Regulation

United States Federal Reserve chairman Jerome Powell has conceded that his regulator was blindsided by the sudden collapse of Silicon Valley Bank (SVB), despite it being under their watch. In a press conference held just after the Federal Open Market Committee meeting on March 22, Powell said he immediately knew there was a need for

Crypto exchange Coinbase said it received a ‘Wells Notice’ from the United States Securities and Exchange Commission recommending the regulator take enforcement action. In a March 22 blog post, Coinbase said the “legal threat” could potentially target the exchange’s staking program Coinbase Earn, listed digital assets, its wallet, or Coinbase Prime services. A Wells Notice

New York’s Emily Xie is exploring the new frontier of digital art by combining her skills and passion for computer science and generative art.  In a little under two years, since she minted her first NFT in March 2021, she has caught the attention of prolific collectors, such as Punk6529, DC Investor and Bob Loukas,

Republican Senator Ted Cruz has introduced a bill to block the United States Federal Reserve from launching a “direct-to-consumer” central bank digital currency (CBDC). In a March 21 statement, Cruz said he introduced the bill to prevent the Fed from developing a retail CBDC “which could be used as a financial surveillance tool by the

Sushi DAO proposed the creation of a legal defense fund on March 21 in response to the “recent” subpoena of Sushi head Jared Grey and the decentralized autonomous organization (DAO) itself by the United States Securities and Exchange Commission.  The DAO’s proposal did not provide details about the SEC subpoena. It stated that it was

Australia’s prudential regulator has reportedly asked local banks to report on cryptocurrency transactions amid the ongoing contagion of Silicon Valley Bank’s (SVB) collapse. The Australian Prudential Regulation Authority (APRA) has started requesting banks to declare their exposures to startups and crypto-related companies, the Australian Financial Review reported on March 21. The regulator has ordered banks

A central bank digital currency (CBDC) can impact monetary policy by increasing money velocity, disintermediation, volatility of bank reserves, currency substitution and altered capital flows, even when it is not designed to do so, according to a study published by the International Monetary Fund. The unintended impact of a CBDC may be felt particularly acute

A week after the twinning collapse of Silicon Valley Bank (SVB) and Signature Bank, and the trouble at Credit Suisse, the dust is slowly settling down. SVB Financial Group has filed a voluntary petition for a court-supervised reorganization under Chapter 11 in the United States Bankruptcy Court. The company is no longer affiliated with Silicon

Crypto.com announced it has obtained a minimal viable product (MVP) preparatory license from Dubai’s Virtual Asset Regulatory Authority (VARA). This preparatory phase operations license came after the exchange obtained provisional approval from the Dubai regulator in 2022. In the preparatory stage, the MVP license allows the exchange to fulfill the conditions to operate within set

Only a week after its collapse, Signature Bank’s deposits and loans are set to be sold to Flagstar Bank, a subsidiary of New York Community Bancorp — crypto-related deposits however, will not be part of the deal. The United States Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) announced the agreement on March 19, which will see $38.4

The recent fall of major banks in the United States and the need for federal intervention reignited discussions to identify the most effective ways to safeguard the crumbling economies. Comparing the episode to the financial crisis of 2008, prominent economist Peter Schiff found that increasing banking regulations contribute to the worsening financial crisis. A deeper

Before crypto exchange FTX and its founder Sam Bankman-Fried (SBF) got tied down around allegations of misappropriation of users’ funds, SBF was among the most influential crypto entrepreneurs. Long before FTX collapsed, an allegedly leaked email exchange with a top regulator shows SBF’s intent to get the exchange federally regulated. On May 28, 2022, nearly

The Swiss National Bank (SNB) and Switzerland’s financial regulator reportedly believe that the acquisition of investment bank Credit Suisse by UBS, Switzerland’s largest bank, is the “only option” to prevent a “collapse in confidence” in Credit Suisse. According to a March 18 Financial Times report citing three people familiar with the situation, Switzerland is preparing

What is the Howey test? The Howey test is a legal test used in the United States to determine whether a transaction qualifies as an investment contract and, thus, is considered a security under federal law. The test was established by the U.S. Supreme Court in SEC v. W.J. Howey Co. (1946), and it has

The lawyer representing crypto entrepreneur Sam Bankman-Fried (SBF) in the ongoing FTX case will soon present a revised bail package to Judge Lewis Kaplan of the Southern District of New York. The move comes after Kaplan expressed displeasure about SBF’s use of encrypted-messaging apps and virtual private network (VPN) services while out on bail. Legal

Institutional cryptocurrency custodian Protego’s conditional national trust banking charter has expired without it receiving permanent approval, according to a March 17 report in Fortune. A spokesperson for the United States Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) told Fortune that the firm did not meet pre-conversion requirements. According to the spokesperson: “[The] pre-conversion requirements

Global economic conditions are tightening; interest rates are in flux; and inflation has yet to be curbed. Considering the economic headwinds, the fact that Silvergate Bank, Silicon Valley Bank and other banks are breaking is not surprising.  But why now? Quickly rising interest rates are extremely disruptive to banking models, but the collapse of these

Signature Bank in particular served the likes of Paxos Trust and Celsius and other major crypto firms that suffered as a result of the decisions taken by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation and New York State Department of Financial Services. Meanwhile Silicon Valley Bank (SVB) reportedly handled over $5 billion of funds for a handful

Our weekly roundup of news from East Asia curates the industry’s most important developments. Chinese billionaire arrested in U.S. for $1B financial fraud  According to an announcement published by the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) on Mar. 15, Chinese billonaire Ho Wan Kwok (aka Miles Guo and more commonly as Guo Wengui), has been arrested

The United States-based crypto advocacy group Blockchain Association called on financial regulators to provide information related to the potential “de-banking of crypto firms” in the wake of the failures of the Signature, Silicon Valley Bank and Silvergate banks. In a March 16 notice, the Blockchain Association said it had submitted Freedom of Information Act requests