Earlier this month, amid a flurry of executive orders, policy shifts, and layoffs of federal workers, the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) charted a new course for its policies toward digital asset regulation. It is a dramatic change that puts the regulator in a new alignment with the Trump administration, the U.S. Department of Justice,… Read More >>
Departing CFTC Chairman Urges Guardrails for Digital Assets
The incoming Trump administration will have clean slates as far as regulating U.S. securities and commodities markets as Rostin Behnam, chairman of the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC), announced on January 7 that he will be stepping down from his position on January 20 with his final day being Friday, February 7. Behnam was… Read More >>
FlexTrade Offers Direct Link to Coinbase Prime
FlexTrade Systems, a maker of multi-asset execution and order management systems, is now able to offer a direct integration with Coinbase Prime, an institutional prime broker platform for digital and crypto assets, officials say. Coinbase Prime offers its institutional prime brokerage for crypto assets whose integrated platform supports the entire transaction lifecycle, officials say. Coinbase… Read More >>
FTF FOCUS: Digital Assets Reshape Custody
Digital assets are rapidly becoming a part of the landscape for global securities markets and are disrupting established operations such as custody and prime brokerage services. In this issue of FTF Focus, we offer an in-depth view into the cutting-edge of custody, tracking how digital assets are redefining the sector. The report also covers another… Read More >>
CFA Guide Helps Advance Crypto Asset Valuation
An association for investment professionals, the CFA Institute, says that it is doing its part to foster a framework for crypto asset valuation by issuing a guide intended to help financial services firms working with smart contract platforms, decentralized applications, and bitcoin. The guide, “Valuation of Cryptoassets: A Guide for Investment Professionals,” was developed by… Read More >>
SS&C’s Black Diamond Gets CRM Module & Other News
SS&C Offers CRM via Managed Services SS&C Technologies has integrated a customer relationship management (CRM) module into the SS&C Black Diamond Wealth Platform that offers managed services that are intended to reduce IT maintenance burdens, officials say. The Black Diamond CRM module “complements SS&C’s existing CRM solutions, Salentica Elements and Salentica Engage,” and will provide a… Read More >>
The Fed Will Supervise Crypto Assets & More
In early August, the Federal Reserve Board let the banks know that it is keeping an eye on their “novel activities” such as those involving crypto-assets and distributed ledger technology (DLT) otherwise known as blockchain systems. “The Federal Reserve Board on Tuesday [Aug. 8] provided additional information on its program to supervise novel activities in… Read More >>
EDX Markets Creates a New Path for Crypto Exchanges
Without a lot of fanfare, digital asset marketplace company EDX Markets, based in Jersey City, N.J., went live with a cryptocurrency platform during a crypto winter that’s beginning to thaw while regulators are rooting out alleged crypto crooks and rogues. Crucially, EDX describes itself as “the first-of-its-kind digital asset marketplace” that sidesteps providing custody support… Read More >>
Crypto-Crime ‘Down Significantly’ in 2023: Chainalysis
“Our data shows that cryptography-related crime is down significantly this year.” So says Chainalysis, the New York City-based blockchain-analytics company. Of course, the crypto-crime goal posts do tend to keep moving, from quarter to quarter and year to year, thanks in part to would-be crypto moguls like Alex Mashinsky, founder of Celsius, a now bankrupt… Read More >>
Saxo Bank Told to Dump Crypto Assets
Saxo Bank A/S’ trading in crypto-currency assets for its own account was “outside the legal business area of financial institutions,” according to a recent ruling by the Danish Financial Supervisory Authority, which ordered the Copenhagen-based bank to “dispose of its own holdings of crypto assets.” “On 4 July 2023, the Danish Financial Supervisory Authority [FSA]… Read More >>
