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Crypto Mom expresses concerns over the US delaying Bitcoin ETF

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Crypto Mom, aka Hester Peirce, the Commissioner of the Securities and Exchange Commission [SEC], has been expressing concerns over how the US could be lagging behind in adopting Bitcoin ETFs.

Bitcoin ETF or Bitcoin exchange-traded funds have been trying to make a debut in the US for quite some time now. The regulators in the US, particularly the SEC, have been quite hostile towards this. An array of platforms have been sending out applications for the same, and almost every application has been either delayed or denied. However, the SEC has Crypto Mom, who has been urging the regulator to consider approving at least one Bitcoin ETF.

Appearing in a recent virtual conference, Peirce pointed out how all the other countries were moving ahead while the US hadn’t even approved one crypto ETF.

Crypto Mom calls out SEC

The SEC has been vocal about its angst towards the crypto-verse. The Ripple vs. SEC case is a classic example of the same. Bitcoin ETFs have made a debut all across the globe except for the US and the SEC has a primary role to play in the same. Speaking about the same Crypto Mom stated,

“We’re not a merit regulator, so we shouldn’t be in the business of deciding whether something is good or bad, an investor is thinking of their entire portfolio, and sometimes we’re thinking in one-off terms of a particular product standing on its own, and we forget that people are building portfolios.”

Peirce has always noted how the SEC had been overregulation the crypto-verse.

Recently, the SEC delayed Wisdom Tree’s Bitcoin ETF plea. In its notice, the SEC urged the public to send in their views and arguments or concerns with regard to the Wisdom Tree application. Revealing the reason behind the same, the SEC stated,

“The Exchange asserts that the manipulation concerns previously articulated by the Commission are sufficiently mitigated to the point that they are outweighed by quantifiable investor protection issues.”

Will SEC ever approve a Bitcoin ETF plea? Wisdom Tree’s appeal delayed

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The Securities and Exchange Commission of the United States of America has been vocal about its hostility towards the crypto-verse. The constant disapproval of Bitcoin ETFs is a significant model of the same.

Even though the world has started to embrace cryptocurrencies, a few governments and regulators continue to oppose them. Despite the ongoing slump that the market is currently in, the popularity of the assets continues to soar. This has forced regulators to take a deeper look into the industry. The SEC has had numerous fallouts with the crypto industry. The Ripple vs. SEC case stands as a prominent example.

Several firms have been seeking approval from the SEC for a Bitcoin ETF. However, the regulator has either delayed or shot down these appeals.

SEC delays another Bitcoin ETF appeal

In a recent report, the financial watchdog revealed that it was delaying its decision on Wisdom Tree’s Bitcoin ETF plea. The regulator took another turn and urged the public to submit their views on the approval or denial of the ETF.

The notice stated,

“The Commission requests that interested persons provide written submissions of their views, data and arguments with respect to the issues identified above, as well as any other concerns they may have with the proposal.”

Wisdom Tree filed an application with the regulator back in March 2021. This is the second time that the regulator is delaying its verdict. The agency was required to either give the project a green signal or deny it back in May 2021 itself.

The regulator has given the public a period of 21 days to submit their views to the Federal Register. Rebuttals will be filed within 35 days of publication. Elaborating on the reason behind the involvement of the public, the SEC wrote,

“The Exchange asserts that the manipulation concerns previously articulated by the Commission are sufficiently mitigated to the point that they are outweighed by quantifiable investor protection issues.”

Ripple’s former CEO Chris Larsen onboards a new attorney to fend off SEC’s lawsuit

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Ripple has had quite a rough year. While the globe has been battling with the second wave of COVID, Ripple dealt with the lawsuit issued by the Securities and Exchange Commission [SEC] of the United States of America. As the lawsuit prolongs, Chris Larsen, who was also charged for being a part of the company, has found a new attorney to represent him in the case.

The SEC went on to label XRP as a security. In addition, it accused Ripple of engaging in the sales of “unregistered securities.” It charged the platform’s current and former CEO, Brad Garlinghouse, as well as Chris Larsen, respectively, of being a part of the same.

Ripple was represented in the case by a team of 21 lawyers, while Larsen was represented by four lawyers, namely Kristina Anne Bunting, Justin David Ward, Martin Flumenbaum, and Michael E. Gertzman. Another name was added to this list as a new lawyer jumped onboard.

Ripple vs. SEC

James K.Filan, an attorney representing the crypto platform, revealed that attorney Sarah J. Prostko was the latest to join Larsen’s team of lawyers. Welcoming the attorney, Filan tweeted,

“Attorney Sarah J. Prostko has appeared in the case on behalf of Chris Larsen. Welcome to Team Ripple.”

With a B.A. degree from American University, Prostko went on to finish law at the New York School of Law, J.D.

Ripple

The case has been taking many turns and about two months ago, the SEC sought the personal financial records of Garlinghouse as well as Larsen, however, the court shot down this demand calling it “irrelevant” to the case.

Additionally, Garlinghouse and several others including the XRP army was seen yearning for better regulations. With the change in leadership in the SEC, Garlinghouse hopes for better days for the platform. He said,

“I’m hopeful that as a new administration comes into the SEC, there’s an opportunity to revisit some of those conversations. And as you may know, and may recall Jay Clayton as the chair of the SEC, the day before he left office, he brought this lawsuit against Ripple and against me personally, against Chris Larson personally. And we don’t think that made a lot of sense, given that XRP had been trading in the marketplace for eight years, literally nearly a trillion dollars of XRP has traded out there.”

SEC Commissioner seeks less stringent crypto laws while SEC Chair calls for regulations on exchanges

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Hester Peirce, aka Crypto Mom, the Commissioner of the Securities and Exchange Commission of the United States, has time and again revealed her bias towards the crypto-verse. While regulators in the US have been trying to either ban or impose stringent laws on the crypto industry, Peirce has been urging them to go easy on the market.

The value of the crypto-verse witnessed a drastic rise this year which further pushed its demand to new highs as well. This demand proved to be overwhelming for many; however, most governments across the globe were seen embracing the digital asset market. While the US still weighs in on options, Crypto Mom decided to step up and once again asked regulators to slow down.

In a recent interview with Financial Times, Peirce highlighted that imposing strict policies on a promising market, such as the crypto industry, would hinder innovation. She pointed out that regulators would be keen on converting the crypto sphere to a market that they have regulated in the past. However, the whole innovation aspect would be affected by the same, she noted.

SEC Chair Gary Gensler endeavors registration of crypto exchanges

Alongside the SEC Commissioner, her colleague, Gary Gensler, the newly appointed Chairman of the financial regulator, was also seeking something related to the crypto-verse. While Crypto Mom continues to fight for less stringent laws, SEC’s Gensler was looking forward to setting up a federal regulatory regime for cryptocurrency exchanges.

In a recent Global Exchanges & FinTech virtual conference, Gensler addressed the entire crypto exchange situation and stated,

“Crypto assets are largely traded on exchanges, and the public should have investor protection regimes around them. We need a federal regime where they are registered and regulated.”

The regulatory clarity concerning the crypto-verse in the US has always been hazy. Several crypto platforms even bid adieu to the country due to the strict laws that exist in the region.

SEC secures another critic, billionaire Mark Cuban over Ripple vs. SEC case

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The SEC has been dealing with many backlashes, particularly concerning its lawsuit against Ripple. This list seemed to have extended as billionaire and Shark Tank host, Mark Cuban joins the XRP army in criticizing the financial watchdog.

The Securities and Exchange Commission [SEC] of the US waged a war against Ripple for selling unregistered securities. While several were hoping that the financial watchdog would settle, the financial regulator did not hold back. As the regulator continues to fight against Ripple, the XRP army expresses immense rage over the same. Just a couple of days ago, the XRP army protested outside the SEC headquarters. Cuban took to Twitter to exhibit his distress against the financial regulator’s attorney John Reed Stark.

SEC has no understanding of crypto, suggests Cuban

In a recent tweet, billionaire Cuban had no understanding of the crypto-verse. While Stark appeared in a recent CNBC interview, he suggested that cryptocurrencies did not have any utility. He said,

“The volatility is unbelievable, and also (what a lot of people miss) is that there is no utility in Bitcoin or any other crypto. The only reason people own is hoping it will go up because someone else will buy it.”

Cuban has been vocal about his interest in crypto. The billionaire has time and again made news for his inclination towards the digital asset world. Enraged by Reed’s comments, Cuban tweeted,

This wasn’t all. One Twitter user went on to ask Musk how crypto was better than any others sector. Replying to the same, Cuban said,

“Weather insurance. Money transfer. Provenance for digital files. Marketplace efficiency for digital content. Personal banking. Prediction markets. Non-fractionalized banking. Structured financial products. Fractionalization of assets. Gaming rewards. Soon ticketing.”

As the Ripple vs SEC case persists, the price of XRP seemed to be giving up. The altcoin dropped down below $1 as a result of the crypto carnage. At the time of writing, the altcoin was trading for $0.94 with an 8% drop in the last 24-hours.

BitConnect promoters face a lawsuit by SEC following a $2 billion crypto scam

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The Securities and Exchange Commission [SEC] of the United States has reportedly hit five people part of the BitConnect Ponzi scheme with a lawsuit.

The crypto-verse isn’t new to scams and hacks. However, the surge in the price of all the assets paved the way to more scammy projects that further led to several losing out on investments. While officials had shot down a crypto Ponzi scheme, BitConnect back in 2018, news pertaining to the platform has once again started to surface.

BitConnect makes headlines, once again

A platform started out in 2016 and urged customers to loan their cryptocurrency to garner massive returns. While BitConnect pocketed significant gains of about $2 billion, the FBI intervened in 2019 and looked for the victims of this scam. As this case persists, the SEC went on to file a lawsuit against five people, namely, Trevon Brown, Craig Grant, Ryan Maasen, and Michael Noble for promoting the Ponzi scheme.

The aforementioned individuals had reportedly formulated YouTube videos in order to recruit more people to be a part of the sham. Since the entire scheme was a multi-referral business, these promoters went on to earn a commission for bringing in more people.

Furthermore, this lawsuit was filed by the SEC in the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York accusing all five individuals of aiding the program.

Lara Shalov Mehraban, Associate Regional Director of SEC’s New York Regional Office, addressed the same in SEC’s recent press release and stated,

“We allege that these defendants unlawfully sold unregistered digital asset securities by actively promoting the BitConnect lending program to retail investors. We will seek to hold accountable those who illegally profit by capitalizing on the public’s interest in digital assets.”

While this platform hasn’t been functioning for a while now, the SEC hopes to garner  “injunctive relief, disgorgement plus interest, and civil penalties” through its latest lawsuit.

Former SEC exec who rejected Bitcoin ETFs now helping a firm to get one approved

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There is nothing like the cryptocurrency industry. Hilarious fad tokens may have found a place but not Bitcoin ETF. At least not in the United States.

Regulatory approval of a Bitcoin exchange-traded fund [ETF] in the US represents the holy grail. The Securities and Exchange Commission [SEC] under former Chairman Jay Clayton had rejected Bitcoin ETFs. However, he does not hold the position anymore. Currently, Clayton is serving as a crypto advisor for asset manager One River.

Interestingly, the hedge fund has now filed for a Bitcoin ETF with the regulatory watchdogs of the country.

Clayton had previously stated that the US should never have an ETF on any stock exchange of the country citing market manipulation concerns. However, he is now helping One River to get one.

One River’s Bitcoin ETF

According to the asset management platform’s S-1 filing, dubbed ‘One River Carbon Neutral Bitcoin Trust’ would be listed on the New York Stock Exchange [NYSE]. The ETF plans to offset the carbon footprint associated with the cryptocurrency by buying and disposing of carbon credits necessary to account for the estimated carbon emissions related to the bitcoins held by the Trust.

It further stated that the Trust has entered into an agreement with LIRDES S.A., an Uruguay-based firm, to purchase MCO2 tokens representing certified reductions in greenhouse gas emissions. It also said,

“The MCO2 tokens issued by Moss are assets encrypted and tokenized utilizing blockchain technology and are stored on a registry managed by Verra, an organization that establishes and manages standards and programs in connection with carbon credits [“Verra”].”

As per the filing, the trust will not sell and or buy the cryptocurrency directly. Rather, it plans on leveraging third parties to offer the crypto assets via something called, “in-kind” transactions which involve the selling and redeeming of shares. In addition, Coinbase Custody has joined hands as the custodian for the ETF’s bitcoin assets.

SEC will now be able to seek assistance from foreign regulators

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The Securities and Exchange Commission of the United States aka SEC has been caught up in a case with Ripple. While the case has been going on for several months now, it has been taking various turns. The latest news from the court wasn’t very favorable for Ripple.

Despite Ripple pointing out that XRP wasn’t a security, the SEC wasn’t ready to accept this. When no party involved in the case decided to settle, the case went on to prolong. Ripple has been putting in efforts to prove that it did not sell “unregistered securities.” Trying to determine the same, the platform, urged the court to refrain the financial regulator from seeking help from foreign regulators. This motion was, however, shot down.

SEC leaps forward

In a recent document it was revealed that the judge involved in the case, Sarah Netburn had dismissed Ripple’s plea from stopping the American financial watchdog from contacting foreign regulators. Judge Netburn wrote,

“The Defendants move the Court for an order directing the Securities and Exchange Commission to withdraw its foreign Requests for Assistance (the “Requests”), to stop further discovery through such Requests, and to produce all previously served Requests and any related communications with foreign regulators. The motion is DENIED”

Previously, James K. Filan, a lawyer representing Ripple had revealed that the Judge would most probably vote in favor of the platform. Despite this, Judge Netburn approved the commission’s Memorandum of Understanding [MoU] request. Suggesting that MoU requests were admissible, the document read,

There has been no argument that the Requests exceed the scope of any governing bilateral agreement. Instead, courts have routinely rejected the proposition that the Hague Convention is the exclusive or priority means of conducting foreign discovery.     

While this case persists, XRP was seen dropping down with all the coins. At the time of writing, the altcoin was trading for a low of $1.25.

SEC’s new chairman discusses crypto appearing before the house financial services committee

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The Securities and Exchange Commission aka SEC of the United States recently welcomed its new chairman, Gary Gensler while bidding adieu to Jay Clayton. Speaking before the House Financial Services Committee for the first time, Gensler pointed out what Congress had to look into regulating the crypto industry.

The SEC has been making a lot of news, particularly over the last couple of months following its squabble with Ripple. While several regulators across the globe announced that XRP was not a security, the SEC was assertive about its stance on categorizing the altcoin as security. Additionally, with zero Bitcoin ETFs in America, the crypto community exerted utmost distress with the financial regulator. However, with the appointment of Gensler, the community was given the hope of better regulations with regard to the crypto-verse.

SEC’s Gary Gensler Intends To Uphold Investor Protection

The lack of regulatory clarity in the US has been pointed out by many. The recent hearing was focused on GameStop’s activities which further led to Rep. Patrick McHenry asking the Chairman about the regulatory environment of the cryptocurrency industry.

The latest Chairman of the financial regulator, however, urged Congress to regulate the crypto industry in his latest speech. But, Gensler was inclined towards “investor protection.” He added,

“It’d be good to consider whether to bring investor protection to the crypto exchanges. And I think if that were the case, because right now the exchanges’ trading in these crypto-assets do not have a regulatory framework, either at the SEC or our sister agency, the Commodity Futures Trading Commission that could instill greater confidence.”

Speaking at a virtual hearing, Gensler noted that there wasn’t any notable regulation surrounding cryptocurrency exchanges that facilitate the trading of crypto. This further meant that those interested in the buying and selling of crypto were prone to fraud or manipulation. However, the right kind of protection could limit the chances of users enduring any prominent losses.

XRP Eyes Consolidation Below $1.46 Before Next Move Higher

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XRP’s uptrend, after soaring to its year-to-date [YTD] high of $1.97, was cut short by the market-wide pullback. It incurred a weekly loss of nearly 24%.

The rally prior to the correction, however, saw an overall strong performance from the digital asset which had remained unfazed by the developments of the lawsuit against the blockchain company, Ripple, by the regulatory watchdog, SEC.

At the time of writing, XRP was exchanging hands at $1.31 while holding a market cap of $60.9 billion after slashing most of its gains. The fourth-largest crypto-asset was still down by 1.21% in the last 24-hours with a trading volume of $13.42 billion.

XRP 24-hour Price Chart:

XRP 2

The converging Bollinger Bands depict a phase of low volatility in the XRP market which could signify a consolidation in offing.

The upsloping moving averages continued to remain undeterred even as the crypto-asset took a double-digit plunge over the past week. The 100 DMA [Purple] continued to hover well below the price candles as well as 50 DMA [Pink] depicting the presence of bulls in the coin market.

XRP2 2

The red closing bars of Awesome oscillator depicted a trend of weak bearish momentum in the coin market. The Chaikin Money Flow [CMF], on the other hand, continued to tread above the zero-line which indicated that a steady inflow of capital into the XRP market even as the coin suffered one of the biggest pullback of the year.

RSI turned down from the overbought conditions but has maintained its position above the 50-median line depicting a sentiment of decline but intact buying pressure among the traders in the XRP market.

The above charts depict the hints of a bearish pressure as the price continued to favor the bulls. Hence, XRP could potentially witness a consolidation phase before a substantive breakout on either sides.

Its resistance levels stood at $1.46, and $1.83 while its immediate support points were found to be at $1.011 and $0.98 respectively.