Kim Kardashian Charged by SEC for Promoting EthereumMax, Pro-Russian Paramilitary Raised Crypto Worth $400K, Crypto Exposure by Banks 0.14% + 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
- Kim Kardashian has been charged by the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) with unlawfully touting a crypto security offered and sold by EthereumMax without disclosing the payment she received for the promotion on social media. Kardashian agreed to settle the charges, pay $1.26 million in penalties, disgorgement, and interest, and cooperate with the Commission’s ongoing investigation, they said. “This case is a reminder that, when celebrities / influencers endorse investment opps, including crypto asset securities, it doesn’t mean those investment products are right for all investors,” SEC Char Gary Gensler tweeted.
- In the legal war between California-based start-up Ripple Labs and the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), a US District Court Judge overruled the SEC’s second attempt to withhold the documents relating to former SEC Corporation Finance Division Director William Hinman, who said bitcoin (BTC) and ether (ETH) are not securities.
- The US Department of Justice (DOJ) has submitted an objection to Celsius’ motion to reopen withdrawals for select customers and sell its stablecoin holdings. A United States Trustee for the DOJ, William Harrington, described Celsius’ motions as “premature,” adding that “any distribution or sale at this juncture could inadvertently impact or limit distributions to other creditors in this case.”
Banking news
- Total cryptoasset exposures reported by banks amount to approximately €9.4 billion ($9.18 billion), per a Bank for International Settlements (BIS) report. “In relative terms, these exposures make up only 0.14% of total exposures on a weighted average basis across the sample of banks reporting cryptoasset exposures,” they said.
Regulation news
- Pro-Russian groups are raising funds in crypto to prop up paramilitary operations and evade US sanctions as the war with Ukraine wages on, reported CNN, citing a research report published Monday by TRM Labs, a digital asset compliance and risk management company. As of September 22, these fundraising groups had raised $400,000 in cryptocurrency since the start of the invasion on February 24.
Stablecoin news
- Stablecoin issuer Tether has cut its commercial paper holding to less than $50 million, Tether CTO Paolo Ardoino said in a tweet. As of September 30, the company increased its holding of US Treasuries to 58.1% of its total portfolio from 43.5% on June 30. “Tether will once again demonstrate a commitment to transparency in our next quarterly attestation,” the company said in a comment to Cryptonews.com.
Exchange news
- Binance signed a Memorandum of Understanding with Kazakhstan’s Financial Monitoring Agency to formalize their shared interest in developing the digital asset market in the country “and the creation of a long-term and sustainable platform for interaction,” said the announcement. CEO Changoeng Zhao tweeted that “the signing took place as part of the implementation of our global law enforcement training program, as we fight together against cyber and financial crimes globally.”
- FTX CEO Sam Bankman-Fried suggested the exchange would pay a “fair market price” for the bankrupt lender Celsius Network’s assets. In a tweet he said, “to be clear — in [crypto platform] Voyager, our bids are generally determined by fair market price, no discounts; goal isn’t to make money buying assets at cents on the dollar, it’s to pay $1 on the $1 and get the $1 back to customers. If we were to get involved in Celsius, it would be the same.”
Web3 news
- Thallo, a web3 climate startup that is building a marketplace for voluntary carbon credits, has named Ripple and Climate Collective among its 23 initial partners for its blockchain-based marketplace. Per an announcement, Thallo has three tiers of partners: Founding Partners, Integrity Partners (Carbon Business Council and Crypto Climate Accord), and Innovation Partners (Aklimate, Celo Foundation, Chainlink, etc.)
Metaverse news
- A Forj-owned brand Metaprints and The Sandbox, both subsidiaries of blockchain gaming firm Animoca Brands, have partnered to jointly launch the Monkeying Around metaverse experience, a new blockchain-based game that will feature the Bored Ape (BAYC) as protagonists, said the announcement. The subsidiaries will present over 90 different metaverse experiences and 22 new brands becoming available to The Sandbox users. The Monkeying Around experience is open for three weeks.
- Law firm Harneys has announced that RedKite is the successful applicant in the Harneys Tech Accelerator Program 2022, securing as a reward up to $25,000 in combined legal fees and trust company services from Harneys and their associated business, Harneys Fiduciary, respectively. RedKite is a creative solutions provider, and their first product RK-X is a no-code, white-labelled non-fungible token (NFT) marketplace, which allows people to develop and sell NFTs linked to physical or digital assets in a number of ways.
Investment news
- Exponential announced that it launched today to “make DeFi investing more transparent and accessible, allowing users to discover, assess, and invest in DeFi yield opportunities.” Their co-founders, a trio of former Uber and Amazon executives, raised $14 million in seed round funding led by Paradigm with participation from Haun Ventures, FTX Ventures, Solana Ventures, Polygon, Circle Ventures, and more.
- BNB Chain, the blockchain developed by major crypto exchange Binance, has announced the launch of the BNB Chain Builder Grant, which will invest up to $1.5 million in Web3 teams. The goal is to help teams scale their projects, but without having to give equity to angels or VC-backers, said the press release. Grants will be given to ten projects over a period of one month, with each project getting a maximum of $50,000. The application period begins today.
- AlterVerse, the developer of a metaverse game experience, today announced that Binance Labs, the venture capital arm and accelerator of Binance, is an early participant in its private funding round. Additional support for the ongoing raise came from Polygon Ventures, Ankr, Baselayer Capital, and EnjinStarter, said a press release. With plans for alpha launch in Q4 2022, AlterVerse has released a pre-alpha build of Sky City, the central hub of the AlterVerse.
- Swiss-regulated company SCRYPT Digital has announced its partnership with the crypto marketplace Enclave Markets. The integration with Enclave Markets’ Enclave Cross enables SCRYPT Digital to offer off-chain block trading to its institutional client base, said the announcement.
Career news
- Bitcoin (BTC) investment company NYDIG announced the promotion of executives Tejas Shah and Nate Conrad to the roles of CEO and President, respectively. Outgoing CEO Robert Gutmann and outgoing President Yan Zhao will remain at Stone Ridge Holdings Group, the parent company of NYDIG, said the press release.
- Tusk Strategies welcomed Matt Homer as Senior Advisor to its Cryptocurrency + FinTech Practice. Homer will advise on the rapidly developing state and federal political landscape impacting the crypto, blockchain, and the financial services ecosystem, said an announcement.
