Coinbase posts $1.2B net income in Q1, surpasses entire 2023 earnings

May 2, 2024 Coin Telegraph

Coinbase posts .2B net income in Q1, surpasses entire 2023 earnings

Coinbase Q1 earnings exceeded full-year 2023 results thanks to market conditions driven by new Bitcoin ETFs.

Crypto exchange Coinbase has reported a strong rebound in the first quarter of 2024, supported by an uptick in market performance and the launch of Bitcoin exchange-traded funds (ETFs).

The exchange posted $1.6 billion in total revenue and $1.2 billion in net income for the first quarter, achieving $1 billion in Adjusted EBITDA — which measures a company’s earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization. Coinbase’s adjusted EBITDA in 2023 stood at $977.5 million.

According to its earnings release, Coinbase’s net income benefited from $737 million in pre-tax unrealized gains on crypto assets. The firm ended the quarter with $7.1 billion in capital, including $1.1 billion in net cash raised through the sale of 2030 convertible notes.

SEC Slaps Digital Currency Group With ,000,000 Fine, Claims Crypto Venture Firm Misled Investors

SEC Slaps Digital Currency Group With $38,000,000 Fine, Claims Crypto Venture Firm Misled Investors

US lawmakers urge SEC to approve Bitcoin options trading

May 2, 2024 Coin Telegraph

bitcoin options

Representatives Mike Flood and Wiley Nickel urged the SEC's chair Gary Gensler to stop discriminating against Bitcoin funds in a letter.

United States lawmakers are reportedly pressing the Securities and Exchange Commission to approve options trading on Bitcoin exchange-traded products (ETPs).

According to a report by Axios, Representatives Mike Flood and Wiley Nickel recently wrote a letter to the Commission’s chair, Gary Gensler, urging the SEC to stop discriminating against crypto funds.

"We urge you, without delay, to approve options on spot Bitcoin ETPs or to provide an explanation for the Commission’s difference in treatment between options for Bitcoin futures ETFs — which are currently trading — and options for the spot Bitcoin ETPs,” reads the bipartisan letter.

SEC Slaps Digital Currency Group With $38,000,000 Fine, Claims Crypto Venture Firm Misled Investors

States’ backlash against Binance.US continues with 6th license pulled

May 1, 2024 Coin Telegraph

Binance

Oregon joins five other states that have delicensed Binance.US after former Binance CEO Changpeng Zhao pleaded guilty to felony charges.

Oregon has become the sixth state to revoke, suspend or decline to renew Binance.US’ license to operate there, following a spate of refusals earlier this year.

The Oregon Division of Financial Regulation announced on April 30 that it had revoked Binance.US’s license, as a result of which it is prohibited from accepting money for transmission or holding or selling fiat or crypto for Oregon consumers. The division explained in a statement:

Oregon was following the example of five states that moved against the exchange after Zhao pleaded guilty to violating Anti-Money Laundering laws. Florida was the first state to act, suspending Binance.US’ license in November, shortly after Zhao’s guilty plea. Alaska followed suit at the beginning of January when it declined to renew its license.

SEC Slaps Digital Currency Group With $38,000,000 Fine, Claims Crypto Venture Firm Misled Investors

CZ sentenced: A chronology of Binance’s legal battles in the US

April 30, 2024 Coin Telegraph

Binance

Former Binance CEO Changpeng “CZ” Zhao was sentenced to four months in prison for violating U.S. money laundering laws.

Former Binance CEO Changpeng “CZ” Zhao was sentenced to four months in prison on April 30 in a Seattle courtroom for violating U.S. money laundering laws, following years of investigations by United States authorities.

During the hearing, Judge Richard Jones expressed that there was no evidence to suggest Zhao had been informed of any illegal activities at Binance, rejecting a recommendation from the Department of Justice (DOJ) to increase the sentencing guideline from 10 to 16 months in prison.

A four-month sentence — along with billions of dollars in fines — may look like a light sentence through the eyes of U.S. authorities, as they have been investigating the former executive and its crypto empire for the past six years. From 2018 to 2024, Binance was targeted by several probes involving the DOJ, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), and the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC), among other agencies.

SEC Slaps Digital Currency Group With $38,000,000 Fine, Claims Crypto Venture Firm Misled Investors

Changpeng Zhao four-month prison sentence lighter than expected

April 30, 2024 Coin Telegraph

Binance

Prosecutors initially sought to charge the former Binance executive with 36 months.

Changpeng Zhao, the former CEO of crypto exchange Binance, has been sentenced to four months in prison.

Ahead of his sentencing on April 30, Changpeng Zhao, the former CEO of Binance, made a heartfelt plea for forgiveness and a second chance.

In a letter submitted to the court on April 24, Zhao expressed profound regret for his actions, acknowledging his “poor decisions” and accepting full responsibility. He wrote:

SEC Slaps Digital Currency Group With $38,000,000 Fine, Claims Crypto Venture Firm Misled Investors

US Justice Dept charges Roger Ver with tax fraud

April 30, 2024 Coin Telegraph

Bitcoin

Early crypto investor ‘Bitcoin Jesus’ faces extradition to the U.S. after being charged with evading nearly $50 million in taxes.

Officials with the United States Department of Justice announced charges against early Bitcoin (BTC) investor Roger Ver, known by many as ‘Bitcoin Jesus.’

In an April 30 notice, the Justice Department said authorities in Spain had arrested Ver based on criminal charges in the United States, including mail fraud, tax evasion and filing false tax returns. The U.S. government alleged Ver defrauded the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) out of roughly $48 million with his failure to report capital gains on his sale of Bitcoin and other assets.

According to the indictment, Ver allegedly took control of roughly 70,000 in June 2017 — before the now famous bull run — and sold many of them for $240 million. U.S. officials said they planned to extradite Ver from Spain to the United States to stand trial.

SEC Slaps Digital Currency Group With $38,000,000 Fine, Claims Crypto Venture Firm Misled Investors

Patrick McHenry accuses Gary Gensler of misleading US lawmakers over Ether

April 30, 2024 Coin Telegraph

Coin Telegraph

The chair of the U.S. House Financial Service Committee alluded to claims in Consensys’s recent lawsuit against the SEC, suggesting an investigation into Ether as a security.

United States House Financial Services Committee Chair Patrick McHenry has alleged Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) Chair Gary Gensler “knowingly misled Congress” over the regulator’s alleged attempts to classify Ether (ETH) as a security.

In an April 30 X post, Representative McHenry claimed that Gensler intentionally misled lawmakers in testimony before the Committee. The U.S. lawmaker referred to claims made in a recent court filing by software development firm Consensys, which filed a lawsuit against the SEC on April 25.

Consensys’s initial complaint in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Texas highlighted public inconsistencies in the SEC’s approach to digital assets as securities, specifically Ether. Unredacted sections of the filing appeared on the court docket on April 29, suggesting that the SEC launched an investigation into ETH as security in March 2023.

SEC Slaps Digital Currency Group With $38,000,000 Fine, Claims Crypto Venture Firm Misled Investors

BlackRock’s Bitcoin ETF daily inflow on halt for 4 days

April 30, 2024 Coin Telegraph

bitcoin etf

While some crypto observers are concerned about IBIT’s inflow halt, others say it’s more normal than the 71-day inflow streak it has recorded.

The Bitcoin (BTC) community is increasingly concerned about BlackRock’s spot Bitcoin exchange-traded fund (ETF) halting inflows for several consecutive days for the first time since launch.

BlackRock's iShares Bitcoin Trust (IBIT), the fastest-growing spot Bitcoin ETF in the United States, has not recorded any inflows since April 24.

According to data from IBIT’s official page, the fund has held the same 274,462 BTC over the past four trading days.

SEC Slaps Digital Currency Group With $38,000,000 Fine, Claims Crypto Venture Firm Misled Investors

Samourai Wallet co-founder pleads not guilty, released on $1M bond

April 29, 2024 Coin Telegraph

Samourai Wallet co-founder pleads not guilty, released on M bond

Coin Telegraph

The terms of Keonne Rodriguez’s bail prevent him from engaging in “any cryptocurrency transactions, directly or indirectly,” without prior approval from the court.

Keonne Rodriguez, one of two individuals associated with cryptocurrency mixer Samourai Wallet who the United States Justice Department charged with money laundering, has pleaded not guilty and was released on bail.

In an April 29 appearance in U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York, Rodriguez pleaded not guilty to conspiracy to operate an unlicensed money-transmitting business and money laundering. Assistant U.S. Attorneys agreed to a $1 million bond for the Samourai Wallet co-founder, with travel restricted to parts of New York and Pennsylvania when not confined to his home.

Rodriguez will be largely confined to his residence in Harmony, Pennsylvania and required to wear a location monitoring device. In addition, the terms of his bail prevent him from performing services for Samourai Wallet or engaging in “any cryptocurrency transactions, directly or indirectly” without prior approval.

SEC Slaps Digital Currency Group With $38,000,000 Fine, Claims Crypto Venture Firm Misled Investors

DOJ challenges motion to dismiss Tornado Cash co-founder’s charges

April 28, 2024 Coin Telegraph

Coin Telegraph

According to the filing, the DOJ criticized Tornado Cash’s co-founders for inadequate changes to exclude sanctioned addresses.

The United States Department of Justice (DOJ) prosecutors opposed a Motion to Dismiss conspiracy and money laundering charges against Tornado Cash co-founder Roman Semenov. They argued that the defense’s filing raised disputed facts for jury consideration, which is unsuited for early-stage motions.

In the DOJ’s response, the prosecutors analyzed why the Tornado Cash co-founder should answer for the alleged crimes levied against him. The DOJ contested the defense’s characterization of Tornado Cash, noting it was introduced in 2019 as a mixer. The service comprises a website, a user interface, a set of smart contracts, and a network of “relayers.”

The DOJ accused Roman Storm and fellow developer Roman Semenov of conspiring to commit money laundering, operating an unlicensed money transmitter, and violating sanctions by creating Tornado Cash, a crypto-mixing service. U.S. authorities claim that entities like North Korea’s Lazarus Group used Tornado Cash to launder funds.

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