CFTC Fines Tether For Lying & Bitfinex For ‘Illegal’ Transactions + More News
Get your daily, bite-sized digest of cryptoasset and blockchain-related news – investigating the stories flying under the radar of today’s crypto news.
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Legal news
- The US Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) said it has issued an order simultaneously filing and settling charges against Tether Holdings Limited, Tether Limited, Tether Operations Limited, and Tether International Limited (d/b/a Tether) for making untrue or misleading statements and omissions of material fact in connection with the most popular stablecoin, tether (USDT). The order requires Tether to pay a civil monetary penalty of USD 41m. Also, the CFTC issued a separate order simultaneously filing and settling charges against iFinex Inc., BFXNA Inc., and BFXWW Inc. (d/b/a Bitfinex) in connection with their operation of the Bitfinex crypto trading platform. The order finds Bitfinex engaged in illegal, off-exchange retail commodity transactions in digital assets with US persons on the trading platform and operated as a futures commission merchant (FCM) without registering as required. The order requires Bitfinex to pay a USD 1.5m civil monetary penalty.
Adoption news
- US mortgage lender United Wholesale Mortgage is abandoning their plans to accept cryptocurrencies as a payment method due to lack of interest, according to CNBC. The team said that borrowers “liked it” and “said it was cool” but having the option to transact in crypto “wasn’t a driver.”
- López Obrador, President of Mexico, said that crypto isn’t “real money” and ruled out adopting it as legal tender, according to local outlet El Financiero. He has also added that he advocates for “orthodoxy” in financial matters.
- 3D virtual reality platform Decentraland is hosting a four-day “Metaverse Festival” starting October 21. Guests include Paris Hilton, Deadmau5, Alabaster dePlume, and 3LAU.
Regulation news
- Crypto exchange Coinbase has unveiled a Digital Asset Policy Proposal that suggests US Congress pass legislation to regulate crypto exchanges that they call Marketplaces for Digital Assets (MDAs), and create a registration process for those entities. Coinbase’s proposal suggests four “regulatory pillars” to guide the process: regulating digital assets under an industry-specific framework, creating the new regulator, establishing fraud protections and disclosure requirements for crypto businesses, and promoting interoperability.
Mining news
- Crypto mining company BIT Mining has announced that its mining pool subsidiary, BTC.com, will exit the mainland China market. To comply with local regulations, BTC.com will cease registering new users from mainland China and expect to start retiring the accounts of existing users in mainland China starting October 15.
Exchanges news
- Bitfinex has announced it increased the volume of heavy-duty servers at its Zug-based data center by doubling its capacity amid surging demand to trade digital tokens among hedge funds, institutional investors, and family offices. Their new level of service is “on a par with that provided by major stock exchanges,” they claim.
CBDCs news
- The Bank of Japan (BoJ) would try to develop a central bank digital currency (CBDC) that can easily coexist with private payment methods, Executive Director Shinichi Uchida said in a speech. A CBDC should be made of “relatively plain, easy-to-cook material,” he added.
NFTs news
- Auction house Sotheby’s has launched its own Ethereum (ETH)-based non-fungible token (NFT) marketplace called Sotheby’s Metaverse. Their first sale will be NativelyDigital, featuring 53 works from 19 NFT collectors and opening on October 18.
