ChainCatcher news, the banking-as-a-service (BaaS) platform OpenPayd has made two senior appointments in London, hiring Lux Thiagarajah and Richard Usher from the cryptocurrency major broker FalconX. Thiagarajah joins the payment company as the Director of Growth, while Usher will serve as the Director of Trading.The new employees will maintain their connections with FalconX, where they joined in May as consultants to help the company expand its foreign exchange trading products.

ChainCatcher news, according to The Block, crypto brokerage Prometheum announced the inclusion of two digital assets, Uniswap (UNI) and Arbitrum (ARB), into its custody services, with plans to launch to institutional investors in the third quarter of 2024.In the future, the company also plans to expand its digital asset custody services to support investment products issued and transferred on the blockchain, including bonds, stocks, ETFs, mutual funds, options, and money market funds.

ChainCatcher news, cryptocurrency major broker FalconX will launch a dedicated foreign exchange trading desk in London, staffed by a team from the crypto banking firm BCB Group. The team will be led by Ben Sebley, with Richard Usher serving as the head of foreign exchange trading and Lux Thiagarajah as the head of commercial foreign exchange. The department will have a total of 5 employees.The company stated in a press release on Tuesday that the trading desk will provide trading services for 20 foreign exchange pairs, including major currencies such as the US dollar, euro, and British pound, to cryptocurrency trading firms, exchanges, and brokers.

ChainCatcher message, according to the FINRA overview document expanding the scope of licensing, Prometheum Inc. has the latest regulatory status and is about to conduct final tests on whether a viable crypto platform can operate fully under the oversight of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).Prometheum is already the first and only special-purpose cryptocurrency broker-dealer licensed under SEC rules. It has currently received approval for the clearing and settlement of digital asset securities. Although the company has not yet conducted its first transaction or earned its first dollar in revenue, co-CEO Aaron Kaplan stated that it will begin custodial services for institutional clients' assets within the next four months.

ChainCatcher news, according to the official website, multi-asset investment platform eToro has announced that it has obtained a Financial Services Permission (FSP) from the Abu Dhabi Global Market Financial Services Regulatory Authority (ADGM). This approval allows eToro to operate as a broker for securities, derivatives, and crypto assets in the United Arab Emirates.

ChainCatcher news, according to CoinDesk, cryptocurrency broker sFOX is offering clients commission-free blockchain staking services directly from regulated custodians, without the risks associated with transferring token ownership.sFOX founder Akbar Thobhani stated that this staking approach does not involve intermediaries and does not generate any revenue or profit. Clients can stake directly on the blockchain and receive rewards directly from the blockchain.

ChainCatcher news, according to Cointelegraph, the U.S. Treasury and the IRS have released a set of proposals regarding cryptocurrency regulation, detailing the reporting requirements for "digital asset intermediaries."The proposed regulations will require digital asset brokers, including trading platforms, payment processors, and certain custodial wallet providers, to report the total revenue from all sales or transactions of digital assets starting January 1, 2025.Brokers referred to as "digital asset intermediaries" in the regulatory proposal will also be required to provide information on the gains and losses incurred during the sale of crypto assets, with this requirement taking effect on or after January 1, 2026.

ChainCatcher news, according to the Financial Times citing informed sources, some U.S. pension funds are providing financing support to the cryptocurrency broker Hidden Road. If the hedge funds financing the prime broker suffer significant losses, the prime broker or its investors may have to bear the costs.Andrew Urquhart, a professor of finance and financial technology at Henley Business School, stated: "This is a very risky investment, and if my pension fund indicated that we would enter the cryptocurrency space, I would be very concerned."Previous report, the digital asset and forex brokerage Hidden Road Partners completed a $50 million financing round last August, with participation from Citadel Securities, FTX Ventures, Coinbase Ventures, and others.Hidden Road Partners was founded by Marc Asch in 2018 and previously collaborated with Steven Cohen's hedge fund SAC Capital and Point72 Asset Management. The company assumes counterparty risk on behalf of clients and cryptocurrency exchanges or market makers, allowing them to deposit dollars as collateral in a tripartite setup with custodians and receive profits and losses in dollars.

According to ChainCatcher news, investment firm Republic will acquire approximately 9.5% of [INX](https://www.rootdata.com/zh/Projects/detail/INX Digital?k=Mzg3Ng==) at a pre-investment valuation of about $50 million, and has committed to acquiring 100% of the equity at a valuation of $120 million as early as the third quarter of this year. The preliminary deal is expected to be completed within 60 days, pending regulatory approval. (Source link)

ChainCatcher news, according to CoinDesk, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) announced its annual review priorities on Tuesday, stating that this year examiners will conduct additional scrutiny of U.S. brokers and investment advisers engaged in cryptocurrency trading. According to a statement, the focus will be on whether SEC-registered investment companies "meet and adhere to their respective standards of care when making recommendations, referrals, or providing investment advice," as well as whether they continuously review their compliance, disclosure, and risk management practices.In addition, this year will also focus on ensuring that investment advisers comply with the new marketing rules implemented by the SEC last year, which restrict the use of endorsements and recommendations when promoting investments. Other agenda items that may apply to companies dealing with digital assets include reviewing investment advisers' fulfillment of fiduciary duties, examining the cybersecurity practices of broker-dealers, investment advisers, and other registrants, among others. The fiduciary aspect will include whether they properly assess risks, how they conduct asset custody, and how advisers manage conflicts of interest. (Source link)

ChainCatcher news, Andrew Glantz, Chief Strategy Officer of the encrypted broker Xclaim, stated that three debt transactions have been confirmed following Genesis's bankruptcy filing, with an average value of over $1 million and transaction prices between 25% and 35% of face value.According to a document, a $4 million debt was sold to Jefferies Leveraged Credit Products LLC. Additionally, ChainCatcher previously reported that on January 20, Genesis and its subsidiaries filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy. (Source link)

Chain Catcher news, according to court documents, cryptocurrency broker Voyager Digital will begin asset bidding at 10 AM Eastern Time on September 13, with qualified bidders in the auction determining who will purchase the platform's assets. A hearing to approve the results is scheduled for September 29.Earlier in early July, Voyager filed for voluntary relief under Chapter 11 of the Bankruptcy Code managed by the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of New York, initiating the restructuring process. (The Block)