Bitcoin
Government Watchdog investigates Conflicts of Interest in SEC Officials, Crypto XRP, Ripple Lawsuit
Government watchdog Empower Oversight has requested internal documents from the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) on cryptocurrency that potentially show conflicts of interest at the commission involving former high-level officials. This will affect the lawsuit that Ripple Labs has brought against it and its executives.
SEC’s Conflicts of Interest Involving Bitcoin, Ether, XRP, Ripple
Empower Oversight Whistleblowers & Research announced Wednesday that it had submitted a detailed FOIA request to the U.S Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). “Seeking communications between SEC officials and the current and former employers .”
Empower Oversight describes itself as “a non-partisan, nonprofit educational organization dedicated to improving independent oversight of government or corporate wrongdoing.” The organization works to assist insiders to report corruption to the appropriate authorities and also to hold authorities responsible for their actions .”
In his letter to acting Chief FOIA officer Olivier Girod, Empower Oversight founder Jason Foster wrote: “We write today seeking information regarding the appearance of conflicts of interest by former high-level officials at the SEC relating to cryptocurrencies.”
The government watchdog explained that from May 2017 to December 2020:
Senior SEC official William Hinman reportedly participated in the SEC’s regulation of cryptocurrencies while receiving millions of dollars from his former employer, the law firm Simpson Thacher.
The group explained that Simmons Thacher is part of Enterprise Ethereum Alliance, an organization in the industry whose goal is to promote Enterprise Ethereum .”
Empower Oversight claimed that “Hinman while serving as the SEC’s chief security officer, stated that Ethereum cryptocurrency, Ether, was not a security, which caused its value to rise substantially,” adding:
Later, the SEC sued one of Ethereum’s competitors, Ripple, declaring its cryptocurrency, XRP, was a security. Shortly thereafter, XRP‘s value plummeted 25%.
Noting that after Hinman left the SEC in December 2020, he returned to Simpson Thacher as a partner, Empower Oversight added that “The leader of the SEC division that brought the XRP lawsuit, Marc Berger, similarly left the SEC for Simpson Thacher.”
The announcement also featured Jay Clayton, former Chairman of the SEC, and his handling of cryptocurrency issues during his tenure as head of the securities regulator. It details:
As with Mr. Hinman and ether, while at the SEC, Mr. Clayton declared that bitcoin wasn’t a security, and its value rose.
The government watchdog emphasized that the SEC’s lawsuit against Ripple and its executives over the sale of XRP was filed at the end of Clayton’s tenure at the commission.
Moreover, after leaving the SEC, Clayton joined One River Asset Management, a cryptocurrency hedge fund exclusively focused on bitcoin and ether, Empower Oversight noted.
Do you think there were conflicts of interest regarding how the SEC treated bitcoin, ether, and XRP as well as its lawsuit against Ripple? Please let us know your thoughts in the comments below.
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Disclaimer: This article is for informational purposes only. This article is not intended to be a solicitation or offer to buy or sell any products or services. Bitcoin.com does not provide investment, tax, legal, or accounting advice. The author and the company are not responsible for any loss or damage caused by or alleged to have been caused by the use or reliance of any content, goods, or services mentioned here.
Bitcoin
Mint-free OKX Football Cup NFTs for group stage games enter the second round
The second round of group-stage games at the FIFA World Cup 2022 began today. Users can still mint free OKX Football Cup NFTs until the FIFA 2022 Group stage ends Get a chance to redeem stakes and collect rewards by December 20. FIFA World Cup group stage games enter the second round The second round…
- The second round of group-stage games at the FIFA World Cup 2022 began today.
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Users can still mint free OKX Football Cup NFTs until the FIFA 2022 Group stage ends
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Get a chance to redeem stakes and collect rewards by December 20.
FIFA World Cup group stage games enter the second round
The second round of the group stage games for the FIFA World Cup in Qatar is underway. There were some big upsets in the first round, with Saudi Arabia winning against Argentina and Germany losing against Japan.
The second round of games started today and the chances for the host nation to qualify for the knockout round are virtually nonexistent.
You have the chance to get OKX Football NFTs for free as the world cup continues. A week ago, crypto exchange OKX announced the launch of its NFT Football Cup.
The OKX Football Cup is part of the crypto exchange’s ‘The OKX Football Festival,’ and it is giving millions of fans around the world the opportunity to earn from a great prize pool.
With this competition, users can mint free NFTs of their preferred teams and use the NFTs to predict matches and stand a chance to win huge prizes.
NFT minting will end after the group stages
The free minting of the NFTs began on November 21st and will end on December 3rd. All users can participate in minting as long as there are group stages. Users must stake 0.01 for each mint. 01 ETH. You can create up to three teams prior to the group stage. With the first round of games producing some shocking results, you can look at the tables so far and partake in the OKX Football Cup.
Each match offers a fixed prize pool of 20,000 USDT. OKX revealed that it adds 10 USDT for every NFT minted, thus, growing the prize pool.
As an NFT owner, you will earn a share of the $20k in USDT if your team wins a match. However, when the teams draw, each side will share $10,000 in USDT
Participants will also have the option of redeeming their full stakes at the completion of the OKX Football Cup.
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BNB recovers above a critical level. Do we need to wait for another bullish push?
Binance token rose by 17% on Wednesday. The crypto exchange has announced the sale of HOOK tokens on Binance Launchpad. BNB eyes $330 next and is a buy on a retracement As Binance coin (BNB/USD) slipped below $266, it signalled the start of a bearish market. Since July, BNB has maintained the level and any…
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Binance token rose by 17% on Wednesday.
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The crypto exchange has announced the sale of HOOK tokens on Binance Launchpad.
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BNB eyes $330 next and is a buy on a retracement
As Binance coin (BNB/USD) slipped below $266, it signalled the start of a bearish market. Since July, BNB has maintained the level and any decline below could have given bears complete control. However, it is now not the case as BNB trades at $295, well above the crucial level. It is possible that cryptocurrency may be heading for the next level. What happened then?
The gains in BNB happened after November 23 cryptocurrency news. BNB’s price rose by 17% on the day after the exchange announced the Hooked Protocol (HOOK) token sale on Binance Launchpad. This is the 29th project launching on Binance Launchpad.
According to the announcement, the token sale will occur through a lottery and conclude on December 1. 25 million HOOK coins have been allocated to the launchpad, equivalent to 5% of the total supply.
This latest development comes as Binance continues to reassure users following the collapse of FTX. Binance announced Thursday that it would contribute $1 billion to help protect crypto-related firms. Binance has committed to increasing this amount if necessary and will look to include traditional financial institutions. This fund is the result of a series of measures that are designed to ensure users have sufficient reserves in case of a crypto confidence crisis.
BNB price action as token hits a 2-week high
BNB rose from a low of around $250 to a 2-week high of $303. The $266 has been re-established as the immediate support for the cryptocurrency.
A bullish MACD crossover was initiated after the bullish push. The RSI also moved above its midpoint, which suggests that BNB has attracted a lot more buyers since the breakout. The cryptocurrency is consolidating ahead the next move.
Should you buy BNB now?
Buyers may not be done with BNB, with the area around $330 and $360 as the next target. However, if intending to buy BNB, wait for some correction to snap it lower. This consolidation could lead to a correction before the next bullish leg.
Where to buy BNB
eToro
eToro offers a wide range of cryptos, such as Bitcoin, XRP and others, alongside crypto/fiat and crypto/crypto pairs. eToro users have the ability to connect with, learn, copy, or get copied from other users.
Binance
Binance is one of the largest cryptocurrency exchanges in the world. It is better suited to more experienced investors and it offers a large number of cryptocurrencies to choose from, at over 600.
Binance is known for its low trading fees and multiple trading options. These include margin trading, peer-to-peer, spot trading, and margin trading.
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Bitcoin Mining Pool Btc.com Suffers $3 Million Cyberattack
A major cryptocurrency mining pool was attacked by hackers in early March, according to the pool’s owner. The hackers stole digital assets worth $3 million from the pool and its clients.
Chinese Authorities Open Investigation into Crypto Mining Pool Hack
A subsidiary of Bit Mining, a coin minting company, was the victim in a hacking attack. The company released a press release. The affected entity is a leading bitcoin mining pool, Btc.com, which in the past week accounted for over 2.5% of the pool distribution and has a share exceeding 4% on annual basis.
According to the announcement published Monday, Dec. 26, the platform was hit on Dec. 3, 2022. As a result, $2.3 million worth of digital assets owned by the company and another $700,000 in asset value belonging to its clients were stolen.
The cyberattack has been reported to law enforcement in Shenzhen, China on Dec. 23. With the support of other agencies Bit Mining highlighted that the Chinese authorities are investigating the incident and collecting evidence.
The company will devote considerable efforts to recover the stolen digital assets.
The mining company stated that certain crypto assets of Btc.com were already secured. It pointed out that it had implemented technology to better intercept and block hackers after discovering the breach.
Btc.com is currently operating its business as usual, and apart from its digital asset services, its client fund services are unaffected.
Besides the top-10 mining pool, which provides mining services for bitcoin (BTC), ether (ETH), and litecoin (LTC), Bit Mining Limited also owns the mining device manufacturer Bee Computing and operates coin minting facilities.
Since the Chinese government cracked down on the industry in the spring of 2021, Bit Mining has sought to expand its activities in Kazakhstan, which has become a major crypto mining hotspot. In August of this year, the company announced it had secured a $9.3 million registered direct offering from institutional investors.
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What are your thoughts on the hacking attack against the bitcoin mining pool Btc.com? Please leave your thoughts in the comments below.
Lubomir Tassev
Image Credits: Shutterstock, Pixabay, Wiki Commons
Disclaimer: This article is for informational purposes only. This article is not intended to be a solicitation or offer to buy or sell any products or services. Bitcoin.com does not provide investment, tax, legal, or accounting advice. The author and the company are not responsible for any loss or damage resulting from or related to the use or reliance of any content, goods, or services in this article.
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