We take a round-the-world tour in our latest crypto wrap, starting in Thailand where the country’s Securities and Exchange Commission has just launched a sandbox for cryptocurrency businesses. The aim is to explore innovations not currently allowed by legislation.
Industry participants from six categories are able to participate, with applicants needing to show they have sufficient capital and adequate systems in place. The categories are:
- digital asset exchanges;
- brokers;
- dealers;
- fund managers;
- advisers; and
- custodial wallet providers.
The trial period will initially last for a year, but participants will be able to apply for extensions.
ASIC taken down scam websites
In Australia, ASIC reports it has taken down 7,300 scam websites since July 2023. These break down as:
- 5,530 fake investment platform scams;
- 1,065 phishing scam hyperlinks; and
- 615 cryptocurrency investment scams.
ASIC Deputy Chair Sarah Court said: “Australians are still losing billions of dollars each year to scams. Scammers are criminals targeting the hip pockets of hard-working Australians – they don’t discriminate, and they use sophisticated techniques to steal information and money.”
Crypto industry v SEC
In the US, battles between the crypto industry and regulator the SEC continue apace. Coinbase Chief Legal Officer Paul Grewal has written to the regulator accusing it of acting “irrationally”. The accusation comes after the SEC broadened the definition of an exchange to capture decentralized exchanges. That could require hundreds of decentralized projects as alternative trading systems.
In the letter, Grewal said: “Among other issues, DEXs cannot comply with registration and disclosure requirements designed for legacy financial exchanges managed by centralized companies.
“And even if DEXs could somehow comply with existing registration and disclosure rules, the Commission does not explain how SEC-registered DEXs could facilitate the trading of digital assets.”
The SEC, meanwhile has filed charges against what it says is a $650m crypto pyramid scheme that targeted affinity groups, specifically members of Haitian-American prayer communities. We reported the story last week.
Finally, more evidence of why the debate over crypto regulation is so hot. Put simply, it’s about the big bucks. Goldman Sachs reported for the first time what its positions in bitcoin-related ETFs was. Total holdings add up to $418m, with $238.6m in Blackrock’s iShares Bitcoin Trust alone.
Other positions included:
- $79.5m in the Fidelity Bitcoin ETF;
- $35.1m in the Grayscale Bitcoin Trust;
- $56.1m in the Invesco Galaxy Bitcoin ETF;
- $8.3m in the Bitwise Bitcoin ETF;
- $749,469 in WisdomTree Bitcoin ETF; and
- $299,900 in ARK 21Shares Bitcoin ETF.
As Decrypt observed: “Goldman’s Bitcoin position reflects a broader trend within the financial industry, where initial skepticism has gradually given way to cautious acceptance and integration of digital assets into mainstream financial products.”