Crypto in the crosshairs: US regulators eye the cryptocurrency sector
- Lately, news headlines are focused on regulators’ concerns over the lack of investor protections in the cryptocurrency market, which has ballooned to more than $2 trillion, and the possible risks to financial stability.
- National security agencies across the administration of United States President Joe Biden are grappling with high-profile cases of cryptocurrencies playing a role in ransomware attacks, intellectual property espionage, sanctions violations, bribery of government officials and tax evasion.
- According to a recent report issued by the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network, ransomware-related suspicious activity reports filed during the first half of 2021, which are up 30% from the entirety of 2020, indicate that ransomware is an increasing threat to the U.S. financial sector, businesses and the public
Top 5 cryptocurrencies to watch this week: BTC, SOL, AVAX, ALGO, AXS
- Bitcoin (BTC) continues to face strong selling as bulls attempt to flip the psychological level at $60,000 into support. Some analysts believe that Bitcoin could enter a correction as traders book profits following the successful launch of last week’s Bitcoin exchange-traded funds.
- Bitcoin has faced a strong rejection in the $64,854 to $67,000 zone. The price could drop to the 20-day exponential moving average ($58,315) which is a key level to watch out for. If the price bounces off this level with strength, it will signal that sentiment remains positive and traders are buying on dips.
- The long wick on Solana’s (SOL) Oct. 22 candlestick suggests that bears are aggressively defending the overhead resistance at $216. The altcoin formed an inside-day candlestick pattern on Oct. 23, indicating indecision among the bulls and the bears.
- Avalanche (AVAX) broke and closed above the descending channel on Oct. 21, suggesting that the correction may be over. The bulls will now try to resume the uptrend.
- Axie Infinity (AXS) has formed a symmetrical triangle pattern, which indicates indecision among the bulls and the bears. It is difficult to predict the direction of the breakout but usually, the triangle acts as a continuation pattern.
America’s First Bitcoin ETF Wants Exemption from Trading Restrictions
- Less than a week after its blowout launch, ProShares wants to change the way it runs its new Bitcoin futures ETF.
- ProShares CEO Michael Sapir told Barron’s that his firm has filed for an exemption from trading limits at the Chicago Mercantile Exchange, where it purchases futures contracts for its Bitcoin ETF, and that ProShares will request permission to invest in other kinds of derivatives contracts.
- Bloomberg ETF analyst Eric Balchunas corroborated the news on Twitter: “Barron’s article confirms what I’ve been hearing too, that ProShares is filing to be exempt from CME position limits AND they can use swaps if need-be. Both would obv be huge help to maintain exposure if $BITO keeps getting bigger.”
Fear of the unknown: A tale of the SEC’s crusade against synthetics
- On the opening day of Messari Mainnet 2021, New York City’s long-awaited first crypto conference since the start of COVID-19, reports came blazing in via a viral tweet that the United States Securities and Exchange Commission had served a subpoena to an event panelist at the top of an escalator in broad daylight. While it’s still not entirely clear who was served (or why), this isn’t the first time the SEC has encroached upon the crypto industry in full view of the public.
- On July 20, 2021, SEC Chair Gary Gensler issued his remarks outlining the SEC’s scope of authority on cryptocurrency:
- “It doesn’t matter whether it’s a stock token, a stable value token backed by securities, or any other virtual product that provides synthetic exposure to underlying securities. These platforms — whether in the decentralized or centralized finance space — are implicated by the securities laws and must work within our securities regime.”
- Just like the SEC’s bold arrival at Mainnet, Gensler’s remarks definitely did not arise out of the blue. They arose because Gensler — along with his regulatory entourage — finally arrived at the terrifying realization that cryptocurrency’s tokenized, synthetic stocks are just like stocks, but better.
CoinMarketCap hack reportedly leaks 3.1 million user email addresses
- CoinMarketCap, a price-tracking website for cryptocurrencies, has reportedly fallen victim to a hack that leaked 3.1 million (3,117,548) user email addresses.
- The information came into light after the hacked email addresses were found to be traded and sold online on various hacking forums, and revealed by Have I Been Pwned, a website dedicated to tracking hacks and compromised online accounts.
- CoinMarketCap, a subsidiary of Binance cryptocurrency exchange, confirmed that the list of leaked user accounts matched its userbase:
- “CoinMarketCap has become aware that batches of data have shown up online purporting to be a list of user accounts. While the data lists we have seen are only email addresses, we have found a correlation with our subscriber base.”
Terra’s Do Kwon Was Served by SEC at Crypto Conference
- Crypto Twitter was abuzz last month after a speaker at the Messari Mainnet cryptocurrency conference in New York on September 20 was served with a subpoena by someone representing the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission—witnessed by Indiegogo founder and Mainnet attendee Slava Rubin.
- Decrypt has confirmed the recipient was Do Kwon, co-founder and CEO of Terraform Labs. According to a court filing, Kwon is now suing the SEC over the subpoena.
- The subpoena, filed on Friday by Terraform Labs and Kwon against the SEC, claims two subpoenas were “improperly issued and served.” It adds that the agency failed to keep its investigation into Terraform’s Mirror Protocol confidential. “The subpoenas were served on Mr. Kwon in public,” the lawsuit reads. “Mr. Kwon was approached by the process server as he exited an escalator at the Mainnet summit while on his way to make a scheduled presentation that was not about the Mirror Protocol.”
