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June 8 (Reuters) - The chair of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) on Thursday strongly rebutted criticism that the agency is trying to crush the crypto industry, and said many companies in the space had made a "calculated economic decision" to flout its rules. That means most crypto exchanges have to comply with the securities laws too, he added. "They may have made a calculated economic decision to take the risk of enforcement as the cost of doing business." The crypto industry has attacked Gensler in recent days after the SEC sued two of the world's largest crypto exchanges, Coinbase (COIN.O) and Binance, for allegedly breaking securities laws by failing to register their operations with the agency. The SEC alleged Coinbase traded at least 13 crypto assets that are securities, while it accused Binance of offering 12 cryptocurrency coins without registering them.

Persons: Piper Sandler, Gary Gensler, Gensler, Brian Armstrong, Binance, Changpeng Zhao, Binance.US, Coinbase, Heath Tarbert, John McCrank, Hannah Lang, Susan Heavey, Manya, Michelle Price, Chizu Nomiyama, Matthew Lewis Organizations: U.S . Securities, Exchange Commission, SEC, Twitter, Coinbase, Department of Justice, U.S, Reuters, Futures Trading Commission, Manya Saini, Thomson Locations: New York, Washington, Gensler, Bengaluru

NEW YORK, June 8 (Reuters) - Cryptocurrency operator Circle Internet Financial said on Thursday it has hired Heath Tarbert, former chair of the Commodity Futures Trading Commission, as the its chief legal officer and head of corporate affairs, effective July 1. Tarbert, a former corporate attorney and senior Treasury Department official, more recently worked for electronic trading firm Citadel Securities. Boston-based Circle, the issuer of stablecoin USDC, in December decided to end a $9 billion deal to merge with blank-check firm Concord Acquisition Corp . "As we continue building a bridge between traditional finance and Web3, Heath's perspective, legal acumen and global regulatory experience will help us advance the utility value of USDC worldwide," Jeremy Allaire, chief executive officer of Circle, said in a statement. Reporting by John McCrank; Editing by Chizu NomiyamaOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

Persons: Heath Tarbert, Tarbert, Jeremy Allaire, John McCrank, Chizu Organizations: YORK, Futures Trading Commission, CFTC, Securities and Exchange Commission, Treasury Department, Citadel Securities ., Concord, Corp, Thomson Locations: U.S, Citadel Securities . Boston

Companies Binance Labs FollowWASHINGTON, June 6 (Reuters) - The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission on Tuesday asked a federal court to issue a temporary restraining order to freeze the U.S. assets of cryptocurrency exchange Binance. In the motion, the SEC accused Binance of years of violative conduct, including "disregard" for U.S. laws and "evasion of regulatory oversight." Binance said the SEC's motion only concerned Binance.US. After the SEC filed the motion, Binance.US said its user assets would remain safe and the platform would continue normal deposit and withdrawal operations. Binance is also facing U.S. legal actions by the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) and the Justice Department.

Persons: Binance, Changpeng Zhao, Binance.US, Kanishka Singh, Tim Ahmann, Richard Chang Organizations: Labs, WASHINGTON, U.S . Securities, Exchange Commission, U.S, District of Columbia, SEC, Commodity Futures Trading Commission, Justice Department, Thomson Locations: Cayman Islands, U.S

June 6 (Reuters) - Investors have pulled around $1.43 billion from the crypto exchange Binance and its U.S. affiliate as of 11 a.m. ET (1500 GMT) on Tuesday, data firm Nansen said, a day after a top U.S. regulator sued both exchanges. Binance saw net outflows of $1.34 billion of crypto tokens on the ethereum blockchain, with its U.S. affiliate, Binance.US, registering net outflows of $70.8 million, Nansen tweeted. The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission on Monday sued Binance, its CEO Changpeng Zhao and the operator of Binance.US over what it called a "web of deception" to evade U.S. laws. The SEC complaint is the latest in a series of legal headaches for Binance.

Persons: Nansen, Binance, Changpeng Zhao, Tony Sycamore, Binance's BNB cryptocurrency, Zhao, Tom Wilson, Rae Wee, Ankur Banerjee, Kevin Buckland, Hannah Lang, Sonali Paul, Tom Hogue, Nick Zieminski, Louise Heavens Organizations: U.S, Binance.US, U.S . Securities, Exchange Commission, Monday, SEC, Reuters, IG Markets, U.S . Commodity Futures Trading Commission, Thomson Locations: U.S, London, Singapore, Tokyo, Washington

The exchange offers spot and derivatives trading and a host of services from non-fungible tokens (NFTs) to crypto loans and asset management. FINANCESBinance's global trading platform, Binance.com, is by far the world's biggest cryptocurrency exchange. Last year it processed crypto trades worth about $65 billion a day, Binance said, dominating the crypto trading landscape with more than half of the market, CryptoCompare data shows. Binance last year extended its reach beyond the crypto sector in 2022, investing $500 million in Tesla boss Elon Musk's takeover of Twitter. A top Binance executive told the Wall Street Journal in February that the company expected to pay penalties to resolve U.S. investigations.

Persons: Changpeng Zhao, Binance, Zhao, Yi He, Yi, Noah Perlman, Morgan Stanley, Richard Teng, Teng, Elon Musk's, Cristiano Ronaldo, Tom Wilson, Hannah Lang, Marguerita Choy, Nick Zieminski Organizations: U.S . Securities, Exchange Commission, SEC, U.S . Commodity Futures Trading Commission, Binance, Reuters, Twitter, Lazio, Argentina national, of Nations, U.S, Justice, Wall Street, Thomson Locations: WASHINGTON, U.S, Shanghai, Tokyo, Malta, Cayman Islands, Canadian, China, United States, Italian, London, Washington

☆ Investors pull $790 million from crypto exchange Binance after SEC charges
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-06 | by ( Rohan Goswami | In Rohangoswamicnbc | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +2 min

Crypto investors pulled $791.6 million from the crypto exchange Binance in 24 hours, crypto research firm Nansen said Tuesday, after U.S. regulators unveiled 13 securities charges against the company and its founder, Changpeng Zhao. After the collapse of allegedly fraudulent crypto exchange FTX in November 2022, investors moved their assets to a number of exchanges, but Binance won the lion's share of those inflows. Investors withdrew $1.65 billion worth of assets from Binance and $13 million from contested Binance's U.S. arm on the Ethereum blockchain after the charges were unveiled. The Commodity Futures Trading Commission had already unveiled a similar set of charges against the crypto exchange earlier this year. Correction: This story has been updated to reflect that the Securities and Exchange Commission brought the charges against Binance and Zhao.

Persons: Changpeng Zhao, Nansen, Binance, Zhao, Sam Bankman Organizations: Binance Holdings Ltd, Monday's Securities, Exchange Commission, Investors, U.S, SEC, Futures Trading Commission, Securities and Exchange Commission, Binance Locations: Lisbon, Portugal, Binance, U.S

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

☆ Binance hit by outflows of $790 million in last 24 hours, data shows
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-06 | by ( ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +2 min

Investors have pulled around $790 million from the crypto exchange Binance and its US affiliate in the last 24 hours, data firm Nansen said Tuesday, a day after a top US regulator sued both exchanges. Binance saw net outflows of $778.6 million of crypto tokens on the ethereum blockchain, with its US affiliate, Binance.US, registering net outflows of $13 million, Nansen tweeted. The US Securities and Exchange Commission on Monday sued Binance, its CEO Changpeng Zhao and the operator of Binance.US over what it called a “web of deception” to evade US laws. The world’s biggest cryptocurrency was last at $25,723, flat on the day but pinned near a more than two-month low. The SEC complaint is the latest in a series of legal headaches for Binance.

Persons: Nansen, Binance, Changpeng Zhao, “, ”, Tony Sycamore, Binance’s BNB cryptocurrency, Zhao Organizations: Binance.US, US Securities and Exchange Commission, Monday, SEC, Reuters, IG Markets, US, Futures Trading Commission

☆ Former CFTC chairman says crypto needs investor protections and a whole new industry trading framework
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-06 | by ( Julie Coleman | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +2 min

According to Massad, the government and the Securities and Exchange Commission must create a new industry framework that protects investors, prevents fraud and manipulation, and finally answers the contentious question: are digitized tokens securities? One of the largest issues in crypto concerns wash trading, which is when someone trades with themselves or affiliates to mislead others about stock performance. Massad said this type of fraud accounts for 50% to 90% of the trading on crypto platforms. "And these trading platforms, most of them do have their own proprietary trading operations, which they shouldn't have." So, again, there are some questions about where do we really want to go, but we've got to have much better investor protection."

Persons: Timothy Massad, CNBC's Jim Cramer, Massad, Cramer, Binance, Coinbase, Jay Powell, we've Organizations: Futures Trading Commission, Securities and Exchange, SEC, Federal

LONDON/SINGAPORE, June 6 (Reuters) - Investors have pulled around $790 million from the crypto exchange Binance and its U.S. affiliate in the last 24 hours, data firm Nansen said on Tuesday, a day after a top U.S. regulator sued both exchanges. Binance saw net outflows of $778.6 million of crypto tokens on the ethereum blockchain, with its U.S. affiliate, Binance.US, registering net outflows of $13 million, Nansen tweeted. The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission on Monday sued Binance, its CEO Changpeng Zhao and the operator of Binance.US over what it called a "web of deception" to evade U.S. laws. The world's biggest cryptocurrency was last at $25,723, flat on the day but pinned near a more than two-month low. The SEC complaint is the latest in a series of legal headaches for Binance.

Persons: Nansen, Binance, Changpeng Zhao, Tony Sycamore, Binance's BNB cryptocurrency, Zhao, Tom Wilson, Rae Wee, Ankur Banerjee, Kevin Buckland, Sonali Paul, Tom Hogue, Louise Heavens Organizations: LONDON, U.S, Binance.US, U.S . Securities, Exchange Commission, Monday, SEC, Reuters, IG Markets, U.S . Commodity Futures Trading Commission, Thomson Locations: SINGAPORE, U.S, London, Singapore, Tokyo

LONDON, June 5 (Reuters) - A senior Binance executive was the main operator for five bank accounts belonging to the giant cryptocurrency exchange’s purportedly independent U.S. affiliate, including an account that held American customers’ funds, bank records show. This allowed Chen and her deputies to move funds held in the bank accounts. The previously unreported bank records and messages show that Binance’s management over the U.S. business’s finances extended across its bank accounts at Silvergate and detail how this secret access was granted. Binance.US has denied that Binance ever operated its bank accounts. ‘PRIMARY ADMIN USER’The Binance.US trading platform was launched by its operating firm, BAM Trading, in mid-2019 under then Chief Executive Catherine Coley.

Persons: Guangying Chen, Changpeng Zhao, Chen, Binance, Zhao, Binance.US, Krishna Juvvadi, Christian Hertenstein, Brian Shroder, ” Hertenstein, “, Chen’s, Juvvadi, ”, Peak’s, Catherine Coley, Coley, Silvergate, James McDonald, Hertenstein, Susan Li, Li messaged, Li, Angus Berwick, Tom Wilson, Janet McBride, Michael Williams Organizations: Silvergate Bank, U.S, U.S . Securities, Exchange Commission, Reuters, BAM, U.S . Commodity Futures Trading Commission, CFTC, ” Reuters, SEC, “, Thomson Locations: U.S, Washington, American, US, Binance, Shanghai, Binance.US

June 5 (Reuters) - The world's largest crypto exchange Binance and its CEO Changpeng Zhao operated a "web of deception" that included artificially inflating its trading volumes and diverting customer assets, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission alleged on Monday. The agency on Monday sued Binance and Zhao for failing to restrict U.S. customers from its platform and misleading investors about its market surveillance controls, as well as for operating an unregistered securities exchange. "We allege that Zhao and Binance entities engaged in an extensive web of deception, conflicts of interest, lack of disclosure, and calculated evasion of the law,” said SEC Chair Gary Gensler said in a statement. The world's biggest crypto exchange, Binance was founded in Shanghai in 2017 by CEO Changpeng Zhao, a Canadian citizen born and raised until the age of 12 in China. Binance's global trading platform, Binance.com dominates the crypto trading landscape, last year processing trades worth about $65 billion a day with up to 70% of the market.

Persons: Zhao, Binance, ”, Gary Gensler, BNB, Changpeng Zhao, Jonathan Stempel, Hannah Lang, Tom Wilson, Nick Zieminski Organizations: U.S . Securities, Exchange Commission, Washington , D.C, SEC, Sigma, Binance, U.S . Commodity Futures Trading Commission, Justice, Reuters, Silvergate, Thomson Locations: Washington ,, Shanghai, Canadian, China, Cayman Islands, Silvergate Bank, New York, Washington, London

☆ Crypto shares tumble after U.S. SEC charges Binance with securities law violations
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-05 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

June 5 (Reuters) - Cryptocurrencies and shares in crypto and blockchain-related companies tumbled on Monday after the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission sued crypto exchange Binance and its founder, Changpeng Zhao, alleging violations of securities laws. The SEC's complaint against the world's biggest cryptocurrency exchange listed 13 charges. Bitcoin , the world's biggest cryptocurrency was down 5.3% after falling to its lowest level since mid-March following the news. In a blog post, Binance said: "We intend to defend our platform vigorously," adding that "because Binance is not a U.S. exchange, the SEC's actions are limited in reach." Shares of rival crypto exchange Coinbase Global (COIN.O) were down 11.6%, while Blockchain farm operator Bitfarms Ltd stock was down 5.8%.

Persons: Changpeng Zhao, Bitcoin, Binance's cryptocurrency, Binance, Zhao, Sinéad Carew, Manya, Leslie Adler Organizations: U.S . Securities, Exchange Commission, SEC, Bitfarms, Inc, Marathon, Mining, BTC, MicroStrategy, Ebang, Canaan Inc, U.S . Commodity Futures, Commission, Manya Saini, Thomson Locations: U.S, Binance, New York, Bengaluru

☆ Binance charges are a last gasp for crypto
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-05 | by ( Anita Ramaswamy | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

NEW YORK, June 5 (Reuters Breakingviews) - Binance founder Changpeng Zhao doesn’t have much to look forward to. The SEC alleges that Binance knowingly helped U.S. customers trade illegally on its exchange. Binance, in a blog post, trotted out a familiar crypto defense: The SEC, which has been vague on how cryptocurrency should be regulated, is beyond its reach. In March, the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission filed similar charges against the company. Follow @AnitaRamaswamy on TwitterCONTEXT NEWSThe U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission is suing Binance, the world’s largest cryptocurrency exchange by volume.

Persons: Changpeng Zhao doesn’t, Zhao, –, Sam Bankman, Fried, Binance, Gary Gensler, FTX, Changpeng Zhao, Richard Teng, Coindesk, Teng, Zhao “, Lauren Silva Laughlin, Sharon Lam Organizations: YORK, Reuters, U.S . Securities, Exchange Commission, SEC, U.S . Commodity Futures Trading Commission, U.S . Federal Trade Commission, U.S . Commodities Futures, Commission, Thomson Locations: United States, U.S

☆ Bitcoin drops below $26,000 after SEC sues crypto exchange Binance
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-05 | by ( Tanaya Macheel | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +2 min

Cryptocurrency prices dropped Monday after the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission charged Binance, the largest crypto exchange in the world, with violating securities laws. Binance Coin , a token used to pay transaction and trading fees on the Binance exchange, tumbled 9.5%. The declines came after the SEC alleged Binance and its co-founder, Changpeng Zhao, comingled billions of dollars of investor funds with their own and violated securities laws. "Any regulatory action against a major player in the cryptocurrency space creates uncertainty and leads to increased market volatility in the short term. Bitcoin last week capped its worst month of trading since November, finishing May down 7.9% after trading in a narrow range of between $26,000 and $28,000.

Persons: Bitcoin, Binance, Changpeng Zhao, Sam Callahan, Swan Bitcoin Organizations: U.S . Securities, Exchange Commission, Metrics, SEC, Binance, Futures Trading, CNBC, Gemini Trust Locations: bitcoin

☆ Exchange operator Cboe gets nod to launch leveraged crypto derivative products
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-05 | by ( John Mccrank | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

The U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission approved Cboe Digital to be the first U.S.-regulated crypto exchange and clearinghouse platform to offer leveraged derivatives when the contracts launch in the second half. The margined contracts will let users trade crypto futures while putting less collateralized capital up front, with trades executed and cleared through an approved set of member futures commission merchants, Chicago-based Cboe said. Cboe Digital currently allows trading and clearing of bitcoin and ether futures on a fully collateralized basis, meaning users must provide the full amount of futures contracts upfront. Cboe Digital also supports the spot trading of bitcoin, bitcoin cash, ether, litecoin and USDC. On Oct. 20, 2021, Chicago-based Cboe announced its intention to buy crypto exchange and clearinghouse ErisX.

Persons: Cboe, John Palmer, Jane Street, FTX, John McCrank, Hannah Lang, David Gregorio Our Organizations: YORK, U.S . Commodity Futures Trading Commission, Cboe, Robinhood Markets, Interactive, Virtu, IG Group, CFTC, Thomson Locations: U.S, Chicago, Washington

LONDON, June 5 - A senior Binance executive was the main operator for five bank accounts belonging to the giant cryptocurrency exchange’s purportedly independent U.S. affiliate, including an account that held American customers’ funds, bank records show. This allowed Chen and her deputies to move funds held in the bank accounts. The previously unreported bank records and messages show that Binance’s management over the U.S. business’s finances extended across its bank accounts at Silvergate and detail how this secret access was granted. Binance.US has denied that Binance ever operated its bank accounts. ‘PRIMARY ADMIN USER’The Binance.US trading platform was launched by its operating firm, BAM Trading, in mid-2019 under chief executive Catherine Coley.

Persons: Guangying Chen, Changpeng Zhao, Chen, Binance, Binance.US, Krishna Juvvadi, Christian Hertenstein, Brian Shroder, ” Hertenstein, Zhao, “, Chen’s, Juvvadi, Reutersalso, Peak’s, Catherine Coley, Coley, Silvergate, James McDonald, Hertenstein, ”, Susan Li, Li messaged, Li, Angus Berwick, Tom Wilson, Janet McBride, Michael Williams Organizations: Silvergate Bank, U.S, Reuters, BAM, U.S . Commodity Futures Trading Commission, CFTC, “, Thomson Locations: U.S, Washington, American, US, Binance, Shanghai, Binance.US

☆ Dollar bears bide their time as US economic strength persists
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-05 | by ( Saqib Iqbal Ahmed | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +5 min

Fund managers in the latest BofA Global Research survey named shorting the dollar as the market's third "most crowded" trade. The dollar is "in a very messy transition from bull market to a bear market," said Aaron Hurd, senior portfolio manager, currency, at State Street Global Advisors. Hurd expects the dollar to remain buoyant over the very short term, but decline steadily over the next few years. Most investors believe the dollar will likely remain elevated until U.S. data turns decidedly weaker, allowing the Fed to cut rates. "The dollar strength is entirely related to the fact that U.S. data is actually pretty good," said Alvise Marino, a strategist at Credit Suisse.

Persons: Aaron Hurd, Hurd, Alvise Marino, Bipan Rai, Christine Lagarde, Brian Rose, Saqib Iqbal Ahmed, Ira Iosebashvili, Leslie Adler Organizations: YORK, Futures Trading Commission, Fund, Research, Street Global Advisors, Bears, Federal Reserve, Fed, Traders, Credit Suisse, Reuters, U.S . Treasury, CIBC, UBS Global Wealth Management, European Central Bank, ECB, Thomson Locations: U.S, North America, Europe

☆ Crypto bill from Republicans lays out clear roles for SEC and CFTC
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-02 | by ( Rohan Goswami | In Rohangoswamicnbc | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +2 min

The bill proposes a clearer pathway for the registered offer and sale of digital assets. Crypto exchanges have been calling for regulatory clarity in the wake of expansive enforcement actions that have left companies and developers scrambling to move operations beyond the U.S. Crypto exchanges Coinbase and Gemini have both announced off-shore exchange operations. Coinbase also is engaged in a bruising courtroom battle with the SEC over the very issues that apparently prompted the McHenry-Thompson bill. The crypto exchange received a Wells notice, a warning of impending enforcement action, from the SEC earlier this year. The draft bill will likely be reshaped and modified in coming weeks and months, but it represents a powerful vote of support from two influential Republican members.

Persons: Patrick McHenry, Glenn Thompson, Coinbase, McHenry, Thompson Organizations: Republican, Financial Services, Futures, Securities, Exchange, SEC, Gemini Locations: North Carolina, Washington ,, R

Hedge funds and other money managers purchased the equivalent of 43 million barrels in the six most important petroleum futures and options contracts over the seven days ending on May 23. In the most recent week, funds bought crude (+26 million barrels), middle distillates such as U.S. diesel and European gas oil (+6 million) and light distillates such as gasoline (+11 million). Positions are much more bearish on crude (275 million barrels net long, 8th percentile) and middle distillates (3 million barrels net short, 16th percentile). U.S. NATURAL GASInvestors became slightly more bullish towards U.S. gas prices as the downturn in drilling activity was expected eventually to erode still-high inventories. The net position increased to 241 billion cubic feet net long (37th percentile for all weeks since 2010) up from 1,061 billion cubic feet net short (7th percentile) at the end of January 2023.

Net sales of crude oil (-18 million barrels) were offset by purchases of refined fuels (+18 million barrels), according to position records published by ICE Futures and the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission. Funds held a net position of 249 million barrels in crude (5th percentile for all weeks since 2013) with long positions outnumbering shorts by a ratio of 2.35:1 (13th percentile). In refined fuels, however, funds held a net position of 36 million barrels (20th percentile) with longs outnumbering shorts by 1.40:1 (20th percentile). Funds held a position of 45 million barrels in gasoline (38th percentile) on May 16, with longs outnumbering shorts by 4.20:1 (50th percentile). U.S. NATURAL GASInvestors became slightly more bullish about the outlook for U.S. gas prices following evidence that low prices are starting to curtail drilling activity, which will gradually eliminate surplus production.

☆ Why is the US dollar so strong again?
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-18 | by ( Harry Robertson | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

LONDON, May 18 (Reuters) - If investors agree on one thing this year, it's that the dollar is going to fall. The go-to explanation of currency strategists right now is the debt-ceiling debacle is boosting the dollar. Traders currently expect the U.S. central bank to cut interest rates sharply later this year as a recession takes hold, yet Tan is skeptical. If the dollar rises slightly, some traders may be forced to close out their short positions by buying the dollar, which then boosts its value. But a simple technical indicator is that it is very atypical for you to have a straight-line decline in the dollar."

☆ A top Twitter staffer said its new encrypted DM feature was tested by a cybersecurity firm, but insiders say the company never signed a formal deal due to layoffs – report says
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-16 | by ( Pete Syme | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Twitter announced its new encrypted DMs feature last week. The project's lead said it had been audited by a cybersecurity firm; company sources disputed this, per Platformer. A Twitter engineer leading the platform's new encrypted messaging feature for paid users appeared to falsely claim that it had been audited by a top cybersecurity firm, Platformer reported. The idea is that by having DMs encrypted, text can only be read by participants of that conversation – as is the case on platforms such as WhatsApp. "I had [cybersecurity firm] Trail of Bits audit our implementation.

The latest Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) data show that speculators have built up record short positions in two- and five-year Treasuries futures, and a record net short aggregate position when 10-year bonds are added to the mix. A short position is essentially a wager that an asset's price will fall, and a long position is a bet it will rise. The latest CFTC data show that in the week through May 9 speculative accounts grew their net short position in two-year Treasuries by 116,409 contracts - the biggest increase in over two years - to a new record 749,885 contracts. Funds also increased their net short position in five-year bonds for a third straight week by a slender 412 contracts, to a fresh record 910,642, while they trimmed their net short position in the 10-year space slightly to 731,698 contracts. Funds were ultra-bearish the five-year and 10-year bonds in late 2018, but nowhere near as bearish on two-year Treasuries.

Hedge funds and other money managers sold the equivalent of 17 million barrels in the six most important futures and options contracts over the seven days ending on May 9. The combined position was cut to just 285 million barrels (6th percentile for all weeks since 2013) down from 534 million barrels (38th percentile) on April 18. Funds sold the equivalent of 37 billion cubic feet over the seven days to May 9, taking total sales over the most recent three weeks to 206 billion cubic feet. The combined position slipped to 120 billion cubic feet net short (28th percentile for all weeks since 2010) down from 87 billion cubic feet net long (35th percentile) on April 18. The surplus was basically unchanged from +256 billion cubic feet (+15% or +0.60 standard deviations) eight weeks earlier on March 5.

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