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☆ Viral banana artwork has sold again — this time for $6.24 million
▼ + stars: | 2024-11-21 | by ( Oscar Holland | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +5 min

But artist Maurizio Cattelan’s viral creation, titled “Comedian,” has proven a sound investment for one collector: One of the artwork’s three “editions” smashed estimates to sell for $6.24 million at a Sotheby’s auction in New York on Wednesday. The auction house had estimated the work to go for between $1 million to $1.5 million; bidding began at $800,000. Prior to the sale, Sotheby’s confirmed to CNN that neither the tape nor, thankfully, the banana are the originals. The Miami installation was eventually removed amid public safety concerns, but all three editions were sold at the fair. In interviews given since the Miami installation, Cattelan has described “Comedian” as a work of commentary.

Persons: Maurizio Cattelan’s, ”, , Oliver Barker, Sotheby’s, Justin Sun, ” Sun, “, ’, Marcel Duchamp’s, David Datuna, David Galperin, ” Galperin Organizations: CNN, Art Basel Miami Beach, Guggenheim, Art Newspaper, Leeum Museum of Art, Seoul National University Locations: New York, Miami, Americas, Seoul, South Korea, London, Paris, Milan, Hong Kong, Dubai, Taipei, Tokyo, Los Angeles

☆ Who’s Laughing Now? Banana-as-Art Sells for $6.2 Million at Sotheby’s
▼ + stars: | 2024-11-20 | by ( Zachary Small | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

A banana that for years has stirred controversy in the art world sold for $6.2 million with fees at Sotheby’s contemporary art auction on Wednesday night. It became what is arguably the most expensive fruit in the world — though it will likely be tossed in a couple days. It comes with a certificate of authenticity and installation instructions for owners to replace the banana — if they wish — whenever it rots. “Returns in the market have been flat or decreasing over the last decade,” said Michael Moses, who tracks the investment potential of artworks for clients. “It’s a fascinating asset because you can get so much joy from it that people are willing to accept lower returns.

Persons: ”, Maurizio Cattelan, Justin Sun, Michael Moses, “, Joy, Sun Locations: Chinese

Six people listed on Israel's previous Tron seizure notices who responded to Reuters questions denied connections to militant groups. Iran has previously used Tron to skirt U.S. sanctions. 'BLINDSPOT'Since its 2008 birth, the Bitcoin blockchain, and since then crypto more widely, have been magnets for criminals drawn by liquidity and a reputation for anonymity. In 2021, the first year NBCTF published seizure notices, it froze 30 Bitcoin wallets. No Bitcoin wallets appear in notices in the subsequent years.

Persons: Dado Ruvic, Mriganka Pattnaik, Merkle, Hayward Wong, Tron, Wong, Israel, NBCTF, Weeks, Justin Sun, Sun, Binbin Deng, Shlomit Wagman, VanEck, Wagman, Tom Wilson, Elizabeth Howcroft, Nidal al, Gebeily, Frank Jack Daniel Our Organizations: REUTERS, Hezbollah, Reuters, Israel's, Bureau for, British Virgin Islands, Dubai Co, Israel, Hamas, Islamic, West Bank, Tron, U.S . Securities, Exchange Commission, SEC, Sun, Force, Harvard University, Authority, Militant, Thomson Locations: Iran, Israel, United States, New York, Britain, Singapore, Gaza, British Virgin, Jihad, Dubai, Venezuela, Jenin, Tehran, Paris, U.S, London, Beirut

☆ CNBC Daily Open: Singing the OPEC blues away
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-24 | by ( Clement Tan | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +2 min

This report is from today's CNBC Daily Open, our new, international markets newsletter. CNBC Daily Open brings investors up to speed on everything they need to know, no matter where they are. Tighter regulationsSingapore will introduce tighter rules for cryptocurrency service providers. [PRO] Goldman touts its global growth basketEuropean growth stocks haven't been doing as well as their U.S. peers this year. Growth stocks in the region have underperformed value stocks by 13% since the start of the rate-hiking cycle in 2022, according to Goldman Sachs in a Nov. 20 report.

Persons: Crypto, Justin Sun, HTX, Goldman, Goldman Sachs Organizations: CNBC, Japan's Nikkei, CSI, Monetary Authority of, United Nations, Food Locations: Asia, China, U.S, Singapore, cryptocurrencies, Monetary Authority of Singapore, Gaza, Israel

☆ CNBC Daily Open: Singing the OPEC blues
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-24 | by ( Clement Tan | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +2 min

This report is from today's CNBC Daily Open, our new, international markets newsletter. CNBC Daily Open brings investors up to speed on everything they need to know, no matter where they are. Oil and gas companies pulled ahead with a 1.4% gain despite the continued fall in oil prices after OPEC delayed its policy-setting meeting. The targeted projects include the HTX digital currency exchange, formerly known as Huobi, from which hackers drained around $30 million worth of cryptocurrencies, the company said in a statement on Wednesday. CNBC Pro discusses ways to bet against this stock.

Persons: Justin Sun, HTX, Claudia Buch Organizations: CNBC, U.S, Fort Worth International Airport helped American Airlines Locations: Dallas, Europe

☆ $115 million stolen from two crypto firms linked to Justin Sun after hack
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-23 | by ( Arjun Kharpal | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +1 min

The logo of HTX, formerly known as Huobi, is seen on the screen of a mobile device in this photo. Two cryptocurrency platforms linked to high-profile digital entrepreneur Justin Sun were hacked in two exploits that may have stolen an estimated $115 million to date. Sun, who is an investor in HTX and linked to the Heco Chain, confirmed the events. Market analytics firm CryptoQuant assesses that a total of $85.4 million worth of cryptocurrency has been stolen from the Heco Chain. CNBC has reached out to HTX for comment on Heco Chain losses.

Persons: Justin Sun, HTX, Sun, HBTC Organizations: CNBC Locations: HTX, CoinGecko

As token prices plummeted last year, the sector saw other stunning meltdowns that put several industry moguls into authorities' crosshairs. Changpeng "CZ" ZhaoThe U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) sued Binance and its CEO Zhao in June for allegedly operating "a web of deception." Kwon faces multiple charges of fraud in the U.S. and was arrested in Montenegro earlier this year for allegedly forging documents, authorities said. He has pleaded not guilty to U.S. fraud charges that he misled customers and artificially inflated the value of his company's proprietary crypto token. Barry SilbertSilbert is the boss of crypto group Digital Currency Group whose subsidiary Genesis Global Capital filed for bankruptcy in January.

Persons: Zhao Changpeng, Binance, Costas Baltas, Sam Bankman, Fried, he's, Zhao, Kwon, Luna, Terraform, Alex Mashinsky, Mashinsky, Barry Silbert Silbert, Letitia James, Silbert, Stephen Ehrlich Stephen Ehrlich's, Ehrlich, Justin Sun, Sun, Niket Nishant, Hannah Lang, Michelle Price, Anil D'Silva Organizations: REUTERS, Rights, Zhao, U.S . Securities, Exchange Commission, SEC, U.S . Commodity Futures Trading Commission, Korean, Terraform Labs, Montenegrin, Mashinsky, CFTC, U.S . Federal Trade Commission, Digital Currency Group, Genesis Global Capital, New York, FTC, Tron Foundation, Thomson Locations: Athens, Greece, China, Canada, U.S, Montenegro, New York

☆ Binance plans to swap 750 million of token pairs to ensure liquidity
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-12 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

June 12 (Reuters) - Binance said in a tweet on Monday it would swap 750 million tether-tron token pairs for tether-ether in an attempt to maintain the stablecoin's liquidity. The move comes amid renewed regulatory scrutiny at the world's largest cryptocurrency exchange and will help cushion some of the fallout from recent blows, including Binance being sued by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. The swap, set to start after 12 p.m. UTC on Monday, will be held directly with the tether team, the tweet said. Tron is the ninth largest cryptocurrency with a $6.3 billion market value, while ether is the largest after bitcoin, with its $210 billion market capitalization. A month later the U.S. arm of Binance said it would remove digital asset token tron from its trading platform.

Persons: Binance, Changpeng Zhao, Zhao, Justin Sun, Mehnaz Yasmin, Medha Singh Organizations: U.S . Securities, Exchange Commission, U.S ., SEC, U.S, Binance, Tron Foundation, Thomson Locations: U.S, Bengaluru

Share Share Article via Facebook Share Article via Twitter Share Article via LinkedIn Share Article via EmailRipple buys Swiss startup, and Justin Sun addresses SEC charges against him: CNBC Crypto WorldCNBC Crypto World features the latest news and daily trading updates from the digital currency markets and provides viewers with a look at what's ahead with high-profile interviews, explainers, and unique stories from the ever-changing crypto industry. On today's show, Tron founder Justin Sun addresses the recent SEC charges against him and explains whether he plans to buy assets of distressed crypto companies.

☆ Justin Sun argues crypto winter is over and addresses the SEC charges against him
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-17 | by ( Talia Kaplan | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +1 min

Crypto World reached out to the Securities and Exchange Commission for comment in response to Sun’s claim that the agency lost a lot of credibility on its crypto legal actions and a spokesperson pointed to a prior statement from SEC Chair Gary Gensler. When the SEC charged Sun and his companies in March Gensler said, “This case demonstrates again the high risk investors face when crypto asset securities are offered and sold without proper disclosure." “As alleged, Sun and his companies not only targeted U.S. investors in their unregistered offers and sales, generating millions in illegal proceeds at the expense of investors, but they also coordinated wash trading on an unregistered trading platform to create the misleading appearance of active trading in TRX,” Gensler's statement continued. “Sun further induced investors to purchase TRX and BTT by orchestrating a promotional campaign in which he and his celebrity promoters hid the fact that the celebrities were paid for their tweets.”

SEC Chairman Gary Gensler has a message for Coinbase and other crypto exchanges: The rules are clear, and they must be obeyed. In a video posted on Twitter on Thursday, Gensler said that crypto exchanges must treat cryptocurrencies like securities and stop acting as if the regulations are ambiguous. "If you're a securities exchange, clearinghouse, broker, or dealer, you must come into compliance, register with us, and deal with conflicts of interest and disclose important information. Since January, the SEC has taken action against crypto exchanges Bittrex & Gemini, crypto lender Genesis, and a number of individual actors accused of manipulating crypto assets, including crypto entrepreneur Justin Sun and disgraced Terraform Labs founder Do Kwon. "Intermediaries for investment contracts, whether they're exchanges, brokers, dealers, clearinghouses, they need to comply with the securities laws and register with the Securities and Exchange Commission."

☆ Coinbase sues SEC after months of silence from federal regulator
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-24 | by ( Rohan Goswami | In Rohangoswamicnbc | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +2 min

Crypto exchange Coinbase filed suit against the Securities and Exchange Commission on Monday, asking that the regulator be forced to publicly share its answer to a months-old petition on whether it would allow the crypto industry to be regulated using existing SEC frameworks. The SEC did not offer a specific public response to Coinbase's petition, but in recent months has aggressively ramped up enforcement actions and warnings against crypto exchanges, including Coinbase. "From the SEC's public statements and enforcement activity in the crypto industry, it seems like the SEC has already made up its mind to deny our petition. So the action Coinbase filed today simply asks the court to ask the SEC to share its decision," Coinbase chief legal officer Paul Grewal said in a blog post. "Yet Coinbase and other crypto companies are facing potential regulatory enforcement actions from the SEC, even though we have not been told how the SEC believes the law applies to our business."

☆ Hong Kong woos mainland China crypto firms in push to bolster finance hub status
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-13 | by ( Josh Ye | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

[1/5] A visitor looks at screens showing advertisements of NFTs and virtual lands, at Hong Kong Web3 Festival, in Hong Kong, China April 13, 2023. According to Xiao, many in the crypto industry thought Hong Kong would inevitably adopt the same regulations as mainland China. But he said that the government is now trying to emphasise Hong Kong practices different laws from mainland China under the "One Country, Two Systems" framework. These firms, which have exited countries like Canada and Britain, are among the sponsors of the glitziest Hong Kong parties this week. Reporting by Josh Ye in Hong Kong; Editing by Brenda Goh and Kenneth MaxwellOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ Binance.US to delist digital asset tokens TRON, Spell
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-12 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

SINGAPORE, April 12 (Reuters) - The U.S. arm of cryptocurrency exchange Binance said it will remove digital asset tokens TRON and Spell from its trading platform, sending the prices of both down sharply on Wednesday. The TRON token fell nearly 5% against the U.S. dollar after the announcement, which was posted on Twitter and the Binance.US website, while the much smaller Spell token fell more than 5%, based on data from CoinMarketCap. Justin Sun, founder of the TRON token, told Reuters in a text message that the impact would be "relatively small". "Binance.US trading volume is less than $1 million per day. TRX's current trading volume is $400 million," said Sun, using the token's ticker symbol.

☆ Here's why recent moves by the SEC and CFTC may be just the start of crypto's regulatory troubles
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-29 | by ( Morgan Chittum | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +6 min

Both the SEC and the CFTC have taken action against the crypto industry in the last few weeks. He added: "At the end of the day industry participants are searching for regulatory clarity, which has not yet been achieved." "Compliance and regulatory efforts are expensive, but necessary, the personnel will be almost as important as tech people," Yang told Insider. Markets could face more volatility following a crackdown because crypto prices are often sensitive to regulatory news. This, however, would require a widespread effort and coordination between financial regulators, industry participants, and legislators.

☆ Huobi’s New Boss Shakes Up Crypto Firm With China Plan
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-27 | by ( Weilun Soon | Elaine Yu | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

Cryptocurrency entrepreneur Justin Sun is attempting to revive the fortunes of digital-assets exchange Huobi by shifting its focus back to China—with the aid of a digital citizenship program from a tiny Caribbean island. Mr. Sun is pushing the Beijing-founded company to win customers in Hong Kong and China, despite a ban on crypto trading in the mainland that forced Huobi to stop accepting business from there.

☆ The SEC just warned investors that crypto assets are at risk of 'significant' losses after $2 trillion in market value was already erased
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-24 | by ( Matthew Fox | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

The SEC warned that cryptocurrencies could still spur significant losses for investors. The warnings comes more than a year after the cryptocurrency market erased $2 trillion in market value. "The only money you should put at risk with any speculative investment is money you can afford to lose entirely," the SEC warned. "Investments in crypto asset securities can be exceptionally volatile and speculative, and the platforms where investors buy, sell, borrow, or lend these securities may lack important protections for investors. The risk of loss for individual investors who participate in transactions involving crypto assets, including crypto asset securities, remains significant," the SEC warned.

☆ 'Can't get their act together': Crypto firms slam SEC, Washington for lack of clarity on rules
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-24 | by ( Arjun Kharpal | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +5 min

Joe Lubin, CEO of ConsenSys and co-founder of Ethereum, told CNBC Thursday that he thought the ecosystem was "generally frustrated." And it's a little bit, you know, sort of a frustrating thing to observe," Nicolas Cary, president of Blockchain.com, told CNBC on Thursday. "I find the talking point that there's a lack of clarity in the securities laws unpersuasive," Gensler said. "Some crypto companies might message that the laws are unclear rather than admitting that their platforms don't have sufficient investor protection." watch nowHe laid out instances where crypto firms come under existing securities laws, such as when a company offers lending products.

☆ The Fed hiked rates further but Wall Street is already pointing to tighter conditions on the ground
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-23 | by ( Jason Ma | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +6 min

Between fighting inflation or the bank crisis, the Federal Reserve leaned toward the former. Wednesday's move comes despite the bank crisis, which previously led investors to price in a series of Fed rate cuts starting this summer. Indeed, Wall Street has started pointing to the facts on the ground when it comes to financial conditions. The banks are still tightening credit conditions and … non-bank lenders are as well," he told Bloomberg TV hours before the Fed meeting. Billionaire investor Mark Mobius says he is "very, very skeptical" of investing in bank stocks.

☆ The US is bleeding tech workers to other countries — it needs to move fast or risk falling behind.
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-23 | by ( Diamond Naga Siu | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

The US is losing tech workers to other countries. And so, many tech workers are opting to move and work there instead of the US. Plus, many of these countries are making their immigration systems easier for tech workers. My teammates Emilia David and Paayal Zaveri break down how the US is on the brink of losing an entire generation of tech workers. And it showed that Boomers and Gen Z both love many of the same cars, including the Toyota RAV4.

March 22 (Reuters) - The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has threatened to sue Coinbase Global Inc (COIN.O) over some of the crypto exchange's products, turning up the heat on the largely unregulated sector. Shares of Coinbase dropped nearly 13% to $67.33 in extended trading after the company said on Wednesday that the regulator had issued it a Wells notice - a formal declaration that SEC staff intend to recommend an enforcement action. Last month, Kraken agreed to shut down its U.S. cryptocurrency staking service and pay $30 million in penalties to settle SEC charges that it failed to register the program. Earlier in the day, the SEC charged Chinese cryptocurrency entrepreneur Justin Sun with fraud, and accused eight celebrities including actress Lindsay Lohan with illegally promoting his crypto assets. A Wells notice does not always result in charges or signal that the recipient has violated any law.

☆ Lindsay Lohan, Jake Paul Violated Investor-Protection Laws by Touting Crypto, SEC Says
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-22 | by ( Dave Michaels | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

WASHINGTON—U.S. regulators clawed back money that actress Lindsay Lohan and boxer Jake Paul earned by promoting cryptocurrencies, continuing a campaign of making examples of celebrities who tout digital assets in violation of investor-protection laws. Ms. Lohan, Mr. Paul and four other celebrities agreed to pay a combined $400,000 to settle the SEC’s investigation of their role in the promotion of crypto assets TRX and BTT. The SEC also alleged that Justin Sun , whose companies sold those digital assets, artificially boosted TRX’s trading volume in 2018 and 2019 by having his own employees buy and sell the token.

The SEC said Sun's activity generated tens of millions of dollars of illegal profit at other investors' expense. "This case demonstrates again the high risk investors face when crypto asset securities are offered and sold without proper disclosure," SEC Chair Gary Gensler said in a statement. Andrew Brettler, a lawyer for Lohan, said the actress did not know about the disclosure requirements until last March. The SEC has been ratcheting up efforts to crack down on the crypto industry, which Gensler has called a "Wild West" riddled with misconduct. It said Sun inflated apparent trading volume in TRX through extensive "wash trading," involving simultaneous or near-simultaneous purchases and sales with no real change in ownership.

Lindsay Lohan attends/performs during a photocall for "Speed The Plow" at Playhouse Theatre on September 30, 2014 in London, England. The Securities and Exchange Commission has unveiled fraud and unregistered securities charges against crypto founder and Grenadian diplomat Justin Sun, alongside separate violations against the celebrity backers of his Tronix and BitTorrent crypto assets, which included Jake Paul, Lindsay Lohan and Soulja Boy. The unregistered offer and sale charges, on the other hand, are similar to charges the SEC has unveiled against other crypto offerings and exchanges, including Genesis, Gemini and Do Kwon's Terraform Labs. “This case demonstrates again the high risk investors face when crypto asset securities are offered and sold without proper disclosure,” said SEC Chair Gary Gensler. Tron and his backers' alleged behavior was part of an "age-old playbook to mislead and harm investors," SEC enforcement chief Gurbir Grewal said in a statement.

The Securities and Exchange Commission issued crypto exchange Coinbase a Wells notice, warning the company that it identified potential violations of U.S. securities law. "Based on discussions with the Staff, the Company believes these potential enforcement actions would relate to aspects of the Company's spot market, staking service Coinbase Earn, Coinbase Prime and Coinbase Wallet," Coinbase said in a regulatory filing. A Wells notice is typically one of the final steps before the SEC formally issues charges. Coinbase described the investigation as "cursory," and said the Wells notice provided relatively little information about potential violations. The SEC sent a Wells notice to stablecoin issuer Paxos in February.

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