Tech giant Apple is gearing up to permit third-party app stores on its devices to comply with new anti-monopolistic requirements from the European Union (EU), which could be seen as a huge win for crypto and NFT app developers, at least in Europe. Under the new rules, European customers would be able to download alternative app marketplaces outside of Apple’s…
The Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) has again labeled Ether (ETH) as a commodity in a Dec. 13 court filing — in contrast to statements from chief Rostin Behnam on Nov. 30 suggesting that Bitcoin was the sole cryptocurrency that should be viewed as a commodity. According to the CFTC, as per their filing today, ETH is a commodity. This really…
U.S. Congressman Tom Emmer has called on the chairman of the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), Gary Gensler, to testify before Congress and “answer questions about the cost of his regulatory failures.” The lawmaker stressed: “Gensler has repeatedly dodged Congress at the expense of investors … leaving us to learn about the SEC’s crypto investigations, like the one into FTX,…
A judge in the Bahamas has denied disgraced FTX founder Sam Bankman-Fried’s request for bail, calling the former billionaire a flight risk. The decision came hours after Bankman-Fried notified the Bahamanian courts that he intended to fight any extradition order to the U.S. Bahamas Chief Magistrate JoyAnn Ferguson-Pratt on Tuesday denied the Bankman-Fried’s petition to be released on $250,000 bail,…
On Dec. 13, 2022, the Southern District of New York (SDNY) prosecutor’s office and SDNY attorney Damian Williams revealed that the FTX co-founder Sam Bankman-Fried has been indicted for “fraud, money Laundering, and campaign finance offenses.” SDNY attorney Williams said that the case was not an issue of “mismanagement or poor oversight” but of “intentional fraud, plain and simple.” SDNY…
Layer-1 blockchain platform Algorand has been chosen as the public blockchain to support an “innovative digital guarantees platform” to be used in Italy’s banking and insurance markets. The Algorand-supported platform is expected to be launched in early 2023. According to Algorand’s Dec. 13 announcement, this is the first time an EU Member State will use blockchain technology for bank and insurance…
Only one of the following news items is real, but someday, all will sound equally comical. Headline, 1896: The owner of Wagoneer & Sons, a leading horse-drawn carriage maker, has announced the adoption of a new machine called the “internal combustion engine” to improve its manufacturing process. “Gas engines are powerful but dangerous,” the owner said. “We will use them…
On Dec. 13, 2022, the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) filed a lawsuit against Sam Bankman-Fried (SBF), FTX Trading LTD., and Alameda Research. The CFTC alleges that FTX customer deposits, “throughout the relevant period,” including both fiat currencies and cryptocurrencies, were reportedly “appropriated by Alameda for its own use.” U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission: ‘FTX and Alameda Comingled, Mishandled,…
In brief Apple plans to allow the installation of iOS apps from external sources due to impending EU regulations, Bloomberg reports. The move could make it easier for developers to build apps around NFTs and broaden the ability to make crypto payments through iPhones and iPads. Apple’s “walled garden” ecosystem design has enabled it to take up to a 30%…
Within the past 24 hours, the Binance cryptocurrency exchange has seen outflows of over $1.14B due to rising fear, uncertainty and doubt (FUD) within the crypto ecosystem. According to Binance CEO Changpeng “CZ” Zhao, the exchange has seen this before and believes “it is a good idea to ‘stress test withdrawals’ on each CEX [Centralized Exchanges] on a rotating basis”. …
