Two US-based gold dealers are reportedly pleading guilty over their roles in a nationwide scam that involves cryptocurrencies. According to a new report by The State, Kenneth Brown Jr. and Nicholas Shepard – the operators of the gold and precious metals exchange Golden Eagle – have agreed to plead guilty to a federal charge of […]
The post Gold Dealers Part of ‘Large Laundering Network’ Agree To Plead Guilty to National Crypto and Romance Scam: Report appeared first on The Daily Hodl.
After months of proceedings, Robert Gronkowski, Victor Oladipo and Landon Cassill may see the light at the end of the tunnel for a lawsuit involving promoting Voyager Digital.
A legal settlement involving three sports stars has received preliminary approval from a Florida judge. The settlement allows them to pay more than $2.4 million in monetary relief over claims they promoted crypto firm Voyager Digital.
In a June 10 filing in the United States District Court for the Southern District of Florida, Judge Roy Altman granted preliminary approval of a class action settlement involving NFL star Robert Gronkowski, NBA player Victor Oladipo and Nascar driver Landon Cassill. Lawyers for the three sports personalities announced in May that they had agreed to collectively pay roughly $2.4 million to settle the case, with Gronkowski alone paying $1.9 million.
The class-action lawsuit, initially filed against former Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban in 2022, alleged the billionaire misrepresented Voyager’s services, causing inexperienced investors to lose their money when the firm filed for bankruptcy. If given final approval by the court, the proposed settlement would resolve matters for Gronkowski, Oladipo and Cassill but not for Cuban or the Mavericks.
Investors in the bankrupt cryptocurrency exchange Voyager Digital are suing the National Basketball Association (NBA), and New Jersey’s oldest law firm, McCarter & English. This emerging legal battle illustrates how even some of the largest and most reputable brands and companies can quickly become ensnared in controversy in an industry marred by a tangled web […]
“If Tom or anybody else wanted to be in this field, I would say, ‘Do it within the law,’” SEC Chair Gary Gensler iterated.
The United States securities regulator chief has hinted he would be open to a rebooted crypto exchange FTX — as long as its new leadership stays within the bounds of the law.
SEC Chair Gary Gensler’s comments were made in response to reports that Tom Farley, a former president of the New York Stock Exchange, is now in the running to buy the bankrupt cryptocurrency exchange founded by now-convicted fraudster Sam Bankman-Fried.
“If Tom or anybody else wanted to be in this field, I would say, ‘Do it within the law,’” Gensler said in an interview at DC Fintech Week on Nov. 8, according to CNBC. He added:
“Build the trust of investors in what you’re doing and ensure that you’re doing the proper disclosures — and also that you’re not commingling all these functions, trading against your customers or using their crypto assets for your own purposes.”
Farley is the CEO of cryptocurrency exchange Bullish, which was founded in 2021.
Fintech startup Figure Technologies and cryptocurrency venture capital firm Proof Group are the other two bidders in the mix to buy FTX, according to a Nov. 8 report by the Wall Street Journal, who cited people familiar with the matter.
3 FTX bidders in the Auction are:
— Sunil (FTX Creditor Champion) (@sunil_trades) November 8, 2023
Bullish - Crypto exchange run by Tom Farley
Figure Technologies - fintech start up and
Proof Group - crypto venture-capital firm
Three bidders will be leading a consortium
The winner could restart the exchange after its planned exit from bankruptcy next year, according to the WSJ report.
Meanwhile, in light of Bankman-Fried’s conviction, Gensler said the cryptocurrency industry is still rife with fraudsters and suggested more work needs to be done to keep them away from investors.
“Think about how many actors in this space are not complying right now with international sanctions and money laundering laws and are using crypto for nefarious or bad actions. He said, without naming individuals or companies. Gensler added:
“If it’s a non-compliant fraudster, why would we want them in our markets?”
Related: Could regulation have prevented Sam Bankman-Fried’s criminal verdict?
Despite the SEC’s crackdown on the cryptocurrency industry, U.S. representative Tom Emmer has previously called out Gensler and the securities regulator in December for missing the FTX, Terra-LUNA, Celsius and Voyager failures which collectively wiped out billions of dollars from cryptocurrency investors.
JUST IN: US Congressman Tom Emmer says SEC Chair Gary Gensler is as ineffective as he is incompetent.
— Watcher.Guru (@WatcherGuru) November 8, 2023
pic.twitter.com/6EDvRdOfCh
Emmer went as far to suggest Gensler helped Bankman-Fried gain a “regulatory monopoly” on the cryptocurrency industry prior to FTX’s collapse, but the statement wasn’t backed by any evidence.
The SEC is currently battling out lawsuits against Binance, Coinbase and Ripple over alleged securities violations and Grayscale for its application to convert its Bitcoin Trust product into a spot Bitcoin exchange-traded fund.
Magazine: The truth behind Cuba’s Bitcoin revolution — An on-the-ground report
The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) and Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) have filed charges against the former CEO of Voyager, Stephen Ehrlich. In a statement, the FTC says it filed a suit against Ehrlich for falsely claiming that Voyager accounts were insured by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) and that customer assets were safe […]
The post US Regulatory Agencies Launch Parallel Lawsuits Against Co-Founder of Bankrupt Crypto Lender Voyager appeared first on The Daily Hodl.
The Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CTFC) is reportedly contemplating taking enforcement action against the co-founder of a bankrupt crypto lender. According to a new report by Bloomberg, the CTFC is considering charging Stephen Ehrlich, the ex-chief executive of Voyager, of misleading customers about the safety of their assets after launching an investigation into the troubled […]
The post US Commodities Regulator Mulling Enforcement Action Against Co-Founder of Bankrupt Crypto Lender Voyager: Report appeared first on The Daily Hodl.
Blockchain tracker Lookonchain says that the bankrupt crypto lender Voyager has deposited $85 million worth of the stablecoin USD Coin (USDC) with Circle. Lookonchain notes that Voyager has been selling assets on Coinbase and has received $84.5 million worth of USDC from the exchange in total. The embattled lender reportedly still holds $11.3 million worth […]
The post Voyager Sends $85,000,000 in USDC to Circle As Bankruptcy Unfolds: On-Chain Data appeared first on The Daily Hodl.
Customers will soon be able to load up the Voyager app and see how much will be available for withdrawal.
Cryptocurrency brokerage Voyager Digital is preparing to reopen its app and allow customers to finally withdraw their funds — nearly one year after it filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy.
Voyager's bankruptcy plan administrator Paul Hage said in a June 14 court filing that around June 15 the Voyager app would be updated to show the amount available for withdrawal, and estimated that the withdrawal period would start somewhere between June 20 and July 5.
The bankruptcy plan was first approved in court on May 17 and will result in customers initially receiving 35.72% of their claims by withdrawing crypto through the Voyager app or in cash after 30 days.
Voyager Court adjourned for the day
— Neville (@neville_p) June 14, 2023
Fee examiners findings approved by the judge
App will come back online on or around 15 June
Estimated window for withdrawals opening 20 June to 5 July
30 days to withdraw once window opens
all creditors will receive 35.72 initial…
Within the filing, Hage also noted that bankrupt crypto hedge fund Three Arrows Capital still owes Voyager $650 million, so while this first tranche of withdrawals allows for just over 35% of customer funds to be withdrawn “the primary focus will shift to recovering additional assets that can be distributed to creditors” once the initial distribution is completed.
Additionally, an extra $445 million of customer funds could also be made available to creditors pending a final resolution of Alameda Research’s preference claim against Voyager, which is not expected to happen until at least mid-September 2023.
Meditation between @investvoyager and @FTX_Official is anticipated to not start until Fall 2023
— EthDaddy ☠️ (@ETHjuiced) June 14, 2023
Anything less than 100% return would be a devastating result for Voyager creditors! pic.twitter.com/Y6IDAOgeT7
After originally filing for bankruptcy on July 5, Voyager had submitted two prior bankruptcy plan proposals but both had fallen through.
Related: SEC and Binance.US to negotiate deal avoiding total asset freeze
The first of these was to the United States arm of FTX, FTX.US, but the $1.4 billion deal fell through after FTX filed for bankruptcy.
Subsequently a $1 billion deal with Binance.US also fell through after it backed out on April 25, citing a “hostile and uncertain regulatory climate in the United States.”
NFT Creator: ‘Holy shit, I’ve seen that!’ — Coldie’s Snoop Dogg, Vitalik and McAfee NFTs
According to the now-defunct crypto lender Voyager, Binance US sent a letter to the company “terminating the asset purchase agreement.” While the announcement was “disappointing” for Voyager, the firm maintained that its customers would still be receiving their cash and crypto through a “direct distribution” via the Voyager platform. Voyager’s Asset Purchase Agreement With Binance […]