Author: Lillie Bennett

Gary Gensler, Chairman of the SEC, stressed the importance to bring crypto platforms into compliance following the filing by the Securities Regulator of charges against Caroline Ellison, former CEO Alameda Research and Gary Wang for defrauding equity investors. Wednesday’s tweet from the SEC boss:

Investors will continue to be at risk if crypto platforms do not comply with the time-tested securities laws. The SEC will continue to make it a priority to use all available tools to bring this industry into compliance.

Gensler stated that the SEC is only just starting to crack down on crypto firms not complying with its rules in a Bloomberg interview.

Gensler stated that the runway for crypto companies to register with SEC is becoming shorter. He stressed: “The casinos in this Wild West, are non-compliant intermediaries.”

Gensler also addressed proof-of-reserves reports (POR), which are used by many crypto exchanges including Binance to show that they have sufficient funds to pay customer withdrawals. Gensler pointed out that this practice does not provide the required disclosures to protect investors.

The proof of reserves does not provide a complete accounting of assets and liabilities of a company. It also does not satisfy the requirements of the securities laws for segregation of customer funds.

Gensler recommended that crypto companies ‘give customers confidence in their crypto’ by complying with time-tested custody rules, segregation rules for customer funds, and accounting rules. The SEC is focusing on crypto companies’ financial records.

Some have criticized the chairman and securities watchdog for their enforcement-centric approach in regulating crypto. In the aftermath of the collapse in crypto exchange FTX, they were examined by SEC staff.

Tom Emmer, a Republican from Minnesota, tweeted Thursday that “Gary Gensler (and the SEC) had more meetings with SBF and FTX/IEX then anyone else in crypto. This was allegedly to create a special regulatory framework to benefit FTX.” Further, the lawmaker wrote:

Backroom regulatory deals with criminal actors are not tools in the SEC’s arsenal.

Last month, Congressman Emmer stated that the FTX saga is not a crypto-related failure. It was a failure by the SEC Chair Gensler. Gensler has been asked to testify in Congress about his regulatory failures.

The SEC chief highlighted the importance of regulating cryptocurrency issuers and intermediaries last week. He stated previously that the majority of crypto tokens are securities, but that the crypto field was substantially non-compliant. Recently, the securities regulator published its strategy plan for the next four year and crypto is one of its top priorities. Gensler stated in November that the SEC’s Enforcement Division is still focused on crypto.

Binance’s Bitcoin balance, the largest cryptocurrency exchange in the world, has risen substantially over the last month after the collapse of FTX. Total holdings are now close to 600,000.

Data from crypto analytics platform Coinglass shows that Binance currently has more than 575k BTC coins. It has added more than 137.011 coins in the last week, and an additional 67.347 BTC coins in the last month.

Binance has a stack of BTC worth more than $9 billion, with Bitcoin hovering around $16,000. Binance’s recent increase in BTC stash is due to consumer confidence in smaller exchanges, which continues to grow after the extraordinary crash of FTX.

According to Coinglass, Coinbase Pro and Bitfinex are the fourth-largest Bitcoin exchange holders after Binance. They hold 528,900 and 345,597 Bitcoins, respectively, and 153,212 and 70,622 Bitcoins. Binance is the only exchange that has seen a positive net Bitcoin flow in the last week of the top five.

Binance is the largest cryptocurrency exchange by trading volume. Due to its involvement in the FTX saga, Binance has been prominently featured in recent news. Initially, the exchange had signed a non-binding deal to acquire troubled FTX. However, it walked out of the deal the next day.

What is Proof Of Reserves? Why Should Exchanges Share It?

Many in the crypto industry expressed concern about the reliability of central players after the collapse of FTX, the third-largest cryptocurrency exchange.

To counter this suspicion, crypto executives began to share proofs of reserves. Merkle Trees are used to verify that proof of reserves is valid.

Some of the biggest cryptocurrency exchanges shared their proofs of reserves over the past few days. This included information about how many and what cryptocurrencies they hold on behalf of customers. Binance was the first to share their proof of reserves, followed Bybit, Crypto.com and Huobi.

reported that crypto investment firm Grayscale refused to share its proof of-reserves due to’security concerns. Grayscale recently stated that major cryptocurrency exchange Coinbase is used as custodian by Grayscale.

Grayscale’s financial health has been questioned by some, however. Until reading this statement, I wasn’t worried about GBTC’s solvency. Please explain why proof of reserve can pose a security threat. One Twitter user stated.

Robert Kiyosaki is the author of the personal financial book “Rich Dad, Poor Dad”. He believes that ongoing Federal Reserve policies to limit inflation are a catalyst for an economic collapse.

Kiyosaki claims that interest rate increases are bad for the economy. He also stated that stocks and bonds will be the biggest casualties. This was he tweeted on October 29.

Kiyosaki said that Bitcoin ( BTC) as well as precious metals could provide a security measure for investors.

“Gold and silver prices fall as the Fed raises interest rates. Since silver is no longer in stock, I’m buying physical gold coins. The economy will die if interest rates are raised. Stocks, bonds, and real property will all crash. Fed will pivot. Before FED pivots, buy Gold, Silver and Bitcoin. He said, “Take care.”

Adapting to an economic crash

Kiyosaki noted that people will need to adapt if the economy crashes. He compared the situation to his experiences with the Vietnam War. According to Kiyosaki

“I didn’t have to travel to Vietnam. Because I worked in the oil industry, I was exempted from draft. But I was able to volunteer for the US Marines, and flew helicopter gunships. It was a great decision as I needed to grow up. Many people will rise up in the coming crash, while many others will be exterminated. Take care.

Kiyosaki, who has long accused the Federal Reserve (Federal Reserve) of causing an economic crash by manipulating inflation, is something that should be noted. The author claims that the Federal Reserve is responsible for the explosion in inflation.

Bitcoin can be used to protect wealth

Kiyosaki said that investors can store their wealth in Bitcoin. He also noted that the flagship cryptocurrency can help protect wealth. According to Finbold, Kiyosaki said that Bitcoin would not protect income in the event of an economic crash. Therefore, he suggested side hustles.

In spite of the rising inflation, Kiyosaki believes that traditional finance products could crash. He , for example, suggested the dollar would crash in 2023. However, he advocated silver.

A number of crypto developments have occurred in the last few days, including Royal Enfield’s announcement of non-fungible tokens, introduction of a bill concerning crypto sanctions in the UK and JPMorgan Chase calling Bitcoin a fraud.

Royal Enfield NFT Launched on Ethereum Blockchain-Based Platform

Royal Enfield, maker of the Classic 350, Bullet and other motorcycles in India, had announced that it was launching Web 3.0 technology, NFT, with foundation.app, an Ethereum-based NFT platform.

Royal Enfield announced that their NFT collection will be launched with 10 winning artwork designs taken from their Art of Motorcycling program. These NFTs will retail at Rs 15,000 per piece. On October 3, the NFTs will go on sale.

Puneet Sood is the global head of apparel at Royal Enfield. He stated that Art Of Motorcycling was created to provide a platform for motorcycling lovers, artists, and designers to express their passion. Royal Enfield’s first ever NFTs will be launched to help this growing community reach new heights. We are proud to do this.

United Kingdom introduces the Economic Crime and Corporate Transparency bill

As promised by the Home Office in May, this bill has been introduced by the U.K. It allows law enforcement agencies to quickly seize, freeze, and recover crypto assets that are being used for criminal activities such as money laundering and cybercrime.

Graeme Biggar (director general of the National Crime Agency), stated that domestic and international criminals have used cryptocurrencies to launder the proceeds of crime and corruption for many years. Coindesk reported this statement.

To crack down on criminals, terrorists, and kleptocrats who abuse the open economy, we’re introducing Economic Crime & Corporate Transparency Bill.

The UK’s dirty money.
Strengthening the UK’s reputation as a country that supports legitimate business to flourish.

pic.twitter.com/WMlcfTLUOI

Home Office (@ukhomeoffice). May 15, 2022

JPMorgan Chase Bank Calls Bitcoin “Decentralised Scam”

Jamie Dimon, JPMorgan Chase Bank CEO, stated in a U.S. congressional hearing that he was a major sceptic about crypto tokens. These are currencies like bitcoin. Bloomberg reported that they are Ponzi schemes.

Dimon also claimed that digital currencies are being used more often by criminals for their illicit operations, including money laundering and sex trafficking.

Dimon is vocal however about the technology that underlies these digital currencies, i.e. These technologies, such as blockchain, metaverse and others, can be used in public and private use, whether permissioned or unpermitted.

JPMorgan Chase bank offers a lounge in Decentraland, where you can find a variety of digital services. Decentraland is an Ethereum-based virtual 3D animated land.

‘I’m a major skeptic on crypto tokens, which you call currency, like Bitcoin,’ JPMorgan CEO Jamie Dimon said in congressional testimony Wednesday https://t.co/C1ymC4nXGp

Bloomberg Wealth (@wealth). September 22, 2022

Michael Saylor Says That The Bitcoin Price Will Reach $69,000/Bitcoin Within 4 Years

Michael Saylor, co-founder and chairman, is an IT company MicroStrategy. It is the largest corporate Bitcoin holder in the world, with over 1,30,000 BTC tokens at an average price $30,639. According to Saylor, Bitcoin could reach $68,990 again in the next four year, and it could even reach $5,00,000.

Saylor said that the Lightning network is another payment protocol that is being developed by his company.

Ethereum Miners Unite To Dump Ethereum

According to reports, Ethereum miners that are unable to mine Ethereum tokens (ETH) have sold over 16,000 ETH tokens while still remaining with approximately 2,45,000 ETH coins. Oklink, a Blockchain Analytics firm, has found that miners dumped approximately 16,000 ETH tokens between September 12 and September 19. This was more than $300 million.

In an interview with Coindesk, Lucas Ontumuro (head of research, IntoTheBlock), stated that miners are shifting onto other blockchains because they can take their profits from ETH holdings.

Coindesk reported that miners are dumping their Ethereum. This is an overhang we will have to overcome over the next months to resume up-only mode.

The East African Community (EAC), a group of central banks in an African economic union is unsure whether plans to create a single currency for the region before 2024 are realized. One reason why the single currency will not take root is because of the failure of some member countries to meet the targets set out in the roadmap.

A report from the East African states that members of the six-nation East African Community believe the common currency will reduce costs for converting currencies. The EAC has set the goal of achieving a single currency in the 2022-2026 period. This will help eliminate cross-border volatility and reduce exchange rate volatility.

In a communiqué reportedly issued on August 22, EAC stated that the delays and other obstacles meant that the regional bloc could not have a single currency in 2024, as was planned.

‘The Committee observed that delays have been made in achieving the targets in the EAMU [East African Monetary Union] roadmap, and that there are many challenges that could hinder the timely implementation of the EAMU protocol. The EAC communique stated that the Committee had pledged to work closely with the EAC Secretariat, and other stakeholders, in order to accelerate the pending activities of EAMU protocol.

Harmonization of Monetary & Forex Policies

The EAC acknowledged that the creation of a single currency regionally has been difficult, but it claimed that there had been some progress in the central banks of partner countries.

The East African report cites the achievements of central banks such as the creation of the East African Monetary Union, as well as harmonization of forex-monetary policies.

Other accomplishments include the harmonization and improvement of regulatory frameworks, cybersecurity enhancements, and measures to strengthen payment systems.