SEC sues Binance and Coinbase 🧟♂️
Gary Gensler's SEC goes after Binance and Coinbase. Crypto back in the sea of red. Over $35M lost in Atomic Wallet attack. Cardano's Hoskinson tops private jet pollution. Kwon's $428K bail approved.
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The SEC is suing Binance.
The SEC is suing Coinbase.
Gary Gensler is back with.
A day after cracking down on Binance, the SEC has nailed Coinbase.
The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has filed a lawsuit against Coinbase.
What are the accusations?
Failing to register as an exchange, clearing house, and broker.
Selling unregistered securities through its staking service.
The agency claims that Coinbase allowed trading of tokens, including those powering Solana, Cardano, Polygon, Filecoin, The Sandbox, Axie Infinity, Chiliz, Flow, Internet Computer, Near Protocol, Voyager, Dash, and Nexo, which it considers to be securities.
The aftermath, bloodbath for NASDAQ: COIN
The SEC argues that Coinbase prioritised its profits over compliance with securities regulations and investor protection. The lawsuit seeks to permanently restrain Coinbase from conducting business in the United States.
It was Binance yesterday
The SEC claims Binance, BAM Trading, and CZ broke the securities laws and they're ready to dance in court. And that they have got the evidence, including spicy emails and catchy quotes from Binance employees.
The SEC has unleashed a volley of 13 charges against Binance, ranging from unregistered offers and sales of tokens to allegations of wash trading.
Major ones include
Mishandling customer funds.
Failure to register under securities laws.
BinanceUS's wash trading
CZ's intimate involvement in directing BAM Trading's US operations.
Failing to failing to register its Binance.com platform as an exchange or a broker-dealer clearing agency.
Binance and BAM Trading — BinanceUS legal entity — failing to register BinanceUS as an exchange, broker and clearing agency.
Not restricting US investors from using Binance.com.
Unlawful sale of securities: Binance’s BNB token, the exchange's stablecoin, BUSD, and 10 other tokens: Solana (SOL), Cardano (ADA), Polygon (MATIC), Filecoin (FIL), Cosmos Hub (ATOM), The Sandbox (SAND), Decentraland (MANA), Algorand (ALGO), Axie Infinity (AXS), and COTI (COTI).
🫖 The tea
CZ finds himself at the centre of attention, with the SEC naming him as a defendant and quoting his alleged statements.
According to the SEC's claims, CZ allegedly encouraged customers to bypass Binance's geographic blocking by using VPN services, and a Chief Compliance Officer (CCO) drafted a "VIP handling document" instructing employees to open new accounts for US customers without US documents. It's like a plot twist in a regulatory thriller.
Then the CCO's infamous quote, "We are operating as a f**king unlicensed securities exchange in the USA bro," and discussions about finding creative means to involve US users raise eyebrows. CCO allegedly expressed their aversion to regulation, saying, "We never want Binance.com to be regulated, ever!" They even went the extra mile by creating local entities like BAM and BAS to play nice with the regulators.
The Binance CFO apparently whispered to Zhao, that they must shield Binance.com from US regulators. Their master plan? Launch a shiny new U.S. platform to keep American users hooked. In a chat from 2019, they even discussed the legal risk of listing BNB, but hey, CZ was ready to take a leap! Cutting ties with the U.S. already cost them a limb, so they're determined to reclaim that sweet revenue.
Now here's what Binance has to say:
"As alleged, Zhao and Binance misled investors about their risk controls and corrupted trading volumes while actively concealing who was operating the platform, the manipulative trading of its affiliated market maker, and even where and with whom investor funds and crypto assets were custodied."
The news hit like a sucker punch, with BTC and ETH down over 5%.
TTD Hack 😡
Atomic Wallet is making headlines in the crypto world - over $35 Million worth of crypto gone, leaving users in disbelief. Atomic Wallet has been around for years, yet it still fell victim to a hack. With over 5 Million downloads, Atomic Wallet is a popular choice for crypto enthusiasts. But now, the team is scratching their heads, unsure of how this attack went down.
The hackers stole user funds in multiple tokens like Tether’s USDT, Ripple (XRP), Cardano (ADA), and Dogecoin (DOGE).
While some lucky users managed to move their funds in the nick of time, others found themselves empty-handed, their hard-earned crypto vanished. Atomic Wallet prided itself on security, keeping users' private keys encrypted and stored on their devices. But a red flag was raised by an auditing firm, Least Authority, who deemed their security measures insufficient.
The fallout hit Atomic Wallet's native token AWC, which took a nosedive of over 13% in the past 24 hours.
Where are the funds going: Security firm Elliptic Connect has traced the funds from the recent $35 Million Atomic Wallet hack to a coin mixing service.
Called Sinbad, the mixer is also preferred by the infamous North Korean hacker cell Lazarus.
Elliptic reported that the “stolen funds are being swapped for Bitcoin (BTC)” before being laundered through Sinbad.
Crypto Twitter is buzzing with reports of drained wallets and an ongoing exploit investigation.
DeFi researcher Ignas called it "seriously scary."
Blockchain sleuth ZachXBT uncovered over $35 Million in stolen funds, and one unfortunate victim lost a whopping $8 Million worth of Tether.
Heroes have emerged: ZachXBT, alongside Jito Labs' CEO Buffalo and an employee at an MEV infrastructure company, managed to rescue $1 Million worth of funds. They're working behind the scenes, employing secret methods to save the day.
TTD Blockquote 🔉
Lucy Powell, digital spokesperson for the Labour Party.
“Regulate AI Like nuclear power”
The UK Labour Party has some bold ideas about regulating artificial intelligence (AI). They want to treat it like nuclear power. That's right, just like how you need a license to handle dangerous stuff, the Labour Party thinks AI should be no different.
Lucy Powell suggested that AI technology should be regulated and licensed by the government, just like pharmaceutical or nuclear power companies.
They're not advocating for a ban. Instead, they want to focus on regulating AI at its core, right from the developmental stage. Just keeping those large language models and AI tools in check. Powell is concerned about how they're built, managed, and controlled.
And it seems like the idea of licensing AI developers has gained some traction across the pond. US Senator Lindsey Graham and OpenAI CEO Sam Altman are singing a similar tune. Graham even suggested an agency that can grant and revoke AI licenses.
TTD WTF 🫣
Move over Zuckerberg and Kardashian, because Hoskinson's private jet is soaring to new heights in pollution.
Charles Hoskinson, the mastermind behind Cardano blockchain, has a booming private jet business that caters to clients like Metallica. According to Climate Jets, Hoskinson's private jet ranks as the 15th biggest polluter in the US. Talk about leaving a big carbon footprint.
In 2022 alone, his jet spent a whopping 562 hours in the air, covering a distance of 283,434 miles. That's like traveling over half a round trip to the moon.
The emissions from Hoskinson's private jet surpass those of billionaires and Hollywood celebrities like Mark Zuckerberg, Ken Griffin, and Kim Kardashian.
His jet emitted approximately 2,895 metric tons of carbon dioxide, exceeding the yearly emissions of 186 average Americans.
Denver, Los Angeles, and New York City were just some of the jet's frequent destinations, along with international spots like Dubai and Korea.
His private jet is ranked as the 15th biggest polluter in the US
TTD Numbers 🔢
$428K
Do Kwon's bail request amount in the fake passport case approved by Montenegro Court.
The co-founder of Terraform Labs, is set to be released from detention in Montenegro after his bail request was accepted.
The bail amount was approved after the court verified that Do Kwon's property was worth millions.
Do Kwon and his former finance officer, Han Chang-Joon, are facing trial in Montenegro for falsifying official documents related to the collapsed stablecoin project Terra.
Initially, bail was approved by the Basic Court of Podgorica on May 12, but it was later revoked by the High Court on May 25 due to disputes over the value of the defendants' property.
The latest ruling on bail was based on concrete evidence, such as sales contracts, invoices, and bank account statements.
Do Kwon and Han Chang-Joon will be released on police-enforced house arrest and are scheduled to appear in court on June 16. If found guilty, they could face up to five years in prison.
TTD Surfer 🏄
JPMorgan (JPM) has teamed up with six Indian banks to settle interbank dollar transactions on its blockchain-based trading platform, Onyx.
Former part owner of the Minnesota Vikings, Reggie Fowler, faces 6 years in prison over $750M in unregulated crypto transfers.
Ethereum blockchain game developer Illuvium announced a partnership with GameStop to debut a 20,000 NFT collection starting June 12.
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The world's largest criminal organization wants Bianance and Coinbase to pay the vig. Fiat demands loyalty.