The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) is getting ready for a major legal showdown amid its increased scrutiny of the digital assets industry. The U.S. Supreme Court is reportedly set to weigh in on the constitutionality of the Commission’s in-house courts. This move has sparked a broader debate on the enforcement system employed by federal agencies across the nation. US SEC to change its legal mechanism The case in the limelight, Jarkesy vs SEC, revolves around hedge fund manager George Jarkesy who is accused of fraud in the SEC’s in-house administrative court in 2013. However, the New Orleans-based 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, in a 2022 ruling, found out that the commission’s internal proceedings were in violation of the U.S. Constitution’s Seventh Amendment. It asserted a right to a jury trial, and reportedly encroaching on presidential and congressional powers. President Joe Biden’s administration went on to appeal this decision asking the Supreme Court to consider the SEC’s in-house tribunal system’s legality. At the same time, Jarkesy’s defense argues that the SEC’s in-house court denies defendants their right to a jury trial.  According to reports, legal experts suggest that a sweeping decision against in-house proceedings could bring in broad implications for federal agencies. This includes their ability to adjudicate claims ranging from social security petitions to violations of securities laws. Crypto industry awaits decision It is important to note that, this hearing comes at a time when the Supreme Court, split 6-3 between conservative and liberal justices showed a notable skepticism towards agencies’ authority.  If the Supreme Court rules in favor of Jarkesy, it is expected that this would potentially disrupt SEC enforcement activities. It will eventually delay actions against misconduct by brokers and investment advisers. On the other hand, the SEC has continued its scrutiny of the digital asset linked companies. The commission is seeking evidence against Binance for potential control over assets stored on the Binance.US platform. While Binance and its founder, Changpeng Zhao, recently pleaded guilty to criminal charges related to anti-money laundering controls. The post US Apex Court to decide fate of SEC’s In-house courts amid its crypto crackd appeared first on Todayq News.

The post "CZ Leaving Binance CEO Seat: Visionary Game or Setback?" first appeared on 36crypto.com. While Changpeng Zhao (CZ) stepped down as the CEO of Binance, slinging the raft of the global community, the array of questions still remains unanswered. As the motives of CZ’s move seem loud and clear, its outcomes for the company did not seek any clarity.  As heated debates and irrationality are taking over the media dimension, it’s time for us to dot the i’s and cross the t’s on the backstory of CZ’s resignation and its connection with U.S.-initiated litigations.  Let’s kick into high gear! Context On November 21, Changpeng “CZ” Zhao announced that he was leaving the position of Binance CEO. Zhao’s departure as CEO will not be a complete separation from Binance. The company’s founder will remain its majority shareholder, and a resource for “consultation on historical areas of the business,” according to a Binance press statement.  CZ’s announcement also revealed that Richard Teng followed in Zhao’s footsteps, taking the seat of Binance CEO. Prior to that, he used to be the company's Global Head of Regional Markets. The critical update is argued to occur as a part of Binance's settlement with the U.S. authorities. Specifically, CZ pleaded guilty to a felony charge that he failed to take steps to prevent money laundering as the company agreed to pay more than $4 billion following an investigation by the US government. “I made mistakes, and I must take responsibility”, Zhao said in his statement on X.  Binance Under U.S. Scrutiny in a Nutshell In June 2023, the notorious U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) sued Binance, Binance.US, and Changpeng Zhao, seeing their illegal listing of unregistered securities in the form of several cryptocurrencies for trading and investment. The suit immediately kicked off a legal fight over violations of security law.  A vast majority of the community believes SEC litigation turned out the pivotal turn tide for Binance's operability. Still, this presumption is a rather far-fetched perspective, as the exchange sought reputational issues way before Gensler’s body took on.  Since at least 2018, #Binance has been under the eye of the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) and the U.S. Attorney's Office. According to Reuters’ informants, the department’s investigation focused on Binance’s compliance with U.S. anti-money laundering (AML) laws and economic sanctions.  Details on the case had remained obscure until December 2020, when Federal prosecutors asked Binance to provide internal records about its anti-money laundering efforts, along with communications with Zhao. It is still unclear how the request was reacted to, but it showcased the tight grip of the U.S. justice mechanism for Binance. And the reasons for it were rather solid. Just a year before, in February 2019, Binance’s former Chief Compliance Officer Samuel Lim received information on transactions by the militant Palestinian group Hamas on the exchange, according to the U.S. Commodities Futures and Trading Commission (CFTC). Nevertheless, knowing the fact did not become a motive for changing the big picture, owing to the blockage of nearly 190 terrorist-linked Binance accounts solely by the Israeli police in cooperation with the exchange since 2021.  By and large, according to a Reuters investigation, over the course of 2022, Binance’s weak AML controls led to processing over $10 billion in payments for criminals and companies seeking to evade U.S. sanctions. The highlight of the violation disclosed that Binance operates in Russia as well. Until September 2023, the company kept on carrying out financial operations while attempting to evade U.S. sanctions by ceasing Ruble P2P trading and allowing operations only with locally distributed Visa and Mastercard accounts. For instance, crypto.com, WhiteBIT, and other exchanges suspended operations in the Russian market within the first days of the country's invasion of Ukraine.  The suits and accusations had been piled up until the very CZ's departure as CEO of Binance. As has been mentioned above, this became the outcome of the company’s settlement with the U.S. authorities, alongside agreeing to pay a $4 billion fee.  “Because of the crimes committed, Binance became the largest cryptocurrency exchange in the world. Now, Binance has paid one of the largest corporate penalties in US history”, said Merrick Garland, the US Attorney General. Specifically, on November 21, Zhao appeared in federal court in Seattle and pleaded guilty to anti-money laundering and sanctions violations brought by the Department of Justice. Apart from this, Binance settled charges with the DOJ, CFTC, the Department of Treasury’s Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN), and the Office of Foreign Assets Controls (OFAC).  In an official statement, the Treasury Department specified that it had taken unprecedented action to hold Binance accountable for violations of U.S. anti-money laundering laws and failure to prevent and report suspicious transactions with terrorist organizations.  “Binance turned a blind eye to its legal obligations in the pursuit of profit. Its willful failures allowed money to flow to terrorists, cybercriminals, and child abusers through its platform,” Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen stated during a press conference. From what has been stated, one might conclude that sooner or later, Binance would have ended up facing legal measures by the U.S. authorities, yet a few could have imagined that would result in such radical consequences. The intensive pursuit to come up with an explanation for CZ’s decisiveness led to an array of insights and outlooks. Among the most adopted ones – was the one-sided victory of CZ.  Did CZ Take It or Leave It? A rather offbeat stance on CZ step-down was voiced by the analyst Cole Garner. In his post for X, he stated that Zhao literally “bribed” U.S. authorities with $4 billion in “broad daylight” while putting a “new puppet CEO” and eventually becoming free of collateral risks, i.e. extradition. At the same time, CZ apparently managed to enhance Binance’s reputation by liquidating litigation threats.  Seemingly, it would be challenging to disagree with the facts, cited by Garner – paying a $4 billion settlement and leaving the position of CEO was probably the most appropriate course of action amid the Binance legal crisis. Still, would it be sound to consider all that a win? Apart from the fact that Czangpeng Zhao pled guilty, and Binance paid an enormous settlement, literally admitting the credibility of accusations, CZ’s sentencing is yet to take place the next year, with a possible guideline sentence ranging as high as 18 months. What is more, the U.S. Attorney's Office asked the court to prohibit CZ from leaving the territory of the USA until the conviction on February 23, 2024.  Still, CZ seems to be aware of the investigation and promised to willingly return to the US for sentencing.  “I want to take responsibility and close this chapter in my life,” Zhao said. “I want to come back. Otherwise, I wouldn’t be here today.” Ultimately, it would be wrong to deny that compliance with lawsuits and alteration in Binance’s corporate structure are effective solutions for maintaining the company's reputation and vitality. Yet, Binance suffered great damage to its stability and operability, thus there’s no way to call this a “win” and utterly beneficial strategic move. Closing Remarks: How Binance PR Became Company’s Lifejacket Binance’s path through its existence certainly was not smooth sailing. However, the turbulence that occurred to it would make some other exchanges sink, and Binance is staying afloat. Where does the essence of a company's success lie? Certainly, the vitality of it is not ensured by trading volume. Given that, FTX would have remained a solid player by now. The magic pill is promotion. Regardless of all the factual basis, the audience still trusts CZ due to his communication activity and sincerity. Binance is still perceived as the cornerstone of crypto trading and an active contributor to its adoption. And let’s just be frank – it is still a no-brainer for a majority of traders and enthusiasts. What’s even more remarkable is that Binance PR gets it through a strengthened control of US bodies in the US, which can be noticeable with Sam-Bankman Fried (founder of the notorious FTX crypto exchange) sentencing. The story is not over for Binance as the conviction for Changpeng “CZ” Zhao is ahead. But the company keeps coping with challenges, spurring optimistic hopes for the future litigations’ outcomes.

Top Stories This Week US officials announce $4.3B settlement with Binance, plea deal with CZ Binance and its co-founder, Changpeng CZ Zhao, have reached a settlement over criminal and civil cases with the United States Department of Justice. CZ will plead guilty to one felony charge as part of the negotiated agreement. Attorney General Merrick Garland announced the settlement, claiming Binances policies allowed criminals involved in illicit activities to move stolen funds through the exchange. As part of the settlement, CZ announced on X (formerly Twitter) that he had stepped down as CEO and that Binances global head of regional markets, Richard Teng, will assume the position. He added he was proud to point out that U.S. officials didnt allege that Binance misappropriated funds or manipulated markets. CZ was released on bail and is battling government efforts to bar his return to the United Arab Emirates to be with his family. His sentencing is scheduled for February. BlackRock met with SEC officials to discuss spot Bitcoin ETF Representatives from BlackRock and Nasdaq met with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) to discuss the proposed rule allowing the listing of a spot Bitcoin exchange-traded fund (ETF). BlackRock provided a presentation detailing how the firm could use an in-kind or in-cash redemption model for its iShares Bitcoin Trust. Many reports have suggested the SEC could be nearing a decision on a spot BTC ETF for listing on U.S. markets. SEC officials also met with Grayscale representatives this week to discuss the listing of a Bitcoin ETF. BlackRock is one of many firms with spot crypto ETF applications in the SEC pipeline awaiting a response, including Fidelity, WisdomTree, Invesco Galaxy, Valkyrie, VanEck and Bitwise. Bitcoin user pays $3.1M transaction fee for 139 BTC transfer A Bitcoin user paid $3.1 million in fees for transferring 139.42 BTC. The transaction fee is the eighth-highest in Bitcoins 14-year history. A wallet address tried transferring 139.42 BTC only to pay more than half the actual value of the transaction fee. The destination address received only 55.77 BTC. The mining pool Antpool captured the absurdly high mining fee on block 818087. This is the largest Bitcoin transaction fee ever paid in dollar terms, knocking off Paxos’s September transfer of $500,000. SEC sues Kraken alleging its an unregistered exchange, mixes user funds The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission has sued Kraken, alleging it commingled customer funds and failed to register with the regulator as a securities exchange, broker, dealer and clearing agency. Additionally, the SEC alleged Krakens business practices and deficient internal controls saw the exchange commingle up to $33 billion worth of customer assets with its own. The SEC said this resulted in a significant risk of loss for its clients. In a follow-up blog post, Kraken said the SECs commingling accusations were no more than Kraken spending fees it has already earned, and the regulator doesnt allege any user funds are missing. Appeals court rejects Sam Bankman-Frieds bid for release Sam Bankman-Fried will stay jailed after failing to convince a United States appellate court that he should be freed while his legal team appeals his conviction. Government prosecutors accused Bankman-Fried of leaking Caroline Ellisons journals to The New York Times in July, which caused his bail to be revoked by a New York District Court. Bankman-Fried was found guilty of seven fraud and money laundering-related charges on Nov. 2. The former FTX CEO will remain behind bars while he awaits his sentencing on March 28 next year. Winners and Losers At the end of the week, Bitcoin (BTC) is at $37,710, Ether (ETH) is at $2,079, and XRP is at $0.62. The total market cap is at $1.43 trillion, according to CoinMarketCap. Among the biggest 100 cryptocurrencies, the top three altcoin gainers of the week are Blur (BLUR) at 99.25%, FTX Token (FTT) at 39.05% and KuCoin Token (KCS) at 24.82%.  The top three altcoin losers of the week are Celestia (TIA) at -19.89%, ORDI (ORDI) at -17.63% and THORChain (RUNE) at -15.53%.For more info on crypto prices, make sure to read Cointelegraphs market analysis. Read also Features AI has killed the industry: EasyTranslate boss on adapting to change Asia Express Hong Kong crypto frenzy, DeFi token surges 550%, NBA China NFTs Asia Express Most Memorable Quotations The U.S. has a financial regime that basically has been weaponized. Charles Hoskinson, founder of Cardano I made mistakes, and I must take responsibility. Changpeng CZ Zhao, former CEO of Binance We, the employees of OpenAI, have developed the best models and pushed the field to new frontiers, [but] the process through which you terminated Sam Altman […] has jeopardized all of this work and undermined our mission and company. OpenAI employees Get your crypto company out of the U.S. warzone. Jesse Powell, co-founder of Kraken The regulatory uncertainty that permeates the U.S. market is having an impact on the rest of the world. Oliver Linch, CEO of Bittrex Global Im looking forward to returning to OpenAI and building on our strong partnership with Microsoft. Sam Altman, CEO of OpenAI Prediction of the week Enjoy sub-$40K Bitcoin PlanB stresses $100K average BTC price from 2024 Bitcoin buyers should enjoy the chance to add to their stack below $40,000, according to PlanB, pseudonymous creator of the stock-to-flow family of BTC price models. He believes Bitcoin will rise much higher than its recent 18-month highs. Bitcoin bear market bottoms are characterized by the spot price dipping below the realized price, while bull markets begin once the spot crosses the two-year and five-month realized price levels. BTC/USD is now once again above all three realized price iterations. Enjoy sub-$40k bitcoin … while it lasts, PlanB commented on an accompanying chart. Asked whether the market should expect lower levels from here, PlanB would not be drawn, saying that he simply expected an average BTC price of at least $100,000 between 2024 and 2028 Bitcoins next halving cycle. FUD of the Week HTX to restore services within 24 hours after $30M hack Crypto exchange HTX, formerly known as Huobi Global, resumed deposits and withdrawals within 24 hours after suffering a $30 million exploit on Nov. 22. The exploit was reported to be $13.6 million around the time of the incident, but has since increased in value. HTX’s hot wallets were compromised alongside a coordinated $86.6 million attack against the HTX Eco (HECO) Chain bridge, consisting of HTX, Tron and BitTorrent. The company has promised to fully compensate users for any losses incurred as a consequence of the hack. CZ an unacceptable risk of flight, should stay in US: DOJ United States prosecutors are trying to stop former Binance boss Changpeng CZ Zhao from leaving the country, expressing concern about his potential flight risk. The government requested a review and overturn of a judges decision that would allow Zhao to return to his home in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) on a $175 million bond under the condition that he returns to the U.S. two weeks before his February 2024 sentencing. In a proposed order, prosecutors wrote that Zhao presents an unacceptable risk of flight, arguing that his ties and favored status in the UAE, along with the countrys lack of an extradition treaty with the U.S., are reasons to block him from leaving the country. KyberSwap hacker offers $4.6M bounty for return of $46M loot The decentralized exchange KyberSwap has offered a 10% bounty reward to the hacker who stole $46 million on Nov. 22 and left a note of negotiation. The exchange wants 90% of the loot returned. The hacker made away with roughly $20 million in Wrapped Ether, $7 million in wrapped Lido-staked Ether and $4 million in Arbitrum tokens. The hacker then siphoned the loot across multiple chains, including Arbitrum, Optimism, Ethereum, Polygon and Base. Read also Features What the hell is Web3 anyway? Features Space invaders: Launching crypto into orbit Top Magazine Pieces of the Week This is your brain on crypto: Substance abuse grows among crypto traders According to some addiction experts, the high-stress atmosphere of cryptocurrency trading can provide a perfect environment for substance abuse. Michael Saylors a fan, but Frisby says bull run needs a new guru: X Hall of Flame Bitcoin enthusiast Dominic Frisby has a wild journey, from penning one of the first-ever Bitcoin books to plastering Bitcoin fixes this on the Bank of England. 6 Questions for Alex O’Donnell about financial journalism and the future of DeFi Alex ODonnell spoke to Cointelegraph Magazine about his career as a financial journalist and how it led to his involvement in crypto and Umami DAO. Subscribe The most engaging reads in blockchain. Delivered once a week. Email address SUBSCRIBE

According to Cointelegraph, the European Commission is conducting risk assessments and considering export controls on critical technology areas, including artificial intelligence (AI) and semiconductor technologies. On October 3, EU officials identified four areas that need assessment regarding technology risk and risk of technology leakage, including AI, advanced semiconductors technologies, quantum technologies, and biotechnologies. These technologies were chosen based on their transformative nature, the risk of civil or military fusion, and the risk that the technology could be used to violate human rights. Thierry Breton, the commissioner for the internal market at the EU Commission, called the move an important step for EU resilience. The risk assessments will be carried out by the end of the year, with any results or initiatives based on the risk assessments to be presented by spring 2024. The Commission's next steps include engaging with its 27 Member States to begin collective assessments of the mentioned areas. This development follows a move on June 20, when the EU Commission enacted the Joint Communication on European Economic Security Strategy, which included protection against risks and promoting European competitiveness in specific markets. The United States has also been focusing efforts on assessing export risks of its own technology in similar sectors, particularly banning the export of high-level AI semiconductor chips to China.