Autor Cointelegraph By Brian Quarmby

CFTC poaches Pantera Capital's legal counsel, citing digital asset experience

CFTC poaches Pantera Capital's legal counsel, citing digital asset experience

Uverejnil používateľ | júl 27, 2022 |

Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) commissioner Goldsmith Romero cited Joe Cisewski’s experience in digital assets as a key reason behind onboarding him as chief of staff and senior counsel.Announcing the move on July 26, commissioner Romero pointed to Cisewski’s 14 years of experience working across the CFTC, Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and crypto venture fund Pantera Capital.“Joe’s unique combination of public and private sector experiences will serve us well as we take bold steps to ensure the resilience of our markets, protect investors and market participants,” she said, adding: “His fluency on digital-assets and other issues will be valuable as the Technology Advisory Committee embarks on its agenda later this year.”Prior to this new role, Cisewski most recently served as the general counsel to Pantera Capital, which claims to have 100 venture investments and $5.1 billion assets under management (AUM). He provided the firm with legal and regulatory guidance relating to the firm’s funds and investment advisors, while also engaging with regulators over Pantera’s projects and portfolio companies. In May, Cisewski attended a roundtable between crypto industry professionals and the CFTC in which potential regulation relating to the clearing of margin products (including crypto) without a futures commission merchant (FCM) intermediary was discussed. In his previous stint at the CFTC, Cisewski served as the senior special Counsel and policy advisor to former commissioner Mark Wetjen, who similarly to Cisewki, left the public sector to take up a role at major crypto exchange FTX as its head of policy and regulatory strategy late last year. CFTC and cryptoAlongside the SEC, the CFTC shares a major role in the regulation of crypto in the U.S., and its role could soon outweigh that of the SEC’s if the Responsible Financial Innovation Act tabled by crypto-friendly senators Cynthia Lummis and Kirsten Gillibrand is enacted next year. The two senators have repeatedly said that most crypto assets would be classified as commodities, and should that hold true, it would effectively give the CFTC a broader jurisdiction over the sector than the SEC. Related: SEC listing 9 tokens as securities in insider trading case ‘could have broad implications’ — CFTCAs previously reported, CFTC chair Rostin Behnam announced on July 25 that the regulator was expanding the scope of its fintech focused LabCFTC unit to fall under the Office of Technology Innovation (OTI). Behnam stated that CFTC is ramping up its focus to provide “important regulatory protections” for commodities markets, including crypto. “We are now engaged in a more proactive and comprehensive effort across the agency to regulate these markets with the tools currently available to us,” Behnam said.

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Institutional ETH sentiment turns positive after 11 weeks of outflows

Institutional ETH sentiment turns positive after 11 weeks of outflows

Uverejnil používateľ | júl 26, 2022 |

Institutional sentiment towards Ether (ETH) appears to have shifted into positive gear, with digital investment products offering exposure to the asset having posted four consecutive weeks of inflows, according to CoinShares. Prior to this, ETH investment products had been on a lengthy 11-week run of outflows that saw the total year-to-date (YTD) outflows hit as high as $458 million in mid-June. According to data from the latest edition of CoinShares’ weekly “Digital Asset Fund Flows” report, Ether investment products posted inflows totaling $8.1 million between July 18 and July 22, adding to the previous week of significantly major inflows of $120 million.The $120 million figure marks the biggest weekly inflows for ETH products since June 2021, with CoinShares suggesting that “investor confidence is slowly recovering” as Ethereum’s long awaited Merge comes closer to completion.As it stands, the YTD flows for ETH investment products has been chipped down to $315 million worth of outflows, compared to $458 million in June. Other assetsCoinshares data also reveal that investment products offering exposure to Bitcoin (BTC) saw the largest inflows last week at $19 million, adding to the week before in which BTC funds generated a hefty $206 million worth of inflows. Notably, while institutional investors have been cautious with ETH for most of 2022, this view on BTC has remained relatively positive for the most part — barring a few bumps in the road — with BTC products generating $241.3 million worth of inflows YTD. Flows by Asset: CoinSharesRelated: The Merge is Ethereum’s chance to take over Bitcoin, researcher saysIn a report shared with Cointelegraph, Singapore-based an asset manager IDEG argued that the broader crypto investor sentiment is now beginning to transition from neutral to bullish, and expects Ethereum’s Merge to be a key driver of the market recovery. “While there has been delays and minor setbacks in the PoW to PoS migration for Ethereum, the Merge is now projected for Sep ‘22 – this is giving the market a clear ‘positive upside catalyst’ to run with,” the report reads. The Merge is expected to be a bullish landmark for Ethereum due to it significantly improving the network’s sustainability and energy efficiency. The major upgrade will not reduce gas fees, however, and Layer 2s are expected to serve this function for the network in the foreseeable future. *Few quick points to clarify:-L2s, not the merge, will take care of lowering gas prices-Merge is a change of consensus mechanism, not an expansion of network capacity-Solutions to gas fees, speed & scalability are coming from rollups and sharding https://t.co/nCH9WQ3IAY— MacKenzie Sigalos (@KenzieSigalos) July 25, 2022

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Moelis & Co. co-founder to head group advising blockchain companies

Moelis & Co. co-founder to head group advising blockchain companies

Uverejnil používateľ | júl 26, 2022 |

New York-based investment banking giant Moelis & Co. has launched a Global Blockchain Group that will provide advisory services to blockchain and crypto firms. The group is being fronted by Moelis & Co. co-founder John Momtazee and supported by a team of senior bankers that have significant experience in advising blockchain companies, according to the firm. Momtazee, based in Los Angeles, is also the global head of media investment banking at the company and was previously the managing director in the global media group for UBS Investment Bank. Momtazee noted in a July 25 announcement that Moelis & Co. is unfazed by the strong downturn and volatility of the crypto market this year, as the firm sees “strong long-term prospects” in the application of blockchain tech in the global commercial landscape. During an interview with Bloomberg on July 25, he suggested that entering blockchain and crypto during a bear market was the perfect time to start advising firms. “We love the timing. We think that to pile in on good days and say, ‘Here we are, ready to help,’ feels less genuine than when there’s a challenge,” he said, adding that “any disruptive technology is going to have volatility.”The Group will look to work with “corporations utilizing blockchain as well as emerging and leading blockchain companies, including those seeking to build a presence in Web3.” The group will also coordinate with Moelis & Co.’s global partners to provide clients access to potential opportunities in the crypto/blockchain sector. Moelis & Co. has also onboarded Lou Kerner as the senior advisor of the Global Blockchain Group. Kerner is the founder of Web3 consulting firm CryptoOracle Collective and a partner at crypto venture fund Blockchain Coinvestors. Moelis & Co. has already dipped its toes into the sector, with recently bankrupted crypto lending firm Voyager Digital acquiring its advisory services at the start of July following its ill-fated temporary suspension of withdrawals. The firm was founded in 2007 and has 21 offices across North and South America, Australia, Europe, Asia and the Middle East. According to data from Macro Trends, the firm had a net worth of around $2.97 billion as of July 22, while the company claims to have advised on more than $3.5 trillion worth of transactions to date. Related: 3AC: A $10B hedge fund gone bust with founders on the runThe investment bank’s other co-founder Ken Moelis also has direct exposure to the space via participation in the $142 million Series C funding round from stablecoin issuer Paxos in December 2020. Moelis has held relatively positive sentiments towards crypto in the past, and in June last year, he likened the market to the California gold rush of the mid-1800s. “It’s like the gold rush of 1848. A lot of people didn’t know if there was gold in the ground, but Levi’s made a business selling jeans and Wells Fargo made a banking business,” Moelis said.

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The University of Tokyo to offer courses in the Metaverse

The University of Tokyo to offer courses in the Metaverse

Uverejnil používateľ | júl 25, 2022 |

The University of Tokyo, also known as Todai is set to offer a range of study programs later this year that will take place in the Metaverse.According to a July 23 report from local news outlet The Asahi Shimbun, the courses will be offered to students ranging from high school to adult learners in the workforce.The publication stated that the Metaverse study programs will not be delivered via its own dedicated faculty that offers degrees, but will instead operate under Todai’s faculty of Engineering and engineering-related graduate schools. Students who complete the courses will receive certificates. Todai’s project has been launched to address the lack of skilled personnel working on “digital transformation” and “advanced technologies.”University officials also emphasized that studying in the Metaverse will also create a situation in which “anyone, regardless of age, gender, social standing and area of residence, can learn about engineering and information science.” Crypto and NFTs weren’t mentioned specifically, but considering the sector is often associated with the Metaverse, and boasts a number of popular Metaverse brands, there is likely to be some mention of blockchain-based platforms.For junior-high and high-school students, they will receive an introductory view of the space, along with learning about the potential roadmaps to find work in engineering, science and other related fields. They will receive the content in a mixture of online and face-to-face lessons. University students and those already in the workforce will be offered opportunities to reskill/upskill via related online courses focused on artificial intelligence (AI), next-gen communication tech and entrepreneurial education. There will also be a push to attract more women to study the programs, as the lack of female representation in engineering has been identified as an issue. The Japanese Metaverse There have been some notable applications of the Metaverse in Japan over recent months, as local citizens find interesting use cases for the technology. On July 25, Japan Today reported that a support group from Fukuoka named the JACFA launched a virtual support room in the SecondLife Metaverse platform. The group specifically works on re-integrating Hikkikomori — reclusive people that essentially refuse to leave their homes — back into society. Related: Japan’s crypto self-regulation ‘experiment’ not workingThe problem has been highlighted as a big social issue in Japan, and the idea is to enable Hikkikomori to receive initial help without the pressure of being face-to-face. In April it was also reported that 3,800 students from a total of 29 trade schools (beauty, sports, technology, hospitality etc) under the NSG College League in Niigata, held their 2022 commencement ceremony in the Metaverse. The event was hosted virtually to allow everyone to easily attend without facing the risk of getting COVID-19. 「何やってんの？」「みんなで卒業式をやることにした」え？すげえ。小学生が集まって自分たちで卒業式を始めた。 pic.twitter.com/qqk2XnmK6g— 柏原周平 (@backyennew) March 14, 2020

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Yuga Labs 'inappropriately induced' BAYC investors: Class action

Yuga Labs 'inappropriately induced' BAYC investors: Class action

Uverejnil používateľ | júl 25, 2022 |

A proposed class-action lawsuit alleges that Yuga Labs “inappropriately induced” the community to buy Bored Ape Yacht Club non-fungible tokens (NFTs) and the project’s affiliated ApeCoin (APE) token.The proposed class-action driven by law firm Scott+Scott was published on July 21, claiming that Yuga Labs used celebrity promoters and endorsements to “inflate the price” of the BAYC NFTs and the APE token.It also alleges that Yuga Labs promoted the growth prospects and chance for huge returns on investment to “unsuspecting investors.”“After selling off millions of dollars of fraudulently promoted NFTs, YUGA LABS launched the Ape Coin to further fleece investors.”“Once it was revealed that the touted growth was entirely dependent on continued promotion (as opposed to actual utility or underlying technology) retail investors were left with tokens that had lost over 87% from the inflated price high on April 28, 2022,” it added. The law firm is currently seeking impacted investors who suffered losses on BAYC NFTs and Apecoin between April and June of this year. During this timeframe, APE surged to its all-time high of $26.70, before dropping roughly 82.5% to $4.66 at the end of June, while the floor price went from 151.5 Ether (ETH) down to 92.9 ETH. So there’s a class action lawsuit against @yugalabs as investors were “inappropriately induced to buy financial products created by Yuga Labs”.Extremely ridiculous Take responsibility for your own actions people. https://t.co/WeuVVLNGv6 pic.twitter.com/7c9Jywvv9V— Kevin Wu (@kevwuzy) July 24, 2022The community seems to be relatively unfazed by the proposed lawsuit, with BAYC hodler @SoapBoxCar suggesting via Twitter on July 24 that a bunch of people are mad they bought at the top and “got rekt.” User @briann6211 also highlighted an interesting point in that Yuga Labs “never created a token… Apecoin DAO created a token which was then adopted” by the firm. Several members also noted that the Apecoin tanked after a free airdrop to BAYC holders, while the broader market was also suffering from a sharp downturn at the time. Ironically yuga labs never created a token… Apecoin DAO created a token which was then adopted by Yuga Labs— Brian (@briann6211) July 24, 2022

If the lawsuit eventually gets taken to court, it appears that Scott+Scott will need to prove that Yuga Labs and its celebrity promoters failed to disclose their paid advertisements, as they are legally required to do so. As the law firm is also claiming a pump and dump occurred, it would need to prove that Yuga Labs engaged in such practices, which may difficult given the strength of Yuga Labs’ projects. Pump and dumps, or rug pulls usually imply that a project has dumped artificially inflated assets on a community before abandoning the project altogether. Related: ApeCoin price eyes 45% rally following Otherside metaverse demoThe nature of Apecoin and BAYC NFTs may also be tricky, as the law firm may have to argue that they were promoted as investment contracts under the category of unregistered securities. Cointelegraph has reached out to Yuga Labs for comment on the proposed lawsuit, but is yet to hear back from the company.

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