2024-03-14 00:09

Deputy Treasury Secretary Wally Adeyemo wrote a letter to lawmakers discussing the extent to which Hamas may be using crypto. Financial institutions have reported $165 million in potential crypto transactions that may be tied to Hamas, according to the bureau of the U.S. Treasury department that combats terrorism financing. The Financial Crimes Enforcement Network analyzed suspicious activity reports filed between January 2020 and October 2023, according to a letter signed by Deputy Treasury Secretary Adewale Adeyemo. The letter, reviewed by CoinDesk, was directed to the leaders of the Senate Banking and House Financial Services Committees and asked for their support in passing legislation that would broaden the Treasury Department's oversight authority over crypto transactions. The letter hedges the extent to which the $165 million figure might be tied to crypto or Hamas, with Adeyemo writing that a financial institution "may have attributed the full value of a customer’s transactions – including both fiat and digital assets activity – to Hamas, while only a portion of the reported activity may have constituted such activity." FinCEN found that more than 200 cryptocurrency addresses may have been used in these transactions. The Treasury Department is still conducting "ongoing analysis" on the potential threats posed by cryptocurrencies and crypto services, he wrote. "We continue to assess that Hamas and other terrorists have a preference for the use of traditional financial products and services, but I remain concerned that as we cut off their access to traditional finance these groups will increasingly turn to virtual assets," the letter said. Adeyemo's comments echo statements made by various Treasury officials over the past few months, who said they have seen limited use of crypto by terrorists. The Wall Street Journal first reported on the letter earlier Wednesday. Lawmakers have scrutinized the potential role crypto may have played in Hamas' attack on Israel last October, which killed 1,200 and sparked a war in Gaza. The Palestinian death toll is now reportedly north of 30,000. A group of lawmakers, led by House Majority Whip Tom Emmer (R-Minn.) and House Financial Services Committee Chair Patrick McHenry (R-N.C.), wrote an open letter to the Treasury Department last November, saying Congress needed to know the actual extent to which Hamas was using crypto after a Wall Street Journal report alleged it was a tool used by the terror group. A few weeks later, the Treasury Department requested greater authority to pursue illicit activity in crypto, particularly overseas. Adeyemo referenced that request as well, saying the analysis he discussed earlier "informed the set of high-level legislative proposals," which "are intended to modernize" Treasury's tools. "These updates could clarify, and potentially expand, coverage of new entities in the virtual asset ecosystem that may be operating in areas of actual or perceived ambiguity with respect to their [Bank Secrecy Act] obligations," he wrote. "A final proposal would explicitly provide Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control the authority to deploy secondary sanctions, an impactful and flexible tool, against virtual asset firms doing business with sanctioned entities." https://www.coindesk.com/policy/2024/03/14/fincen-is-analyzing-165m-in-transactions-that-may-tie-crypto-and-hamas-senior-official-says/

2024-03-13 22:34

The two men were arrested on Feb. 26 after arriving in Abuja to meet with Nigerian leaders who accused the crypto exchange of crashing the country’s currency, the naira. Two Binance executives, Tigran Gambaryan and Nadeem Anjarwalla, will remain in Nigerian custody at least until a hearing on March 20. The men were arrested on Feb. 26 after flying to Abuja to meet with the Nigerian government at the government's invitation. The country is experiencing a foreign exchange crisis and has accused Binance of contributing to the crash of its currency, the naira. Two senior Binance executives will remain detained in Nigeria at least through a March 20 hearing, according to a Wednesday report from the Wall Street Journal. The two men – American citizen Tigran Gambaryan, Binance's head of financial crime compliance, and dual U.K.-Kenyan national Nadeem Anjarwalla, the exchange's regional manager for Africa – were arrested on Feb. 26 after flying to Nigeria's capital city of Abuja to meet with the Nigerian government at the government's request. Though neither Gambaryan, a former Internal Revenue Service (IRS) special agent, nor Anjarwalla have been charged with any crimes, the Nigerian government has accused Binance, their employer, of crashing its currency, the naira. According to a Wall Street Journal report citing Anjarwalla's wife, a Nigerian court approved a two-week detention on Feb. 28, pending an investigation, two days after they were first placed under detention at a guarded house. A spokesperson for Nigeria's National Security Adviser told Bloomberg that the detentions were "not necessarily [an] arrest" but called it "a national security issue" for the country. A second court hearing on Wednesday did not officially extend the detention period but set a follow-up hearing for March 20, until which Nigerian officials were given more time to respond to arguments made by the Binance executives' lawyers, according to the report. Olayemi Cardoso, Nigeria's Central Bank governor, told local media that $26 billion in untraceable funds flowed through Binance Nigeria last year alone. The West African country is facing an ongoing foreign exchange crisis and is searching for ways to stem capital outflows. A spokesperson for Binance previously told CoinDesk that the exchange was "working collaboratively with Nigerian authorities to bring Nadeem and Tigran back home safely to their families." The exchange tweeted Wednesday it was still working to bring "colleagues home." https://www.coindesk.com/policy/2024/03/13/detained-binance-executives-to-remain-in-nigerian-custody-until-hearing-wsj/

2024-03-13 19:53

The meme coin based on a dog wearing a pink beanie became an instant hit during the ongoing crypto bull cycle, now boasting a $2.6 billion market capitalization, but its skyrocketing price could signal increased market froth. The Solana (SOL) blockchain's red-hot meme coin dogwifhat (WIF) is heading to Las Vegas after community members raised enough funds to display the token's mascot – a Shiba Inu wearing a pink beanie – on the Sphere, the city's orb-shaped entertainment venue. The campaign garnered over $690,000 in USDC stablecoin in donations as of Wednesday, completing the fundraising in less than four days and overshooting the $650,000 target, the campaign's website said. "Dogwifhat on sphere fully funded," Ansem, a leading figure of the campaign and one of the five controllers of the multisig wallet that received the donations, said in an X post. Some observers, however, pointed out that such vanity actions are typical around market tops. During the last bull run, for example, a number of crypto companies put their names on sports arenas, including FTX (which later collapsed) and Crypto.com (which didn't). Dogwifhat became an instant hit since its launch late last year, emerging as one of the most popular memes of this crypto market cycle, driven by crypto investors' bewildering affection for canine-themed coins such as dogecoin (DOGE), shiba inu (SHIB) or bonk (BONK). Benefitting from the fundraising's attention, WIF gained 35% over the past 24 hours, CoinMarketCap data shows, while the broader crypto market was modestly up with bitcoin (BTC) and the CoinDesk 20 Index (CD20) advancing roughly 3%-4% during the same period. WIF also toppled floki (FLOKI) as the fourth largest meme token by market capitalization, reaching a $2.6 billion market value months after its launch, Messari data shows. WIF is currently the 52th most valuable token among all cryptocurrencies, while the largest meme coin DOGE is the 10th with a 24 billion market cap. Meme coins comprise a small, but growing part of the overall digital asset market, and are one of the most risky assets among the already volatile cryptocurrencies. Recently, meme coin prices skyrocketed over the past weeks as the crypto market heated up with bitcoin (BTC) reaching new all-time highs. Historically, meme coin rallies often signaled increased frothiness on the market, foreshadowing a correction. https://www.coindesk.com/markets/2024/03/13/dogwifhat-becomes-4th-largest-meme-coin-as-community-completes-fundraising-for-las-vegas-sphere-showing/

2024-03-13 19:40

The judge found that the SEC’s complaint “plausibly alleges” that the two crypto firms offered and sold unregistered securities via Gemini Earn. A New York judge ruled that the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission’s complaint against Gemini and Genesis “plausibly alleges” that the two firms violated securities laws. The Wednesday motion tosses out the two firms’ motions to dismiss filed last May. Up to 340,000 Gemini Earn customers have had their crypto stuck in limbo since November 2022, when Genesis halted withdrawals due to liquidity issues. A New York judge has ruled that the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) case against crypto lender Genesis and crypto exchange Gemini will be allowed to move forward, denying the two defendants’ motions to dismiss in a Wednesday court filing. Judge Edgardo Ramos, of the Southern District of New York, found that the regulatory agency’s complaint “plausibly alleges” that the two firms violated securities laws – allegedly offering and selling unregistered securities to retail investors – through the now-defunct Gemini Earn program. A ruling on a motion to dismiss generally has to accept the plaintiff's facts as true, and doesn't indicate how the court might ultimately rule on the SEC's allegations about whether Earn violated securities laws. Gemini Earn was first available to retail customers in February 2021, offering as much as 8% interest on crypto tokens invested through the program. According to the SEC’s complaint, Gemini Earn had approximately 340,000 retail users and $900 million in assets on its platform when, in November 2022, Genesis halted withdrawals, citing “withdrawal requests which have exceeded our current liquidity.” Against the backdrop of an escalating and public dispute between the leadership of the two firms, Gemini Earn was shuttered on Jan. 10, 2023. Two days later, the SEC filed charges against both companies. That same month, Genesis filed for bankruptcy. In May 2023, Gemini and Genesis both filed motions to dismiss the case against them, as well as subsequent alternative motions to strike the SEC’s request for permanent injunctive relief and disgorgement against both firms. Judge Ramos denied each of them, and ruled that the case be allowed to proceed. The co-founders of Gemini, Tyler and Cameron Winklevoss, have vowed to return 100% of Gemini Earn customers’ funds – worth roughly $1.1 billion – when Genesis’s bankruptcy case ends. https://www.coindesk.com/policy/2024/03/13/judge-rules-against-gemini-genesis-motion-to-dismiss-sec-case-against-earn-product/

2024-03-13 18:41

The token targets a U.S. senator who has frequently criticized the cryptocurrency industry. Coinbase took down a webpage that explained "how to buy elizabeth whoren," a derogatory token referencing U.S. Senator Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) A Coinbase spokesperson said the page was automatically generated. Meme coin traders are flocking to a derogatory cryptocurrency that attacks Elizabeth Warren, the Massachusetts senator and prominent crypto critic. Meanwhile, cryptocurrency exchange Coinbase is running awkwardly in the other direction. The trading giant on Wednesday nixed a webpage that for a short while promoted "how to buy elizabeth whoren in United States." Links to the auto-generated webpage instead reverted to a more generic hub for buying crypto in general. "These pages are automatically generated based on tokens that have been created by third parties," a Coinbase spokesperson said in a statement. "They are informational only, do not endorse any asset, and do not indicate that the assets are available for trading on Coinbase." While Coinbase lets U.S. traders buy hundreds of different cryptocurrencies, WHOREN is not one of them. It's one of the thousands of so-called "meme coins" that debut on the Solana (SOL) blockchain network nearly every day. These kinds of tokens are only available on "decentralized exchanges" that lack the rules and regulations of Coinbase. Observers were speculating on Wednesday that it was part of an auto-generated SEO strategy, rather than a deliberate creation by Coinbase itself. The token and its dalliance with Coinbase seem unlikely to change Warren's negative stance toward the industry. She's previously called for amassing an "anti-crypto army" to reign in crypto's excesses and has proposed legislation that she has argued would police bad actors. Senator Warren's office did not return a request for comment. https://www.coindesk.com/business/2024/03/13/coinbase-nixes-page-promoting-elizabeth-whoren-meme-coin/

2024-03-13 17:48

Crypto exchange Coinbase (COIN) looks well-positioned to benefit from these growing inflows, the report said. Spot bitcoin ETFs could see $220B of inflows over the next three years, JMP Securities analysts say. JMP says Coinbase is well-positioned, and raised its stock price target to $300 from $220. Separately, Wall Street giant JPMorgan estimated $62 billion of bitcoin ETF inflows in the next two to three years. Spot bitcoin (BTC) exchange-traded funds could see $220 billion of inflows over the next three years, which means BTC's price could quadruple to $280,000 when applying the multiplier on new capital, broker JMP Securities said in a research report Wednesday. JMP analysts said crypto exchange Coinbase (COIN) remains well-positioned if their inflow estimates prove to be correct. The broker raised its price target on the stock to $300 from $220, the highest among Wall Street analysts, according to Factset data, while maintaining its market outperform rating. Coinbase shares were trading 2.6% higher at $262.92 at press time. While spot bitcoin ETF inflows have smashed expectations, reaching $10 billion just two months after launch, JMP said that “activity (and flows) experienced thus far is likely still the tip of the iceberg,” adding that flows will continue to grow materially as ETF approval was just the beginning of a “longer process of capital allocation.” “We estimate $220B of incremental flows will come into the ETFs over the next three years, which could also be quite impactful to bitcoin’s price given the multiplier on capital,” analysts led by Devin Ryan wrote. “If we are directionally correct on the level of net ETF inflows reaching $220B, applying our estimate of the current multiplier of new capital of ~25X, this alone could drive a $5.5T bitcoin market cap increase, or $280K per bitcoin,” the authors wrote. In a new daily record, spot bitcoin ETFs saw net inflows of 14,706 bitcoin, worth over $1 billion, on Tuesday, according to data tracked by BitMEX research. A separate JPMorgan analysis suggested that the bitcoin spot ETF market could grow to around $62 billion in the next two to three years, the bank said in a report last week. Read more: Bitcoin Is Unlikely to Match Gold’s Allocation in Investors’s Portfolios in Nominal Terms: JPMorgan https://www.coindesk.com/business/2024/03/13/spot-bitcoin-etfs-could-see-220b-of-inflows-in-next-3-years-jmp-securities/