The U.S Commodity Futures Trading Commission, or CFTC, has charged the BitMEX derivatives exchange with operating an unregistered trading platform and violating anti-money laundering regulations. According to a statement released Thursday, the CFTC filed a civil enforcement action in the Southern District of New York against five entities and three individuals who allegedly own and operate the exchange. The individuals charged include Arthur Hayes, publicly known as the CEO of BitMEX, as well as Ben Delo and Samuel Reed. The CFTC alleges that these individuals are owners and operators of…
Category: Exchanges
Australian Securities Exchange to triple capacity of DLT system
The Australian Securities Exchange will delay its blockchain-based CHESS replacement after huge trading volumes due to the pandemic required a massive expansion of capacity. The DLT- based system had been scheduled for official trials in December, with a planned launch window of early 2022. At its annual meeting this year, ASX chief executive Dominic Stevens told shareholders they were looking to triple the capacity of its planned DLT system based on the surge in trade volumes seen earlier in March. He also said that the firm was looking into how…
Gemini crypto exchange adds shielded withdrawals for privacy coin Zcash
Gemini, a cryptocurrency exchange founded by the Winklevoss twins, aims to improve user privacy with a major privacy token, Zcash (ZEC). Starting Sept. 29, Gemini will support shielded withdrawals of ZEC, which allows users to hide their transaction data. Gemini representatives said that the new feature is the “first time shielded ZEC withdrawals are available on a regulated exchange.” The new option comes in line with Gemini’s mission to strengthen financial privacy and “empower the individual through crypto,” Gemini executives said. Launched in 2016, Zcash is a major privacy-focused cryptocurrency,…
Bulgarian exchange owner convicted over auction fraud scheme
Rossen Iossifov, a 53-year-old Bulgarian national and owner of the ‘RG Coins’ cryptocurrency exchange, has been convicted of operating a multi-million dollar money laundering ring as part of a transnational auction fraud scheme. Following a two-week trial Iossifov was found guilty by a federal jury in Frankfort, Kentucky, of conspiracy to commit money laundering and conspiracy to commit racketeering. The Kentucky resident will face sentencing on Jan. 12, 2021. The jury found that at least 900 U.S. citizens were conned in a scheme that saw Iossifov’s Romania–based accomplices post advertisements…
KuCoin hackers keep moving stolen tokens to the largest DeFi exchange
After a major hack at KuCoin cryptocurrency exchange, cybercriminals continue to move stolen crypto to decentralized exchanges, or DEXes. According to data from crypto transaction tracking service Whale Alert, KuCoin hackers keep sending thousands of dollars worth of Synthetix Network Token (SNX) to Uniswap — the largest decentralized finance (DeFi) protocol by total value locked. On Sept. 28, the hacker completed another batch of transactions moving stolen funds from KuCoin and to major DEX Uniswap. According to data from Whale Alert, the hackers sent at least $1.2 million worth of…
Transformations in crypto exchanges and traditional institutions, Sept. 18-25
Every Friday, Law Decoded delivers analysis on the week’s critical stories in the realms of policy, regulation and law. Editor’s note The final scene of Animal Farm, Orwell’s classic fable of revolution gone wrong and a staple of secondary-school reading lists throughout the English-speaking world, features a card game. The pigs who run the farm with an iron hoof host the humans who have gone from enemies of the revolution to drinking buddies of the revolution’s leaders. The book ends with accusations of cheating and a metamorphosis realized. The pigs…
Why centralized exchanges will lead crypto to the future
Decentralized exchanges are undoubtedly an exciting development in crypto. DEXs facilitate the trading of cryptocurrencies directly between users, without the need for a trusted intermediary. This, in turn, allows users to keep custody of their funds. However, while DEXs have their advantages, they still lack in terms of regulations and scalability, which are key considerations that could determine the future trajectory of the crypto industry. Centralized exchanges will continue to play a pivotal role in this ecosystem, providing the depth of liquidity needed to grow the wider crypto community. The…
Major Indian exchange proposes new regulatory framework to avoid crypto ban
Major Indian cryptocurrency exchange BuyUCoin has developed a framework to regulate cryptocurrency in India that it claims has the support of “all the Indian cryptocurrency stakeholders”. However, it is not clear yet which stakeholders helped develop the framework, or ‘sandbox’, which will be officially released on October 2. BuyUCoin, which has more than 350,000 users and handles billion-dollar transactions, described the framework as a draft set of community driven rules, propositions and implementation methods. The framework will be presented to the Indian Government. It comes after the Indian Supreme Court…
Revealing crypto exchange’s physical location was not harmful, court rules
A federal judge has ruled that an employee who revealed the location of a major crypto exchange did not violate its trade secrets. According to court records filed Sept. 22, U.S. District Judge Maxine M. Chesney has dismissed a lawsuit filed by Payward Inc. — the owner of Kraken — against former employee Nathan Peter Runyon for misappropriating “trade secrets” by publicly disclosing the exchange’s physical address in San Francisco and accessing one of the company’s protected computers. The Judge ruled that Payward was not alleging Runyon used the address…
Huobi crypto exchange launches trading app in Russia
Major cryptocurrency exchange Huobi Global is expanding in Russia by rolling out its native mobile app in the country. Users in Russia can now access Huobi’s spot market and trade major cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin (BTC) through its mobile app, the firm announced on Sept. 23. By introducing the app in Russia, Huobi wants to further expand in one of its most important markets. Russian users account for as much as 10% of Huobi’s total spot trading volume, an exchange representative told Cointelegraph. Ciara Sun, vice president of global markets at…