Seeds of Wisdom RV and Economic Updates Tuesday Morning 9-10-24
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SEC crypto enforcement hits $4.7B this year, rising 3,000% from 2023
The SEC is having a record crypto enforcement year, bolstered by a $4.47 billion settlement with Terraform Labs and its former CEO, Do Kwon.
The United States Securities and Exchange Commission has imposed nearly $4.7 billion worth of enforcement actions against crypto firms and executives in 2024, an over 3,000% jump from 2023.
The SEC’s record-setting year was mostly boosted by its massive $4.47 billion settlement with Terraform Labs and its former CEO Do Kwon in June — its “largest enforcement action to date,” according to a Sept. 9 report from Social Capital Markets.
The regulator’s 11 enforcement actions in 2024 netted a 3,018% increase from its $150.3 million worth of fines in 2023 despite taking 19 fewer actions against crypto firms.
The total fine amounts included forfeiture, disgorgement, civil penalties, settlement and prejudgment interest, which were counted from when the SEC initiated the enforcement action.
This year’s hike in fines suggests the SEC has made a strategic shift toward targeting more influential cases.
“This trend indicates a strategic shift by the SEC toward fewer but larger fines, with a focus on making high-impact enforcement actions that set precedents for the entire industry,” the report stated.
The SEC hit the social messaging network Telegram with a $1.24 billion action in 2019, comprised of $18.5 million in civil penalties and $1.2 billion in disgorgement paid back to investors.
Social Capital Market said the case significantly contributed to the average fine rising nearly 2,000% year-on-year to over $70 million in 2019.
The next four years saw the average fine hover between $5 million and $35.2 million before the Terraform Labs case brought 2024’s average fine above $420 million.
GTV Media Group, Ripple Labs, and fraudsters John and Tina Barksdale are among those the SEC has fined with an enforcement amount exceeding $100 million.
That said, 46% of the fines imposed since 2020 have been below $1 million, while 30% fell between the $1 million and $10 million range.
@ Newshounds News™
Source: CoinTelegraph
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SEC ‘dug in’ on bank crypto custody rule as agency’s stance ‘unchanged’
SEC chief accountant Paul Munter said agency staff views on a divisive rule curtailing banks from offering crypto custody services “remain unchanged.”
The United States Securities and Exchange Commission has seemingly “dug in” on its stance on a rule that would curtail crypto custody services for regulated financial firms.
In a Sept. 9 address to a banking conference, SEC chief accountant Paul Munter discussed the agency’s regulatory stance on accounting for crypto assets, focusing on SEC Staff Accounting Bulletin No. 121 (SAB 121) and its applications.
“The [SEC] staff’s views in SAB 121 remain unchanged,” he said.
“Absent particular mitigating facts and circumstances, the staff believes an entity should record a liability on its balance sheet to reflect its obligation to safeguard crypto-assets held for others,” Munter added.
ETF Store President Nate Geraci said in a Sept. 10 X post that the SEC “appears dug in” on SAB 121.
“They simply don’t want to provide regulated financial institutions with the ability to custody crypto,” he added.
The SEC introduced SAB 121 in March 2022, outlining its accounting guidelines for institutions looking to custody crypto assets.
The rule was divisive in political circles as it virtually prevented banks and regulated financial institutions from custodying crypto assets on behalf of clients.
The SEC believes that entities with such safeguarding arrangements should record a liability on their balance sheets for digital assets.
Munter said the SEC had reviewed various accounting scenarios involving blockchain and crypto assets and acknowledged that not all arrangements fit the proposed guidelines set out in SAB 121.
Bank holding companies that safeguard crypto with bankruptcy protection may not need to record a liability on their balance sheets, he said.
Additionally, “broker-dealers” that facilitate crypto transactions but do control the cryptographic keys may also not be required to record liabilities.
Meanwhile, SEC Commissioner Hester Peirce, who has been vocally against the rule, said on X she continued “to be concerned about the SAB 121 substance and process.”
The US House of Representatives voted to overturn controversial SEC guidance in May. However, President Biden vetoed the repeal the following month.
@ Newshounds News™
Source: CoinTelegraph
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North Carolina Senate overrides governor veto, passes bill banning CBDC
A North Carolina Senate veto-busting vote saw 12 Democratic Party senators who initially voted for the bill to ban a CBDC switch to backing Governor Roy Cooper’s veto.
The North Carolina General Assembly has passed a bill banning the state from implementing a United States Federal Reserve-issued central bank digital currency (CBDC), with the Senate overriding Governor Roy Cooper’s veto.
The Republican Party-led Senate approved House Bill 690 by a 27–17 vote on Sept. 9, narrowly surpassing the 60% majority needed to override a veto by Cooper — a Democrat — and pass it into law.
It comes after the North Carolina House of Representatives voted to overturn Cooper’s veto in early August in a 73–41 vote.
The bill forbids the state of North Carolina from accepting CBDCs as a form of payment and prohibits it from participating in future CBDC tests conducted “by any Federal Reserve branch.”
Cooper’s July 5 veto followed a lopsided 109–4 vote in the House and a 39–5 vote in the Senate a month earlier.
The latest veto-busting Senate vote was much closer, with 12 Democrats who initially supported the bill flipping to support Cooper’s veto.
Not a single Senate Democrat voted to pass the bill this time.
Blockware Solutions head analyst Mitchell Askew told Cointelegraph it is “amazing” to see CBDCs officially banned in his native state, but he wasn’t pleased with how the Senate vote went:
“12 Democrats flipping their position to support the veto confirms my initial hypothesis that the veto was due to Cooper playing partisan politics.”
In a Sept. 9 X post, Blockchain Association’s head of industry affairs, Dan Spuller, said Cooper’s veto effectively “blew an opportunity” to send a message to the Federal Reserve that North Carolina stands “united” against CBDCs.
Cooper’s office did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the bill’s passing.
While CBDCs have been researched by the Federal Reserve, its Chair Jerome Powell stated on July 31 that “there’s really nothing new going on at all” with a US-issued CBDC.
At a March federal Senate Banking Committee hearing, he said the US was “nowhere near recommending or let alone adopting a central bank digital currency in any form.”
Despite the Fed’s assurances, the US House passed the CBDC Anti-Surveillance State Act in May. A companion bill has been introduced to the Senate by Senator Ted Cruz.
@ Newshounds News™
Source: CoinTelegraph
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XRP Positioned to Lead the New Financial System, Says Industry Expert
▪️One industry expert says that the XRP community must remain focused on building solutions and not get pulled into the sideshows.
▪️XRP has failed to impress despite most of its peers recording increases to start the week, with the market cap of the XRP Ledger hitting its lowest since January 2022.
XRP has started the week with a worryingly characteristic lack of momentum, gaining a measly 0.2% in the past day to bring its weekly drop to 4.4%, the third-highest drop in the top ten after Ethereum and BTC, respectively.
The dip in the ecosystem market cap can be assessed as a strength as it allows projects to regroup away from the speculation and gives investors a better picture of the project with staying power.
However, it has negative implications as well—for instance, it could signal that projects are leaving XRPL for other chains. It could also discourage new builders from joining and dishearten users from engaging with their favorite XRPL projects. Ultimately, it could erode user and investor confidence, and this can be difficult to recover.
Kirjakulov opines: “Downturns can fuel long-term growth if the ecosystem pivots toward utility and embraces fresh ideas. It’s a moment for XRPL to recalibrate and seize new opportunities, not just a signal of decline.”
Despite the lax performance, some analysts believe that the breakout is near. One analyst points to the consolidation cycle that XRP has been caught up in previously, where a breakout brought about a massive surge to a new all-time high. This same pattern seems to be repeating, as we’ve reported, and a breakout could push the token to new heights.
Focus on Building: Expert Tells XRP Ecosystem
One expert has called on the XRP community to keep building and ignore the price and some of the political issues around the network. Versan Aljarrah, the founder of crypto consultancy Black Swan Capital, noted that the noise around Chris Larsen endorsing Democrat Kamala Harris must not deter progress.
“Focus on the bigger picture. XRP is still building the foundation of the new financial system while Bitcoin’s ties to intelligence agencies remain undeniable,” he stated.
As we reported, Larsen was among nearly 100 other major business leaders who voiced their support for Harris in a statement last week. The move by the Ripple founder contrasts with the company’s incessant criticism of the Biden-Harris administration, under which it was almost brought down by the SEC.
In fact, Ripple has been seen to lean Republican and warm up to Donald Trump, the self-proclaimed crypto saviour. The company’s CLO Stuart Alderoty even donated $300,000 to Trump’s campaign and has attended his events.
With Larsen leaning the opposite way, Ripple seems to be betting on both sides, plausibly to protect its interest regardless of who emerges victorious in the November polls.
@ Newshounds News™
Source: Crypto News Flash
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