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[1/3] Richard Teng, head of the Middle East and North Africa for crypto firm Binance gestures as he speaks during an interview with Reuters in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, March 30, 2022. Teng faces an especially tough task in transforming the culture of Binance, four of the people said. Still, leading a cultural shift at Binance - a firm shaped by Zhao in his own image - would be "hugely difficult," she said. For years it dominated the crypto market, but this year has rapidly lost market share. Last month it controlled 32% of crypto spot and 50% of derivatives trading, according to crypto firm CCData, down from 55% and 62% respectively in January.

Persons: Richard Teng, Abdel Hadi Ramahi, Teng, Changpeng Zhao, Janet Yellen, Binance, Carol Alexander, Zhao, Yi He, Binance's, Simon Matthews, Richard, Matthews, FinCEN, John Reed Stark, Rajeev Bamra, OKX, Joseph Edwards, Tom Wilson, Elizabeth Howcroft, Elisa Martinuzzi, Louise Heavens Organizations: Reuters, United Arab Emirates, REUTERS, U.S . Securities, Exchange Commission, SEC, U.S, Treasury, University of Sussex, Investors, Treasury's, Internet Enforcement, Singapore, Abu, Abu Dhabi Global, Singapore Exchange, Moody's Investors Service, Securities, Thomson Locations: East, North Africa, Dubai, United Arab, U.S, Abu Dhabi, France, Seychelles, London

☆ FTX fraud trial is metaphorical in a sense 'for all of crypto', says former SEC official John Stark
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-03 | by ( ) www.cnbc.com time to read: 1 min

Share Share Article via Facebook Share Article via Twitter Share Article via LinkedIn Share Article via EmailFTX fraud trial is metaphorical in a sense 'for all of crypto', says former SEC official John StarkJohn Stark, former SEC internet enforcement chief and John Reed Stark Consulting president, joins 'Squawk box' to break down the guilty verdict in the criminal fraud trial of FTX founder Sam Bankman-Fried, what it means for cryptocurrency at large, and more.

Persons: John Stark John Stark, John Reed Stark, Sam Bankman Organizations: SEC, John Reed Stark Consulting

☆ Sam Bankman-Fried is his own worst enemy, says former SEC official John Reed Stark
▼ + stars: | 2023-10-04 | by ( ) www.cnbc.com time to read: 1 min

Share Share Article via Facebook Share Article via Twitter Share Article via LinkedIn Share Article via EmailSam Bankman-Fried is his own worst enemy, says former SEC official John Reed StarkJohn Reed Stark, Duke senior lecturing fellow and former chief of SEC Office of Internet Enforcement, joins 'Squawk Box' to discuss the high-profile trial of former FTX CEO Sam Bankman-Fried, how Bankman-Fried's defense could play out, the possible legal peril facing Bankman-Fried's parents, and more.

Persons: Sam Bankman, Fried, John Reed Stark John Reed Stark, Duke Organizations: SEC, Internet Enforcement

☆ Why insider trading is so difficult to stop
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-10 | by ( Charlotte Morabito | In Charlottemorabito | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +3 min

Martha Stewart was famously accused of insider trading in the early 2000s, but she didn't face criminal insider trading charges. "It is incredibly difficult to prove an insider trading case," said Daniel Taylor, a forensic accounting professor at the University of Pennsylvania. "Insider trading is judge-made law," said John Reed Stark, former head of the Office of Internet Enforcement at the Securities Exchange Commission. The SEC adopted an amendment to a rule that will "enhance investor protections against insider trading." The Department of Justice prosecuted the first insider trading case exclusively based on the rule in March 2023.

Persons: Martha Stewart, Stewart, Daniel Taylor, John Reed Stark, Stark, Justin Paperny, Paperny, I've Organizations: University of Pennsylvania, Internet, Securities Exchange Commission, SEC, Department, Justice, United, White, Department of Justice Locations: United States

WASHINGTON, July 13 (Reuters) - Partnering with Coinbase Global (COIN.O) may hinder rather than help Nasdaq's (NDAQ.O) bid to win regulatory approval for a bitcoin exchange-traded-fund it wants to launch with BlackRock (BLK.N). The SEC has denied previous spot bitcoin ETF proposals on the basis that they would be vulnerable to manipulation. The SEC last month sued Coinbase, escalating SEC chair Gary Gensler's crackdown on the crypto industry. And with roughly 56% of U.S. dollar bitcoin trading, according to Nasdaq's filing, Coinbase is integral to the U.S. bitcoin market. All told, the SEC has 240 days after it accepts the bitcoin ETF filing applications to make a decision.

Persons: Larry Fink, Bitcoin, Coinbase, Gary Gensler's, John Reed Stark, Sui Chung, Gensler, Joseph Silvia, Dickinson Wright, Silvia, Chung, Richard Marshall, Katten, Marshall, Michelle Price, John McCrank, Hannah Lang, Will Dunham Organizations: Coinbase, BlackRock, Nasdaq, U.S . Securities, Exchange Commission, SEC, Cboe Global, Fidelity, FOX Business, Internet Enforcement, BlackRock's, Reuters, Thomson Locations: BlackRock, U.S

The SEC raised the same concerns with Nasdaq (NDAQ.O) over a recent filing for a spot bitcoin ETF from BlackRock (BLK.N), the person said. According to Cboe's Fidelity bitcoin ETF filing, The company's platform represented roughly half of U.S. dollar-bitcoin trading in May. The recent filings for bitcoin ETFs by BlackRock and Fidelity have sent the price of bitcoin soaring more than 20% since June 15 to one-year highs. "It's not surprising to hear that the SEC is pushing back a little bit," he said of the bitcoin ETF applications. The SEC has rejected dozens of spot bitcoin ETF applications in recent years, including one from Fidelity in January 2022.

Persons: Cboe, Coinbase, Binance, it's, John Reed Stark, bitcoin, Ed Moya, It's, Carolina Mandl, John McCrank, Manya, Michelle Price, Shinjini Ganguli, Alexander Smith, David Gregorio Our Organizations: Fidelity, U.S . Securities, Exchange Commission, SEC, Nasdaq, WisdomTree, Coinbase, Cboe, BlackRock, ., Internet, Manya Saini, Thomson Locations: BlackRock, Nasdaq, Manhattan, New York, Bengaluru

After receiving $145 million from Binance.US's operator by 2021, Sigma Chain spent $11 million on buying a yacht, the SEC complaint said, without elaborating. It is unclear from the SEC complaint how much money Zhao is alleged to have drawn from Merit Peak and Sigma Chain. The SEC also said Zhao used Merit Peak to direct more than $16 million to fund Binance's purportedly independent U.S. affiliate Binance.US. Binance used its BUSD holdings to meet customer withdrawals by selling them for dollars as needed, Reuters reported in May. The SEC complaint also identified Binance Labs, a venture capital arm of Binance, as part of the exchange's plan to increase demand for BNB.

Persons: Zhao, Binance, Benoit Tessier LONDON, Changpeng Zhao, John Reed Stark, Stark, Binance's, Angus Berwick, Tom Wilson, Lisa Barrington, Hadeel Al, Elisa Martinuzzi, Alexander Smith Organizations: Viva Technology, Porte de, REUTERS, Binance, Securities and Exchange Commission, SEC, Swiss, Sigma Chain, Reuters, Silicon, Internet, Futures Trading Commission, U.S . Justice, Reuters Graphics, Silvergate Bank, Merit, Sigma, Binance Labs, Thomson Locations: Porte, Paris, France, Binance, U.S, Virgin Islands, Dubai, London, Hadeel Al Sayegh

June 5 (Reuters) - Cryptocurrencies and shares in crypto and blockchain-related companies tumbled on Monday after the U.S. securities regulator sued crypto exchange Binance, another blow to the industry. The SEC crackdown has prompted some crypto companies to increase compliance, spike products, and expand overseas, moves that some marketwatchers said would likely be accelerated by this latest action against the world's largest crypto exchange. In April, the SEC charged crypto exchange Bittrex Inc with operating an unregistered securities exchange, broker and clearing agency, and settled with Kraken in February for $30 million over the exchange's U.S. crypto staking service. Shares of Coinbase (COIN.O) were down 9.1% on the news of the SEC's charges against Binance. Both Coinbase and crypto exchange Gemini launched international exchanges for crypto derivatives in May.

Persons: Binance, Changpeng Zhao, Binance's cryptocurrency, Gary Gensler, marketwatchers, John Reed Stark, Kraken, Bittrex, James Angel, Gemini, Rajeev Bamra, Sinéad Carew, John McCrank, Manya Saini, Hannah Lang, Michelle Price, Leslie Adler, Lisa Shumaker Organizations: U.S . Securities, Exchange Commission, Reuters, SEC, Washington , D.C, Internet, Coinbase Global Inc, Georgetown University, Binance, Inc, Marathon, Mining, Moody’s Investors Service, Thomson Locations: Washington ,, U.S, New York, Bengaluru, Washington

☆ Binance 'could be in big trouble' as the CFTC lawsuit alleges the crypto behemoth dodged regulators and breached laws
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-28 | by ( Zahra Tayeb | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +10 min

Binance is being blow-torched from all angles as US regulators close in on the world's largest crypto exchange. The CFTC sued the exchange this week for violating US financial laws, whilst some reports suggest Binance has engaged in secret fund transfers. On Monday, the Commodities Futures and Trading Commission (CFTC) sued Binance and Zhao himself, for allegedly breaching US financial laws. Following the shocking implosion of Sam-Bankman Fried's FTX exchange late last year, concerns have risen whether Binance faces similar risks. If US authorities decide the links meant the crypto exchange had control over the US platform, it could expose the company to enforcement action.

☆ Op-ed: Crypto and blockchain need a trellis, not just a weed killer, says Scaramucci
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-21 | by ( Anthony Scaramucci | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +4 min

You might not know this, but Goldilocks and the Three Bears is actually a story about the debate currently surrounding regulation of the blockchain and crypto industries. The agency nearly doubled the size of its crypto assets enforcement unit last May. Many in the crypto industry want this "regulation by enforcement" to stop. It's as much of a trellis for good plants as it is a weed killer. Scaramucci is the founder and managing partner of SkyBridge Capital, an alternative asset manager and SEC-registered investment adviser.

☆ Crypto's go-to bank collapsed. What now?
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-09 | by ( Allison Morrow | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +4 min

New York CNN —Yesterday, the financial world witnessed a classic run on the bank when Silvergate Capital, the go-to US lender for crypto companies, said it would wind down its operations and voluntarily liquidate. ICYMI: Silvergate was, for most of its existence, a traditional Southern California regional bank. In the same period, the global crypto industry has lost two-thirds of its value, falling from a $3 trillion market cap to $1 trillion. I’ve heard the “don’t blame crypto” argument a thousand times. And it was the same story nearly a year ago, when the Terra/Luna crash last spring wiped out billions overnight — don’t blame crypto; those were toxic algorithmic stablecoins, you can’t trust those.

☆ I would be 'shocked' if regulators did not meet with FTX, says John Stark
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-29 | by ( ) www.cnbc.com time to read: 1 min

Share Share Article via Facebook Share Article via Twitter Share Article via LinkedIn Share Article via EmailI would be 'shocked' if regulators did not meet with FTX, says John StarkJohn Stark, president of John Reed Stark Consulting and a former chief of the SEC office of internet enforcement, joins CNBC's 'Squawk Box' to discuss the fallout of crypto exchange FTX.

The article was one of a series of reports this year by the news agency on Binance's financial compliance and relationship with regulators across the world. Reuters also asked representatives of the local Binance units and affiliates about their relationship with the main Binance exchange. In Italy, Binance's public corporate filings detail just the unit's capital base and its ownership by a separate Binance company in Ireland. The Italian company, Binance Italy S.R.L., has its listed address in a block of shops and apartments in the southern city of Lecce. Just two of the Binance units analysed by Reuters offer more substantial details in their filings.

☆ The fall of crypto exchange FTX is 'worse than Theranos, worse than Madoff' as federal probes mount, former SEC official says
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-12 | by ( Brian Evans | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

The fall of cryptocurrency exchange FTX has drawn numerous comparisons to the collapse of Lehman Brothers. But a former Securities and Exchange Commission official likened FTX to the Theranos and Bernie Madoff debacles. "This is worse than Theranos, this is worse than Madoff," John Reed Stark told Yahoo Finance. But a former Securities and Exchange Commission official likened FTX to the Theranos and Bernie Madoff debacles. Stark noted "sophisticated" FTX investors have had to write down their holdings, even after performing due diligence on its financials.

☆ Texas regulators have their eyes on one of the most powerful players in the crypto world
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-20 | by ( Jon Sarlin | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +7 min

CNN Business —The big news in crypto this week came via a court filing in Texas. FTX, the crypto giant that is led by arguably the most powerful person in the industry, is under investigation by Texas regulators for selling unregistered securities. FDIC, OCC, SEC, DOL, FBI, US Treasury and IRS have all stepped up their crypto enforcement efforts. The crypto lawyer I spoke with told me that those who prefer the CFTC over the SEC fall into two camps. I interviewed Saylor last year for CNN’s crypto interactive (“The Bitcoin Billionaire” is what we dubbed him).

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