (ANZ), BNP Paribas, BNY Mellon, Citi, Clearstream, Euroclear and Lloyds Banking Group.

Meanwhile’s target audience is U.S. citizens with large BTC holdings, an audience from which it has “seen a lot of early demand.”

U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission Chair Gary Gensler took to live television on Tuesday to say there is no need for crypto.

“We don’t need more digital currency. We already have digital currency. It’s called the U.S. dollar. It’s called euro. It’s called the yuan. They’re all digital now,” said Gensler on CNBC’s Squawk Box.

Gensler’s statements come on the heels of the SEC announcing lawsuits against the U.S.-based Coinbase and the world’s largest cryptocurrency exchange, Binance.

This story is developing and may be updated.

© 2023 The Block Crypto, Inc. All Rights Reserved. This article is provided for informational purposes only. It is not offered or intended to be used as legal, tax, investment, financial, or other advice.

At the time of its bankruptcy last November, FTX may have owned as much as $500 million worth of stock in Anthropic, the creator of ChatGPT rival Claude.