Former Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) Chairman Chris Giancarlo has emphasized former U.S. President Donald Trump’s critical role in the cryptocurrency industry, dubbing him “America’s first crypto president” due to the approval of bitcoin futures during his administration. Trump’s crypto stance has evolved significantly since he was in office. ‘Trump May Justifiably Claim to Be […]
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Russian Duma Financial Market Chairman States Digital Financial Assets Might Replace Fiat for International Payments
Chairman of the Russian State Duma Committee on the Financial Market Anatoly Aksakov stated that digital financial assets, issued by institutions regulated by the central bank, could replace fiat channels for international settlements. Aksakov also acknowledged that while not being controlled for this use case, digital assets were already being used to settle international payments. […]
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Microstrategy Chairman Says Bitcoin Is Superior to Other Asset Classes — Expects Capital to Keep Flowing Into BTC
Microstrategy’s executive chairman, Michael Saylor, sees bitcoin as “the strongest asset.” He believes that capital is going to keep flowing from other asset classes, such as gold and real estate, into bitcoin because the cryptocurrency is “technically superior to those asset classes.” He emphasized that bitcoin is an exit strategy and Microstrategy has no plan […]
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Bitcoin Has Become World’s ‘Most Popular Investment Asset,’ Says Microstrategy Chairman
Microstrategy’s executive chairman, Michael Saylor, has explained why bitcoin has become “the world’s most popular investment asset.” He noted that following the rebalancing after the launch of spot bitcoin exchange-traded funds (ETFs), the crypto has “found its footing and now people are beginning to realize that there’s 10 times as much demand for bitcoin coming […]
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Hacken Links Ripple Chairman Hack to XRP Official Wallet
Following an investigation into the hack of Ripple co-founder Chris Larsen’s personal wallets, Hacken has discovered links to XRP’s authorized wallets. Hacken Investigation Traces Chris Larsen’s Stolen XRP Back to Official Wallets Blockchain security firm Hacken has disclosed connections between the recent 2.5 million hack of Ripple co-founder and chairman Chris Larsen’s personal wallets and […]
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Barry Silbert Resigns as Chairman of Grayscale Investments
Digital Currency Group (DCG) founder Barry Silbert has resigned from his position as the chairman of Grayscale Investments. Current DCG chief financial officer Mark Shifke succeeds Silbert and is joined by Edward McGee and Matthew Kummell as members of the new look board.
Preparing for Grayscale’s Next Chapter
Barry Silbert, the founder and CEO of Digital Currency Group, has resigned from his position as chairman of the digital asset management company Grayscale and will be replaced by Mark Shifke.
According to the company’s filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), starting Jan. 1, 2024, Grayscale’s board will be composed of Mark Shifke, Matthew Kummell, and Edward McGee. Current Grayscale Investments CEO Michael Sonnenshein is also a board member, while Mark Murphy, the president of Digital Currency Group (DCG), departs alongside Silbert.
Commenting on the changes to the board, an unidentified Grayscale spokeswoman reportedly said:
“Grayscale and our investors will benefit from their respective experiences in the financial services and asset management industries as we prepare for Grayscale’s next chapter.”
The changes to the Grayscale Investments board are coming at a time when the SEC is considering the company’s request to turn its Bitcoin Trust (GBTC) into a spot bitcoin exchange-traded fund (ETF).
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CFTC Chairman: Many Crypto Tokens Are Considered Commodities Under Existing Laws
The chairman of the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC), Rostin Behnam, has stated that many digital assets are considered commodities under existing law. Behnam urged the U.S. Congress to hasten the process of establishing a regulatory regime for cryptocurrency. He also emphasized that he and Gary Gensler, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission chairperson, “get along quite well.”
Gap in Regulation
Rostin Behnam, the chairman of the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC), has stated that many digital assets or tokens are considered commodities under existing law. However, Behnam lamented the emergence of a gap in regulation and urged the U.S. Congress to step in.
“It is figuring out how existing, decades-old law, fits into this new technology that seems to be changing and ultimately needs a new way of thinking around policy and legislating,” says @CFTCbehnam on #crypto. “Under existing law, many of the tokens constitute commodities.” pic.twitter.com/F3JPjWq3wG
— Squawk Box (@SquawkCNBC) December 12, 2023
Unsurprisingly, the CFTC chairman’s view on crypto is seemingly at odds with U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) chairman Gary Gensler, who sees many altcoins, including XRP and ether (ETH), as securities. Besides insisting that most digital assets are securities, the SEC under Gensler’s stewardship is also accused of deliberately obfuscating crypto regulations.
U.S. Congress Urged to ‘Legitimize the Technology’
Consequently, some U.S. politicians, like Tom Emmer (R-MN), have called for Gensler’s removal and sought to restrict the SEC’s ability to carry out enforcement actions. They have also called for the speedy enactment of laws to regulate crypto.
When asked about the limited movement towards establishing a regulatory regime for digital assets, Behnam, who spoke on CNBC’s Squawk Box, acknowledged that progress has been slow. He declared that the U.S. Congress must move away from its stance of not wanting to legitimize the technology.
“Congress is gonna have to step in and overcome this feeling of not wanting to legitimize the technology and seeing this as not something that is tenable or sustainable. I mean it is here, it hasn’t gone away,” Behnam said.
Behnam also addressed the alleged turf war between the SEC and CFTC, stating that he and Gensler “get along quite well” and share similar values and interests, particularly when it comes to protecting markets. The CFTC chairman suggested that both organizations need to find a way to make the “decades-old law fit into this new technology.”
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CZ Resigns as Chairman of Binance US, Signaling Strategic Shift
On Tuesday, Binance US, the American branch of Binance.com, revealed that Changpeng Zhao (CZ), its former CEO, has relinquished his position as chairman of the board with immediate effect. The announcement emphasized that Binance US is fully functional and operates independently from Binance.com.
Changpeng Zhao Steps Down as Binance US Chairman
The update from Binance US comes in the wake of a recent agreement between Binance.com and the U.S. Department of Justice. This settlement also involved various U.S. entities, including the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC), the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC), and the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN).
Binance US clarified that it was not involved in last week’s settlements and currently has no pending enforcement issues with the DOJ, FinCEN, OFAC, or CFTC. The company underscored its independence and separate operation from Binance.com. Despite this autonomy, CZ, the ex-chief of Binance, is departing from the board of the U.S. exchange.
The Tuesday announcement stated, “As CZ transitions to life after Binance, he has decided to step down from his role as chairman of our board of directors and transferred his voting rights through a proxy arrangement, whereby his interest in the company is purely economic and he will no longer be involved in our governance.”
Last week, CZ admitted to violating the Bank Secrecy Act, agreeing to step down as Binance’s CEO and to pay a million penalty. Richard Teng has stepped in as the new CEO of Binance, which will now undergo rigorous monitoring by federal agencies. Binance US, a part of the global cryptocurrency exchange behemoth, reiterates its dedication to progress independently.
Binance US added, “Binance US continues to be led by Norman Reed and our existing, experienced management team. We are well capitalized to continue to build and grow our platform and to do so with renewed clarity and momentum, while maintaining the same customer first commitment.”
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SEC Chairman Gary Gensler Warns AI Could Spark Financial Crisis in Next Decade
U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) Chairman Gary Gensler has warned that artificial intelligence (AI) could spark a financial crisis in the next decade. Noting that he has raised this concern at the Financial Stability Board and at the Financial Stability Oversight Council, the SEC chief stressed: “I think it’s really a cross-regulatory challenge.”
SEC Chair Gary Gensler’s AI Warning
The chairman of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), Gary Gensler, warned in an interview with the Financial Times, published Monday, that a financial crisis caused by artificial intelligence (AI) is “nearly unavoidable” in the next decade without prompt regulatory action.
Gensler opined: “It’s frankly a hard challenge. It’s a hard financial stability issue to address because most of our regulation is about individual institutions, individual banks, individual money market funds, individual brokers; it’s just in the nature of what we do.” The SEC chief continued:
This is about a horizontal [matter whereby] many institutions might be relying on the same underlying base model or underlying data aggregator.
The SEC chairman explained that even if current regulatory measures were updated, “it still doesn’t get to this horizontal issue.” He cautioned: “If everybody’s relying on a base model and the base model is sitting not at the broker-dealer, but it’s sitting at one of the big tech companies … And how many cloud providers [which tend to offer AI as a service] do we have in this country?”
Gensler revealed: “I’ve raised this at the Financial Stability Board. I’ve raised it at the Financial Stability Oversight Council. I think it’s really a cross-regulatory challenge”.
Wall Street has integrated AI across various functions, encompassing robo-advisors, account onboarding procedures, and brokerage apps. Gensler is concerned about the potential for herd behavior among entities reliant on identical data models. He fears that such behavior could jeopardize financial stability and serve as a catalyst for the next crisis.
The SEC chairman warned:
I do think we will in the future have a financial crisis.
This was not the first time that Gensler has warned about AI. In August, he said that AI is poised to drive future financial crises. Nonetheless, he believes that “AI is going to continue significantly transforming science, technology, and commerce.”
What do you think about the warning by SEC Chairman Gary Gensler about AI and financial crises? Let us know in the comments section below.
Swiss Central Bank to Launch Wholesale CBDC Soon Says Chairman Thomas Jordan
The Swiss National Bank (SNB) said it plans to issue a wholesale central bank digital currency as a pilot via SIX Digital Exchange, a subsidiary of SIX, an operator of infrastructure for the Swiss and Spanish financial centers. SNB chairman Thomas Jordan said while the Central Bank has not ruled out launching retail CBDCs, the bank is being “a little bit prudent at the moment.”
‘This Is Not Just an Experiment’
The Swiss central bank said on June 26 it intends to issue wholesale central bank digital currency on SIX Digital Exchange, a subsidiary of SIX, an operator of infrastructure for the Swiss and Spanish financial centers. According to Thomas Jordan, the chairman of the Swiss National Bank (SNB), the pilot CBDC project is expected to commence soon and will run for a limited period.
However, the SNB chairman who spoke at the Point Zero Forum, revealed that the experiment would involve the use of a real money equivalent.
“This is not just an experiment, it will be real money equivalent to bank reserves and the objective is to test real transactions with market participants,” Jordan reportedly said.
Central Bank Not Keen on Launching Retail CBDC
By taking this step, the Swiss central bank joins its peers in countries which have either launched their respective CBDCs or are still in the trial or study phase. Their objective, according to a Reuters report, is to avoid ceding control of digital payments to the private sector.
Meanwhile, during his address at the forum, the SNB chairman attempted to explain why the central bank is currently unwilling to launch a retail CBDC. He said:
“We do not exclude that we will never introduce retail [CBDCs] but nevertheless we are a little bit prudent at the moment.”
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