The U.S. crypto industry has been learning a rough lesson in regulatory compliance in the past few months. With fines, cease and desist orders, agency warnings, and traditional finance counterparties withdrawing from the industry, it is becoming increasingly apparent that crypto has a compounding problem. Press play to hear a narrated version of this story, presented by AudioHopper. The origin of this isn’t FTX, Voyager Digital, Terra Luna, or any other of the business failures or frauds of 2022. Those are symptoms of another disease. The sickness that’s causing crypto to fumble in front of U.S. regulators and counterparties goes all the way back to the founding principles of Bitcoin…
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Rohit Chopra, then a Commissioner at Federal Trade Commission, speaks at the World Economic Forum Annual Meeting in Davos-Klosters, Switzerland, January 23, 2020. (Photo: World Economic Forum / Valeriano Di Domenico)Rohit Chopra Backs SEC’s ‘Regulation By Enforcement’ Regime
Agency head wants to bully state AG’s into enforcing CFPB rules
Rohit Chopra, head of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, signaled in an interview with American Banker yesterday that his agency may move on an enforcement action relating to cryptocurrencies at the same time that the Securities Exchange Commission is also looking at regulatory action concerning the sector. American Banker’s Kate Berry asked Chopra how concerned he was about “crypto,” stating that “You have complaints from consumers who say their money has been stolen.” Chopra replied, “Well, it’s interesting. Right now, cryptocurrencies are really primarily in the speculative trading markets. There is a question though about what happens when some of that is riding the rails of the Big Tech firms or…
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Appeals Court Deals Major Blow to SEC
DC Court limits agency’s reach in a decision with major crypto implications
Crypto may have won a major court battle yesterday. And the decision didn’t even involve crypto. In a ruling released Tuesday, a three-judge panel at the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit found that, as the Wall Street Journal put it, “the SEC had exceeded its authority under federal law when it issued a 2020 order overhauling the governance of the data feeds.” This was a technical ruling on a case that has nothing to do with crypto. Basically, the SEC had sided with brokers that have maintained forever that exchanges like the New York Stock Exchange and Nasdaq wield monopolies and use that power to…
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U.S. Senator Cynthia Lummis speaking at the 2021 Young Women's Leadership Summit at the Gaylord Texan Resort & Convention Center in Grapevine, Texas, June 11, 2021. (Photo: Gage Skidmore)Sens. Lummis and Gillibrand Issue Serious, Thoughtful Crypto Proposal
Responsible Financial Innovation Act isn’t perfect, but it’s a hell of a start
On Tuesday, Senators Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY) and Cynthia Lummis (R-WY), introduced the Responsible Financial Innovation Act, aimed at — finally— creating a real regulatory framework for digital assets. The senators stated in their press release that the goal of the legislation was to encourage “responsible financial innovation, flexibility, transparency and robust consumer protections while integrating digital assets into existing law.” This is a laudable goal. And painfully overdue. But as with any legislation—especially a groundbreaking bill in a fast-changing part of technology—it’s very tough to assess this proposal’s strengths. We read the entire 69-page bill. And there’s even a helpful 6-page summary. To our eyes, this proposed legislation is a rock-solid…
