Justin Sun, Lindsay Lohan Targeted By SEC | Signature Bank's Sale Leaves Crypto Customers In The Lurch

JUSTIN SUN, LINDSAY LOHAN, JAKE PAUL TARGETED BY SEC

The Securities and Exchange Commission unveiled fraud and unregistered securities charges Wednesday against crypto founder and Grenadian diplomat Justin Sun, accusing him of manipulating the trading activity of the Tronix (TRX) and BitTorrent (BTT) crypto assets that his companies had managed.

The agency also charged eight celebrities, including actress Lindsay Lohan and the social media influencer Jake Paul, for allegedly promoting those cryptocurrencies without disclosing that they were compensated to do so. Six of the eight endorsers agreed to pay a collective $400,000 to settle the charges.

SIGNATURE’S CRYPTO CASUALTIES

The U.S. takeover of Signature Bank and the ensuing sale of most of its operations to a local rival was accomplished with blinding speed, but multiple issues remain unresolved. For one, the future of Signature’s crypto operations—the part of the business not included in the transaction—are in doubt. Just weeks ago, the bank’s Signet platform was the second-most-used interface between the crypto and traditional-banking worlds.

With the decision by rival Silvergate Bank to wind down its business earlier this month, crypto businesses likely will have to find new partners from a fragmented market of much smaller competitors. The FDIC has not revealed its plans for Signet or the other Signature crypto operations. Read more.

Source: Forbes Digital Assets, powered by Nomics. Prices as of 4:00 p.m. on March 24, 2023.

COINBASE WARNED OF POTENTIAL U.S. SECURITIES CHARGES

On Wednesday, the largest U.S. crypto exchange announced it received a Wells notice from the SEC, warning the company that it identified potential violations of U.S. securities law. A Wells notice is typically one of the final steps before the agency formally issues charges.

“Based on discussions with the staff, the company believes these potential enforcement actions would relate to aspects of the company’s spot market, staking service Coinbase Earn, Coinbase Prime and Coinbase Wallet,” Coinbase said in a regulatory filing. “The potential civil action may seek injunctive relief, disgorgement and civil penalties.” The exchange added its offerings would operate as usual for now.

SVB’S VC STAKES SEND TREMORS THROUGH SILICON VALLEY

Amid the many questions arising from the collapse and sale of Silicon Valley Bank, there is one that’s top of mind for many investors: what will happen to the parent company’s stakes in some of tech’s best-known venture capital firms, including Accel, Andreessen Horowitz, Index Ventures and Sequoia. Forbes spoke to a number of legal and finance experts, limited partners and investors and contacted all 15 VC firms featured on SVB Capital’s website to find an answer. Read more.

The True Value Of Cryptocurrencies

The geopolitical strife taking place in Ukraine has once again underlined the true value proposition of digital currencies that are censorship resistant and easily transportable. To get in-depth research, interviews, trading signals and other valuable information unavailable anywhere else subscribe to Forbes CryptoAsset & Blockchain Advisor.

Get Forbes CryptoAsset & Blockchain Advisor

ELSEWHERE

Crypto Is banned In China, But Binance Employees And Support Volunteers Tell People How To Bypass The Ban [CNBC]

Terraform Labs Cofounder Do Kwon Arrested In Montenegro [The Washington Post]

Bitcoin Mining Booms In Texas [Reuters]

Steven Elrich
Nina Bambysheva
Reporter
Forbes Money & Markets

Steven Elrich
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Forbes CryptoAsset & Blockchain Advisor

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Key phrases

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