2023-12-13 11:29

Zhu is expected to be released from jail this month for good behavior, Bloomberg reported. Su Zhu, a co-founder of failed crypto hedge fund Three Arrows Capital (3AC), faced questions in a Singapore court for the first time as liquidators sought information to help retrieve assets, Bloomberg reported on Wednesday. The two-day court hearing required Zhu to respond to lawyers for liquidator Teneo with details on how the fund failed and the whereabouts of the assets, people familiar with the matter told Bloomberg. The people wished to remain anonymous because the proceedings were private, the report said. The questioning was approved after Zhu was arrested in September after failing to help wind up 3AC. Zhu, jailed for four months, is expected to be released this month for good behavior, Bloomberg reported. Three Arrows Capital filed for Chapter 15 bankruptcy in July last year after suffering losses following the collapse of stablecoin issuer Terra. In June, it was reported that liquidators had been seeking $1.3 billion from the bankrupt fund's co-founders. Teneo did not respond to CoinDesk's request for comment. Su Zhu declined to comment via Telegram. Ian Allison contributed to reporting. https://www.coindesk.com/policy/2023/12/13/three-arrows-co-founder-su-zhu-faces-questioning-in-singapore-court-in-hunt-for-assets-bloomberg/

2023-12-13 10:13

The investment firm has sold the crypto exchange's stock on all but two trading days this month. Cathie Wood’s investment management firm, ARK Invest, sold Coinbase (COIN) stock for a third straight day as the shares held steady within 5% of the year’s high. The firm offloaded a total of 82,255 shares worth about $11.5 million at Tuesday’s closing price from the ARK Innovation (ARKK), ARK Next Generation Internet (ARKW) and ARK Fintech Innovation (ARKF) exchange-traded funds (ETF). It has reduced its stake in the crypto exchange on all but two trading days this month. Coinbase stock has been surging as bitcoin (BTC) climbs. The largest cryptocurrency by market cap has added about 150% this year, while Coinbase has almost quadrupled. St. Petersburg, FL-based ARK Invest’s policy is to keep the maximum weight of any given company in its holding to 10%. The recent rally in COIN stock, which last month touched highs not seen since April 2022, means its weighting in the three ETFs remains in excess of that level even after recent divestments that include Friday’s $49 million sale, the largest since July. This month, ARK Invest has sold more than $120 million of Coinbase shares, based on closing prices. https://www.coindesk.com/business/2023/12/13/ark-invest-sells-coinbase-shares-for-third-straight-day/

2023-12-13 07:29

He said Cantor Fitzgerald is a custodian of the U.S. Treasuries that Tether holds to back its USDT stablecoin. Bitcoin (BTC) and Tether (USDT) are the favorite cryptocurrencies of Howard Lutnick, CEO of Wall Street broker Cantor Fitzgerald. "I am a fan of crypto, but let me be very specific: bitcoin, just bitcoin. These other coins, they are just not a thing," he said during an interview with CNBC's Money Movers podcast. Lutnick also said that he's a fan of Tether, as Cantor Fitzgerald is one of the stablecoin's custodians. Other custodians are Charles Schwab (SCHW) and Fidelity. "I'm a big fan of this stablecoin called Tether," he said. "I hold their Treasuries. So I keep their Treasuries, and they have a lot of Treasuries," he said. For Lutnick, bitcoin's value comes from its decentralization, something it hasn't struggled with, unlike Ethereum or other layer-1 blockchains. "The only asset people could have held where no one could take it? Bitcoin," he said. "With Tether, you can call Tether, and they'll freeze it," he said, alluding to Tether's recent freeze of wallets tied to sanctions. "With Ethereum, you can call Joe Lubin," he continued. Joe Lubin is CEO of ConsenSys, an early supporter of Ethereum. Lubin has disavowed that he or Consensys have ever controlled more than half a percent of the total supply of Ethereum's ether (ETH). https://www.coindesk.com/markets/2023/12/13/cantor-fitzgerald-ceo-is-a-bitcoin-maxi-and-tether-fan/

2023-12-13 03:29

Binance responded to an SEC filing, arguing that the regulator's arguments weren't applicable to the actual conduct it was analyzing. Binance, Binance.US and Changpeng Zhao argued that the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) did not meet the requirements of the “Howey Test” in its suit against the two companies and their founder in a new filing Tuesday. Binance and Zhao, more commonly known as “CZ,” filed a reply to the SEC alongside Binance.US, which submitted its own separate but similar filing arguing that the SEC did not show that the exchanges’ U.S. customers had any contracts that would meet the definition of an “investment contract,” or that other elements of the Supreme Court case were met. It’s the latest bid to dismiss the lawsuit filed by the federal regulator in June when the SEC alleged that Binance and Binance.US allowed the general public to buy and trade unregistered securities by listing certain cryptocurrencies and offering a staking service. Binance, which recently settled different charges with the U.S. Department of Justice, Commodity Futures Trading Commission, Office of Foreign Asset Control and Financial Crimes Enforcement Network, filed to dismiss the SEC lawsuit in September, arguing the regulator was overreaching its authority (it made a similar argument in a filing to dismiss a CFTC suit in July). In Tuesday’s filings – which are responding to the SEC’s own reply to the motion to dismiss – both Binance and Binance.US argued that the regulator hadn’t shown there were any obligations to the exchange’s users after they purchased certain cryptocurrencies, suggesting there was no investment contract as needed by the Howey Test. DOJ settlement Binance also pushed back against the SEC, adding the exchange’s guilty plea with the DOJ and consent order with FinCEN, or Zhao’s own DOJ plea, in the ongoing case. The SEC argued that the settlements showed that Binance was well aware it was operating in the U.S., serving U.S. customers and otherwise tapping infrastructure within the U.S. for transactions. “Zhao’s and Binance’s plea agreements and the Consent Order provide further grounds for this Court to deny the Joint Motion to Dismiss,” the SEC said. In another Tuesday filing, Binance argued that securities laws wouldn’t apply like the Bank Secrecy Act or International Emergency Economic Powers Act (two laws governing the charges Binance and Zhao settled) did. “Jurisdictional admissions under the BSA do not bring any of the SEC’s claims within the reach of the securities laws,” Binance and Zhao claimed. The filing also argued that the settlements and consent order didn’t implicate securities laws. “That facts in the plea agreements with the Department of Justice show that BHL and Mr. Zhao violated the Bank Secrecy Act (BSA) does not say anything about whether there was fair notice of the SEC’s theory that the crypto assets at issue were securities under the Securities Act or the Exchange Act,” the filing said. https://www.coindesk.com/policy/2023/12/13/sec-hasnt-met-legal-requirements-to-sue-binance-says-in-latest-bid-to-dismiss-lawsuit/

2023-12-12 21:43

Investors will monitor Fed Chair Jerome Powell's press conference Wednesday for signs of potential rate cuts next year. Bitcoin remained steady around $41,000 after Monday's dramatic flush. Halt in BTC's momentum saw many altcoins jump, with DOT, ATOM, INJ, TIA among the biggest gainers. Market observers widely anticipate the Fed will pause rate hikes on Wednesday's FOMC meeting. Bitcoin's (BTC) price stabilized around $41,000 Tuesday ahead of this year's last U.S. interest rate decision due Wednesday as crypto traders digested yesterday's major leverage flush and largest daily drawdown since mid-August. The largest crypto asset recovered to $42,000 earlier in the day from yesterday's low of $40,200 before dipping to $40,600 in the U.S. afternoon hours. After paring some losses, BTC was changing hands at $41,300, slightly up 0.3% over the past 24 hours. Ether (ETH), the second largest cryptocurrency, declined 1% during the same period, below $2,200. While the momentum of the two leading cryptocurrencies slowed, many altcoins jumped through the day. Native tokens of Polkadot (DOT), Cosmos (ATOM) and Injective (INJ) were among the best-performing crypto majors, gaining 10%-20% over the past 24 hours. Avalanche (AVAX) overtook the popular dog-themed meme token dogecoin's (DOGE) market capitalization, gaining nearly 5% on the day and more than doubling its price in a month. Recently launched blockchain data solution Celestia TIA surged 20% to a new all-time high as it announced that it will become an option for blockchain builders using Polygon's software tools to spin up new layer-2 networks atop Ethereum. Venture capital-backed blockchain Aptos' token (APT) also rallied 16%, defying the release of over $200 million worth of previously locked-up tokens to its outstanding supply earlier today, according to Token.Unlocks. The CoinDesk Market Index (CMI), which tracks a weighted basket of almost 200 digital assets, was up 1.2% over the past 24 hours. The Federal Reserve, the central bank of the U.S., is widely expected to hold Fed fund rates steady at 5.25%-5.5%, concluding the Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) meeting Wednesday as Consumer Price Index (CPI) inflation continued to edge lower in November. "Disinflation is in full force and the latest round of CPI data for November 2023 is further proof that the trend is intact," Caleb Franzen, founder of Cubic Analytics posted on X. Slowing inflation nudges the Fed to pause rate hikes Wednesday for the third consecutive occasion. At the same time, investors will monitor Fed Chair Jerome Powell's press conference for signs of potential rate cuts next year. "It is commonly expected that a pause in rate hikes could be interpreted as a bullish signal for the market," Bitfinex analysts said in an emailed note. "Cryptocurrencies have previously experienced positive market movements following decisions by the Fed to keep interest rates steady." https://www.coindesk.com/markets/2023/12/12/bitcoin-halts-at-41k-as-traders-eye-fed-rate-decision-avax-flips-dogecoin-as-altcoins-jump/

2023-12-12 17:20

The three aspiring presidents touched on many of the same pro-crypto points at a Coinbase-linked crypto advocacy event. Three U.S. presidential candidates vowed to reboot the embattled cryptocurrency ecosystem, a sign the industry's lobbying investments could bear fruit in the coming elections. The trio, two Republicans – entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy and former Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson – and Democrat Rep. Dean Phillips, promised to ease regulatory pressures on crypto companies during the hours-long event hosted by the Coinbase-backed Stand with Crypto Alliance. While their approaches varied in tone and scope, they shared a common theme: Creating a clear, cohesive regulatory framework for digital assets. “Whether or not something is a commodity or a security, businesses deserve to know rather than playing regulatory musical chairs,” Ramaswamy said after calling regulatory overreach on the crypto sector a “cancer.” Each candidate delivered a speech on crypto policymaking and fielded questions from CoinDesk Regulations and Policy Editor Jesse Hamilton. Their comments centered on the creation of a unified regulatory framework, from curbing federal regulators’ powers to educating policymakers about crypto and protecting coders from criminal charges. The consonance between those proposals contrasted with the political dissonance that has stymied recent efforts on Capitol Hill to create a regulatory rulebook for the industry. Dunking on the SEC, Big Banks While the speakers’ comments were often constructive, they also degenerated, at times, into shameless self-promoting spiels. All three blasted the Securities Exchange Commission's crackdown on crypto exchanges including Coinbase, Kraken and Binance, and called for the agency’s powers to be curtailed. “We want to see an SEC that… doesn’t treat everybody they're regulating as an adversary,” Hutchinson said as he called for an end to regulators’ “guidance-by-enforcement” strategies. Ramaswamy vowed to reduce the agency’s workforce as part of his goal to eliminate 75% of bureaucratic jobs, noting that the third U.S. president, Thomas Jefferson, who died nearly 200 years ago, would be “turning in his grave” over the agency’s actions toward crypto, a technology that was invented roughly 15 years ago. None of the participants are leading in their parties' primary election polls, meaning they probably won't have the powers of the presidency at their disposal to promote crypto. Later, the hopefuls discussed how blockchain technology could disrupt traditional finance (TradFi), laying the groundwork for a fairer, trustless financial system. “There's more transparency actually in the crypto market than there is in banks and traditional finance,” Hutchinson said. Crypto “eliminates so many hands in the pot that take little bits of peoples’ money ... at a time when life is already so unaffordable,” said Phillips. Cut to the crypto While the speakers appeared to be aware of the crypto industry’s unique and numerous challenges, they sometimes lapsed into parroting tired industry lines (“crypto needs clarity”) while skirting opportunities to engage on some of the finer points of the crypto regulatory debate. https://www.coindesk.com/policy/2023/12/12/us-presidential-candidates-chat-about-crypto-target-federal-regulators/