• 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…

  • Innovators,  Ripple,  Technology

    Backing Centigrade, Ripple Tries to Save Mother Earth

    Fintech company bets on blockchain for carbon offsets

    In the wake of Ripple’s historic David-versus-Goliath near-total victory over the SEC in July, those who follow the company are excused if they missed its announcement about its investment in Centigrade. But this move, seeking to establish an open data platform serving the market for global carbon offsets, sets a goal even more ambitious and improbable than prevailing against a government agency with infinite resource: Saving the planet. According to Centigrade, the new platform “will provide developers of carbon and nature credits with a low-barrier, intuitive way to bring their projects to market, providing full data transparency and traceability for the entire lifecycle of credits.” Carbon markets allow organizations to…

  • Ripple kills Michael Barr Comptroller Currency
    Regulation,  Ripple

    Ripple advisor’s crypto connections kill appointment as banking regulator

    Former Ripple Advisory Board member Michael Barr was too moderate and pro-crypto for progressives who blocked his nomination as Comptroller of the Currency

    Barr was seen as part of a trio of crypto-friendly financial regulators nominated or under consideration by the administration of President Joe Biden. Former MIT digital asset and blockchain professor Gary Gensler is in the process of being confirmed as chairman of the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), while DC Fintech Week conference head Chris Brummer is said the be the choice to lead the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC).

  • ripple SEC bank accounts
    Regulation,  Ripple,  XRP

    Ripple Execs to SEC: Stay out of our bank accounts

    Brad Garlinghouse and Chris Larsen accuse the Securities and Exchange Commission of seeking a ‘fishing expedition’ through their personal finances

    “The SEC’s multi-front attempt to troll through the Individual Defendant’s personal financial information in a non-fraud litigation, where the Defendants have already agreed to produce the relevant information regarding the challenged transactions, is a wholly inappropriate overreach,” the pair’s lawyers said in March 11 filing.