Trading Volume Of Bitcoin Has Surpassed GBP As English Fiat Loses Ground

The latest developments coming in for Bitcoin (BTC) suggest that its value has experienced a significant push versus the British sterling. The value of Bitcoin has recorded a significant push against the value of the GBP.

The reason is the GBP

It is worth noting that Bitcoin did not have much involvement in experiencing a surge in its value versus the GBP. Instead, it is the GBP that has helped push the price of Bitcoin higher against its market value.

The forex data shows that the value of the GBP has experienced a dip in the global market. The price of the GBP started to experience a dip starting from the Tuesday trading session.

As the value of the GBP went down, the investors were too quick to react to the market trend and went for Bitcoin. They wanted to gain from the opportunity and the GBP’s plunging value was the major catalyst behind that.

As the investors increased their investments in Bitcoin, its value started to gain weight versus the GBP.

GBP Dipped Versus the USD

The British sterling even experienced a dip in its value versus the United States dollar (USD). The data has been shared by a research platform known as Kaiko.

The dip was experienced in the value of the GBP as unfunded tax cuts were announced by the government of the United Kingdom.

Bitcoin/GBP Trading Volume has spiked

As a result of the GBP’s falling price in the global market, investors flocked to invest in the BTC/GBP pair. This caused the trading volume of the particular pair to experience a sudden push in the upward direction.

Despite the crypto winter, the investors have trust in the future growth of Bitcoin. This perception came to life as the value of the GBP faltered against the BTC.

According to many cryptocurrency experts, they saw a huge spike in the trading volume of the BTC/GBP pair on multiple cryptocurrencies.

On September 26, the trading volume for the particular pair reached an all-time high of $881 million. According to statistics, the trading volume recorded for the BTC/GBP was 1,100% stronger than the usual trading volume.

On a normal trading day, the trading volume recorded for the same pair would be $70 million.

EUR Investors are reacting the same

Surprisingly, it is not just the GBP investors who are turning to Bitcoin to generate gains but the EUR investors are going for the same.

The data shows that in the past month, the trading volume for the EUR and the BTC pair recorded an 85% surge. The USD and the BTC pair also witnessed a 67% surge in the trading volume in the same period.

This is a strong indication that the investors are finding Bitcoin and altcoins to be the perfect hedge and gaining opportunity amidst the faltering fiat economy.

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BitMEX CEO Says Institutional Appetite For Crypto Is Growing

Alexander Hoptner, the chief executive of BitMEX, shared his thoughts about the appetite of institutional investors for crypto in a recent interview.

According to the CEO, they have certainly not lost their appetite for cryptocurrencies in general, or Ethereum, despite the bear market in crypto.

Growing appetite

On September 28th, the CEO spoke in Singapore at the Token2049 Conference and said that the bear market had not seen a slowdown in the institutional push where cryptocurrencies are concerned.

He said that finance industry players and institutions usually take advantage of bear markets for the purpose of innovation.

The crypto executive said that a bull market comes with greater pressure for delivering, but the luxury of more time is only available in a bear market.

According to Hoptner, there is a long horizon for the finance industry’s adoption due to which institutions will use this time to buy and hold crypto assets, while the retail sector does the opposite.

He was also asked if he believes retail or institutions will help the crypto industry pull out of the bear market and he said that the former was pulling out, while the latter was pushing.

Therefore, he said that institutions were gearing up to offer their services and retail would eventually return and push the market up again.

Ethereum

The BitMEX boss also believes that institutional investors would also begin pushing into Ethereum once more since it has made the transition to a proof-of-stake (PoS) algorithm.

This means that the blockchain has now assuaged the Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) concerns.

He said that Ethereum was the top protocol for building stuff and Ethereum’s transition gives the opportunity to develop financial products for conforming to ESG.

He stated that ESG conformity is essential for now and said that institutions would be able to offer products meant for a wide audience while ensuring their compliance.

Ether prices

According to Hoptner, he believes that the price of Ether will climb up to $3,000 by the year end and this is because of the environmentally-friendly nature of the crypto.

It is also the fact that some of the big banks are making use of the token as well. At the time of writing, Ether had recorded a rise of 3.8% in the last 24 hours, which has taken it to $1,336.

This shows that the token has a long way to go before it comes close to the $3K mark because it is not even halfway there for now.

It had recently been reported that as opposed to holding regular Ether tokens, it is becoming more profitable for people to hold liquid staking products.

These include those like the Staked Ether (stETH) offered by Lido. They are likely to see their popularity go up, while it would become obsolete for people to hold ETH.

Currently, the crypto market is facing what is commonly called the crypto winter, as the prices of all assets have come down significantly from their all-time highs (ATHs).

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Bitcoin Network’s Mining Difficulty Drops First Time In 2 Months

The mining difficulty level of the Bitcoin network had been increasing for the last four times, but it finally recorded a decline in 68 days.

On Tuesday, the Bitcoin network’s mining difficulty recorded a fall of 2.14% when the block height stood at 756,000.

This change means that it has become 2.14% easier for people to mine a bitcoin block reward, after the difficulty had reached its all-time high (ATH) back on September 13th.

Miners catch a break

On Tuesday evening, the bitcoin network’s mining difficult slid for the first time in about 68 days by 2.14%, which means that miners can finally catch a break.

Two weeks ago on Tuesday, September 13th, Bitcoin’s mining difficulty had reached an all-time high at 32.04 trillion, but it has now come down to 31.36 trillion.

As the difficulty level is adjusted after the mining of 2,016 blocks, there will not be any changes to the difficulty level for the next two weeks.

The hashrate of the network is currently around 234 exahash per second (EH/s), but statistics indicate that the hashrate was around 225.3 EH/s during the last 2,016 blocks.

More statistics

Current metrics indicate that keeping the current electrical costs at about $0.07 for every kilowatt hour (kWh) and keeping the current price of BTC in mind, an estimated profit of around $0.12 to $7.95 per day can be made with almost 41 SHA256 application-specific integration circuit (ASIC) bitcoin miners.

The estimated profit that can be generated with nine ASIC bitcoin miners at $0.12 per kWh is between $0.33 and $4.24 per day.

Today, the most profitable ASIC mining machines that can be found are the Bitmain Antminer S19 XP which offers 140 terahash per second (TH/s), the Bitmain Antminer S19 Pro with 110 TH/s, the Microbt Whatsminer M50 with 114 TH/s, the Microbt Whatsminer M50S with 126 TH/s and the Antminer S19 Pro+ Hyd with 198 TH/s.

Mined blocks

Bitcoin miners were able to mine a total of 423 blocks in the last three days, with 108 blocks found by Foundry USA.

It has emerged as the top miner in the last three days as its contribution to the global hashrate was 25.53%, or 56.53 EH/s.

The second position goes to Antpool, the third spot belongs to F2pool, the fourth to Binance Pool and the last pool to Viabtc.

Currently, there are a total of 11 mining pools that are dedicated to bitcoin mining and they contribute about 98.11% to the global hashrate.

1.89% is contributed by unknown miners, which is around 4.19 ETH/s that was used for discovering eight of the total blocks that were mined in the last 423 days.

In addition, it should be noted that keeping the current block time speeds in mind, the next change in the difficulty level is expected to be an increase of about 1.32%.

However, there are still 1,957 blocks left to mine and this means that a lot of things can change during this time.

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Crypto Advocates Celebrate California Governor’s Veto Of Bill

Gavin Newsom, the Governor of California, vetoed a statewide bill that was aimed at creating a framework for crypto regulation and this move has crypto proponents cheering.

The governor sent a memo on Friday in which he provided details of the veto. He stated that the bill in question was premature and added that they needed a more flexible approach because blockchain technology is evolving.

The veto

The governor opted to veto Assembly Bill 2269, even though it had received a lot of support in the legislature. It had 0 ‘no’ votes and 71 ‘yes’ votes, while there were nine abstentions.

Had the governor chosen to sign it into law, it would have meant that all crypto companies operating in California would have to get a state-approved license for conducting their activities.

Newsom also added that he had decided to veto because the cost of implementing the bill was significant.

He stated that with the passage of time, they would require a loan of tens of millions of dollars for AB2269.

Furthermore, Newsom also prefers to wait until the federal government clarifies its stance on crypto regulation and the results of the Executive Order issued in May on crypto are presented.

The Executive Order

Executive Order N-9-22 had been signed earlier this year by Newsom, under which his administration was to conduct research into crypto and for establishing a transparent regulatory framework for the industry in the state.

According to Newsom, locking in a licensing structure would be premature because the federal government has not clarified its stance and the results of this executive order are not in as yet.

He is also not the only one who had some concerns about the bill in question. A pro-crypto technology policy coalition, the Chamber of Progress, also had issues with some parts of the bill.

Chamber of Progress

The partners of the Chamber of Progress include names like Meta, FTX US, Circle, Apple and Amazon. Back in June, it had asked for several revisions to be made to the crypto bill.

These changes had been made in the final draft of the bill. A new memo had then been issued by the Chamber of Congress in which it approved the bill’s latest version, which still had a few more revisions pending.

The bill did not warn the state to impose a ban on licenses for algorithmic stablecoins and asked for clarification about the cryptocurrencies that would come under the Department of Financial Protection and Innovation.

But, Adam Kovacevich, the chief executive of the Chamber of Progress, was also pleased with the decision of the governor to veto the bill.

The CEO said that this would give the legislature the opportunity to take a more inclusive and less hurried approach to come up with crypto regulations that promote innovation and offer consumer protections.

He added that California and others states had a big opportunity to get crypto regulation done right in the next few years.

Lawyer Hailey Lennon was also pleased with the news and said it was good for the crypto industry.

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FTX Successfully Wins Assets Belonging To Voyager Digital In An Auction

FTX US has recently made a major announcement in regards to winning the assets that once belonged to the highly troubled lending platform Voyager Digital.

FTX US Wins the Auction

FTX US, a major cryptocurrency exchange based in the United States has announced that it has won the bid for Voyager Digital’s assets.

Voyager digital was once one of the top cryptocurrency lending platforms as well as a cryptocurrency brokerage firm.

However, with the downfall of the Terra Network, Voyager Digital had no option but to file for bankruptcy.

In order to pay the creditors and investors back for their investments, Voyager Digital decided to sell its assets with the order coming from the court.

The reports confirm that FTX US has won the auction that valued the overall assets for Voyager Digital at almost $1.4 billion.

The company had announced that the value of its crypto holdings was worth $1.3 billion. Additionally, the company claimed that its assets also had an incremental value that was to be worth $111 million.

Surprisingly, FTX US did not present any arguments on the $111 million and proceeded with the auction, finally acquiring the assets.

No Clarity about Voyager Digital’s Customers

There is a major concern among the customers of Voyager Digital who have received no refund or compensation for the money they lost to the platform.

There is no clarity on whether the users will regain access to the cryptocurrency holdings they had on the platform or not. For now, no clarity or additional information has been provided by the executives at Voyager Digital surrounding the matter.

The crypto sources have assured that they will be sharing more information as it is made available from the side of Voyager Digital.

FTX US to Let Customers Trade as Normal

After winning the assets, FTX US has full control over the assets, tools, and platforms that were once run by Voyager Digital.

The Voyager Digital officials confirmed after the auction that FTX US has decided it would let the users trade in cryptocurrencies as normal. The users will be able to store their cryptocurrencies in their holdings on the platform.

However, it is yet to be confirmed what is going to happen to the old crypto holdings the users had in their accounts at Voyager Digital. The access to use the platform will be given to the users by the FTX US exchange once the chapter 11 cases have been concluded.

FTX US has not decided to comment on the situation but the exchange has no such responsibility over the funds that Voyager Digital was once responsible for.

It is expected that the Bankruptcy Court in the United States may issue an order to Voyager Digital officials to deal with their customers and compensate them for their losses.

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Robinhood Has Announced It Has Enlisted USDC On Its Crypto Trading Platform

For those who are already or are planning to adopt Robinhood to perform cryptocurrency trades, the mobile-based crypto trading application has an announcement for them.

The online broker known mainly for cryptocurrency trading has announced that it has enlisted a new stablecoin. The reports confirm that the new token added to Robinhood’s product list is USDC.

Robinhood Launches USDC

On Tuesday, the officials at Robinhood Markets confirmed that they have enlisted a new token so the cryptocurrency community can benefit from that.

Following the announcement, USD Coin (USDC) has been made available on Robinhood’s platform in the form of pairs. The cryptocurrency investors on the Robinhood platform can interact with the newly added stablecoin while performing trades.

Robinhood added to the Announcement

While announcing the latest development, the Robinhood executives also revealed further functionalities that have been introduced alongside USDC.

The company has announced that the traders will be able to transfer USDC to multiple blockchain networks. These networks include Ethereum and Polygon.

Robinhood is Eyeing Broader Jurisdictions

As of now, Robinhood is available only within the United States. However, by offering a stablecoin pegged with the USD, Robinhood has given a hint to cryptocurrency experts and market observers.

According to many, Robinhood offering USDC is a clear indication that the app-based broker is planning to expand its business beyond the US jurisdictions.

The company is now aiming to grow across borders and may be planning to become an international app-based broker. If that is the case then it is about time Robinhood has come up with a great plan to bring back its old market reputation and revenue-generating opportunities.

From Rising to Demise

Robinhood was launched back in 2013 but it initially offered stock trading services. The broker moved to cryptocurrencies much later but did not find it to be too profitable.

Still, the broker had made a decision that was going to prove extremely profitable for the company later.

By the end of 2020, the crypto boom was witnessed which pushed the cryptocurrency industry to the limits. As the year 2021 began, Robinhood had already enlisted Bitcoin, Ether, and Dogecoin.

Soon, Dogecoin took off and its value hit the charts like no other cryptocurrency. Robinhood’s revenue from Dogecoin alone was more than the combined revenue generated from Bitcoin and Ether.

For as long as Dogecoin conquered the market, Robinhood continued flying high. Unfortunately, in the later part of 2021, DOGE lost its charm and so did Robinhood.

Since then, Robinhood has continued reporting losses in its revenues and had to cut down its workforce to deal with the shortfalls.

Now, as Robinhood is planning to open up for foreign investors, it can prove to be a breakthrough for the broker. It is expected that Robinhood will soon compete with Venmo, an international crypto trading app launched by PayPal.

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Ripple Claims XRP Is Not A Security As Owners Have No Contract Or Rights

After a long battle that took place between Ripple Labs and the US SEC, it seems that things are finally close to settling. As things seem to be going in favor of Ripple, therefore, it has made the final statement, requesting the court to make the final judgment.

Ripple’s Claim for XRP

With the situation going in favor of Ripple, it has decided to change its strategy. The legal teams at Ripple have changed their stance against the US SEC and now, they have come to a point where they claim XRP is not a security.

According to the legal team, the US SEC cannot consider Ripple’s XRP token as a security. If XRP is to be considered a security, it needs to have a contract or rights given to the owners/investors.

XRP neither involves an investment contract nor grants any kind of rights to the investors. Therefore, XRP cannot be considered a security, which means that the US SEC cannot pursue the case anymore.

US SEC’s Allegation over Ripple Labs

The foundation of the case filed by the US SEC against Ripple Labs back in December 2020 was that XRP was a security.

In the lawsuit, the US SEC claimed that Ripple had been offering XRP to the locals in the United States. As the US SEC considered it to be a security, it alleged that Ripple was involved in illegal activity.

This is because security needs to be approved and registered by the US SEC before an online financial service provider can offer it to US locals.

Ripple has Requested a Dismissal of the Case

Now, the latest development in the case is that Ripple has claimed that XRP is not a security. This means that the foundation of the case was bogus and not credible at all.

Presenting their argument against the US SEC at the court, Ripple has demanded that the case must be dismissed. For this purpose, Ripple has already filed a motion at the Manhattan federal court for the consideration of dismissing the case.

Ripple may Face a Backlash from Investors

From a legal point of view, Ripple seems to have built a strong defense against the US SEC allegations. However, there is a downside to the claim that Ripple’s legal teams have made.

In their defense, Ripple has made the investors feel that they have no rights over the XRP they own. For the investors who spend money to buy XRP, this will be a huge shocker.

Such a realization may result in losing their trust and confidence in XRP, which may cause a downtrend for XRP.

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Unknown Miners Discovered The Most Bitcoin Blocks In 13 Years

It has been 5,012 days since the Bitcoin network first began operating and up until now, a total of 755,000 blocks have already been mined.

Last year, the top two miners last year were Antpool and Foundry USA and the two mining pools have collectively been able to mine a total of 18,229 blocks this year out of 53,510.

The leader this year is Foundry USA, but statistics indicate that it is actually the 15th largest mining pool and has only mined about 1.55% of the total blocks that have been mined into existence so far.

The stats

There were 11 different known mining pools that dedicated their hashrate to Bitcoin (BTC) Network in the last three days.

In the last 12 months, there have been a total of 27 different known mining pools dedicated to BTC and the statistics indicate that about 98 pools have mined the pioneer crypto in the last 13 years.

In terms of hashrate, the leader this year has been Foundry USA and it discovered 10,044 blocks out of the total 53,510 so far.

As for Antpool, it was able to mine 8,185 blocks and the other pools that also mined their fair share of blocks included Poolin, Binance Pool, Btc.com, Viabtc, and F2pool, not in that order.

Stealth miners

Also known as stealth miners, the unknown hashrate was able to capture about 1.78% of the blocks mined in the last year.

In 12 months, unknown hashrate was only able to mine 954 blocks, as it is the known mining pools that are doing a lot of work.

However, this has not always been the case and the ultimate winners of the most BTC blocks mined in history remain, stealth miners, which also includes Satoshi Nakamoto.

According to the data, the last 13 years have seen 755,432 blocks mined and 29.90% of the global hashrate has been captured by these stealth miners.

Even though unknown miners have become less prominent nowadays, they have still managed to uncover 225,864 blocks of bitcoin since the network began.

Mining pools

The past year saw F2pool become the third largest pool, but it is actually the second largest one of all time.

For over a decade, it has commanded about 9.73% of the global hashrate and the total number of blocks it has mined is 73,477.

The third largest pool position belongs to Antpool, as it has discovered about 65,999 blocks up till now. 39,022 blocks were mined by Btc.com while, Braiins Pool, previously called Slush Pool, mined 38,376 blocks.

The sixth largest mining pool called BTC Guild is now defunct. Foundry USA holds the spot of the top miner today, but it is 15 in the overall list.

There are 12 different pools that have managed to capture less than 50 blocks and there are also four that have mined less than 30 blocks.

The least amount of blocks mined by a pool is 22 and 175btc has that particular honor.

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Central Bank Of Netherlands Has Approved Coinbase’s Operations On A Local Scale

The largest cryptocurrency exchange in the United States has made a major announcement in regard to its business expansion.

The exchange has announced that it is constantly expanding its business throughout the world. The exchange is currently targeting the European region and it is expanding aggressively.

Coinbase Goes to the Netherlands

Coinbase has announced that its latest achievement is being able to expand its business in the Netherlands. For this purpose, the exchange had to reach out to the central bank of the Netherlands to get approval.

Finally, the central bank of the Netherlands has authorized the Coinbase exchange to operate in the country and offer securities to the locals.

Coinbase made an Official Announcement on Thursday

On Thursday, the officials at Coinbase made the announcement confirming that they had successfully acquired a license from De Nederlandsche Bank (DNB) to operate in the Netherlands.

Now that the exchange has successfully acquired regulatory approval from the central body in the Netherlands, it will be allowed to operate in the country.

The exchange will be able to offer cryptocurrency products to institutions, retailers, and individual investors in the country as well.

A Major Exchange Comes to Coinbase

According to Coinbase officials, their exchange has become one of the major exchanges to be granted approval to operate in the Netherlands.

So far, only small-level cryptocurrency exchanges and other cryptocurrency-related firms were allowed to operate in the Netherlands.

Coinbase officials have confirmed that their entities; Coinbase Custody International and Coinbase Europe Limited are now registered. These entities have been added to the public registry by the DNB.

With the approval and authorization, these entities can now operate as cryptocurrency service providers in the Netherlands.

The Entities Comply with Regulations

According to the DNB, it is important that every online financial services offering platform must adhere to the regulatory policies. These policies include the Sanctions Act, Anti-Terrorist Financing Act, and the Anti-Money Laundering (AML) policy.

DNB Recently Published Sanctions Screening Policy

The regulatory authority in the Netherlands approved the registration request right after the publishing of the sanctions screening policy. The particular policy is for the monitoring of cryptocurrency transactions.

The particular policy was published by the central bank of the Netherlands on September 16. The particular policy also carries the “Questions and Answers” section in the form of a document.

It provides answers to all the necessary and important questions raised within or about the cryptocurrency industry. The document also warns investors to be vigilant and aware of the risks involved with cryptocurrencies.

The latest move made by Coinbase would allow the exchange to gain much ground in the European region. This would bring in more adoption rate for major and minor cryptocurrencies and strengthen the crypto industry on the European Continent.

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XRP Climbs 44% In A Week After Ripple Moves For Dismissing SEC Lawsuit

Crypto payments firm Ripple Labs introduced the cryptocurrency that is widely known as XRP and the token saw an 11% increase in its value on Friday morning.

This comes after a strong week of gains for the crypto driven by the hope of investors that the lawsuit against Ripple Labs that was filed by the SEC may finally be coming to an end.

Value rises

After jumping 11% on Friday morning, the XRP token’s price cooled down a bit but was still 3% higher for the day.

As far as the week is concerned, the last seven days have seen the token jump by 44% and this has put it back in the list of top six coins in terms of market capitalization, even though there is a general slump in the market.

The post-merge sell-off in Ethereum has seen it lose yet another 12.8% and Bitcoin has gone below the $19,000 threshold for the day.

The price rise for XRP comes after reports earlier this week that both Ripple Labs and the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) had filed motions asking for summary judgment in the lawsuit worth $1.3 billion.

The lawsuit

Both parties want the lawsuit to be dismissed and have asked the judge to give a ruling in their favor. The lawsuit had been filed by the SEC in December 2020 against Ripple and its top executives.

The securities regulator had accused the company of conducting an unregistered securities offering when it sold its XRP token to the public.

Ripple also filed a memorandum, along with its motion, in which it said that its token sale did not confer any rights to XRP holders.

Therefore, it said that the company did not have any obligation to act on their behalf. Stu Alderoty, the General Counsel for Ripple, said that the filing indicates that the SEC did not act within its authority.

He said that rather than applying the law, the SEC wants to remake the law because it wants to expand its jurisdiction.

The SEC

As for the SEC, it has alleged that the XRP token that Ripple has advertised as a cryptocurrency is actually a security under the Howey Test.

This is the benchmark that is used for determining whether an asset is an investment contract under federal law and has been used since the 1930s.

According to the regulator, those who bought the XRP token expected to make a profit after purchasing the coin, which meant that their purchase would be the same as investments in a common enterprise.

Brad Garlinghouse, the chief executive of Ripple, said that before the involvement of the SEC, the XRP token had been the second-most valuable crypto in the market ahead of Ethereum.

The CEO said that they do not really expect a trial to happen because the facts presented are not really in dispute.

He said that they believe the judge has all the information required for issuing a ruling and it is apparent that the SEC is superseding its authority.

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DeFi Bug Bounty Platform Immunefi Raises $24 Million

Immunefi recently announced that it had managed to raise $24 million in a Series A funding round that was led by Framework Ventures.

The popular bug bounty system for decentralized finance (DeFi) projects and smart contracts made the announcement in a press release.

Some of the other companies that participated in the funding round include Samsung Next, Polygon Ventures, Third Prime Ventures, Stratos DeFi, P2P Capital, Electric Capital, Lattice Capital and North Island Ventures.

The platform

The Immunefi platform is for ethical hackers, or whitehats as they are often called, and it offers bug bounty programs to them.

Essentially, it means that security researchers review code for identifying any vulnerabilities and they are rewarded for the efforts they make.

The company disclosed that there are almost 301 projects that use its platform for hosting their bug bounty program.

This means that it helps in protecting approximately $100 million worth of funds that are currently locked in the various smart contracts and decentralized finance (DeFi) protocols that exist.

Some of the renowned names that use Immunefi include Cream Finance, SushiSwap, Compound, MakerDAO, Chainlink, Bancor, OlympusDAO, PancakeSwap and Synthetix.

Background

It should also be noted that Immunefi also played a key role in facilitating the biggest bug bounty payments that have been made in the history of such programs.

This includes $10 million that was paid out for identifying a vulnerability in cross-chain communication protocol called Wormhole, which had been hacked this year in February for $320 million.

Likewise, another payment that was made was worth $6 million for discovering a vulnerability in Aurora, which is a scaling solution and bridge for Ethereum.

According to the company, it has paid out bounties of about $60 million in total to date.

The chief executive and founder of Immunefi, Mitchell Amador said that as the market continues to grow, it is apparent that its success depends on security, as does the key to ensuring future adoption of the technology.

He stated that Web3 will not be able to expand to more people if there is no increase in trust and security.

The CEO said that the funding they had raised would help them in building the infrastructure needed for keeping up with the growing demand for their services.

Immunefi’s future

Amador stated that since Immunefi launched in December 2020, it had experienced a significant amount of growth in the previous year.

He added that a number of projects had launched their bug bounty programs on Immunefi and bug reports had been submitted by a substantial number of whitehat hackers as well.

Last year, Immunefi managed to raise funds of about $5.5 million in October and it is now planning on using the new funding for expanding its current staff of 50 people.

The CEO said that it is possible they might double their existing headcount and they would also aim to improve transparency and accountability in their process, from report to payout.

He also said that the funds would be used for developing an updated version of their platform.

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Lite Forex Pro Review – Is Lite Forex Pro Scam or a Legit Crypto Broker?

Lite Forex Pro Review

Forex trading is the fastest-growing digital trade in the contemporary age. The value of digital assets is increasing day by day. People are investing in digital assets. For trading forex and cryptocurrencies, including Bitcoin, there is a need for an investment platform that offers traders the opportunity to get in on the action. Lite Forex Pro is one such broker that can be trusted with closed eyes. Read this Lite Forex Pro review to know why it is my favourite broker.

Is Lite Forex Pro Legit or a Scam?

Lite Forex Pro is a real trading platform. This means you can get the maximum profit from your investments, and the forum is trusted worldwide due to its striking features. The team has tested the auto-trading system, which has proven effective. The traders on this platform are real people looking for their success. They will not get scammed by Lite Forex Pro or its employees.

A Small Investment Amount

The site provides a platform that offers you a variety of options to invest in different cryptocurrencies and digital currencies. Traders can start trading on this platform with a small amount. This platform aims to allow all users to invest in various digital currencies and learn about the market trends and prices of those currencies at any time, anywhere in the world.

Trading Instruments

Lite Forex Pro is a platform that provides access to a variety of trading instruments. You can trade digital assets, including forex, commodities, and fiat currencies. You are free to trade in all the marketplaces and markets you wish, with no restrictions imposed by Lite Forex Pro or any other party.

Non-Stop Customer Assistance

Lite Forex Pro provides high-quality services to its clients. This forex centre wants its clients to be happy and knows they can only be satisfied when they feel supported. That’s why it has created this reliable trading platform for customers where they can get unlimited customer support in trade.

Lite Forex Pro knows that the world is changing quickly, and it wants you to know that the team of representatives is here for you. So, if there’s something you need help with, message them and they will get back to you as soon as possible. If you would like to stay in touch with this trading platform directly, feel free to reach out via the website, Facebook page, Twitter, or LinkedIn, or send an email.

Trading Tools

Lite Forex Pro has unique tools that help traders gain more profit and stop trading losses. Lite Forex Pro is a platform that allows investors to stay updated with the latest news in the crypto world. They publish different findings on the platform to keep clients informed about what is happening in the market. They show various charts and graphs on the platform to highlight market trends.

Trader Ultimate Guide

Every trader needs to refresh and gain new knowledge about business. In this regard, Lite Forex Pro provides the facility for learning new skills and polishing previous ones. This trading platform aids you in exploring different sources of knowledge and research. So, this trading platform has experts of a professional level to educate the newbies. They conduct webinars for clients because they invite accomplished traders to share their success stories.

Easy to Register

Many forex brokers work in the market, but their registration method is complicated. They demand unnecessary details from the client. On the other hand, Lite Forex Pro gives customers the facility of an easy registration method. They require primary data, such as email addresses, your name, contact number, and other essential data from clients.

Data Security

Lite Forex Pro is committed to protecting the privacy of its users and customers. This trading centre has a strict policy of protecting user accounts, personal information, and financial transactions from being accessed by unauthorized parties or systems. This platform is equipped with the latest technology for 2FA authentication. Lite Forex Pro has 256-bit technology for encrypting client data. All users must provide valid identification for us to verify their identity before providing access to their account information or sharing any other information with them.

Final Verdict

Lite Forex Pro is equipped with multiple features and tools to assist traders. If you are keen on forex trading, you can start trading by signing up on this platform to establish a career in the digital business.

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Treasury Issues Warning About Russia’s Use Of Crypto For Sanction Evasion

On Tuesday, lawmakers were informed by an official of the US Department of Treasury that cryptocurrencies could be used for sanction evasions by Russia.

The official stated that Russian President Vladimir Putin may use these virtual currencies for evading the sanctions that have been imposed on the Kremlin due to their invasion of Ukraine.

The question about sanctions evasion with crypto had been put forward by Democratic Senator Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts.

Terrorist Financing and Financial Crimes’ assistant secretary, Elizabeth Rosenberg, responded that it was entirely possible.

The hearing

A hearing had been convened by the US Senate Committee on Housing, Banking, and Urban Affairs for discussing the next steps that can be used as deterrents against the continued Russian assault on Ukraine.

These included capping the price of Russian oil by G7 countries and seizing the assets of Russian oligarchs.

According to Senator Warren, she had been concerned about the use of crypto by Russian elites for circumventing sanctions since February, when Russia had first invaded Ukraine.

Warren said that they were already aware that countries like North Korea were using crypto for evading sanctions and laundering millions of dollars. She added that Russia could do the same.

Russian entities

The US Treasury Department has already managed to identify Russian entities who tried using crypto for sanction evasion.

This month, two entities and 22 individuals had been designated for helping Russia in financing the war against Ukraine digitally.

A virtual currency mining company had been targeted in April by the agency, along with a privately owned commercial bank, oligarch Konstantin Malofeyev and 40 other entities and individuals that he led.

The month also saw sanctions imposed on virtual currency exchange Garantex and Darknet market Hydra based in Russia in order to eliminate avenues of sanction evasion.

Sanction evasion

The US government has already taken steps of blocking access to assets in the country and transactions between sanctioned individuals and people in the US have also been blocked.

However, Russia has been working on developing its own digital currency in order to directly trade with countries.

Moreover, it has also come up with tools that can be used for masking the origins of transactions, as it is possible to track transactions on crypto exchanges that are based on the blockchain.

Rosenberg admitted that sanction enforcement could be compromised with the use of technologies that enhance anonymity and other tools developed for hiding digital transactions.

This had prompted the Treasury to sanction these ‘mixers’ for the first time in May and then in August when it sanctioned the famous ‘Tornado Cash’.

Warren disclosed that US-based crypto exchange Coinbase had filed a lawsuit in the previous month against the US Treasury for users of Tornado Cash.

Paul Grewal, the chief legal officer of Coinbase, said that the sanctions were setting a dangerous precedent, but Rosenberg stated that they were quite effective.

She said that they would deter criminals from using mixers for laundering funds that are generated via criminal activity.

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Invest 505 Review – Is Invest 505 Scam or a Legit Crypto Broker?

Invest 505 Review

Choosing a reliable broker such as Invest 505 is one of the most crucial decisions you can make when deciding how successful you will be in online trading. Read our Invest 505 review first if you want to earn profits.

Trading Platform That Is Friendly to Users

Your Broker will provide you with a trading platform on which to conduct all your trades, so you must be familiar with it before making a final decision. It indicates that the product must be of good quality and feature all the essential tools that will aid you in getting the most out of the offers you find. Customers of Invest 505 will be ecstatic to learn that the firm has developed a one-of-a-kind trading platform that will meet all of their requirements in terms of trading.

The fact that the Invest 505 trading platform is web-based implies that it does not need the user to install any application to use it, which is the most critical detail to keep in mind about this platform. Simply browsing the Broker’s website is all that is required of you to get started using the Broker’s services.

Security Service

A trader should know that having a safe and secure trading platform is the key to success in trading. Because when you register with a brokerage firm, you are prone to danger because all your data, cash and personal details are provided to the platform. But a reliable platform like Invest 505 is a trustworthy trading platform. Yes, a brokerage you can trust blindly.

Invest 505 provides its clients with every necessary security they need to succeed in their trading career. This implies that traders have access to their accounts, and the company’s cash is kept separate from those accounts. Client funds are never utilized for anything other than trading operations.

In addition, Invest 505 abides by the Anti-Money-Laundering (AML) and Know-Your-Customer (KYC) protocols, which are designed to protect customers from becoming victims of financial crime and identity fraud.

 Assistance and Support Service for Clients

Getting appropriate and prompt help from your Broker is the quality you should always check before signing up with any brokerage firm. Invest 505 ia a trading platform that supports its client through thick and thin. That means when you need help, you can always reach out to Invest 505’s helpful and professional support team. This means that any queries you may have concerning the trading platform will be answered quickly and efficiently.

The growing pace of competition in the online trading market has prompted the Broker to take extra measures to guarantee that his traders are happy with the support they get. The team at Invest 505 is committed to ensuring that all of their customers are happy, which is why your issue got resolved so quickly.

Financial Tools

Picking a broker without first learning about the trading options they provide is a bad idea. Perhaps you have a higher or lower tolerance for risk than other traders, or maybe you’re just interested in trading a certain kind of market or commodity.

If you research in advance, you may avoid being let down and end up with the best brokerage business for your online trading needs. You will discover a complete number of products associated with the cryptocurrency market, foreign exchange, indices, stocks, and commodities when you use this Broker. In addition to these markets, you will also find items related to commodity markets.

Anyone who decides to go with Invest 505 will be able to take full advantage of the perks associated with versatility because of the variety of options available here. It can help lower risks while giving you significant earnings.

Conclusion

After giving the Invest 505 features a detailed analysis, you will find that Invest 505 provides exceptional trading conditions, 24 hours a day, seven days a week customer support, a straightforward sign-up procedure, a wide range of account options, and simple customization, all of which integrate to make it a prime brokerage that is suitable for anyone.

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SEC Claims Ethereum Comes Under Us Jurisdiction

On Monday, the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) filed a federal lawsuit against Ian Balina for not registering a crypto as a security before he conducted an initial coin offering (ICO) in 2018.

At first glance, everything appeared to be standard because the securities regulator has been filing civil lawsuits against organizations and individuals for launching unregistered ICOs.

But, there was a lot more to discover in the fine print of the lawsuit against the crypto influencer.

The truth

The SEC made a rather unprecedented and bold move that it buried in the 69th paragraph of the lawsuit. It mentions that they can sue Balina because of the transactions he made in the United States.

But, there is another detail mentioned, which states that they can also go after Balina legally because essentially the whole of the Ethereum network is under the purview of the US government.

The regulator said in its complaint that a network of nodes on the Ethereum network was used for validating the ETH that Balina had received.

It added that these nodes were clustered in the US more than anywhere else. Therefore, it means those transactions occurred in the United States.

The Ethereum network

To put it simply, the SEC is implying that because a greater number of validating nodes for the Ethereum network exist in the US, then all global transactions involving ETH should be considered of US origin.

According to Etherscan, about 45.85% of all Ethereum nodes are operating in the US and Germany has the second-greatest density of nodes, which is around 10%.

Experts said that the SEC has claimed that doing business on the Ethereum blockchain is similar to doing business on a securities exchange in the US.

This makes it extremely convenient and simpler from their regulatory perspective.

If activity on the Ethereum network is classified as the same as an American securities exchange, then it would give the regulator jurisdiction on all activity taking place on it.

This would see the role of the SEC escalate in a major way in terms of Ethereum’s oversight, which is where most DeFi and NFT activity occurs, as well as crypto as a whole.

The significance

While it is unlikely that the court will weigh in on this phenomenon in the particular case associated with Balina, the statement has a lot of significance, especially for the crypto community.

It is possible that the SEC is trying to add its vision and understanding of Ethereum to the judicial ecosystem.

They are essentially implying that this financial activity is under their jurisdiction, so they will regulate all of it.

This kind of claim on the entire Ethereum network comes off as unprecedented. Gary Gensler, the SEC chairman, had implied last week that Ethereum’s transfer to the PoS protocol could bring it closer to security.

He had not mentioned Ethereum specifically, but he had asserted that all crypto tokens that are based on the proof-of-stake (PoS) protocol fulfill the definition of security in the eyes of the government.

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$433 Million Liquidated As Bitcoin And Ethereum Plunge

Over the weekend, top cryptocurrencies saw their prices plunge even further, which has resulted in a lot of liquidations in the market.

Data from CoinMarketCap showed that Bitcoin’s bearish price action saw it drop to a low of three months at $18,390.

Bitcoin’s drop

The last 24 hours saw Bitcoin shed about 8%, so the leading cryptocurrency was trading hands at $18,440, even though its daily trading volumes had climbed by 64%.

The last week has seen Bitcoin lose about 17% of its value and it has shed about 73% of its value from the all-time high value that it touched in November 2021 at $68,789.63.

The total market cap of the pioneer crypto has lost more than 50%, as it had been about $1.27 trillion last year in November at its peak and it is now $354 billion.

According to Blockchain.com, on Sunday, the difficulty of the Bitcoin Network also reached 32.045t, which is an all-time high.

Network difficulty refers to the computational challenge that miners have to cover for mining a block.

Higher computational power is required when difficulty is greater and this affects the profitability of the miners significantly. This pushes down the price of Bitcoin.

Ethereum drops

The second-largest crypto in terms of market cap, Ethereum saw an 11% decline in just 24 hours, as it fell below $1,300.

On 15th September, Ethereum finally saw ‘The Merge’ happen and since then, it has suffered from losses of 20% in its value. Its total market cap at this time is around $159 billion.

According to data from CoinMarketCap, Ethereum reached an all-time high value in November 2021 at $4,891.70, but it has lost 73.30% since then.

The last 24 hours also saw an 18% decline in Ethereum’s NFT trading volumes, while the monthly decline is around 30%.

Likewise, the past 24 hours have also seen a 12.73% decline in the total value locked (TVL) in DeFi (decentralized finance) applications, which shows that user interest in the space has declined.

Long traders concerned

Due to the bearish price action in the crypto space, about 131,000 traders liquidated $433 million in the last 24 hours.

Of this total, 87%, or $379 million had been long positions, which further highlights the bearish trend of the market.

There were about $173 million liquidations of Ethereum, while $121 million were related to bitcoin during the same period.

The bearish price action of the market is likely because of the expected interest rate hike by the US Federal Reserve later in this week.

According to reports, an increase of 100 basis points is also on the table, after the inflation figures for August turned out to be hotter than expectations.

However, most people are expecting a hike of about 50 to 75 basis points. There were also declines recorded in other leading cryptocurrencies in the market.

A 12% loss was seen in Polkadot, 10% in Avalanche, 10% in Shiba Inu, 12% in Polygon, and 10% in Cardano occurred in the last 24 hours.

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US SEC’s Crypto Guidelines Increase Costs For Lenders

The accounting guidance from the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has upended the cryptocurrency projects of banks.

According to people with knowledge of the matter, this is because the guidance would make it too capital-intensive for banking institutions to hold crypto assets on behalf of their customers.

Banks

According to media reports and their public statements, there are a number of prominent banks that are offering, or working on offering crypto products and services to their clients.

After all, all these lending institutions also want to tap into the crypto market, which is worth $1 trillion now and had reached $3 trillion at its peak last year.

These names include Deutsche Bank, BNY Mellon, Goldman Sachs Group Inc., BNP Paribas, Wells Fargo & Co, JP Morgan Chase & Co, State Street Corp, and US Bancorp.

However, the SEC had stated on March 31st that public companies holding crypto tokens for their clients have to list them in their balance sheets under liabilities because of their regulatory, legal and technological risks.

While this guidance applies to all public companies, it is very problematic for lenders because bank regulators oversee their capital rules.

Therefore, they have to have cash against the liabilities in the balance sheet. When issuing this guidance, the SEC had not consulted with any banking regulators.

Complications

The move of the SEC will only add complications to the efforts of banking institutions to jump onto the crypto bandwagon.

As a matter of fact, it could even push them to the sidelines because there is a rising demand from clients who want to get access to the burgeoning industry.

One of the sources said that the SEC’s guidance had thrown a huge wrench into the plans of lenders. Those working on crypto offerings had to cease their plans due to the risk of regulatory action.

Custody banks

According to the sources, the biggest impact of the SEC guidance has been on custody banks, such as BNY Mellon and State Street.

This is because these banks were working on their digital asset offerings and now these projects have been disrupted.

Even though State Street can continue offering crypto custody services even after the accounting guidance of the SEC, it does make it uneconomical.

The head of State Street Digital said that adding the crypto assets they keep on behalf of their clients to their balance sheets does not make sense because they do not own them.

As for BNY Mellon, a representative only said that the digital assets are not going anywhere and they are on course to become a part of mainstream finance.

A spokesperson for US Bancorp said that after the SEC guidance, they were still offering bitcoin custody services to existing clients, but were no longer taking on new ones until they evaluate the regulatory environment.

It is clear that the SEC guidance will make it cost prohibitive for a number of banks to introduce crypto custody services because they would have to have a lot of capital.

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Pro Investments Review – Is It A Trusted Broker?

Pro Investments Review

You will undoubtedly admit that online trading is among the most lucrative investment option of recent times. True enough, you can trade digital assets to supplement your income amidst an ongoing economic crisis.

Though asset classes such as crypto have been in the space for more than a decade, the latest upticks have attracted investors from different regions. The best thing is that the industry has something for everyone.

You only need a trusted trading platform such as Pro Investments to enjoy money-making deals in the trading world. This Pro Investments review shows how the broker ensures trustworthy services to modern investors.

Though the optimistic promises, you should beware of the related risks. For instance, you may have to capitalize on wild price fluctuations to access profitable opportunities.

That’s not to forget the security problems that have plagued this industry. However, legitimate investment venues exist to alleviate these hurdles. Reputable brokerage platforms such as Pro Investments boast top-notch trading tools and investment features that market players can use to magnify their returns.

Nevertheless, research is essential to find a broker that suits you. What should you consider when looking for reliable online trading sites?

A Top-Notch Trading Platform

You can count on Pro Investments in top-notch trading platforms within the financial space. That might translate to enjoying an independent and unique site that will likely heighten your outcomes.

The broker added several trading features, services, and tools to ensure online investors have the best. Make sure to check what any broker has when it comes to this feature to avoid disappointment.

The broker’s trading platform remains crucial to your success as a trader. Remember, you will utilize this functionality in all undertakings while navigating the trading world.

With Pro Investments’ trading platform, you will access services such as historical reports, one-click executions, daily price notifications, financial news, trading charts, and many more.

Also, you can access all trading features using Android or iOS devices. Also, you can utilize the web trading platform to avoid trading software installation.

Lucrative Trading Accounts

Pro Investments promises all trading services on a single platform. It might be a legit choice if you want a broker that ensures versatility. You can enjoy multiple account options, allowing you to select what suits your budget and risk appetite. First and foremost, the company has a demo account.

You can utilize it to understand different online investment facets before depositing your ‘real’ cash. You can then move to the money-making trading accounts.

Remember, you will access more features and services once you upgrade from the demo account. For instance, you will access functionalities like welcome bonuses, live webinars, and market alerts.

Also, Pro Investments has one-to-one coaching sessions. Remember, you will need different cash balances to unlock each account. The best thing is starting with minimum investments and increasing your stake as you learn the markets.

Many Tradeable Instruments

Expert online investors would want brokers that offer comprehensive asset indexes. Do you want to navigate the markets like a pro? Well, you may have to evaluate what any trading platform has before selecting its offerings.

Remember, trading platforms differ in what they present to investors. Indeed, the financial space has a wide range of tradeable instruments.

Also, financial pros urge market players to diversify their portfolios. That implies investing in multiple financial objects. It helps you to minimize losses as you magnify your earning potential.

Meantime, Pro Investments seem to understand this strategy and is ready to take the investor game to another level. For instance, the broker allows you to access modern markets. You can trade stocks, cryptocurrencies, forex, and indices. Investors only need to choose their favorite.

Final Thought

Pro Investments is a trusted brokerage company that ensures the best for online investors. It boasts multiple features designed to heighten investor earnings. Moreover, it guarantees a money-making environment for newbies and experienced market players. You can visit their official site for more information.

Success!

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White House Announces ‘Comprehensive Framework’ For Crypto Regulation

On September 16th, a first-ever ‘Comprehensive Framework’ was unveiled by the White House, which is aimed at the development and regulation of crypto assets in a responsible manner.

It essentially outlines the recommendations and conclusions of different federal agencies that had been studying the crypto industry for about six months.

The framework

This year in March, President Joe Biden signed an executive order in which he directed the authorities to research cryptocurrencies.

Similar to the executive order, the ‘comprehensive framework’ only provides a clear view of how cryptocurrencies should be regulated in the United States and does not introduce any new legislation.

A total of nine reports had been submitted to the President after the executive order had been issued, which were used to develop the new framework.

It was stated that the framework is a reflection of the expertise and input of a number of stakeholders spread across the industry, government, civil society, and academia.

They have wide-ranging concerns due to which the recommendations include obvious and non-obvious things.

The former include national and environmental security as well as consumer protection. As for the latter, it is about establishing the role of the US as a global crypto leader.

This can be accomplished through international cooperation and innovation in the private sector.

The different sections

It should be noted that the framework presented has been divided into multiple sections. There is a section for protecting investors, consumers, and businesses.

One is focused on ensuring responsible innovation and another on combating illicit finance. There is also one that focuses on the promotion of affordable and safe financial services.

Another is about fostering financial stability, while one is about ensuring the global financial competitiveness and leadership of the US.

Most importantly, there is also one that explores the idea of launching a central bank digital currency (CBDC) in the United States.

The recommendations

The framework suggests that regulatory authorities like the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) and the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) continue working together for overseeing the industry.

It also suggests that they share the data regarding consumer complaints related to the industry. An active role will be adopted by the US Treasury in helping financial institutions.

It would assist them in identifying as well as mitigating cyber risks via data analysis and sharing. It also has to work with regulators for providing regulatory guidance to crypto companies.

This role will also be extended by the US Treasury department to the country’s allies via international organizations.

These include the Financial Stability Board (FSB) and the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD).

The Treasury has also been tasked with completing a risk assessment of illicit finance on decentralized finance and on non-fungible tokens (NFTs) by the end of February and July 2023, respectively.

The final decision will rest with President Joe Biden about whether amendments would be required to the Bank Secrecy Act, laws relating to unlicensed money transfers, and anti-tip-off statutes for digital assets.

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Bitgo Files Lawsuit Against Galaxy Digital

The financial services provider and digital asset custody business, Bitgo recently disclosed that it had recently filed a lawsuit against Galaxy Digital.

The company said that it had decided to sue the crypto company for damages of over $100 million. It said that the lawsuit was due to Galaxy’s intentional breach and repudiation of their merger agreement.

Termination of acquisition deal

On August 16th, reports indicated that Galaxy Digital’s Mike Novogratz had decided to not go through with their acquisition deal of Bitgo.

Originally, the billionaire investor’s company had intended to buy the crypto asset financial services provider in May 2021 for a $1.2 billion deal involving stocks and cash.

But, Galaxy had stated that they had decided to terminate the deal because specific financial documents had not been delivered by Bitgo.

It specified that these documents were the audited financial statements of the company for the previous year.

According to Galaxy, these documents had not been delivered by Bitgo on the date specified. Bitgo had immediately reacted to the allegations after the deal’s termination was announced by Galaxy Digital.

Bitgo’s response

The company had published a press release saying that Galaxy Digital was legally liable for its decision to end the acquisition deal, which was improper.

It made the announcement of the lawsuit on September 13th in which it said that its goal is to address the decision of Galaxy Digital to breach their agreement intentionally and end the deal.

The company has reached out to Quinn Emanuel, a litigation firm based in Los Angeles.

Brian Timmons, a partner at the litigation firm, said that they had filed the lawsuit under seal in Delaware Chancery Court because they were just being cautious.

There was no confidential information that had been included in the complaint.

Galaxy’s issue

However, Bitgo said that Galaxy does not believe so and it has asked that some of the allegations be removed from the complaint before it goes public.

But, it did add that even if they decide to redact some of the information, the public would still be able to access the information on Thursday, shortly after 5 pm.

As far as the lawsuit issue is concerned, Bitgo believes that Galaxy Digital owes it $100 million in termination fees and other damages and the story is being closely followed by the crypto community.

Users said that they were interested in knowing the exact allegations that Bitgo had made against Galaxy Digital.

When Galaxy announced the decision to terminate the deal, it had said that since it was Bitgo’s failure to provide documents that resulted in termination, they did not have to pay anything.

It claimed that no termination fee was applicable, but Bitgo does not believe so and it has decided to pursue the matter legally against Mike Novogratz’s company.

It would certainly be interesting to see how events unfold in the matter, as the complaint is likely to move forward unless the two companies reach a settlement.

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SEC Will Need To Approve An ETF For Bitcoin, Says Chamber Of Digital Commerce

The Chamber of Digital Commerce has recently made a statement that involves the US SEC and what it will need to do with incoming ETF requests.

SEC to Approve Requests for ETF

The Chamber of Digital Commerce, the crypto advocacy group has stated that it has become very important that the SEC must address the requests coming in for the ETF approvals.

The group has demanded that the US Securities and Exchange Commission must start reviewing and approving the requests for ETFs.

However, the group has demanded that the US SEC must acknowledge the interest of the investors who are living in the United States. The Exchange Commission must begin with approving the approval applications for Bitcoin ETFs.

Claims in “The Crypto Conundrum”

The Chamber of Digital Commerce shared a report on Monday that is titled “The Crypto Conundrum”. In the particular report, the Chamber of Digital Commerce has openly talked about the cryptocurrency developments taking place in the United States.

The Chamber has claimed that the United States has fallen much behind other countries that have already started offering ETF services to their locals.

Investors in other countries are already investing in cryptocurrency investment vehicles. Countries other than the United States are already offering ETF services to investors.

The most prominent and highly adopted exchange-traded funds offered in other countries are Bitcoin (BTC).

Bitcoin ETFs are on the Rise

Despite the market downfall and Bitcoin being at the center of all of it, it is adopted as the most preferred exchange-traded fund.

The residents from multiple countries are investing indirectly in Bitcoin through the BTC ETFs but the US is still far behind the rest.

The country is yet to approve the first-ever ETF for Bitcoin or any other cryptocurrency. As of now, the highest adoption rate recorded for cryptocurrencies is in the United States.

Considering the level of participation of the US locals in cryptocurrencies, the ETFs would prove to be a huge success in the country. Through ETFs, investors can make indirect investments in Bitcoin or altcoins.

Countries with Highest ETF Approval Rates

Although the United States is still waiting to approve a single ETF, multiple countries from around the world with strong economies have already launched multiple ETFs.

The countries with the highest ETF offerings include Australia, Switzerland, Sweden, Germany, and Canada.

The US SEC has listened to the Call

Up until now, the US SEC has continued rejecting ETF approval requests providing reasons such as risky assets or becoming a target for untrustworthy actors and providers.

The US SEC has recently announced that it will be launching multiple specialized offices throughout the country to expedite the approval process for ETFs.

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Indian Authorities Unfreeze Accounts Of Wazirx

The Wazirx crypto exchange said that its bank accounts were unfrozen by the Enforcement Division (ED) in India.

The accounts had previously been frozen due to an investigation launched by the federal agency into 16 fintech firms and instant loan applications.

The investigation

On Monday, Indian crypto exchange Wazirx announced that the economic intelligence and law enforcement agency of the Indian government called Enforcement Division (ED) had unfrozen the firm’s bank accounts.

According to the company, the ED had launched an investigation focused on 16 instant loan applications and fintech companies due to which the accounts had been frozen in the first place.

Wazirx clarified that it was not associated with any of the instant loan apps or fintech entities that had been the subject of the investigation of the ED.

But, the crypto exchange disclosed that some of these companies had made use of its trading platform and this has resulted in it being targeted as well.

It was revealed by the Indian crypto exchange that it cooperated with investigators during the probe and had provided them with all the necessary documents, information, and details of the companies that had used its platform.

Account freezing

The crypto exchange stated that its active cooperation with ED and thanks to its anti-money laundering (AML) checks, suspicious accounts had been blocked.

Therefore, this prompted ED to unfreeze its accounts. It further added that Wazirx was now free to continue its banking operations normally.

The announcement of Wazirx’s bank accounts being frozen was made in early August by the Enforcement Directorate (ED).

The federal agency had elaborated that the move was in accordance with its money laundering investigation.

It was probing non-bank financial companies (NBFCs), along with their fintech partners due to their lending practices that were considered predatory and were against the guidelines of the Reserve Bank of India (RBI).

The revelations

On Monday, Wazirx disclosed that a thorough internal investigation had been carried out and it had revealed that most of the information that the ED was looking for had already been identified by the crypto exchange.

It said that Wazirx had already termed the information as suspicious and it had blocked those accounts between 2020 and 2021.

This had shown that its security measures and verification procedures were quite strong and it was not involved in any illicit practices.

As a result, the federal agency had gone ahead and unfrozen its bank accounts. Other than Wazirx, another company had had its bank accounts frozen by ED.

This was crypto trading platform Vauld, which is backed by Peter Thiel, and its assets worth $46 million had been frozen by the federal agency.

Coinswitch Kuber was also another crypto exchange that ED had searched in the month of August. But, its chief executive had clarified that it was not because of money laundering investigations.

This shows that regulatory authorities and agencies are becoming more proactive in the crypto space in order to minimize the risk of illicit activities.

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US Senators Press CEO Mark Zuckerberg About Crypto Scam Policies

The parent company of Facebook, Meta is working on its new venture into the metaverse, but a number of US senators have made a demand on its chief executive, Mark Zuckerberg.

They want him to prove that the social media company takes the responsibility of tackling crypto scams on its platforms seriously.

The letter

New Jersey’s Democrat Bob Menendez led the group of senators that issued a letter on Friday to Zuckerberg in which they asked him to provide details.

These were related to the efforts the company is making to ward off crypto-related scams on its various platforms, which include WhatsApp, Instagram, and Facebook.

Menendez and his colleagues said in the letter that Meta’s platforms have become a breeding ground for crypto scams that can be harmful to consumers.

The letter was co-signed by Sherrod Brown, the chairman of the Senate Banking Committee. Other senators who were also part of it included Bernie Sanders, Dianne Feinstein, Elizabeth Warren, and Cory Brooker.

The Senators said that crypto scams are quite rampant on social media, and the websites under Meta are widely used by scammers as a hunting ground for victims.

Crypto scams

The US Senators noted that 32% of the consumers who suffer from a crypto-related scam report that the activity occurred on Instagram, 9% of them report it was WhatsApp and 26% become victims via Facebook.

Senator Menendez’s website boasted a statement that referred to his history of criticizing Facebook because of the controversial content that is posted on the social media platform.

This included the misinformation that had been shared about COVID-19, the US elections, and also the Russia and Ukraine conflict.

The Senators expressed their concern about the little effort that Meta is making for preventing misinformation in Spanish.

They also questioned if educational materials and warnings are issued by Meta regarding crypto scams in languages other than English.

The demands

The Senators want Meta to provide details about the current policies of the company, which include its practices for proactively identifying and removing potential crypto scams.

They also want insight into the company’s procedure of verification of crypto ads to ensure they are not scams.

Likewise, they are also interested in knowing the policies the company is following for protecting and educating users, removing scammers, and cooperating with law enforcement.

The senators also mentioned the ban that Facebook had imposed on crypto-related ads back in January 2018.

Facebook had stated at that time that a number of companies that were advertising initial coin offerings (ICOs), binary options, and crypto had not been operating in ‘good faith’.

It also added that the said ban would ensure that scammers cannot make profits via the platform. The Senators said that the ban indicated that Facebook was aware of the risks associated with such content.

They added that cryptocurrency requires a high level of scrutiny. Meta has recently begun to integrate non-fungible tokens (NFTs) on its platforms.

Facebook and Instagram users can display collectibles and art from the Flow, Polygon, and Ethereum networks.

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SEC Chairman Supports Giving Bitcoin Oversight To CFTC

Gary Gensler, the chairman of the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) spoke at an industry conference where he said that is in favor of handing the CFTC the responsibility of overseeing the crypto space.

Crypto oversight

The SEC chair said that Congress should give the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) the responsibility to regulate and oversee crypto tokens and other intermediaries.

However, he also added that while doing so, Congress should not overlook his federal agency. He stated that they should not undermine the securities law, which regulates about $100 trillion in capital markets.

He stated that it was the securities law that has made the US capital markets the center of envy globally.

There have been a number of proposals put forward, some of which have come from Washington and some from the crypto industry itself.

All of these suggest that the CFTC be given the responsibility of overseeing the crypto industry, which only monitors derivatives for now.

Gensler has previously stated that Bitcoin is not a security and classifies as a commodity, but many are of the opinion that he wants to bring Ethereum under the control of the SEC.

This is the second-largest crypto in the world in terms of market capitalization. Many believe that Gensler still has ETH in his crosshairs.

CFTC and Crypto

Rostin Behnman, the chief of the CFTC, had made a case back in February about expanding the authority of its agency to include crypto as well.

He had done so in a letter that was sent to the House and Senate Agriculture Committees. According to the chief, the CFTC is capable of protecting consumers from the risks associated with the market.

A bill had been introduced by a bipartisan group of lawmakers back in April for regulating crypto exchanges, dealers, and developers.

This was known as the Digital Commodity Exchange Act, which proposes that the regulatory power of the CFTC be expanded, which would give it direct oversight over nonsecurity cryptocurrencies and exchanges.

Other details

Senators Kirsten Gillibrand and Cynthia Lummis also introduced a bill in June, which was known as the Responsible Financial Innovation Act.

The system proposed in the bill said that the CFTC should be given the responsibility of handling most cryptocurrencies as commodities.

As for the SEC, it was to have the responsibility of monitoring the investment products that stem from cryptocurrencies and tokens that have the characteristics of securities.

The CFTC had announced in July that it was setting up a new tech innovation office and it would hire industry experts to better understand the crypto industry in order to get ready to regulate it.

The Digital Commodities Consumer Protection Act (DCCPA) had also been introduced by the Senate Agricultural Committee in August.

It proposed that exclusive oversight be granted to the CFTC when it comes to digital commodities. It also mandates that custodians, brokers, trading facilities, and dealers register with the CFCT or get penalized.

Even though Congress has not passed anything yet, the demand for CFTC oversight is high.

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