Author: Max Bauer

The U.S. Federal Reserve announced on Thursday that it has taken enforcement action against Customers Bancorp (CUBI.N) due to “significant deficiencies” in the bank’s risk management and anti-money laundering (AML) practices. The Pennsylvania-based bank, which offers digital asset services and operates a tokenized instant payments platform, has come under scrutiny following a recent examination by the Federal Reserve. The news sent the bank’s stock plummeting, with shares dropping more than 20% in midday trading as investors reacted to the announcement. While the enforcement action does not include a financial penalty, it mandates that Customers Bancorp undertake a comprehensive overhaul of…

The Commodity Futures Trading Commission today announced the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York entered a consent order of permanent injunction and other equitable relief against FTX Trading Ltd. and Alameda Research LLC (together, FTX) and ordered FTX to pay $12.7 billion in monetary relief to FTX customers and victims of FTX’s fraud. The order requires FTX to pay $8.7 billion in restitution and $4 billion in disgorgement, which will be used to further compensate victims for losses suffered as a result of the massive fraudulent scheme orchestrated by Samuel Bankman-Fried, his now-bankrupt FTX group of…

According to breaking information first reported by Cointelegraph, Brazil’s Securities and Exchange Commission (CVM) pioneered and approved the world’s first Solana Spot ETF. The Comissão de Valores Mobiliários (CVM) has taken a significant step by approving the launch of the world’s first Solana spot ETF. This new investment product, offered by QR Asset Management and distributed by Vortx, will be traded on B3, the Brazilian Stock Exchange. Currently, only Solana ETPs are being traded globally, such as the 21Shares Solana ETP (ASOL) in Switzerland, listed on the SIX Swiss Exchange; the CoinShares Physical Solana; and the ETC Group Physical Solana,…

Ripple was fined $125 million for institutional sales, but crypto exchange transactions were deemed legal. You can see the court document here. Judge Torres has ruled that Ripple shall pay $125M in civil penalties and stop any further violations of securities laws, putting an end to the nearly four-year legal battle it fought with the SEC. The SEC had initially requested a penalty of $2B from Ripple. Alongside the financial penalty, Judge Torres issued an injunction prohibiting Ripple from future violations of federal securities laws. She emphasized that while there was no judgement on Ripple having violated any laws post…

Meltem Demirors, a well-known figure in the blockchain industry, is launching her own venture firm, Crucible Capital. According to forms filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission on Tuesday, Crucible Capital is raising two separate funds, aiming for $30 million and $45 million respectively. Demirors, who has amassed significant experience at digital asset investment firm CoinShares and has a strong presence on Crypto Twitter with 263,000 followers, will serve as the managing member of the general partner for Crucible Capital. While the forms indicate that the funds have yet to receive outside capital, this does not necessarily rule out informal…

According to Bloomberg, Bitcoin bull Michael Saylor says he personally owns $1 billion in Bitcoin. In a recent interview, Michael Saylor, CEO of MicroStrategy, revealed his personal ownership of Bitcoin now exceeds $1 billion. This comes as Bitcoin’s price experienced volatility, dipping below the $50,000 mark momentarily. Saylor discussed MicroStrategy’s continuous investment in Bitcoin, mentioning the company’s acquisition of an additional 169 Bitcoins in July for over $11 million. Despite Bitcoin’s recent dip, Saylor emphasized his long-term strategy. “We’re always buying Bitcoin quarter by quarter. It’s a long-term strategy. The most important point for people to understand is that Bitcoin…

BlackRock filed for options trading for Ethereum Spot ETFs, according to SEC documents. You can see the SEC filing here. Option trading for ETFs (exchange-traded funds) involves buying and selling options contracts based on the ETFs’ performance. Options are financial derivatives that give investors the right, but not the obligation, to buy or sell an underlying asset (in this case, Ethereum Spot ETFs) at a specified price before a certain date. Bitcoin and Ethereum will be the only cryptocurrencies traded via exchange-traded funds (ETFs) in the near future, said Samara Cohen, Chief Investment Officer for ETF and Index Investments at…

Shares of Bitcoin miner Core Scientific (CORZ) soared by as much as 17% on Tuesday, outperforming other crypto-linked stocks. This surge followed the company’s announcement of an extension to its existing high-performance computing (HPC) contract with CoreWeave. In a statement, Core Scientific revealed that it had exercised an option from a previous contract to host approximately 112 megawatts (MW) of additional GPUs for CoreWeave, an “AI Hyperscaler” firm. This new extension is projected to generate about $2 billion in additional revenue, bringing the total contract value to $6.7 billion, starting in the first half of 2026. CoreWeave will cover all…

The Starknet Foundation (SNF) has announced a significant leadership transition, with CEO Diego Oliva stepping down from his role. Oliva, who has been with the Foundation since its inception in March 2023, will be succeeded by James Strudwick, currently the Head of Ecosystem Growth. In a statement released on the Foundation’s official blog, SNF praised Oliva for his pivotal role in establishing and growing the organization. Under his leadership, the Foundation expanded from a small team of two part-time employees to over thirty full-time professionals. Oliva was selected as the Foundation’s first CEO for his extensive entrepreneurial experience and his…

In its latest report, Bitfinex revealed that Bitcoin failed to maintain the critical support level of $65,580, leading to a total liquidation of $1.16 billion in the past 24 hours, primarily affecting long positions. Despite a bearish market sentiment and significant declines in both Japanese and US stock markets, Bitfinex anticipates a slight price increase to the $55,000 area. However, the report emphasizes that the overall market trend will heavily depend on broader macroeconomic factors. Recent economic and political developments have created instability across both cryptocurrency and traditional financial markets. The turmoil in the Japanese stock market, coupled with losses…