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Strategies & Market Trends : 2026 TeoTwawKi ... 2032 Darkest Interregnum -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?


To: TobagoJack who wrote (196271)2/13/2023 6:51:18 PM
From: Pogeu Mahone  Read Replies (1) | Respond to of 217691
 
The Latest Front in the Crypto Wars Is Binance-Paxos and BUSD
Paxos announced it will cease issuing BUSD after action by the NYDFS.


February 13, 2023

Crypto firm Paxos to face SEC charges, ordered to stop minting Binance stablecoin
PUBLISHED MON, FEB 13 20239:19 AM ESTUPDATED 2 HOURS AGO

Rohan Goswami @ROGOSWAMI

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KEY POINTS

New York state regulators ordered Paxos to stop minting new Binance USD tokens, Binance CEO Changpeng Zhao said on Twitter.The Ethereum-built BUSD tokens are backed by some $16 billion worth of Treasurys and Treasury Reverse Repurchase Agreements.The regulator said it issued the order Monday “as a result of several unresolved issues related to Paxos’ oversight of its relationship with Binance.”

In this article

BUSD.CM=-0.0002057552337646 (-0.02%)




Chad Cascarilla, CEO of Paxos.
Adam Jeffery | CNBC

Cryptocurrency firm Paxos will cease issuing new Binance USD, or BUSD, stablecoins under the direction of New York state’s financial regulator, Binance founder Changpeng Zhao said Monday.

Paxos’ own stablecoin was not impacted, but the company did confirm it had been notified by the Securities and Exchange Commission of potential charges in connection with its BUSD product.

A stablecoin is a cryptocurrency which attempts to maintain a more stable price, usually by pegging its value to an underlying asset like gold, or in this case, U.S. dollars.

The move is the latest in an escalating regulatory effort to rein in the once free-wheeling crypto industry. Last week, the Securities and Exchange Commission settled with crypto exchange Kraken over allegations of unregistered offering and sale, in connection with Kraken’s crypto staking platform.

The New York State Department of Financial Services issued the order “as a result of several unresolved issues related to Paxos’ oversight of its relationship with Binance,” the regulator said Monday in a consumer alert.

“We were informed by Paxos they have been directed to cease minting new BUSD [Binance’s stablecoin] by the New York Department of Financial Services,” Zhao said on Twitter.

“Effective February 21, Paxos will cease issuance of new BUSD tokens as directed by and working in close coordination with the New York Department of Financial Services,” Paxos said in a statement, adding that it would “end its relationship with Binance for the branded stablecoin BUSD.”

The potential SEC charges came through what’s known as a Wells notice, which informs firms of the results of an investigation pending charges. The Wall Street Journal reported Monday that the SEC would argue that Paxos’ BUSD product was a security, an approach it has employed with other crypto firms including Gemini, Genesis, and Kraken.

“Paxos categorically disagrees with the SEC staff because BUSD is not a security under the federal securities laws,” a Paxos spokesperson told CNBC. “This SEC Wells notice pertains only to BUSD. To be clear, there are unequivocally no other allegations against Paxos.”

The spokesperson also said, “We will engage with the SEC staff on this issue and are prepared to vigorously litigate if necessary.”

Binance did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

Paxos’ BUSD product is built on the Ethereum blockchain and backed one-to-one by U.S. Treasuries and Treasury Reverse Repurchase Agreements, with Paxos reporting some $16 billion in holdings as of Jan. 31. Paxos’ BUSD product is related to, but separate from, Binance’s self-issued Binance-pegged BUSD.

Binance’s self-issued BUSD, which is not directly regulated by NYDFS, is independently wrapped and issued by the crypto exchange on blockchains beyond Ethereum. In other words, Binance can take a single Paxos-issued BUSD, create an analogous BUSD on another blockchain (like Binance’s own blockchain, for example), and freeze a corresponding Paxos-issued BUSD.

“The Department has not authorized Binance-Peg BUSD on any blockchain, and Binance-Peg BUSD is not issued by Paxos,” NYDFS said.

“This action does not impact our ability to continue serving new or existing customers, our continued dedication to grow our staff or fund our business objectives,” Paxos’ statement said.

In 2014, New York became the first state to establish licensing for crypto-related companies. Paxos is one of over two dozen companies that have secured a BitLicense. In January, NYDFS took action against another regulated company, Coinbase.

Two other New York-state regulated entities, Genesis Global Trading and crypto exchange Gemini, have been accused by the Securities and Exchange Commission of engaging in the unregistered offer and sale of securities, in connection with a joint crypto lending program.



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To: TobagoJack who wrote (196271)2/13/2023 7:41:52 PM
From: ggersh1 Recommendation

Recommended By
Pogeu Mahone

  Read Replies (1) | Respond to of 217691
 
We all grow at are own pace. The force is strong
w/young coconut.

Now really, WTFDIK ;-0



To: TobagoJack who wrote (196271)2/13/2023 7:44:01 PM
From: ggersh  Read Replies (1) | Respond to of 217691
 
We all grow at are own pace. The force is strong
w/young coconut.

Now really, WTFDIK ;-0



To: TobagoJack who wrote (196271)2/14/2023 10:00:20 AM
From: Pogeu Mahone  Respond to of 217691
 
Thanks Snowshoe:

Did crypto just become digital junk?

From Bloomberg...

US Crackdown Seeks to Push Crypto Back to the Fringes of Finance

- Major firms now face challenges securing bank relationships
- Industry reeling after watchdogs’ public and private actions][/color


By Yueqi Yang, Katanga Johnson and Austin Weinstein
February 13, 2023

Crypto’s free pass is getting yanked as the most powerful US financial regulators rapidly close key doors to the country’s banking system.

The increasingly aggressive posture, which has taken shape through public and private actions in the weeks since the collapse of crypto exchange FTX, could push the industry to the fringes of finance. It means new ventures may be smothered before they get off the ground, and banks and digital-asset companies are likely to scrap existing ones and upend business models.

“The regulators are effectively building a wall between crypto trading and the banking and the securities markets to prevent the types of systemic vulnerabilities that led to the 2008 financial crisis,” said Todd Baker, senior fellow at Columbia University’s Richman Center for Business, Law & Public Policy.

Read More: How Crypto’s Woes Changed the US Regulatory Debate: QuickTake

US officials say they’re working together on crypto and deny that there’s some broad effort to crush it. They say responsible innovation that plays by the rules is fully supported.

At the same time, FTX’s sudden failure forced authorities to act on concerns that the next crypto disaster could be far more severe if digital-asset firms managed to grow large enough to affect the financial system.

Interviews with more than a dozen current and former regulators, industry executives and lobbyists paint a picture of a deepening crackdown that has the sector on its back feet. Many requested anonymity to discuss the situation candidly.

Joint Warning

Banks are getting the message that they should back away from many crypto endeavors.

Three top financial regulators kicked off the new year with a joint warning about banks’ crypto activities. The Federal Reserve, the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency and the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. on Jan. 3 issued a blunt declaration that said crypto-related risks that can’t be controlled shouldn’t be allowed to migrate to the banking system.

Read More: US Bank Watchdogs Issue Joint Warning on Crypto Activities

The action has since picked up.

Fed officials quickly started flagging the Jan. 3 statement to the banks they oversee. They also privately reminded lenders of their legal obligations when working with crypto clients, especially those that aren’t registered with US authorities, according to two people with knowledge of the ongoing conversations.

The regulator also released a policy statement on Jan. 27 as it turned down a bid by crypto firm Custodia Bank Inc. to get coveted access to the central bank’s payment system. Officials are working on additional guidance.

Full story: bloomberg.com