ChainCatcher message, according to a public document, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has filed a lawsuit against UBI Blockchain, accusing it of violations. According to the lawsuit documents, BI Blockchain Internet Ltd. is a Delaware company located in Hong Kong, registered with the Commission under Section 12(g) of the Exchange Act for a class of securities.The SEC stated that UBIA has failed to submit periodic filings as required, and since the Commission ordered the dismissal of the previous lawsuit against UBIA on June 2, 2023, the company has not submitted any periodic or other reports.

ChainCatcher news, according to CoinDesk, Judge Analisa Torres of the Southern District of New York ruled that Ripple's 1,278 institutional sales transactions violated securities laws, resulting in a $125 million fine, significantly lower than the $1 billion in illegal gains and pre-judgment interest, as well as the $900 million civil penalty sought by the U.S. SEC.Judge Torres reiterated her stance that Ripple's sale of XRP to retail customers through exchanges does not violate federal securities laws. However, she prohibited Ripple from violating federal securities laws in the future and issued an injunction requiring Ripple to file a registration statement if it plans to sell any securities. Last July, the judge ruled that Ripple's direct sale of XRP to institutional clients violated federal securities laws, but the act of programmatically selling XRP to retail customers through exchanges did not violate any securities laws. During the proceedings, the SEC attempted to appeal that part of the ruling but was unsuccessful.

ChainCatcher news, according to Jinshi reports, the European Commission has preliminarily ruled that the rules of the American company Apple Inc. regarding its online app store violate the EU's Digital Markets Act. The Commission believes that Apple's rules hinder app developers from freely directing consumers to obtain offers and content through other channels. On the same day, the Commission also launched a new non-compliance investigation against Apple. According to the Digital Markets Act, if violations occur, the Commission can impose fines on Apple, with the maximum fine amounting to 10% of the company's global total revenue.

ChainCatcher news, according to Yonhap News Agency, South Korean financial authorities recently investigated several virtual asset service providers (VASP) that are closing or suspending operations and found serious violations. During on-site inspections from May 20 to 23, the Financial Intelligence Unit (FIU) and the Financial Supervisory Service discovered that 7 out of the 10 inspected VASPs failed to properly return user assets.In addition, 3 companies showed significant deficiencies in guiding users, only contacting users with assets exceeding 1 million won (approximately 732 USD). These VASPs have also been criticized for restricting users from withdrawing to overseas exchanges or personal wallets and charging high fees in the process. South Korean authorities have clearly stated that they will take strict measures against these violations.

ChainCatcher news, according to The Block, during the two-day "SEC Speaks" event hosted by the Practicing Law Institute, the head of the agency's enforcement division, Grewal, conducted an in-depth discussion on the cryptocurrency industry for about 15 minutes.Grewal stated, "Over the past decade, the SEC has investigated serious violations in the cryptocurrency industry, as well as the many, many creative attempts by market participants to evade SEC jurisdiction. The SEC is regulating through enforcement."

ChainCatcher news, according to Cointelegraph, asset management group VanEck will pay a $1.75 million fine to settle charges from the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) related to its socially-focused ETF launched in 2021.The SEC imposed a civil penalty on the company. In a statement on February 16, the SEC revealed that when VanEck launched the Social Sentiment ETF in March 2021, it did not fully disclose the involvement of a well-known social media figure in promoting the product.The ETF aimed to track an index through "positive insights" from social media and other data sources. However, the SEC found that to enhance the fund's appeal through social media, VanEck collaborated with an influential online personality to boost the fund's success rate.

ChainCatcher news, according to CoinTelegraph, two U.S. senators have requested that the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) provide a report to Congress regarding the X account violation that occurred on January 9. Senators J.D. Vance and Thom Tillis described this incident in a letter to SEC Chairman Gary Gensler as a "serious concern" regarding the commission's internal cybersecurity procedures. They pointed out that this incident is contrary to the commission's threefold mission of protecting investors, maintaining fair, orderly, and efficient markets, and facilitating capital formation.The senators expressed concern over the hacking incident, stating that it has caused "widespread confusion," and therefore requested that the SEC provide a report to Congress about this event, mentioning the recently finalized rules regarding cybersecurity disclosures. The letter was sent on January 9 (U.S. time), which sets the proposed deadline for January 15. The letter reminded the SEC that, as required, all companies must disclose any impact on their business within four days of a cybersecurity incident.

ChainCatcher news, SEC Chairman Gary Gensler posted a video on his social platform. He stated that there are numerous violations in the cryptocurrency sector, and when so many people are harmed and all they can do is queue in bankruptcy court, confidence will be undermined. Furthermore, this will make it difficult for honest operators to compete.

ChainCatcher news, citing sources from Reuters, reported that U.S. government authorities are expected to announce a settlement agreement with Binance on Tuesday, addressing issues related to years of investigation into the world's largest cryptocurrency exchange.According to sources, the agreement will involve charges against individuals and resolve allegations of violations of the Bank Secrecy Act and other U.S. laws, with multiple U.S. agencies involved, including the Department of Justice, the Commodity Futures Trading Commission, and the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network of the Department of the Treasury.

ChainCatcher news, Coinbase has been fined 1 million rubles (nearly $11,000) by a Moscow court for failing to localize data of its Russian customers, citing its non-compliance with regulations protecting the personal information of Russian users.It is reported that this violation is attributed to Coinbase's European branch, Coinbase Ireland Ltd. Additionally, Airbnb was fined 6 million rubles ($65,000) for similar violations, UPS was fined 3 million rubles, and Spotify was fined 6 million rubles. In response, Coinbase's Chief Legal Officer Paul Grewal stated that Coinbase remains firm in its decision not to localize customer data in Russia.

ChainCatcher news, according to an official announcement from the U.S. Department of Justice, Tornado Cash founders Roman Storm and Roman Semenov have been charged with conspiracy to commit money laundering, violating sanctions, and operating an unlicensed money transmitting business. The indictment states that the two are accused of creating, operating, and promoting Tornado Cash, facilitating over $1 billion in money laundering transactions, and laundering hundreds of millions of dollars for the sanctioned North Korean cybercrime organization Lazarus Group.Currently, Roman Storm has been arrested in Washington State and is scheduled to appear today in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Washington, while Roman Semenov remains at large. Additionally, Roman Semenov has been placed on the U.S. Treasury Department's Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) Specially Designated Nationals list.

ChainCatcher news, according to The Wall Street Journal, external data shows that Binance is still processing a large number of ruble transactions, potentially violating U.S. global sanctions requirements. According to insiders, the Department of Justice is investigating whether Binance may have violated U.S. sanctions against Russia.According to reports, messages on the company's website, user screenshots, and official chat groups indicate that through layers of intermediaries, customers can transfer funds from sanctioned Russian banks to Binance accounts, and Binance also supports peer-to-peer trading of rubles for digital tokens, which often involves banks that are blacklisted by the West. Recent scrutiny of Binance's peer-to-peer service website shows that Binance has recently offered at least five sanctioned Russian banks (including Rossiya Bank and Tinkoff Bank) as options for processing payments to Russian customers.In addition, according to data from the data provider CCData, the trading volume from Russia on Binance's main exchange business has decreased compared to the peak in early 2022, but has rebounded in recent months. CCData reported that Binance processed $8 billion in ruble cryptocurrency transactions in July, most of which were Tether.

ChainCatcher news, according to sources from The Wall Street Journal, Manhattan federal prosecutors are investigating whether former FTX executive Ryan Salame and his girlfriend, former congressional candidate Michelle Bond, may have violated campaign finance laws. One source indicated that investigators are looking into whether the two illegally circumvented federal limits on contributions to Bond's 2022 campaign for the Republican primary in New York's 1st congressional district, specifically examining the funds Salame provided to Bond and the loans she made for the campaign. This investigation is separate from the case against FTX founder Sam Bankman-Fried. (Source link)

ChainCatcher message, CoinList tweeted that purchasing a CoinList account from a third party poses serious risks and consequences. Buying an account directly violates CoinList's terms of service, which will result in the immediate termination of the relevant account.Furthermore, since the seller of the account is the KYC owner, they can return to CoinList at any time and regain access to their account. Then, the account seller can withdraw funds, which will cause irreversible losses to the account buyer. (Source link)

ChainCatcher news, according to the lawsuit documents released by the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC), Binance and its CEO Changpeng Zhao have violated CFTC regulations, including the Commodity Exchange Act, by soliciting and accepting orders from U.S. customers for commodity futures trading, options, swaps, and leveraged retail commodity trading that were not completed on any registered platform, without any compliance registration.The complaint alleges that under Zhao's guidance, Binance, with the assistance of Samuel Lim, inadvertently circumvented legal regulations to generate revenue from U.S. customers, prioritizing commercial success over compliance. Although Binance promised to restrict U.S. customer access to its platform, the company relied on local personnel and vendors in the U.S. and actively cultivated VIP customers domestically while concealing identities and locations to evade regulation. As a result, the CFTC seeks civil monetary penalties and other equitable relief.

ChainCatcher News, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) is increasing its staff to enhance its ability to review, investigate, audit, inspect, and potentially prosecute violations of securities laws related to these new cryptocurrency products and trading activities.The new staff will reportedly include regulators, investigative attorneys, fraud analysts, and trial lawyers, focusing on investigating violations of securities laws in the following areas: cryptocurrency asset issuance, trading, and lending and staking products; DeFi platforms; NFTs and stablecoins. (Source link)

ChainCatcher message, regarding Grayscale's inability to disclose BTC addresses in GBTC, Three Arrows Capital co-founder Su Zhu tweeted that this is because disclosing the addresses would prove they have seriously violated Rule 144 of the U.S. Securities Act concerning insider/affiliate rules. (Source link)

ChainCatcher news, according to DB NEWSWIRE, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has been separately authorized to bring charges against SBF for violations of securities laws, which will be publicly submitted on Tuesday. (Source link)