Last weekend, Bart Chilton, a former commissioner of the United States Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) and early advocate for cryptocurrency regulation, died at the age of 58. Apart from his work for the regulator, he was best known as the host of RT (formerly Russia Today) America’s financial show “Boom Bust” — in which he often covered cryptocurrency news — and as the author of the book “Ponzimonium: How Scam Artists Are Ripping Off America.” The news about Chilton’s death was broken by RT, his latest employer, on April 27. According to the TV network, the Boom Bust host …

Bart Chilton, former executive at the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) and known crypto advocate, has died at age 58 after a reportedly sudden illness. TV channel RT America broke the news on April 27. A former member of the United States House of Representatives from 1985 to 1995, Chilton served at the CFTC’s Energy and Environmental Advisory Committee and the Global Markets Advisory Committee from 2007 to 2014. After CFTC, Chilton joined the law firm DLA Piper as a senior policy advisor for regulatory and public policy issues. The former CFTC commissioner was also known for hosting RT’s …

The United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) have jointly issued an alert warning investors against fraudulent websites purporting to operate advisory and trading businesses. The alert, issued by the SEC’s Office of Investor Education and Advocacy and the CFTC’s Office of Customer Education and Outreach, was published on April 24. The warning states that staff from both agencies have recently observed crypto-related investment scams where bad actors are touting “digital asset or ‘cryptocurrency’ advisory and trading businesses,” in some cases claiming they can invest clients’ funds in special crypto trading systems or …

Intercontinental Exchange (ICE)-lead institutional cryptocurrency trading platform Bakkt is considering acquiring a New York BitLicense to launch its bitcoin futures, Bloomberg reports on April 18. Bakkt has seen resistance from the United States Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) to approve its bitcoin futures because of its intentions to custody user’s assets. Bloomberg quotes anonymous sources familiar with the situation, stating that to ease the concerns of the regulator, the company is considering acquiring a license from New York financial regulators. The CFTC recognizes state bank and trust licenses and could potentially allow the listing of futures if Bakkt obtained a …

United States-regulated crypto derivatives and clearing platform LedgerX is eyeing the launch of a physically-settled bitcoin (BTC) futures contract, the company confirmed to Cointelegraph on April 16. LedgerX, which is overseen by the U.S. Commodities Future Trading Commission (CFTC), has applied for a designated contract market license that would allow it to launch the new futures product. Whereas the BTC futures contracts currently listed on CME are ultimately settled in fiat, a physically-settled version would see traders paid out in bitcoin upon contracts’ expiration. According to LedgerX co-founder Juthica Chou, the license application — reportedly first filed in November 2018 …

United States Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) Chairman J. Christopher Giancarlo has emphasized the agency’s commitment is to monitor, but not impede, the development of the crypto asset sector. Giancarlo made his remarks during a speech devoted to EU-U.S. regulatory cooperation for derivatives markets, delivered at the Eurofi Financial Forum in Bucharest, Romania on April 4. The chairman expressed his agency’s support of international efforts to review the effectiveness of the G20's derivatives reform agenda and to ensure they enhance, rather than stifle, derivatives markets. He noted that the CFTC is itself committed to making its own rules and regulations …

Kelly Loeffler, the CEO of institutional trading platform Bakkt, announced that former cybersecurity expert at IBM, Cisco and Endgame Tom Noonan will become the chairman of its board of directors. The development was reported in a Medium post published on March 29. Per the announcement, the founder, chairman and CEO of the Intercontinental Exchange (ICE) and chairman of the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) Jeff Sprecher is also joining the board of directors of the company. Alongside him, the post further welcomes Softbank managing partner Akshay Naheta and managing partner at Goldfinch Partners Sean Collins to the board. Loeffler notes …

The Technology Advisory Committee of the United States Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) discussed crypto regulation and distributed ledger technology (DLT) adoption during a meeting on Wednesday, March 27. The committee discussed various reports on cryptocurrencies and DLT. The first was presented by Peter Van Valkenburgh, Director of Research at Coin Center, who spoke on various consensus mechanisms. Referring to this topic, CFTC Commissioner Brian Quintenz said in his opening statement that Ethereum’s plan to shift from a proof-of-work (PoW) to proof-of-stake (PoS) consensus raises important regulatory questions, including the possibility of manipulating or falsifying the ledger. Another report was …

Top Stories This Week Six Global Banks Sign Up to Issue Stablecoins on IBM’s Now-Live Blockchain Network This week, six international banks signed letters of intent to issue their own stablecoins — which will be backed by their national fiat currencies — on IBM’s now-live blockchain-powered payments network, “World Wire.” According to the joint announcement by IBM and Stellar, the World Wire has gone live with over 44 banks on its service, supporting 47 currencies in 72 countries. The IBM project was launched with Stellar in September 2018, and plans to expand the blockchain-powered settlement network to further assets. The …

United States regulator the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) is actively working to approve multiple crypto-related applications, including for Bitcoin (BTC) futures from institutional trading platform Bakkt. A CFTC commissioner revealed the news in remarks to cryptocurrency news network Blocktv in an interview on March 19. Answering a question about the status of Bakkt’s application, which has seen multiple delays, commissioner Dan Berkovitz avoided a direct update on the project, instead saying that the CFTC was trying to assist all cryptocurrency-related products in obtaining the necessary approval for launch in the U.S. “We have a very interactive process with all …

Much-anticipated crypto platform Bakkt’s plans to store customers’ Bitcoin (BTC) from its Bitcoin futures could cause further delay on obtaining approval from United States regulator the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC). The news was reported by the Wall Street Journal (WSJ) on March 21, citing anonymous sources. When Bakkt was first announced back in August, the platform had revealed that its first product would be Bitcoin futures that are physically delivered daily, subject to CFTC approval. Bakkt also said that it planned to hold Bitcoin on behalf of its clients via its “physical warehousing.” According to “people familiar with the …

United States Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) Chairman J. Christopher Giancarlo has said the agency’s fintech innovation hub LabCFTC is the regulator’s internal stakeholder in a landscape of exponential technological change and market evolution. Giancarlo made his remarks during his last appearance as CFTC chairman before the 44th Annual International Futures Industry Conference on March 14, in an address entitled “Improving the Past, Tackling the Present, and Advancing to a Digital Market Future.” Giancarlo is expected to be replaced this year by the U.S. president’s nominee for the CFTC chairmanship, Heath Tarbert, assuming the latter’s confirmation. In his remarks, Giancarlo …