A watchdog group has demanded an investigation into Sam Bankman-Fried’s political donations, claiming the former FTX CEO “admitted” to donating tens of millions to Republicans under the table in violation of federal law. The Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW) filed the complaint with the Federal Election Commission (FEC) on Dec. 8, citing comments made by Bankman-Fried in…
Jordan Belfort, aka the Wolf of Wall Street, expects bitcoin and ethereum to be “a lot higher” than they are now. Noting that the collapsed crypto exchange FTX is a scam, he stressed that its implosion “doesn’t mean that you can disregard bitcoin completely and say it’s worthless or going to zero.” The Wolf of Wall Street Calls FTX a…
In mid-November, as crypto markets reeled in the aftermath of FTX’s meltdown, Nobel Prize-winning economist Paul Krugman made use of his New York Times column to disparage crypto assets — again. Despite his unquestionable academic credentials, Krugman reiterated a common misunderstanding in his attempt to understand crypto assets — by conflating Bitcoin (BTC) with other cryptocurrencies. Despite being the oldest,…
In brief Solana NFT standard maker Metaplex and top marketplace Magic Eden are trading allegations and barbs on Twitter. The firms have been at odds before and are currently taking different paths regarding enforcement of NFT royalties. Solana has been ground zero for the ongoing industry debate over enforcing NFT creator royalties, and now long-simmering disputes between major players in…
The United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has issued new guidance that could see publicly traded companies disclose their exposure to crypto assets. In a statement released on Dec. 8 by SEC’s Division of Corporation Finance, it said the recent upheaval in the crypto asset market has “caused widespread disruption in those markets” and noted that companies may have…
On Thursday, the Federal Trade Commission announced a lawsuit to block Microsoft from acquiring Activision Blizzard, developers of the Call of Duty and Overwatch franchises. The FTC alleges the deal would give Microsoft an unfair advantage over its competitors in the gaming industry, essentially creating a monopoly. Microsoft announced the planned acquisition, reportedly worth $68.7 billion, in January. The FTC…
On Wednesday, non-fungible token (NFT) supporters discovered that NFT metadata hosted on the platform FTX US points to broken metadata, and the links now point to FTX’s restructuring website. Specific collections that were minted on the Solana blockchain via the FTX US NFT platform do not show the NFT’s imagery and marketplace listings on the Coachella NFT marketplace have disappeared.…
Bitcoin is back above $17,000—rising with U.S. stocks as traders responded to a Labor Department report showing a rise in jobless claims, a possible sign that federal interest rate hikes could slow down. The price of the biggest digital asset by market cap was trading for $17,183, a 2.1% 24-hour jump, at the time of writing. Ethereum, the second-biggest cryptocurrency,…
Three United States lawmakers have introduced legislation that would direct the Environmental Protection Agency, or EPA, to report on the energy usage and environmental impact of crypto miners. In a Dec. 8 announcement, California Representative Jared Huffman and Massachusetts Senate Ed Markey said they were “sounding the alarm” the energy use from crypto mining in the United States, claiming that…
Central bank digital currency (CBDC) development aims squarely at inclusion, both for the central bank in the national economy and for the people it serves. Meanwhile, the technology for cross-border payments is being developed elsewhere for the most part, according to a new report on the payments industry. The Digital Money Institute (DMI), part of the Official Monetary and Financial…
