On the first day of November, it came to light that popular crypto derivatives exchange BitMEX had accidentally leaked sensitive data related to its users, which occurred as a result of the company failing to apply a blind copy protocol to its mass mail servers. The lapse was acknowledged by the firm just a few hours later. BitMEX’s deputy chief operating officer, Vivien Khoo, released a statement saying that BitMEX had accidentally sent out a message to most of its users containing the email addresses of other users in the “to” field, adding: “We are deeply sorry for the concern …

A New York court has ordered defendants to pay $4.25 million in penalties for investment fraud involving the cryptocurrency ATM Coin. Case first brought by the CFTC in April 2018 On Nov. 1, the United States Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) announced that the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of New York has entered an order against several entities for committing fraud and misappropriating client funds. The defendants include Blake Harrison Kantor and Nathan Mullins as well as four related corporate entities: United Kingdom-based Blue Bit Banc, Turks and Caicos-located Blue Bit Analytics and two firms from New …

The United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has filed charges against XBT Corp. SARL on the same day that the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) settles charges against the same company. SEC allegations In a press release on Oct. 31, the SEC alleged that the Switzerland-based securities dealer, XBT Corp. SARL, operating under the name First Global Credit, offered and sold unregistered security-based swaps to U.S. investors without complying with the registration and exchange requirements governing security-based swaps. The SEC went on to say that XBT Corp. SARL used a multitude of marketing methods to entice U.S. individuals into …

The United States Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) gives its fintech research unit LabCFTC status as an independent operating office. Blockchain and digital assets are an important part of development Established by the CFTC in 2017 with the goal of engaging with the fintech community, LabCFTC will now be reporting directly to the authority’s chairman Heath Tarbert. He announced the news at the CFTC’s annual conference Fintech Forward on Oct. 24. In the announcement, Tarbert noted that engagement with blockchain and digital assets are part of LabCFTC’s commitment to representing a beacon in the emerging world of fintech. He said: …

The Global Financial Innovation Network (GFIN) — an alliance of 50 organizations aimed at supporting financial innovation — has onboarded an array of United States regulatory agencies. According to an Oct. 24 press release published by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC), the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC), the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) and the SEC itself have joined the GFIN. Representing the interests of industry stakeholders The watchdogs’ participation in the initiative is geared to further promoting their expertise both in the U.S. and abroad, helping financial regulators …

U.S. Congressman Patrick McHenry, who represents North Carolina’s 10th District, says he wants regulators’ default reaction to crypto innovation to be “yes.” The Congressman — who goes by the moniker of “Mr. Fintech” on Capitol Hill — made his remarks during an interview for Laura Shin’s Unchained podcast, published on Oct. 22. Reintroducing the Financial Services Innovation Act McHenry related his observations of the cryptocurrency space’s development, underscoring that the Bitcoin’s enormous value had become swiftly apparent. He soon recognized, he said, that regulators’ responses would struggle to keep pace with the wealth of new ideas: “My conclusion was, any …

In an interview with Cointelegraph on Friday, Oct. 18, United States Representative Warren Davidson gave his thoughts on the Securities Exchange Commission’s (SEC) flawed approach to regulating digital assets as well as Mark Zuckerberg’s upcoming Oct. 23 testimony before the House Financial Services Committee. Congressman Davidson (R-OH) is a figure familiar to many in the crypto world for his role in authoring the Token Taxonomy Act, as well as his general optimism about the role of blockchain in the U.S. On regulating Libra as a security While discussing regulating cryptocurrencies at large as opposed to Libra, Davidson was highly precise …

The United States Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) hasn’t come to bury Ether, it’s come to regulate it. That was the message drawn from Heath Tarbert’s remarks from the stage at Yahoo Finance’s All Markets Summit in New York City on Oct. 10, which could have important consequences for the crypto and blockchain industry. He went on: “It is my view as Chairman of the CFTC that Ether is a commodity, and therefore it will be regulated under the CEA. And my guess is that you will see in the near future Ether-related futures contracts and other derivatives potentially traded.” …

The ex-head of the United States’ commodities regulator thinks the government must digitize the dollar and take power away from central banks. Giancarlo wants independently maintained dollar In an opinion piece for the Wall Street Journal on Oct. 15, J. Christopher Giancarlo, former chair of the Commodity Futures Trading Commission or CFTC, argued the dollar could lose status in the future. This would be specifically due to other countries rolling out digital currencies. The answer, he argued, is to create a new form of dollar. “We propose a digital dollar—a government-sanctioned blockchain protocol, created and maintained by an independent nongovernmental …

Former Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) chairman Christopher Giancarlo, who had parted ways with the regulator this summer, has stated that he expects 2019 to be the year when regulators may start considering some response to cryptocurrencies. Giancarlo voiced his opinion during an interview with industry news outlet The Block published on Oct. 9, stating: “I would say 2019 is the year in which there's a growing recognition that regulators and policy makers need to do more than just be aware of these, but may actually need to look at some policy responses.” Libra spurs regulators to take action Giancarlo …

Founder and CEO of crypto investment firm BKCM Brian Kelly has said that Bitcoin (BTC) exchange-traded funds (ETF) are hardly needed for the ecosystem’s development, given that the coin is already available on regulated platforms such as Fidelity and TD Ameritrade. Kelly made his remarks during an interview with CNBC published on Oct. 11, explaining: “You have companies like Fidelity and TD Ameritrade starting to push into this space. So ultimately you’re going to be able to buy Bitcoin in a regular brokerage account, or it’s going to look like a regular brokerage account. So I’m less concerned that you …

At the start of October, New York-based legal firm Roche Freedman filed a new class-action lawsuit against stablecoin firm Tether and digital currency exchange Bitfinex. The case accuses the aforementioned entities of manipulating the market by using a host of sophisticated schemes that involved fraud, pump-and-dump schemes, as well as certain money laundering-related ploys. As a result of this legal drama, the USDT/BTC trade pair has witnessed a substantial decline in its market value (around 10% as of press time). USDT/BTC price over the last seven days As per the lawsuit, the legal team over at Roche Freedman has argued …