• Regulation,  United States

    What Gensler role in Long Term Capital Debacle Tells us about his war on crypto

    25th anniversary occasions a look at SEC chair’s small part

    This is the 25th anniversary of the September 1998 collapse of Long-Term Capital Management. That was one of the most stunning events in Wall Street history, as the firm allowed its leverage to grow to more than 100 to 1. But it was shocking beyond the sudden evaporation of $4 billion in value—that was a lot of money 25 years ago— but also because the firm had been put together specifically on the basis of its supposed genius for understanding and managing risk. The firm was dominated not by great traders but by intellectual supermen, including Robert Merton and Myron Scholes. Merton and Scholes had won the Nobel prize just…

  • Right and Wrong
    People

    Modern Consensus 100 Most Influential: Who got it right and who got it wrong

    The good guesses, the triumphs, the screw-ups and the downright disasters of 2020

    In an industry as young and volatile as crypto, and especially with all the money sloshing around in it, the triumphs and tragedies—or at least successes and screw-up—can be be enlightening and sometimes funny. It’s also a good preview to The Modern Consensus 100 Most Influential People in Crypto 2021, which went live today.

  • Ripple suit no slam dunk
    Cryptocurrencies,  Regulation,  Ripple,  XRP

    Ripple suit no slam dunk for SEC: Grayscale attorney

    Suing to prove XRP is a security is bad regulation and bad strategy that Securities and Exchange Commission Chairman Gary Gensler should halt argues Joseph Hall

    Calling the suit indicative of what was wrong with the agency’s treatment of cryptocurrencies under now-departed Chairman Jay Clayton, Hall called on Gary Gensler, the recently nominated SEC chairman who is currently a professor teaching digital assets and blockchain at MIT, to use the suit to “chart a different course” in its treatment of cryptocurrencies.

  • Yellen crypto only curtail malign activities
    Cryptocurrencies,  People,  Regulation

    Janet Yellen clarifies crypto stance: Only wants to curtail ‘malign activities’

    ‘I think it important we consider the benefits of cryptocurrencies and other digital assets,’ the pick for U.S. Treasury Secretary says

    The former U.S. Federal Reserve chair said that she wanted to “curtail” the use of digital assets—amid concerns that it could be used for money laundering and the financing of terrorism. But in a written submission to the Senate Finance Committee, Yellen’s approach to Bitcoin and other digital assets seemed to be a little softer.