Uncommon Knowledge
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Following a recent $2 billion settlement with cryptocurrency companies, New York Attorney General Letitia James warned similar companies on Saturday to “play by the same rules.”
James announced on Monday she reached a $2 billion settlement with cryptocurrency companies in a move that will assist investors, including nearly 30,000 New Yorkers, to recoup losses over alleged fraud by the businesses.
Read more: Common Cryptocurrency Scams and How to Avoid Them
The settlement involved cryptocurrency businesses Genesis Global Capital, Genesis Asia Pacific PTE and Genesis Global Holdco as James’ office accused them of hiding more than a billion dollars in losses from investors. Earlier this year, the case widened to allege that Digital Currency Group and Genesis, along with their top executives, defrauded investors of $2 billion.
As part of the settlement, the companies will be barred from continuing to operate in the state and create a victims’ fund that will provide some money back to investors after creditors are paid.
“When investors suffer losses because of fraud and manipulation, they deserve to be made whole,” James said in a statement. “We see the real-world consequences and detrimental losses that can happen because of a lack of oversight and regulation within the cryptocurrency industry. New York investors deserve the peace of mind that comes from a properly regulated marketplace.”
Read more: Best Cryptocurrency to Invest In Now
In a Saturday morning post to X, formerly Twitter, James reiterated her efforts around regulating the cryptocurrency industry and wrote, “Crypto companies must play by the same rules as everyone else. We will go after those that don’t.”
Newsweek has reached out to James’ office and Genesis via email for comment.
According to the attorney general’s office, the recent settlement continues James’ effort to “increase oversight and regulation in this industry and protect New York investors, which has secured more than $2.5 billion from predatory cryptocurrency platforms to date.”
This follows last year’s proposed legislation to tighten regulations on the cryptocurrency industry, which James announced in May 2023. The bill would increase transparency, eliminate conflicts of interest, and impose commonsense measures to protect investors, consistent with regulations imposed on other financial services.
Read more: Bitcoin, Ethereum and Tether Price Predictions
The bill would also require independent public audits of cryptocurrency exchanges and prevent individuals from owning the same companies, such as brokerages and tokens, to stop conflicts of interest.
In addition to the warning to cryptocurrency companies, James is also urging New Yorkers who have been affected by deceptive conduct in the cryptocurrency industry to report these issues to her office and encourages workers in the industry who may have witnessed misconduct or fraud to file an anonymous whistleblower complaint with her office.
However, the settlement is contingent upon approval from the bankruptcy court. Genesis has not accepted guilt.
“Under this settlement, Genesis neither admits nor denies the allegations of this lawsuit, and the suit will continue against the remaining defendants, as well as Genesis’ former business partner, Gemini Trust Company, LLC,” James’ office said.
In a previous statement to Newsweek, a Genesis spokesperson said the company would not comment beyond the settlement, but has been focused on “maximizing value for all creditors.”
“Our goal throughout this process has been to maximize value for all creditors, and we are gratified that the court approved both our Plan and the NYAG settlement agreement. We look forward to putting the Plan into effect and making distributions as expeditiously as possible,” Derar Islim, interim CEO of Genesis, said in the statement.
In addition, the company also said in its statement that creditors will compensated “in the form of the original assets they loaned as much as possible, rather than being limited to the USD value of the cryptocurrency assets as of the petition date and converting these into cash or other forms of repayment that might not reflect the current or future value of the cryptocurrency assets.”
Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.
Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.
Liliya Filakhtova
Seven financial firms eyeing exchange-traded funds linked to Ethereum (ETH-USD) amended their S-1 filing on Friday, raising expectations of an imminent launch of the first set of ETFs tied to the second-largest cryptocurrency.
According to the industry publication CryptoSlate, Franklin Templeton, VanEck, Invesco Galaxy, BlackRock (BLK), 21Shares, Grayscale, and Fidelity filed updated S-1 documents for their respective funds, while Bitwise did not amend its registration statement.
Among the eight prospective issuers, Franklin Templeton and VanEck announced their ETF fees at 0.19% and 0.20%, respectively.
The filings mark a key step in launching the products after the SEC cleared Ethereum (ETH-USD) ETFs in May in response to applications from firms including Nasdaq (NDAQ), Intercontinental Exchange’s (ICE) NYSE, and Cboe Global Markets (CBOE).
With the amended filings complete, crypto investors will eagerly wait for a potential final approval from the SEC to clear the launch, which, according to Bloomberg ETF analyst Eric Balchunas, could be as early as July 2. “Anyway, that’s basically a wrap. Ball in SEC’s court now,” he wrote on X.
This week, we hosted a Cryptocurrency Scams Symposium in The Villages and recognized the top Seniors vs. Crime volunteers.
Florida is proud to be home to more than 5.5 million seniors. Unfortunately, there are bad actors who try to prey on older Floridians. Our Cyber Fraud Enforcement Unit presented to seniors at the symposium about how to avoid falling victim to cryptocurrency scams.
Protecting Florida’s seniors is one of our top priorities, and we are also grateful for all our Senior Sleuth volunteers’ efforts on behalf of older Floridians.
Last year, Senior Sleuths assisted more than 9,100 Florida seniors, put in more than 11,200 hours of free services and recovered more than $2.6 million. Since 2019, Seniors vs. Crime is responsible for recovering more than $10.5 million.
At the end of the symposium, we named five Super Senior Sleuths, one from each region of Florida for their outstanding work for their fellow seniors.
We also recognized our Senior Sleuth Advocate of the Year, John McLaughlin. Logging more than 10 years as a Seniors vs. Crime volunteer, John uses his background as a law enforcement officer to assist seniors and solve high-value cases.
By assisting those who have been taken advantage of and teaching seniors how to protect themselves from scams and exploitation, we are continuing to build a Stronger, Safer Florida.
Ashley Moody is attorney general of Florida.
Disclosure: This article does not represent investment advice. The content and materials featured on this page are for educational purposes only.
Croatia’s top crypto exchange, Electrocoin, launches Electrocoin Trade, a crypto exchange platform for EU clients.
One of the biggest cryptocurrency exchange services in Croatia, Electrocoin, has recently launched their new cryptocurrency exchange platform called Electrocoin Trade, providing services for natural and legal clients in the EU.
The platform includes two core services – cryptocurrency exchange and trading service without prior registration to the platform, and cryptocurrency exchange and trading service for registered users. This way, and following the recent regulatory development in the area of crypto regulation, Electrocoin introduced the new custodial model to their service, allowing them to act as a custodian for the assets clients chose to hold on their Electrocoin Trade accounts. By registering with Electrocoin Trade, users get to entrust their cryptocurrencies for safekeeping to a highly regulated platform, as they also get access to additional trading and user experience benefits such as lower trading fees and cryptocurrency portfolio monitoring.
Regardless of the new service, Electrocoin decided to keep the old service as well – any adult citizen in the EU can buy, sell, or trade cryptocurrencies up to 1000 euros without verification or prior registration on the platform. This way, Electrocoin wanted to ensure their existing and future users had an option where they could still access crypto even if they would rather not register with the new platform. This service is possible due to regulatory approval for KYC-less money exchange under certain thresholds.
The platform supports cross-chain transfers and coin-to-coin swaps through a variety of protocols, including ERC-20, Polygon, BEP-20, and many more. Furthermore, with the release of the new platform, Electrocoin has also introduced one new service – paying bills with cryptocurrencies. Users of the platform can use their cryptocurrencies to settle any invoice that can be paid by bank transfer within the EU/SEPA zone. That being said, utility bills such as electricity, water, or internet, or even personal expenses such as vehicles or even real estate, can be paid with cryptocurrencies – as long as the payment recipient has a bank account number.
Electrocoin was founded back in 2014 and has since become an industry leader, introducing PayCek, a crypto payment processor, in 2018. and now the new cryptocurrency exchange platform. The company is committed to communication with the regulator and today, they count over 250,000 successful transactions, along with 24/7 available customer support with an average chat response time of one minute. Electrocoin Trade positions itself as a competitor to other top-tier European cryptocurrency exchanges, with the feature enabling the cryptocurrency exchange without prior identification specifically standing out.
To get started, visit the Electrocoin Trade website.
Disclosure: This content is provided by a third party. crypto.news does not endorse any product mentioned on this page. Users must do their own research before taking any actions related to the company.
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