Tim Hakki

'Shadow Banker' Reggie Fowler Faces 6 Years in Prison Over $750M in Unregulated Crypto Transfers

Reginald Fowler has been sentenced to 75 months in prison for his role in facilitating over $750 million worth of crypto transactions through unregulated shadow banking services to the crypto industry, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office in the Southern District of New York. Fowler, who formerly co-owned the NFL’s Minnesota Vikings, is also serving time for violating U.S. money laundering laws, lying to U.S. banks, and defrauding the Alliance of American Football (AAF). Fowler’s criminal

Bitcoin Standard author Saifedean Ammous joins El Salvadorian president Nayib Bukele's crypto team. Image: The National Bitcoin Office (ONBTC) of El Salvador

This Week on Crypto Twitter: White House Mining Tax Scrapped, Bukele Hires Bitcoin Expert

Illustration by Mitchell Preffer for Decrypt Markets finally began to grow a little this week after four weeks of stagnation. There wasn’t a whole lot of news to drive prices either way. In the U.S., regulators continued to hold the line on their assertion that existing rules are sufficient for the industry. Meanwhile, another domestic crypto exchange—Gemini—continued expanding offshore. The most politically important tweet from Crypto Twitter this week came from Congressman Warren Davidson, who

This Week in Coins: XRP, Litecoin and Solana Outpace Bitcoin in Week of Small Gains

Illustration by Mitchell Preffer for Decrypt. Markets managed to finally overcome four weeks of inertia and grow a little this week, but perennial leaders Bitcoin and Ethereum remained virtually flat, with only nominal gains over the last seven days. Bitcoin (BTC) added 1.8% this week and traded on Saturday at around $27,189. It briefly reclaimed $28,000 at the start of the week, however, after U.S. lawmakers ended their standoff over the debt ceiling last weekend with a tentative deal. Ethereu

Shaq aka Diesel performs with a Jesus impersonator at Lollapalooza in Grant Park, Chicago in 2019. Image: Ted Alexander Somerville/Shutterstock

This Week on Crypto Twitter: Shaq Served with Two Crypto Lawsuits on Same Day

A slow news cycle resulted in the fourth consecutive week of flat prices in the crypto markets. Crypto Twitter was similarly sedate throughout the week, although markets briefly panicked on Monday when a machine-generated mockup of an explosion at the Pentagon went viral. An AI image of an explosion near the Pentagon caused the market to sell off violently for a few minutes before it was debunked and removed. Run it back. pic.twitter.com/xP82HCBmys — K A L E O (@CryptoKaleo) May 22, 2023 That

This Week in Coins: Bitcoin and Ethereum See Fourth Flat Week as TRON and Tether Surge

It was the fourth consecutive week of flat prices. A generally slow news cycle meant that market leaders Bitcoin and Ethereum remained where they were last weekend. Bitcoin depreciated a nominal 0.5% and currently trades at $26,815, while Ethereum rose 1% over the seven days and now enters the weekend at $1,829. On Monday, an AI-generated photo depicting a fabricated explosion at the Pentagon briefly caused a selloff in stocks and Bitcoin. Markets were decidedly flat across the board, with n

Global standards for crypto regulations have yet to be ironed out. Image: Shutterstock.

Regulators Should Block Firms From ‘Combining’ Crypto Functions, Says IOSCO

The International Organization of Securities Commissions (IOSCO) today released a report outlining policy recommendations for global crypto recommendation as part of the public consultation process. Members of the public can view the full report here and have until July 31 to send in comments and feedback by email. The IOSCO specifically advised regulators to prohibit crypto companies "from combining certain functions in a single legal entity or group of affiliated entities,” such as prohibiti

Malaysia’s Securities Commission Orders Crypto Exchange Huobi to Halt Operations

Malaysia’s leading securities regulator, the Securities Commission (SC), today announced that it has ordered Seychelles-based crypto exchange Huobi to shutter operations in the country. It appears Huobi has fallen foul of Malaysian regulators for operating a digital asset exchange without registration, according to the announcement. Running a crypto exchange without a Recognised Market Operator (RMO) license is an offense under the Capital Markets and Services Act 2007. A public reprimand has al

This Week on Crypto Twitter: SEC Dragnet Drags On

Illustration by Mitchell Preffer for Decrypt Crypto prices flatlined this week as the battle between U.S. regulators and the blockchain industry dragged on with no substantive developments. Securities and Exchange Commission Chairman Gary Gensler once more insisted that his agency is ready to help crypto companies register, even though none have been able to so far. Both Gensler and the SEC’s lawyers continued advancing the agency’s position that existing securities laws form clear enough guide

This Week in Coins: SEC and CBDC News Drives XRP Rally During Slow Week

The prices of Bitcoin and Ethereum remained flat for the third week running as the United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) showed no signs of conceding ground over its claim to being the industry’s lead regulator. Bitcoin (BTC) added a modest 0.3% to its value over the last seven days and currently trades at $27,110.29. Likewise, Ethereum (ETH) only grew 0.6% and currently changes hands at $1,825. There were no substantial losses among any of the top thirty cryptocurrencies this

Bitcoin in Australia. Image: Shutterstock

Binance Australia Loses Crypto Ramp PayID ‘With Immediate Effect’

Binance’s Australian branch today announced that it is “unable to facilitate PayID deposits” for its users. The crypto exchange attributed the loss of the onramp “to a decision made by our third-party payment service provider” and says bank transfer withdrawals have also been affected. Cuscal is reportedly the service provider in question. "At Cuscal we are focussed on supporting the industry in protecting Australians from financial crimes and scams," a Cuscal spokesperson told Decrypt. "We do

Uniswap is the market's largest decentralized exchange by volume. Image: Shutterstock.

DeFi Exchange Uniswap to Launch on Polkadot via Moonbeam Parachain

DeFipowerhouse Uniswap announced today that it will be deploying on Polkadot. The decision to open shop on Polkadot follows a near-unanimous governance vote first championed by Blockchain at Berkeley, a student educational group linked to UC Berkeley, and brought back to life by Blockchain at Michigan, another educational organization. The first initiative sought to deploy Uniswap's smart contracts using the Nomad bridge service; the latest initiative opted to deploy on the Wormhole bridge. In r

Cryptocurrencies in the United Kingdom have come under fire from regulators. Image: Shutterstock

UK Treasury Committee Urges Government to Regulate Crypto as Gambling

Betting on crypto may soon be regulated as traditional gambling in the UK. The United Kingdom’s House of Commons Treasury Committee, a cross-party Committee of MPs formed to examine the expenditure, administration, and policies of the British Treasury, has recommended the government regulate crypto trading as gambling, according to a new report. The proposal would mean that the Gambling Commission would oversee crypto activities in the UK using the Gambling Act 2005 as its guide. It would provi

Ethereum is the second-largest cryptocurrency by market capitalization. Image: Shutterstock.

Asymmetry Finance Joins Liquid Ethereum Staking Market With Latest $3M Raise

Decentralized finance (DeFi) and liquid staking protocol Asymmetry Finance today announced that it has raised $3 million in a seed funding round led by venture capital fund Ecco Capital. This brings Asymmetry Finance to a total valuation of $20 million. The funding round also included Republic Capital, GMJP, and fellow staking provider Ankr. Asymmetry says it will use the funds to develop, add talent, and onboard more users and institutions to its platform, which also launches today. The flag

This Week on Crypto Twitter: Musk Welcomes New Twitter CEO to Get to X—the Everything App

Illustration by Mitchell Preffer for Decrypt The most important tweet on Crypto Twitter this week was an announcement on Friday by Twitter’s owner and CEO Elon Musk naming his replacement, Linda Yaccarino, as the platform’s new chief executive. Musk will continue serving Twitter as CTO and executive chairman. Yaccarino left her job as head of advertising at NBCUniversal on Friday morning to take on the job of helping Musk transition Twitter into X, his envisioned “everything app" that will inc

This Week in Coins: Bitcoin and Ethereum Lead Market Pullback as Dollar Rises

Illustration by Mitchell Preffer for Decrypt. Despite a small midweek growth spurt on news that the U.S. Department of Labor’s inflation readings were lower than expected, Bitcoin (BTC) and Ethereum (ETH) entered the weekend with moderate losses over the last seven days. Bitcoin is down 7.9% and trades for $26,817. Even the news that the Principality of Liechtenstein will soon accept it as payment for state services could not stop the biggest cryptocurrency by market capitalization from posting

Binance CEO Chanpeng Zhao. Image: Decrypt

CZ Looking to Offload Some of Majority Stake in Binance US: Report

Binance CEO Changpeng “CZ” Zhao is looking to let go of some of his majority stake in the U.S. arm of the exchange, according to a report by The Information citing “two people familiar with the matter.” One of the publication’s sources reportedly said that the move was in the works, while the other said that Binance.US executives “have discussed” how it might make the company more palatable to U.S. regulators, who have recently turned up the heat on Zhao’s global Binance enterprise. Back in Mar

Sandra Lee is the Deputy Assistant Secretary of the Financial Stability Oversight Council. Image: Stephen Graves/Decrypt.

FSOC’s Policy Recommendations Could Have Prevented FTX: Deputy Assistant

Sandra Lee of the FSOC said that the collapse of FTX could’ve been avoided the following month had the recommendations of a report from last October been more closely studied. Speaking at a Financial Times panel on crypto regulation this morning, Lee said “last fall, the council published a report on digital assets and instability and identified various risks and potential recommendations.” The FSOC was established in 2010 by the Dodd-Frank Act and it works under the U.S. Treasury. It comprises

A digital euro has been in the works since 2020. Image: Shutterstock.

German Fintech Unstoppable Finance to Launch Europe’s First 'DeFi-Native Bank'

The ink still hasn’t dried on the passing of the EU’s new Markets in Crypto Assets (MiCA) bill, a landmark in comprehensive crypto legislation for the bloc’s 27 states, and already the furnaces of invention are fired up for at least one European crypto company. Berlin-based fintech startup Unstoppable Finance, currently most well known for its self-custodial crypto wallet called Ultimate, announced today it will be rolling out Europe’s first compliant "DeFi-native bank" alongside a fiat-backed

This Week on Crypto Twitter: CZ Calls Out Justin Sun, Sun Apologizes

Illustration by Mitchell Preffer for Decrypt The Fed’s mid-week announcement of the tenth consecutive interest rate hike since March 2022 capped crypto’s growth this week, leaving many leading cryptocurrencies level with—or a little south of—the prices they were trading at this time last week. On Monday, Binance CEO Changpeng “CZ” Zhao flagged Tron CEO Justin Sun’s $56 million token transfer to the exchange, suggesting the Tron founder might use the funds to farm a soon-to-be-launched token cal

This Week in Coins: Bitcoin and Ethereum Stand Still After Fed Rate Hike

Illustration by Mitchell Preffer for Decrypt. After posting small gains last weekend, the price growth of crypto market leaders Bitcoin (BTC) and Ethereum (ETH) slowed to effectively nothing this week. Bitcoin remains at the level it was this time last weekend, hovering around $28.820, a decrease of about 5% from its April high of $30,979 set nearly three weeks ago but still about 77% up from the start of January when the price was $16,615. Ethereum added 4.2% to its value over the seven days

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Stories by Tim Hakki