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SEC rumored to be reconsidering spot Ether ETF denial, say analysts

ETF analysts James Seyffart and Eric Balchunas said they had increased their odds of the SEC approving a spot Ether exchange-traded fund from 25% to 75%.

Two exchange-traded fund analysts have said they are reevaluating the chances of the United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) approving a spot Ether (ETH) exchange-traded fund after “hearing chatter” about the financial regulator.

In May 20 X posts, Bloomberg ETF analysts James Seyffart and Eric Balchunas said the SEC might be “doing a 180” on their expected denial of spot Ether exchange-traded funds this week. Filings from the regulator, public statements from SEC Chair Gary Gensler and reports of investigations previously suggested that the commission may have been preparing to deny spot Ether ETF applications.

However, according to Seyffart and Balchunas, the two analysts changed their prediction on the odds of spot Ether ETF approval from 25% to 75%. Seyffart hinted that the investment vehicle was becoming an “increasingly political issue.”

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US House to vote on FIT21 bill before holiday weekend

The legislation, passed out of committee in July 2023, would clarify how the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission and Securities and Exchange Commission handle crypto.

Republican lawmakers in the United States House Financial Services Committee announced that the House of Representatives will vote on legislation clarifying the roles of financial regulators over digital assets sometime this week.

In a May 20 X post, House Republicans said the full chamber will vote on the Financial Innovation and Technology for the 21st Century (FIT21) Act “this week,” giving the bill a chance to become law. The legislation would clarify how the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) and Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) regulate digital assets.

The legislation has seen little movement since lawmakers passed the FIT21 bill out of the House Financial Services Committee in July 2023. In May, Committee Chair Patrick McHenry said the House Committee on Rules could clear the bill for a vote in the full chamber.

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‘Godfather of AI’ advises UK government to start UBI

Geoffrey Hinton also warns that advanced AI could pose an existential threat within the next five to twenty years.

Geoffrey Hinton, a world-renowned artificial intelligence (AI) expert often referred to as the “Godfather of AI,” recently consulted with members of the United Kingdom’s government at Downing Street where he advised lawmakers to consider adopting a universal basic income (UBI) to deal with the impending threat of job loss.

Until recently, Hinton worked for Google developing high-level AI features for neural networks — the underlying technology that powers most modern generative AI systems such as Google’s Gemini and OpenAI’s ChatGPT.

According to Hinton, the AI revolution will mostly benefit the rich. Laypersons, blue collar workers, and those employed in jobs that can be automated stand to lose their means of income and “that’s going to be bad for society” he recently told the BBC in an interview.

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US Senate passes resolution overturning SEC crypto rule on banks

U.S. President Joe Biden said he intended to veto the joint resolution aimed at overturning an SEC rule requiring banks to keep customers’ digital assets on its balance sheets.

A majority of lawmakers in the United States Senate have passed a joint resolution calling for the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) to strike down a rule affecting financial institutions doing business with crypto firms.

In a 60 to 38 vote on May 16, U.S. Senators passed H.J.Res. 109, a resolution nullifying the SEC’s Staff Accounting Bulletin No. 121. The commission’s rule requires banks to keep customers’ digital assets on their balance sheets, with capital maintained against them — a measure many lawmakers and industry leaders have criticized as stifling innovation.

“The tally, a stunning 60 ‘Yeas’ in the Senate vote, sends a strong signal that both houses of Congress, across the political divide, clearly disapprove of this rule,” said the crypto advocacy group Blockchain Association in a May 16 X post.

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Oklahoma’s new crypto law protects miners, sets blockchain legal framework

Oklahoma Governor Kevin Stitt enacted a law on May 13 that creates a legal framework for blockchain and safeguards miners’ activities.

Oklahoma Governor Kevin Stitt has signed into law a bill that establishes a legal framework for blockchain technology and digital assets. 

The new legislation prohibits Oklahoma’s government from imposing restrictions on the use of digital assets for legal purchases or self-custody. It also determines that digital assets used as payment cannot be subject to any additional taxes or charges over other methods.

The bill — introduced in January by state Rep. Brian Hill — legitimizes home digital asset mining in residential zones under local noise ordinances. In addition, businesses mining digital assets in industrial zones are allowed to operate without specific noise limits other than those already in place.

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CFTC announces $1.8M settlement against brokerage firm FalconX

The regulator reported the firm voluntarily improved its practices after the CFTC’s civil suit with Binance and its former CEO Changpeng Zhao.

The United States Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) announced that it had both filed and settled charges against cryptocurrency brokerage firm Falcon Labs for roughly $1.8 million in disgorgement and penalties.

In a May 13 notice, the CFTC said Falcon Labs, owned by FalconX, had failed to register as a futures commission merchant, “inappropriately facilitat[ing] access to digital asset exchanges.” The settlement required FalconX to cease offering services to U.S. residents and pay roughly $1.2 million in disgorgement and $600,000 in civil monetary penalties.

“The CFTC’s enforcement program has made clear it will not tolerate digital asset exchanges that fail to register with the CFTC or comply with the agency’s rules that maintain integrity in the derivatives markets,” said Enforcement Director Ian McGinley. “And now the CFTC is taking the fight one step further by, for the first time, charging an intermediary that inappropriately facilitated access to those exchanges.”

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House overturns SEC’s anti-crypto guidance, Biden to veto: Law Decoded

U.S. President Joe Biden may block the U.S. House of Representatives’ decision.

The United States House of Representatives has voted to pass a bill overturning controversial Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) guidance preventing banks from owning crypto. 

The House voted to pass a bipartisan bill titled H.J. Res 109, overturning the SEC’s Special Accounting Bulletin 121 (SAB 121) requiring banks to hold their customers’ crypto assets on their balance sheets, which is not the case for traditional assets such as securities.

Republican Party Representative Mike Flood — who introduced the resolution — said SAB 121 was unfair for banks looking to custody crypto, as custodial assets are “always considered off-balance sheet.”

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Uniswap CEO warns US President to reverse course on crypto policies

Hayden Adams suggested that crypto policies from the SEC and Senator Elizabeth Warren could hurt President Joe Biden’s chances for a second term.

Hayden Adams, the founder and CEO of decentralized exchange Uniswap, called on United States President Joe Biden to consider how voters think about crypto when they enter ballot boxes in November.

In a May 12 X post, Adams claimed there was “not much time” for President Biden to change the perception many crypto-focused voters had of his administration’s policies on digital assets. According to the Uniswap CEO, the U.S. President was making a “miscalculation” of assuming crypto would be irrelevant in the 2024 elections and allowing Senator Elizabeth Warren and the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) to “wage total war” on the technology.

“Republicans smell blood in the water and are turning hard towards crypto,” said Adams. “Not much time for Biden to save it. Anyone close to him or [Democratic] leadership should be expressing how serious this is and pushing for immediate reversal on his approach to crypto (public support/plan and reigning in sec + warren).”

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Bitcoin bottomed at $56K? BTC price chart hints at breakout within days

Adding to the bullish technical formation, Bitcoin's distribution 'danger zone' has officially ended, according to popular analyst Rekt Capital.

A popular Bitcoin chart formation suggests that Bitcoin's (BTC) price could break out from its current range. However, this week's macroeconomic news could also significantly impact the price. Can Bitcoin break out to the upside?

On the four-hour chart, Bitcoin price printed an inverse head and shoulders pattern, a formation used by technical analysts to predict the reversal of a previous downtrend.

Based on the technical formation, Bitcoin could rally to the upside if a break above the trendline occurs, according to a May 13 X post from crypto investor Quinten Francois, who wrote:

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MoonPay donates to Coinbase’s Stand With Crypto campaign

Crypto payment firm MoonPay is among the first crypto advocates to support Coinbase-initiated pro-crypto PAC related to the upcoming U.S. election.

Cryptocurrency payment firm MoonPay has contributed an undisclosed amount to Coinbase’s nonprofit crypto advocacy project, Stand With Crypto.

“This morning, we made a donation on behalf of everyone here at MoonPay to Stand With Crypto,” MoonPay CEO Ivan Soto-Wright announced on May 13.

The executive emphasized that the upcoming U.S. election will define the future of the cryptocurrency industry in the country, and it’s people’s responsibility to step up to advance crypto. He stated:

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