There’s a move afoot to take the crypto out of cryptocurrency. How? Simply by pegging its value to the value of the fiat currency issued by a country’s central bank. Those not-so-crypto digital currencies are called “central bank digital currencies” or CBDCs. “Many countries are developing CBDCs, and some have even implemented them,” say our… Read More >>
SEC Hires 20 Crypto Cops & Other News
SEC Adds to Crypto Assets and Cyber Unit The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) reports adding 20 positions to its crypto assets and cyber unit, which is tasked with “protecting investors in crypto markets and from cyber-related threats.” The unit, in the SEC’s enforcement division, will grow to 50 dedicated positions, officials say. The unit,… Read More >>
NYSDFS Urges Crypto Firms to Use Blockchain Analytics
Cryptocurrency businesses licensed by the state of New York are being strongly urged to use blockchain analytics to improve policies, processes, and procedures, according to a guidance issued by Adrienne Harris, superintendent of the New York State Department of Financial Services (DFS). Cryptocurrencies, aka virtual currencies, are based upon distributed ledger technology (DLT), also called… Read More >>
Fidelity Gives a Nod to Bitcoins & Other News
Fidelity Launches a 401(k) Plan for Digital Assets Fidelity Investments will allow individuals to allocate a portion of their retirement savings to Bitcoin if their employers also agree to allow the cryptocurrency to be part of a 401(k) plan, officials say. To facilitate this change, Fidelity has launched the “workplace Digital Assets Account (DAA)” 401(k)… Read More >>
A Prime Broker for Digital Assets & Other News
Finansiv Offers Link Between Fiat & Crypto Trading Finansiv, a digital asset prime brokerage that caters to retail and institutional investors in Bitcoin, Ethereum, and other digital assets, reports that it has gone live and is executing over-the-counter (OTF) client trades. Finansiv officials say that in addition to offering “access to fiat spot markets,” they… Read More >>
Yellen Urges a Cautious Approach to CBDCs
The concept of digital currencies run by central banks is counter to the chaos-driven cryptocurrency movement. But central bank digital currencies (CBDCs) are now seen in a very favorable light because of the protections and order they could bring to the crypto world. Even so, Secretary of the Treasury Janet L. Yellen earlier this month… Read More >>
Xignite Launches an ESG API & Other News
Xignite Partners with ESG Book A vendor of market data application programming interfaces (APIs), Xignite has launched an API for Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) data that accesses the real-time sustainability dataset of ESG Book, a data vendor partnering with Xignite. The XigniteGlobalESG API encompasses “public companies domiciled in North America, EMEA, APAC, and Latin… Read More >>
Crypto-Token Securities Need to Be Regulated: Gensler
The wild, wild west for crypto-tokens could be ending as SEC Chair Gary Gensler has asked SEC and CFTC staff to look into how these innovative instruments should be registered and regulated by the SEC. Gensler made his priorities clear during a speech earlier this week that focused on cryptocurrency markets. Among other issues, his… Read More >>
Coinbase Hires Goldman Sachs Ops Vet & Other News
Roger Bartlett Joins Coinbase Cryptocurrency exchange platform operator Coinbase Global, Inc. has hired a Goldman Sachs securities operations veteran Roger Bartlett to be its next vice president, global head of financial operations, according to media reports and Bartlett’s LinkedIn page. Coinbase has also made clear that it wants to expand its employee roster by 2,000… Read More >>
Justice Department Sharpens Its Focus on Crypto Crime
Has Vlad the Crimea Impaler lost has mind? In the wake of the assault on Ukraine, FTF News is far from the only one asking that question. What’s next? What will stop Vladimir Putin? Around the U.S. and Canada, Russian Vodka is being pulled from liquor store shelves. And if that doesn’t dissuade him from… Read More >>
