The National Futures Association (NFA), a self-regulatory organization, is focusing its regulatory authority on digital asset commodity activities by adopting rules that set “anti-fraud, just and equitable principles of trade, and supervision requirements” for members and associates of the NFA. The scope of the newly adopted NFA Compliance Rule 2-51 “is currently limited to Bitcoin… Read More >>
CFTC Charges Binance Founder With Evading U.S. Law
The U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) reports it has “filed a civil enforcement action charging [Binance founder] Changpeng Zhao [CZ] and three entities that operate the Binance platform with numerous violations of the Commodity Exchange Act (CEA) and CFTC regulations.” The CFTC complaint, filed in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of… Read More >>
TP ICAP Approved for Crypto-Asset Exchange Services
Interdealer broker TP ICAP has won regulatory approval to be a provider of crypto-asset exchange services via its wholesale marketplace for spot crypto-assets, dubbed Fusion Digital Assets. This is a bid to provide “a credible infrastructure” for institutions thinking about allocating capital to wholesale digital asset markets, officials say. The approval comes at a time… Read More >>
Could the FTX Fiasco Spur Reforms?
The bankruptcy of cryptocurrency exchange FTX Trading Ltd. is causing multiple upheavals in digital asset trading markets and has spurred the collapse of cryptocurrency lender BlockFi Inc., which recently filed for chapter 11 protection. To quickly recap, “on November 11, 2022, and November 14, 2022, FTX Trading Ltd. and 101 affiliated debtors … each filed… Read More >>
Investors Have High Hopes for Crypto Care & Other News
New Report Focuses on Digital Custody Needs of Investors Investors prefer an “institutional-grade infrastructure” for their crypto and other digital assets but securities firms will need time before they can provide that level of support, according to a new report from research firm Coalition Greenwich Market. The report, “Providing Digital Asset Services: An Institutional Infrastructure… Read More >>
BNY Mellon’s Digital Custody Launches & Other News
BNY Mellon’s Digital Asset Custody Goes Live BNY Mellon reports that its Digital Asset Custody platform has gone live in the U.S. and key clients can “hold and transfer bitcoin and ether,” establishing the custodian’s capability to offer traditional and digital asset servicing. The firm launched an enterprise digital assets unit in 2021 “to develop… Read More >>
Kim Kardashian Faces Harsh Crypto Realities
A reality star is facing the harsh truths of the world of cryptocurrencies and digital assets, and the consequences of a busy regulator who is closely watching celebrities endorsing a garden variety of cryptocurrencies, tokens, and other digital assets as securities. The SEC has just settled with reality star Kim Kardashian “for touting on social… Read More >>
Northern Trust’s Digital Assets Team & Other News
Northern Trust Combines Groups for Digital Effort Northern Trust has combined teams and launched a Digital Assets and Financial Markets group that will be “responsible for supporting the fast-growing digital asset markets and those dedicated to providing market access and insights across the traditional securities services markets,” officials say. The step is a recognition of… Read More >>
Senate Bill Pushes Regulation & Innovation for Digital Assets
A bipartisan bill, co-sponsored by U.S. Senators Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY), and Cynthia Lummis (R-WY), offers a comprehensive regulatory framework for digital assets that encourages innovation while also protecting against “bad actors” in volatile and highly risky markets. The proposed law, the Responsible Financial Innovation Act, is also meant to boost “financial innovation, flexibility, transparency and… Read More >>
OSSTRA to Launch a Repo Service & Other News
OSSTRA to Debut a Repo Confirmation Service In an effort to bring more automation to repo operations, post-trade vendor OSTTRA has launched a repo confirmation service that is built upon the MarkitWire electronic trade processing platform, officials say. MarkitWire is from MarkitServ, which is part of the OSSTRA joint venture between CME Group and S&P… Read More >>