PALM SPRINGS, Calif. — The conviction of previous cryptocurrency magnate Sam Bankman-Fried for taking at least $10 billion from consumers and financiers is the newest black mark for the cryptocurrency market, however in Washington, there appears to be little to no interest in pressing through policy.
When cryptocurrencies collapsed and a number of business stoppedworking last year, Congress thoughtabout numerous approaches for how to control the market in the future. However, most of those efforts haveactually gone noplace, specifically in this disorderly year that hasactually been controlled by geopolitical stress, inflation and the upcoming 2024 election.
Ironically, the failure of Bankman-Fried’s FTX and his subsequent arrest late last year might have contributed to the momentum for policy stalling out. Before FTX imploded, Bankman-Fried invested millions of dollars — unlawfully taken from his consumers it turns out — to impact the conversation around cryptocurrency guideline in Washington and push for action.
Without Congress, federal regulators like the Securities and Exchange Commission have stepped in to take their own enforcement actions versus the market, consistingof the filing of claims versus Coinbase and Binance, 2 of the mostsignificant cryptocurrency exchanges.
And most justrecently PayPal got a subpoena from the SEC associated to its PayPal USD stablecoin, the business stated in a filing with securities regulators Wednesday. “The subpoena demands the production of files,” the business stated. “We are complying with the SEC in connection with this demand.”
Still, Congress still has yet to act.
Sens. Debbie Stabenow, D-Mich., and John