A US bankruptcy court has greenlit FTX’s plan to distribute between $14.7 billion and $16.5 billion worth of payouts to the crypto exchange’s former customers. The plan calls for 98% of the exchange’s creditors to receive approximately 119% of the value of their holdings on the day FTX filed for bankruptcy in November 2022, per […]
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The Supreme Court of the United States is ruling against crypto exchange Coinbase in the Dogecoin (DOGE) sweepstakes dispute. According to new legal documents obtained by Cornell Law, the Supreme Court unanimously ruled that the conflict between Coinbase’s sweepstakes contract and user agreement must be determined through the court system. As stated by Justice Ketanji […]
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Crypto-focused lawyer Jeremy McLaughlin said the U.S. digital asset industry may re-ignite as the country's securities regulator racks up court losses.
There are hopes that the United States could see a new crypto resurgence after several rulings this year have seen court judges “rein in the SEC,” according to a digital asset lawyer from K&L Gates.
On Aug. 31, Jeremy McLaughlin, a partner at the global law firm, noted that multiple U.S. court cases have stomped on arguments from Securities and Exchange Commission chair Gary Gensler — who has said that almost all digital assets are securities.
McLaughlin was speaking on a panel at Intersekt23 in Melbourne alongside payment services firm Novatti chief Effie Dimitropoulos and Invest Hong Kong fintech head King Leung.
He said early crypto regulation happened at the state level and was “pretty clear what you needed to do” but after the SEC and the Commodity Futures Trading Commission got involved “a lot of the market started to close up.”
“People delisted tokens, some companies pulled out of the U.S. because they saw how aggressive the SEC was being, and continues to be,” McLaughlin said.
“Now that the courts are starting to rein in the SEC a bit, I think there's some hope that the industry is kind of igniting again in the U.S.”
In recent months the SEC has been handed a loss in a suit it brought against a crypto firm and also lost a suit a crypto firm brought against it.
On Aug. 29 a U.S. District Court judge ruled against the SEC over Grayscale Investments being denied its application to convert its flagship Bitcoin (BTC) fund into an exchange-traded fund.
In July, the SEC also took a partial loss in its case against Ripple Labs over XRP (XRP) sales when a judge ruled it wasn’t a security when sold to retail traders.
“To be a lawyer in the space, it’s quite difficult to advise clients,” McLaughlin remarked. He added he it was also frustrating that he couldn’t give clients clear answers.
He does see hope, however, that crypto regulations are emerging from the “pit of chaos.”
“Finally, there are cases that are being filed and the decisions have been going strongly in the favor of the digital asset industry,” McLaughlin added.
In another part of the discussion, the panelists were asked about their thoughts on the state of Australia’s crypto legislation, compared to others. Novatti’s Dimitropoulos had one word: “Lagging.”
Dimitropoulos pointed to new regulatory frameworks in Hong Kong and the European Union as proof Australia’s crypto regulations were falling behind.
“It's very clear to say that Australia is lagging. What that means [...] Is how that affects on-the-ground businesses that are operating with digital assets.”
She highlighted the overhead needed for local crypto firms to get legal advice “that could be defunct in three minutes' time.”
Related: Coinbase stock surges after favorable federal ruling for Grayscale
“We hear the Treasurer is going to come out with regulation, [the Australian Securities and Investments Commisson] is going to do something, Senator Bragg's bill in play,” she said.
“There are so many pieces that are still in play with no clear resolution as to when it's going to happen. So that supports my word: ‘Lagging.’”
Magazine: Crypto regulation — Does SEC Chair Gary Gensler have the final say?
The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) is asking courts for permission to track down Binance CEO Changpeng Zhao in an “alternative” manner. In a new court filing, the SEC asks the District of Columbia Court for permission to freeze the assets of the companies operating as Binance.US: BAM Trading and BAM Management, as well […]
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Kevin O'Leary believes U.S. Senators are “fatigued” and “pissed” at the cryptocurrency industry for having to deal with one blowup after another.
Shark Tank investor and venture capitalist Kevin O’Leary has urged crypto exchanges to “get on board with regulation” if they want to “stay out of the way” of Gary Gensler and the United States Securities Exchange Commission (SEC).
In a Feb. 20 interview with TraderTV Live, O’Leary said that U.S. lawmakers are “fatigued” over crypto collapses and that they’re only going to get more ruthless if companies continue to not comply:
“You got to get on board with regulation, you got to stay out of the way of Gensler at the SEC and other regulators. Those hombres [men] in Washington are not happy. FTX poked the bear, the bear is awake, and it is pissed.”
“These senators are really fatigued, they’re really tired of gathering every six months when the next crypto company blows up and goes to zero,” he said, adding “because they’re totally unregulated and they keep issuing tokens that are worthless.”
Venture funding for new #crypto projects is virtually dead and aftermarket trading for existing projects is at massive discounts. Reason? The #regulator is now regulating by enforcement, penalties & massive fines. The venture community has moved on to the next “big” thing, #AI pic.twitter.com/ChpjYIY9Dl
— Kevin O'Leary aka Mr. Wonderful (@kevinolearytv) February 20, 2023
O’Leary said the SEC whacking Kraken for $30 million and ordering them to immediately cease its staking services should put the industry on alert and to comply by all means.
In light of the recent regulatory crackdowns, the Shark Tank investor predicted that regulated trading platforms will be better investments than their unregulated counterparts over the next few years:
”I think the value of regulated exchanges is going to go up over the next few years, while the unregulated ones get put out of business or go to zero by the regulators.”
O’Leary recently confessed to losing basically 100% of the $15 million that FTX paid him to be its official spokesperson.
Related: ‘There will be many more zeros’ — Kevin O'Leary on FTX-like collapses to come
Despite admitting FTX to be a “bad” investment, Mr. Wonderful has continued to defend former FTX CEO Sam Bankman-Fried, claiming that the controversial figure should be treated as innocent until proven guilty and added that he wouldn’t rule out investing in the failed entrepreneur again:
I am not scared of investing in entrepreneurs that have had catastrophic failures. Failure is often the best teacher.
— Kevin O'Leary aka Mr. Wonderful (@kevinolearytv) February 7, 2023
Shark Tank investor has previously expressed dislike towards some of the more decentralized, unregulated players in the industry too.
On Aug. 13, O’Leary said Dutch authorities were in the right to arrest Alexey Pertsev — the creator of Ethereum-based crypto mixer Tornado Cash — because such applications and the “crypto cowboys” that run them “mess with the primal forces of regulation.”
Colombian courts held one of the first judicial hearings using metaverse tech. María Victoria Quiñones Triana, the magistrate of the Magdalena court, approved the realization of this hearing, using Horizon Worlds technology provided by Meta and virtual avatars to represent participants in the process. Colombian Court Holds Metaversal Judicial Hearings A Colombian court has ostensibly […]
Authorities in the Russian region of Irkutsk have so far filed 1,000 lawsuits against what they call “gray” miners, or people minting coins in their homes. In over half of these cases, courts have ordered the defendants to compensate the operators of the distribution networks. Hundreds of Crypto Miners Sued in Irkutsk for Extracting Digital […]
A court in Sao Paolo, Brazil, ruled against Binance in a case in which the leading cryptocurrency exchange faced a withdrawal-related complaint. A user, who introduced a lawsuit against the exchange because he couldn’t retrieve his funds from the platform, received almost $2,000 in damages and the funds deposited as part of the court decision […]
Russian authorities are finding it hard to cash out digital assets they have gotten hold of, prosecutors have warned. They have also urged the government to recognize cryptocurrency as property, allow departments to have digital wallets and use crypto exchanges. Prosecutor’s Office Insists Russian Investigators Should Have Cryptocurrency Wallets Russian prosecutors are convinced that investigative […]
Authorities in the energy-rich Russian region of Irkutsk have imposed hefty fines on crypto miners this year for illegal use of electricity to produce digital currencies. Power utilities have also filed hundreds of lawsuits, a report reveals, quoting prosecutors. Irkutsk Crypto Miners Pay 100 Million Rubles in Fines in 2022 Cryptocurrency mining has become a […]