The US Department of the Treasury is exploring the privacy implications of a potential retail central bank digital currency (CBDC), according to Graham Steele, assistant secretary for financial institutions at US Treasury. Speaking at the Transform Payments US 2023 Conference in Texas, Steele said a retail CBDC could have both benefits and drawbacks, with privacy
Blockchain
Binance.US and its CEO Changpeng Zhao have argued against the US Securities and Exchange Commission’s (SEC) temporary restraining order to freeze its assets. The lawyers stated that there was no risk to customer assets and that the SEC’s proposed restraining order should be denied. They argued that the SEC had manufactured an emergency for its
Binance.US has hired four lawyers, including George Canellos, a former co-director of the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) enforcement division, to fight recent charges brought by the regulator. Canellos, who is now a partner at Milbank LLP, has served as a director of the SEC’s New York Regional Office and as acting director and
Leaders of the crypto and fintech industry groups from Russia and Iran have recently discussed the potential use of tokens to evade sanctions and facilitate trade between the two countries. This conversation took place during a panel discussion on crypto adoption at the International Exhibition of Financial Industries in Tehran. The panel included Iranian government
On Monday, House Republicans introduced a bill that would remove Gary Gensler, the current US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) Chair, and restructure the agency. The SEC Stabilization Act was introduced by Reps. Tom Emmer and Warren Davidson. Reason for the Bill According to a statement from House Majority Whip Emmer’s office, the bill aims
Coinbase shares have been deemed “uninvestable” in the short term due to the ongoing lawsuit filed by the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), according to a research report by Berenberg Capital. The report notes that the expected decline in second-quarter trading volumes on Coinbase had already been anticipated prior to the lawsuit. However, the legal
Lens Protocol, the social layer for web3 developed by Aave, has raised $15 million in funding. The funding round was led by IDEO CoLab Ventures, with other venture capital firms including General Catalyst, Variant, Blockchain Capital, and Palm Tree also participating. Angel investors such as Hayden Adams, Alex Atallah, and Balaji Srinivasa also funded the
The House Financial Services Committee has released a new version of its stablecoin bill, aimed at regulating payment stablecoins. The bill is a discussion draft that would allow state regulators to supervise stablecoin issuers, with federal regulators playing a primary role by issuing capital and liquidity requirements. The new version includes additional parts such as
The US Department of Justice has unsealed charges against Russian nationals Alexey Bilyuchenko and Aleksandr Verner for allegedly stealing thousands of bitcoins from the Mt. Gox crypto exchange between 2011 and 2014. The two individuals were charged in the Southern District of New York “with conspiring to launder approximately 647,000 bitcoins,” which the department claimed
The United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) is struggling to locate Binance and its CEO, Changpeng Zhao (CZ), to serve legal papers. The regulator filed a legal document with the District Court in the District of Columbia on Thursday, stating that neither Binance nor its executive is known for revealing the premise of a