Regulation

A Wells notice is not a final determination of guilt or wrongdoing, meaning that the recipient has the chance to respond and make a case before any administrative action is initiated. The Wells notice procedure, though, is a clue that the SEC is considering taking action, and how it turns out might have a big

CEO Tim Cook gave a rare, if guarded, glimpse into Apple’s walled garden during the Q&A portion of a recent earnings call when asked his thoughts on generative artificial intelligence (AI) and where he “sees it going.”  Cook refrained from revealing Apple’s plans, stating upfront, “We don’t comment on product roadmaps.” However, he did intimate

The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has issued its largest-ever whistleblower award totaling $279 million. The SEC generally issues awards ranging between 10% to 30% of collected monetary sanctions that are larger than $1 million. To receive such an award, the whistleblower needs to have provided information that directly assists the SEC in successfully

Top Stories This Week Memecoin hype drives Bitcoin transaction fees to multi-year highs The ongoing trading frenzy of memecoins like Pepe has triggered an unwanted consequence for Bitcoin (BTC) — raising its transaction costs to their highest point in two years. On May 3, the total amount of fees paid on the Bitcoin blockchain reached

Binance is under investigation by the United States Justice Department (DOJ) national security division for allowing Russians to use the cryptocurrency exchange in violation of U.S. sanctions, according to a report that appeared in Bloomberg on May 5. There have been no accusations against the company or its executive in connection with the investigation. The

On May 4, Argentina’s central bank banned payment providers from offering crypto transactions, alleging it intends to reduce the country’s payment-system exposure to digital assets.  According to a statement from the monetary authority, payment providers may not offer or facilitate crypto services through their applications. The move brings payment fintechs and financial institutions under the

Robert F. Kennedy Jr., who is challenging United States President Joe Biden for the Democratic nomination in the 2024 presidential election, has taken to Twitter again to share more of his thoughts on cryptocurrency. Kennedy criticized Biden on May 2 for calling the U.S. banking system “safe and sound” the previous day. “Today, bank stocks

In the United States, the White House released the national standards strategy for key and emerging technologies on May 4, identifying eight technology sectors that will have a significant economic impact in the near future. Among the eight technologies are artificial intelligence, communication and network technologies, biotechnology and semiconductors, with the inclusion of distributed ledger

Terraform Labs is seeking to have a class action lawsuit against the firm dismissed, arguing the United States securities laws referenced are not applicable to its foreign-developed protocols.  On May 3, Terraform Labs requested a California federal judge dismiss an investor suit brought by Nick Patterson that claimed the company sold unregistered securities and misled

The judge presiding over crypto exchange FTX’s bankruptcy case has given the green light to a motion allowing the sale of LedgerX. In a May 4 hearing in the United States Bankruptcy Court for the District of Delaware, Judge John Dorsey approved a motion the FTX debtors filed in April to sell LedgerX to M7

The United Kingdom’s Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) has officially stepped onto the artificial intelligence (AI) scene after it announced an examination of the impact of the technology on consumers and the economy. On May 4, the regulator said it will be looking at the development and deployment of foundation models -  applications like OpenAI’s

The United States securities regulator is holding off from ratifying the definition of the term “digital assets” in rules that govern reporting disclosures for hedge and private equity funds, despite proposing to do so some nine months ago. On May 3 the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) published amendments to Form PF — a form

The French Senate’s Committee on Economic Affairs recently approved an amendment to pending legislation allowing registered cryptocurrency companies to hire social media influencers for advertising and promotional purposes. According to a translation of the amendment provided by Bing, the new wording would allow companies that are registered with France’s Autorité des Marchés Financiers (AMF) to

The United Kingdom is set to ban cold calls that sell financial products, including insurance and cryptocurrencies, in an attempt to crack down on fraud. It is estimated that fraud costs the country approximately £7 billion ($8.7 billion) annually.  The U.K. government reportedly announced its new fraud strategy, pledging 400 new jobs to update its approach

A myriad of unforeseeable “consequences” will be brought about by retail central bank digital currencies (CBDCs), the managing director of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) claimed. The IMF’s Kristalina Georgieva erred on the side of caution regarding retail CBDCs in a May 1 interview at the Milken Institute’s 2023 Global Conference. Georgieva explained the IMF

The majority of people will have their wealth progressively eaten away by the devaluation of money, according to Arthur Hayes, the co-founder and former CEO of crypto derivatives exchange BitMEX.  According to Hayes, due to the huge amount of public debt accumulated by the world’s largest economies, governments will have no choice but “inflating it