Bitcoin Rallies To 6-Month High | Binance USD Dealt Fatal Blow

SEC CLAIMS NEW TURF IN TERRA LAWSUIT

The SEC sued Singapore-based Terraform Labs, operator of the failed terraUSD stablecoin, and CEO Do Kwon Thursday, alleging they orchestrated a crypto-asset fraud that wiped at least $40 billion of market value. The suit claims they raised billions of dollars from investors by selling a number of interconnected investments in unregistered transactions that should have fallen under securities laws. Lawyers say the allegations made in the complaint pose a significant threat to stablecoins and decentralized finance tokens by defining various crypto assets issued by Terraform, including the terraUSD itself as well as sister token luna, as securities.

Source: Forbes Digital Assets, powered by Nomics.  Prices as of 4:00 p.m. on February 17, 2023.

NEW CRYPTO CZAR IN CONGRESS SEES STABLECOIN REGULATION AS FERTILE BIPARTISAN GROUND

As a storm over how to regulate cryptocurrency rages in Washington, there is nobody with more at stake than Congressman French Hill (R-Ark), the inaugural chairperson of the new House Subcommittee on Digital Assets, Financial Technology and Inclusion. One of his first priorities is going to be stablecoins, building on what he calls a very “cooperative effort last summer and early fall between House Democrats, House Republicans and the Biden administration, in thinking through the right approach.” Read the interview with Hill here.

Bipartisan collaboration last year led to the drafting of a stablecoin bill that, according to an unpublished September version seen by Forbes, would ban the issuance of such tokens unless they were created by a subsidiary of an insured depository institution that has been approved to issue them or by a licensed non-bank entity under a yet-to be determined process. The legislation also included guidelines on acceptable forms of reserve collateral, such as Treasury bills with durations of less than 90 days, and processes for monitoring of approved entities.

BITCOIN RALLIES TO A 6-MONTH HIGH

Despite the fresh crackdown, the leading cryptocurrency reached $25,000 this week, its highest since August, capping a two-month climb from the FTX-driven law. The token hit the milestone Thursday, before stabilizing at $24,530 Friday afternoon in New York.

Bitcoin’s 48% year-to-date rally outpaces the S&P 500’s 6.5%, marking investors’ return to higher-risk investments as the Federal Reserve slows its pace of interest rate hikes. The cryptocurrency market’s total capitalization stands at $1.1 trillion, according to data provider CoinMarketCap.

ELSEWHERE

SEC Proposes Rule That Could Squeeze Crypto Platforms [The Wall Street Journal]

Jump Crypto Is Unnamed Firm That Made $1.28B From Do Kwon’s Doomed Terra Ecosystem: Sources [CoinDesk]

Another Member Of Bankman-Fried’s Inner Circle Nears A Plea Deal In FTX Probe [Bloomberg]

Nina Bambysheva
Reporter
Forbes Money & Markets

Steven Ehrlich
Editor 
Forbes CryptoAsset & Blockchain Advisor

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