Blockchain Association exec says SEC is trying to kill crypto

This week, the crypto world was shaken by the SEC, as some insiders worried that its legal actions against two major industry players might signal the start of a regulatory clampdown that could ultimately terminate crypto in the U.S.

On the most recent installment of The Chopping Block, Jake Chervinsky, the chief policy officer for the Blockchain Association, provided an in-depth examination of the lawsuits targeting Binance and Coinbase, two of the biggest crypto exchanges. The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) initiated these cases, alleging that the platforms operated unregistered exchanges and employed misleading tactics to circumvent U.S. regulations.

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Australian Bank limits monthly crypto purchases to $7,000 a month

As the leading Australian bank in terms of assets, Commonwealth Bank (CBA) is increasing its focus on customer protection, particularly concerning transactions involving cryptocurrency exchanges. Beginning on Thursday, CBA will either deny or momentarily hold back certain payments directed towards crypto trading platforms.

Additionally, CommBank will introduce a monthly cap of A$10,000 on customer transactions meant for buying cryptocurrencies from exchanges. This cap will only be applied when investors send funds to high-risk exchanges like Binance, and not to local platforms like Independent Reserve or CoinSpot as examples.

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Swan Bitcoin customers struggle to buy BTC

Swan Bitcoin seems to be facing difficulties, as it has shifted all its assets to a pair of new custodians, while its CEO strongly condemned other cryptocurrency exchanges following the SEC's legal actions against Binance and Coinbase this week.

Throughout the week, customers of the exclusive bitcoin trading platform experienced substantial disruptions, which they claim hindered their ability to transfer assets smoothly. These interruptions impacted fiat on- and off-ramp services as well.

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Circle granted a license in Singapore 

Circle Internet Singapore, an associate company of Circle in Singapore, has been granted a Major Payment Institution (MPI) license by the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS). In November, Circle Singapore obtained preliminary MPI approval from MAS and inaugurated its office in the city-state in May. This will allow USDC and Circle to enable their services to prominent exchanges in Singapore in a regulatory compliant manner.

As per a statement issued by the fintech company, which is responsible for issuing the USD Coin (USDC) and Euro Coin (EUROC) stablecoins, the MPI license permits Circle to provide digital payment token services as well as domestic and international money transfer services.

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$12 billion in Binance customer funds sent to firms controlled by CEO

The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) claimed in a recent legal filing that Binance CEO Changpeng 'CZ' Zhao and Guangying 'Helina' Chen obtained billions in customer funds through their holding corporation. According to the SEC, these funds were transferred to businesses under Zhao's control using an intermediate holding company called Key Vision Development Limited.

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Other breaking news

• Arbitrum stopped for an hour
• Hubble exchange Testnet live
• Synthetix launched V3 Spot Market on Optimism
• Sushiswap live on ThunderCore
• AirDAO achieves decentralized governance

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Wrapping up

Another day, another Datawallet newsletter. Today we saw a continuation of negative sentiment in crypto, with SEC alleging that customer funds on Binance were siphoned to companies controlled by CZ. Australia’s bank is limiting monthly purchases of crypto, while Swan customers struggle to buy BTC. Stay informed and ahead of the game with our daily crypto scoop. See you tomorrow!