A United States appeals court is set to hear the oral arguments relating to Grayscale Investment’s lawsuit against the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) over its decision to deny Grayscale’s Bitcoin (BTC) spot exchange-traded fund (ETF). As per a court motion filed on Jan. 23, both sides will present their arguments at the District of Columbia Court of Appeals on Mar. 7, 2023, at 9:30 am local time. Oral arguments are spoken presentations delivered by attorneys summarizing why their clients should win the case. Each party in the case takes turns directly speaking to and answering questions from the judge …

Lawmakers in the Arizona State Senate are considering a bill aimed at having voters decide whether virtual currency is exempt from property taxation. In legislation introduced to the first session of the Arizona State Senate in 2023, Senators Wendy Rogers, Sonny Borrelli, and Justine Wadsack proposed having Arizona residents decide on amending the state’s constitution in regards to property taxes. Should the measure pass the legislature, voters could choose whether virtual currency — specifically not “a representation of the United States dollar” — be tax exempt in the state in November 2024. Under Arizona’s constitution, all federal, state, county and …

Bankrupt crypto lending firm Celsius may issue its own token to repay creditors, according to a January 24 report from Bloomberg. The report cites a video court hearing as the source of the information. According to the report, Celsius attorney Ross M. Kwasteniet told the court that the firm is negotiating with its creditors on how to relaunch the platform and adequately pay them back. The new, relaunched version would be “a publicly-traded company that is properly licensed,” which could allegedly provide more money for creditors than simply liquidating the company. If approved by creditors and the court, the reorganized …

HM Treasury in the United Kingdom has begun calling for applicants to lead the central bank digital currency team behind efforts towards a digital pound. In a job posted to LinkedIn on Jan. 24, the U.K. Treasury called for a team lead for its Payments and Fintech Team of roughly 20 people focused exploring on a “potential digital pound”. According to the posting, the CBDC head would determine the “strategic direction” for Treasury’s efforts to develop a digital currency in line with the government’s agenda, as well as analyze potential policy issues for lawmakers. “Treasury and the Bank of England …

The Economic and Monetary Affairs Committee of the European Parliament has voted for measures requiring banks holding cryptocurrencies to set aside a punitive amount of capital. In a Jan. 24 notice, the European Parliament announced the committee had voted overwhelmingly in favor of amendments to its Capital Requirements Regulation and Capital Requirements Directive applying to banks holding crypto. According to a draft law, banks would be required to hold a “risk-weighted exposure amount” of up to 1,250% of capital based on exposure to crypto. On Tuesday 24/01 @EP_Economics adopted changes to Capital Requirements Regulation (w/ 41/1/14) & Directive (49/2/7) #CRR …

Over the last couple of years, numerous reports have surfaced regarding governments worldwide exploring the issuance of their very own central bank digital currency. In fact, to date, nine countries have rolled out an active CBDC offering. In this regard, China’s digital yuan witnessed widespread use during the 2022 Winter Olympics. Other countries that have initiated similar projects include the Bahamas, the Marshall Islands and Nigeria. However, it is being reported that Nigeria’s eNaira has witnessed poor uptake so far, and the others have fared somewhat similarly. Moreover, India too has launched a pilot scheme for its digital rupee, while …

Troubled cryptocurrency company Digital Currency Group (DCG) is facing more legal issues as its subsidiary Genesis Capital got slapped with a new class action lawsuit. A group of Genesis creditors filed a securities class action (SCA) lawsuit against DCG and its founder and CEO Barry Silbert, alleging violations of the federal securities laws. The lawsuit was filed by Connecticut-based law firm Silver Golub & Teitell (SGT) on behalf of individuals and entities who entered into digital asset lending agreements with Genesis. The law firm is known for handling major industry lawsuits, including a class action suit filed against Coinbase in …

Last year has been a rollercoaster year for crypto: from the collapse of big wallet providers to the unfolding FTX saga, and the all too familiar occurrences of rug pulls, scams and bankruptcies. While the market is still trying to find its footing in the aftermath of what can be categorized as a challenging year, there is a case to be made for this being a net positive for an industry that is still going through substantial growing pains. The scale of malpractice with FTX was so massive that it has drawn worldwide attention. This obviously has its downside for …

The policy decision-makers in the United Kingdom got split on whether the sale, marketing, and distribution of derivatives and exchange-traded notes (ETNs) tied with cryptocurrencies should be prohibited when it comes to retail investors. The Regulatory Policy Committee believes the measure, adopted in 2021, to be unjustified under current circumstances. The prohibition, enacted by the chief British regulator, the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA), came into force in January 2021. Since that time, the companies could no longer offer cryptocurrency derivatives products such as futures, options and exchange-traded notes, or ETNs, to retail customers. Back at the time, the blanket ban …

Hester Peirce, Commissioner of the Securities and Exchanges Commission (SEC) pointed out six key lessons in a recent speech that industry players must remember what crypto is really about. In a speech at the Digital Assets at Duke conference, Peirce laid down some lessons to be learned from the issues that the crypto industry had to face in 2022. According to the commissioner, 2022 was a “terrible, horrible, no good, very bad year” for both the crypto space and regulators. However, Peirce believed there are valuable takeaways from the series of problems that arose last year. She explained: “Underlying these …

Bankrupt crypto lending firm BlockFi has plans to sell off $160 million in loans backed by around 68,000 Bitcoin mining machines as part of bankruptcy proceedings, according to reports. In a Bloomberg report on Jan. 24, two people “familiar with the matter” claim that BlockFi started the process of selling off the loans last year. The crypto lender filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in Nov. 2022, citing its significant exposure to the now-defunct crypto exchange FTX for its downfall. However, some of these loans have already defaulted since then and could be undercollateralized given the decline in the price of …

The approach to crypto regulatory enforcement by the United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) stalled the advancement of Bitcoin (BTC) in the country, according to the CEO of Grayscale Investments. In a letter published in The Wall Street Journal on Jan. 23, the chief of the cryptocurrency asset management firm, Michael Sonnenshein, said he agreed with an assertion that the SEC was “late to the game” regarding crypto regulation and preventing the bankruptcy of FTX, adding: “‘Late’ doesn’t capture what transpired here. The problem is the Securities and Exchange Commission’s one-dimensional approach of regulation by enforcement.” Grayscale is currently …