Market News Daily – A Former SEC Chief Now Predicts Peirce Will Replace Gensler.
A former SEC Chief now predicts Hester Peirce will replace Gary Gensler in a drastic shift leading to the U.S. presidency.
“When any President is elected, the current SEC Chair typically resigns and the new SEC Chair position is rarely confirmed and filled until at least 3-4 months after Inauguration Day.
Hence, should a Republican get elected President, Chair Gensler would likely resign and the senior Republican appointed SEC Commissioner (in this case famed “crypto-mom” @HesterPeirce) would possibly become acting Chair,” said former SEC Office of Internet Enforcement chief John Reed Stark.
“If @HesterPeirce becomes acting Chair of the SEC, given her lengthy track record of dissent and opposition to most crypto-related SEC actions, the world should expect that most U.S. SEC crypto-related enforcement and most crypto-related SEC disruption would grind to a screeching halt,” he continued.
The United States’ securities regulator could completely u-turn its approach to crypto enforcement, depending on a key election in the United States in 2024, according to former SEC official John Reed Stark, says CoinTelegraph.
Hester Peirce has been highly scrutinized by retail investors, particularly those invested in stocks such as AMC and GameStop due to her take on market transparency.
She was one of the commissioners who voted against transparency rules that would increase hedge fund trade disclosure, something the ‘ape’ community has been raising awareness on for years now.
Her ties to a lobbyist group of anti-regulators has raised major concerns and questions about conflicts of interest in the regulatory system.
Is Hester Peirce Fit to Become SEC Chair?
Market News Daily – A Former SEC Chief Now Predicts Peirce Will Replace Gensler.
Most would say yes, since not much to protect retail investors would actually be done — this is quite alarming to say about the position in general.
The Intercept wrote a piece on Hester Peirce in 2015 titled, “SEC Nominee To Oversee Wall Street Works At Think Tank Dedicated To Blocking Regulation.”
And according to the research, Hester Peirce received 98% of her salary from the Mercatus Center, a “think tank” that provides an academic façade to a radical anti-regulatory agenda.
But that’s not all, Mercatus Center focuses on the lobbying priorities of its corporate funders.
The Mercatus Center has been described by the Wall Street Journal “as a coordinating center for lobbyists trying to block a flurry of regulations.”
So, it comes as no surprise as to why the SEC commissioner has voted ‘no’ for market transparency rules.
Who Funds the Mercatus Center?
Will Hester Peirce replace Gary Gensler?
The Mercatus Center is one of the first think tanks formed by the right-wing billionaire Koch brothers to influence government policy.
The Koch family has provided over $35 million to the Mercatus Center in recent years.
Other funding has come from ExxonMobil and Morgan Stanley.
Koch Industries also deals with derivatives such as stocks and bonds and is deeply involved in implementation efforts of the Dodd-Frank reform law.
A law that lacks much transparency needed to enforce a sustainable market.
This SEC commissioner has also opposed regulating private funds such as private family offices stating they are not a systemic risk to the financial system.
However, private family offices are known as ‘unregulated hedge funds‘ since they are not required to register with the SEC.
These private funds hold trillions in global assets with 40% being held in the United States alone.
Is Hester Peirce replacing Gary Gensler a good idea? Leave your thoughts in the comment section below.
Concerns have also grown over a Hester Peirce takeover if Gary Gensler were to resign his position as Chairman.
“This isn’t the first time rumors of Gensler’s resignation have made the rounds. On April 20, claims that Gensler was preparing to be “fired” were circulated by questionable sources,” says CoinTelegraph.
While Gary Gensler is not resigning, a new bill has been introduced to remove him from his post.
“The website also appears to be very new, with only 17 posts in total, the first of which is dated June 22. Most of the articles appear to make heavy use of artificial intelligence, with all articles scoring about 70% with ZeroGPT.”
One way readers can test the legitimacy of new media websites is by tracking how old the website is and approximately how many articles a website has actually published.
Several fake media profiles have popped up on Twitter with many purchasing followers and then engaging with communities for additional traction.
Will Gary Gensler Resign?
Market News Daily – New Sources Say Gary Gensler is Not Resigning.
While SEC Chairman Gary Gensler has not officially confirmed he will resign, Rep. Warren Davidson, R-Ohio, and House Majority Whip Tom Emmer, R-Minn have introduced the SEC Stabilization Act that would restructure the SEC and remove Chairman Gary Gensler from his post.
The GOP lawmakers point to what they say is Gensler’s “long series of abuses that have been permitted under the current SEC structure.”
“U.S. capital markets must be protected from a tyrannical Chairman, including the current one,” Davidson said.
“That’s why I’m introducing legislation to fix the ongoing abuse of power and ensure protection that is in the best interest of the market for years to come,” he continued.
“It’s time for real reform and to fire Gary Gensler as Chair of the SEC.”
“American investors and industry deserve clear and consistent oversight, not political gamesmanship,” Emmer said in the release.
“The SEC Stabilization Act will make common-sense changes to ensure that the SEC’s priorities are with the investors they are charged to protect and not the whims of its reckless Chair.”
“Thank you, Representative Davidson, for leading this important effort to restore sanity at the SEC,” Emmer added.
Davidson’s and Emmer’s bill would remove Gensler from his position leading the SEC and restructure the commission to redistribute power from the chair to other commissioners, add a sixth commissioner to the body, and create an executive director position to oversee day-to-day operations.
Unfortunately, Commissioners (including Hester) would still have rulemaking, investigative and enforcement authority and would be subjected to staggered six-year terms.
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Market News Today – New Sources Say Gary Gensler is Not Resigning | Gary Gensler Resignation News.
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Market News Daily – Gary Gensler is Now Being Accused of Market Manipulation.
The Securities and Exchange Commission’s (SEC) very own Chairman Gary Gensler is now being accused of market manipulation by a large part of the crypto community.
Crypto investors allege that the Chairman has a $2.5 million short position on Bitcoin (BTC).
CryptoRank says Coinbase may have evidence of Gensler shorting BTC though Allegations are unverified.
“The potential consequences of these claims extend beyond Gary Gensler’s career.
They could also threaten the credibility of the SEC, the primary regulatory organization for financial and securities markets in the United States.
As Chairperson of the SEC, Gensler is responsible for ensuring fair and transparent markets.
However, it is important to keep in mind that these are only allegations at this point; thus, it is crucial to maintain the presumption of innocence until the charges can be substantiated or refuted.”
While the crypto community might be on the Chairman’s case for his relentless attack on crypto, a petition has now re-surfaced asking for Gary Gensler’s removal.
SEC Dismisses 42 New Cases After Big Mistakes From Staff
Market News Daily – Gary Gensler is Now Being Accused of Market Manipulation.
In other SEC news, the agency just dismissed 42 new cases after confidential information was improperly handled by unauthorized staff.
The SEC announced Friday it had dismissed 42 pending enforcement cases after discovering enforcement staff had improper access to materials meant for commission officials ruling on those cases.
“We deeply regret that the agency’s internal systems lacked sufficient safeguards surrounding access to Adjudication memoranda, and we are continuing our work to ensure that, going forward, work product from the Adjudication staff is appropriately safeguarded,” the SEC said in a statement.
“We take this lapse in controls very seriously and are committed to both informing the public about the scope of this issue and preventing any similar lapses in the future,” the agency added.
Law360 was first to report on the SEC’s disclosure.
“The 42 cases were proceedings against individuals and companies being handled within the agency’s in-house courts.
Among the group was the agency’s case against Jeffrey Wada and David Middendorf, two individuals involved in the notorious KPMG cheating scandal,” said Compliance Week.
The SEC described the improper access as effectively an accident, as administrative staff in its enforcement arm worked to track and collect all relevant materials, but some databases were not appropriately safeguarded to wall off adjudication materials.
The agency decided to dismiss all pending cases, primarily against individuals and smaller firms, who were impacted by the improper access.
The SEC also said it was agreeing to lift industry bans on 48 people who had petitioned the SEC for that relief whose cases were also involved in the mistake.
How to invest in the stock market step by step for beginners
There comes a point when you realize that in order to build wealth it will require you to build multiple streams of income. The average millionaire has seven. The stock market is one way you can invest your earned income in order to start earning passive income and multiply your money. Here’s how to invest in the stock market step by step for beginners.
Welcome to Franknez.com – the blog where you can digest content on personal finance, entrepreneurship, market news, and trending investing topics.
Lets get started!
I’ve been investing in the stock market since 2019.
When I learned how to open a brokerage account and buy company stock, I knew I had to show people how to do it too.
Everything I found online was outdated so I wanted to make it easy for people to start.
Benefits of investing in the stock market
One of the greatest benefits of investing in the stock market is that you get to hedge against inflation.
Inflation is at an all-time high right now and simply letting your money lose its value isn’t going to create wealth.
The stock market also provides an average return of 7%-8% annually which means those CDs and high yielding savings accounts are a thing of the past.
Even so, you can always create a portfolio bringing in 20%+ annual returns!
In June of 2021, AMC shareholders saw a whopping 3000% return on their investment at its high.
GameStop shareholders saw about half!
Although these trades are much different anomalies then traditional long-term investing, it paints a picture of the power of the market.
Let’s get you started!
#1. Set a Budget When Planning to Invest
Before you begin to invest you will need to set a budget on your first investment(s).
The great thing about the stock market is that you can invest with as little as $50 or so depending on the cost of a share.
A share is a fraction of a company you can own and earn money from as the company grows and profits over a period of time.
Example
If you set a budget of $200 and the share of a company you want to invest in costs $50 then you can purchase (4) four shares of said company.
If a month later the shares you purchased are worth $60 each then your shares would now be worth $240, resulting in a $40 gain.
This is how investing in the stock market works.
Note: I highly recommend having your emergency fund built prior to proceeding with investing in the stock market.
It is important to highlight that the money you invest in the stock market will need to be money you can tolerate losing.
The stock market is volatile meaning the value of your assets is constantly going up and down.
Something to keep in mind is that the value of your investments can go down just as fast if not faster than they went up.
Now, this is not addressed to scare you. The stock on average has an annual return of 6-8% per year.
Why should you invest in stocks?
Investing in stocks is a great way to diversify your portfolio.
You don’t want to keep all your eggs in one basket.
For this reason, the wealthy invest in companies they believe have long-term potential to thrive and to multiply their investment.
#2. Know What to Invest In
Now that you’ve set a budget you’ll need to know what you want to invest in.
Once you do, find the stock market symbol of the company on Google search engine.
If you wanted to invest in Coca-Cola for example, you’d search ‘stock market symbol for Coca-Cola’ on Google.
You’ll see that the NYSE (New York Stock Exchange) symbol for Coca-Cola is KO.
This is how you will identify and search for companies to invest in when you’re in the market to buy stocks.
Here are some different type of investments you can invest in within the NYSE.
Stocks
How to invest in stocks for beginners
A stock is a share of a company just like Coca-Cola.
Buying a share from one specific company is a stock.
Stocks are good to purchase if you strongly believe in the continued success of your choice of company.
Invest in companies that have room to grow and are constantly innovating.
Stocks I personally favor are Tesla, Apple, and Amazon.
These tech companies are always innovating therefore I have strong conviction towards their continued growth and success.
Index Funds
How to invest in the stock market
An index fund is a fund that tracks and follows the index (growth) of a group of companies.
When you own a share of an index fund, you own a percentage of a pool of companies oppose to just one company.
What makes an index fund great is that if a company within an index fund isn’t performing very well there are other companies that may balance the overall performance of the fund resulting in a fair return.
A popular choice is the S&P500.
This index fund tracks the performance of the top 500 companies in the United States.
This type of investment tends to be a less risky and yield great profits over the long run.
It’s an investors favorite and I personally hold shares in the S&P500.
A REIT (Real Estate Investment Trust Fund) is very similar to an index fund.
The only exception is that it invests exclusively in real estate companies oppose to other businesses.
If you want to invest in real estate without the hassle of learning the game, using cash up front, or getting into debt, REITs are a great way to diversify your portfolio into the real estate sector.
A great REIT I’m invested in is VNQ with Vanguard.
Which investment is right for you?
Each of these investments has their own benefits.
My suggestion is to research them individually as all of our needs are very unique.
As your skills develop as a retail investor, you’ll find yourself having a diversified portfolio consisting of all three.
Invest in the stock market and learn to identify which investment is best for you.
Price is what you pay. Value is what you get.
Warren buffett
#3. Choose a Brokerage Firm to Begin Investing in The Stock Market
This is the fun part.
Choose a reputable online brokerage firm.
A brokerage firm is a platform where you will be doing all of your investing through the NYSE.
Here you’ll be able to purchase stocks and sell them.
Each brokerage firm has their own customer advantages but are very similar to use.
Here is a list of brokerage firms you can open an account with and sign up for free.
Check out each brokerage firm’s website and see which feels more comfortable for you to navigate.
Do some research on each of them to see which has the strongest potential for your needs. I personally use Vanguard.
How to invest in the stock market for beginners
Note: When you purchase investments, there are small commission fees your investments will pay out to the firm.
They are very small in most cases and don’t hinder your earnings like you’d think. Vanguard has the lowest fees.
Each brokerage firm will have different commission fees and the percentage will vary in each firm.
For example: Coke (KO) will have a slightly different commission fee in every firm despite having the same share cost.
#4. Open your account
For this step-by-step on how to invest in the stock market I’m going to use Vanguard.
Vanguard is one of the most reliable brokerage accounts you can use.
How to invest in stocks for beginners
Head over to Vanguard and select ‘Open an account’.
How to invest in stocks with Vanguard
Select ‘Start your new account’ to get started.
Choose the method you will be funding your new account. You can choose between:
Electronic bank transfer or another Vanguard account
Rollover from an employer plan (e.g., 401(k) plan)
Transfer investments from another financial firm
Most new retail investors will be choosing the first option, using an electronic bank transfer to fund your account.
Before you open your account to begin investing in the stock market you’ll need your bank account and routing number as well as other personal information.
Once you’re in it’s time to transfer funds into your account.
#5. Transfer Funds into Your Brokerage Account
Congratulations! Now that you’ve chosen a brokerage account to invest with, you’ll have the tools at your disposal to begin investing.
Navigate throughout your brokerage website. Get comfortable with where things are.
Things might seem very new at first, intimidating even.
Don’t worry, now that you’ve begun something new, you’ll begin to take the first steps toward self-education.
First, you’ll want to learn how to transfer funds into your brokerage account.
I will be demonstrating step by step how to do this using Vanguard.
Toggle the settings to connect your bank account with your brokerage account so you can start to invest in the stock market.
This direct line will allow you to transfer funds into your account so you may begin to purchase shares.
Once you have this set up you may transfer the money from your budget to invest in.
#6. Make Your Very First Investment in The Stock Market
Now that you’ve transferred your funds over to your brokerage account, navigate through the site to make your very first purchase.
Search the symbol of the stock, index, or REIT you will be investing in.
Note: Before purchasing, make sure you thoroughly navigate the website to get comfortable using it.
This will make the purchase experience a lot easier.
Once you pull up the investment, go through the details provided on the page.
You should be able to see its history, it’s projected return, its risk level, and so much more information about the investment.
Purchase the investment!
Purchase the investment with the option set to ‘Market’.
This option will allow you to purchase the investment instantly at the price it’s worth.
We suggest doing a test purchase since this is your first time investing in the stock market.
This will help you get a feel for it. Purchase one share so you understand the process.
It will serve as good practice and experience.
Congrats on buying your first share!
Follow up on your investment the following day and see whether your investment had gains or losses.
You’ll see for the very first time how your investment grew in value or decreased in value.
You now have a taste of what it’s like to invest in the stock market.
I have personally invested in stocks since 2019 and have learned a lot about the stock market.
In fact, I’m still learning today.
I published an article on the best tips and advice for beginners investing in stocks to further help you on your journey.
Stock investing is all about strategy.
When you make money in the stock market you may let it sit and accumulate over time, or you may cash in your profits and allocate those gains towards other opportunities.
This is why I believe investing in stocks is extremely important to someone who wants to build wealth.
The stock market allows you to multiply your hard-earned money so you may further invest it in other assets.
If you received value from this post please be sure to share it with someone who’s working towards becoming financially independent and who is also building their financial future.
My mission is to help people all around the world attain financial stability in order to live their best lives possible.
Market News: Citadel and friends are entering the crypto space | Ken Griffin.
Ken Griffin and friends are entering the crypto world very soon — investors are concerned as Citadel has a history of several violations and fines.
EDX Markets plans to bring ‘traditional finance’ to the crypto space, a not so ‘traditional’ space to begin with.
The exchange made up of Citadel, Sequoia, Paradigm, Virtu, Charles Schwab, and Fidelity is debuting in November.
EDX Markets will start trading a limited number of spot, crypto tokens starting with a November trial period, with the official launch in January, per Bloomberg.
Similar to trading equities and options, EDX will allow investors to buy and sell digital assets through their existing broker dealer, rather than an outside venue or directly through a crypto-native exchange.
“We’re taking some of the best features of traditional finance and bringing it to the digital markets to make it more efficient, and bring that cost saving to investors,” Nazarali said.
Nazarali is the former global head of business development at Citadel Securities.
But as many are aware, these financial institutions have a long history of playing unfair.
Will these sharks taint the crypto space too?
Let’s look at Citadel’s market manipulation history as well as other Citadel violations and fines in the past.
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Citadel Market Manipulation
Citadel violation and fines – market manipulation.
2015
In 2015, an account operated in China by the brokerage arm of US hedge fund Citadel was suspended.
It was the latest casualty of regulators’ hunt for market manipulators and short sellers at the time.
The China Securities Regulatory Commission said that the Shanghai and Shenzhen stock exchanges had suspended 24 accounts as part of a probe into high-frequency trading.
The investigation focused on a practice known as “spoofing” in which an investor submits a buy or sell order but then withdraws it before a sale is completed — a practice that can mislead investors by creating the false impression that a stock is trading at a particular price.
Citadel confirmed that one of its accounts managed by Guosen Futures was among those suspended.
2017
In 2017 Citadel was fined by the SEC $22.6 million to settle charges of misleading conduct.
The hedge fund misled customers about the way it priced trades.
The SEC found that between 2007 and 2010, Citadel used two algorithms to execute stock trades on customers’ behalf that gave investors a worse price for their trades, even when Citadel knew better prices existed elsewhere.
“This affected millions of retail orders,” said Stephanie Avakian, the acting director of enforcement at the SEC at the time.
Citadel neither admitted nor denied the findings.
2021
Citadel violations and fines – market manipulation.
In 2021, Failure-to-Delivers (FTDs) rose dramatically in the period leading up to January 28th, 2021, a phenomenon consistent with increasing short interest by market makers such as Citadel Securities.
FTDs are indictive of naked short selling, which occurs when a short seller does not actually possess the security it is supposed to borrow.
This practice is largely inaccessible to individual investors but accessible to market makers.
At the time, Citadel, Robinhood, and others restricted retail investors from buying ‘meme stocks’ in order to prevent escalating institutional losses.
Citadel eventually lost billions after betting against AMC Entertainment in 2021.
The Chicago Tribune published a piece explaining exactly what retail investors have been warning the SEC about.
Citadel Securities’ dark pool dominates a big part of the financial world, accounting for as much as half of U.S. stock market activity.
The Chicago Tribune says this prominent dark pool is run by Chicago Billionaire Ken Griffin’s Citadel Securities and has been targeting small scale retail investors.
And they’re not wrong.
Dark pools are typically involved in payment for order flow (PFOF), where they pay broker firms to receive retail order flow.
Brokers such as Robinhood and TD Ameritrade accept payment for order flow.
But retail investors have been bringing these nefarious practices in the market to light.
Gary Gensler says 90%-95% of retail orders don’t go through lit exchange.
Gary Gensler announced exclusively on Bloomberg (see below) that 90-95% of retail orders don’t go through the lit exchange.
The SEC Commissioner says these orders are rerouted to dark pools rather than the NYSE.
It was only a year after the ‘meme stock’ frenzy that the community receives this official news.
The ‘ape’ community has been labeled as conspiracy theorists but have proven to be correct time and time again on the market injustices that have been occurring for decades.
Here’s the latest market news.
Welcome to Franknez.com – Gary Gensler has confirmed the market manipulation that the ‘ape’ community has been exposing all for years now.
This is big for the retail community because for some time, ‘smart money’ was referring to investors as conspiracy theorists.
And can the SEC suspend dark pool trading?
Let’s dive right into it.
Gary Gensler on Dark Pools via Bloomberg
Gary Gensler confirms 90%-95% or retail orders are processed in dark pools
SEC Chairman and Commissioner Gary Gensler says payment for order flow is partly the reason why orders aren’t processed on the lit exchange.
He says retail orders go to wholesalers on an order-by-order competition.
Citadel’s Ken Griffin has praised PFOF stating it’s good for retail investors.
However, PFOF allows market makers to process retails orders in the ‘dark markets’, or dark pools.
This means retail buying volume is out of sync with AMC’s actual share price.
AMC’s share price is synthetic, it only reflects a small portion of buying volume.
Market Makers Have Been Stealing from Retail Investors
Market makers have been stealing from retail investors with absolutely no consequence from regulators.
Now that the cat is out of the hat, what is going to be done about it?
How does one account for all the orders that have been derailed from the lit exchange market and fix the share price to reflect the correct amount?
Banning PFOF is one thing but what about the money that has been masked by dark pools?
Will these financial institutions be held accountable for financial treason?
The integrity of the stock market has been tainted for far too long, now it’s time to take action.
Will PFOF get banned in the U.S?
Will PFOF get banned in the United States?
According to Gary Gensler, PFOF is banned in the UK, Canada, Australia, and in Europe.
However, because the U.S has a very strong capitalist economy, it could prove to be difficult.
Gensler says, “I think it’s natural that we look to say, how do we drive great competition and efficiency in this market, and use the tools that congress has given us.”
Here the SEC Chairman is saying their solution is to find someone who can compete with these market makers rather than banning PFOF in general.
IEX is a lit exchange that reflects much more accurate share prices and eliminates the predatorial strategies used by market makers and hedge funds.
These strategies include PFOF and high frequency trading.
Recently, Citadel, Charles Schwab, and the NYSE have teamed up to destroy new SEC Proposals.
However, ‘We The Investors’ has challenged Wall Street by submitting more than 1,300 letters supporting the SEC’s proposals.
Retail Wants Orders Processed Through the Lit Exchange
The SEC is supposed to be protecting retail investors from nefarious market practices.
Therefore, it is the SEC’s duty to find a solution and locate the money that retail is missing.
Retail wants orders processed through the lit exchange.
Market makers do not have the consent to move retail money through dark pools or other foreign markets.
#MarketMakersDontHaveConsent
Can the SEC Suspend Dark Pools?
Yes, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has the authority to suspend dark pools if it believes that they are violating securities laws or posing a risk to investors or the integrity of the markets.
Dark pools are private trading venues that allow institutional investors to buy and sell large blocks of securities without revealing their trading intentions to the public.
While dark pools can provide benefits such as reducing market impact and improving execution quality, they can also raise concerns about transparency and fairness.
The SEC has taken action in the past to regulate dark pools and address potential abuses.
For example, in 2014, the SEC brought charges against a major dark pool operator for making false statements to investors about the operation of its trading platform, leading to a $12 million settlement.
In 2020, the SEC proposed rules that would increase transparency and disclosure requirements for dark pools.
If the SEC determines that a dark pool is engaged in unlawful activities or poses a risk to investors or the markets, it can suspend the dark pool’s operations, require it to take remedial actions, or take other enforcement actions as appropriate.
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Market News Today – Can the SEC suspend dark pools?
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Crypto News Today – Cathie Wood predicts Bitcoin to $1 million by 2030.
Ark Investment’s Cathie Wood says Bitcoin ($BTC) will hit $1 million by the year 2030.
Cryptocurrency had a rocky 2022 but Cathie Wood say it was primarily due to centralized institutions.
“Last year was a terrible year for everything crypto, but if you think about what happened, it was the centralized opaque players who went bankrupt. FTX, Celsius, 3-Hours Capital, and what did we see from Bitcoin? Bitcoin is completely decentralized and transparent. It started because of 08′-09′, the lack of transparency in the traditional financial services ecosystem.
“This is a rules based digital monetary system and its global. And there’s no human intervention. It’s very disciplined, it’s mathematically metered to top out at 21 million units.”
“We’re seeing riots and protests all over the place. Where do these people go for an insurance policy against an implosion in their purchasing power and wealth. It is in something like Bitcoin. Bitcoin is an insurance policy,” said Cathie Wood.
Market News: FTX sued Voyager Digital to regain $445.8 million.
(Reuters) Bankrupt crypto exchange FTX sued crypto lender Voyager Digital on Monday, seeking to claw back $445.8 million in loan repayments that FTX made before collapsing into bankruptcy in November 2022.
FTX and Voyager both filed for bankruptcy amid a 2022 collapse in cryptocurrency markets, but Voyager’s bankruptcy preceded FTX’s filing by four months.
After Voyager filed in July, it demanded repayment of all outstanding loans to FTX and its affiliate hedge fund Alameda Research.
FTX said in a court filing that on Alameda’s behalf, it paid Voyager $248.8 million in September and $193.9 million in October.
FTX also made a $3.2 million interest payment in August, according to its court filings.
Because those loan payments were made so close to FTX’s own bankruptcy filing, they are eligible to be clawed back and potentially used to repay other FTX creditors, according to FTX’s complaint.
FTX, once among the world’s top crypto exchanges, shook the sector in November by filing for bankruptcy, leaving an estimated 9 million customers and other investors facing losses in the billions of dollars.
Its founder Sam Bankman-Fried has been indicted on fraud charges, and several top executives, including Alameda Research CEO Caroline Ellison, have pleaded guilty to fraud.
Bankman-Fried has denied wrongdoing and is scheduled for trial in October.
FTX initially appeared to weather the storm that brought down Voyager and other crypto firms in summer 2022, presenting itself as a “white knight” that could stabilize reeling crypto markets.
FTX offered to buy Voyager’s platform in a bankruptcy auction, but the proposed acquisition fell apart when FTX imploded in November.
In its Monday court filing, FTX acknowledged the allegations that Alameda raided FTX customer assets to cover its risky borrowing and lending.
But it said Voyager and other crypto lenders were complicit in Alameda’s conduct, “knowingly or recklessly” pushing their clients’ assets toward Alameda.
“Voyager’s business model was that of a feeder fund,” FTX said. “It solicited retail investors and invested their money with little or no due diligence in cryptocurrency investment funds like Alameda and Three Arrows Capital.”
Three Arrows Capital also went bankrupt in 2022, and its founders have refused to cooperate with court-appointed liquidators who are trying to recover assets for Three Arrows customers.
FTX opposes new bankruptcy investigations at it probes Sam Bankman-Fried connections.
(Reuters)FTX has objected to a U.S. Department of Justice request for an independent investigation into the once-prominent crypto exchange’s collapse, saying it is already conducting a wide-ranging probe that includes family members of FTX founder Sam Bankman-Fried.
FTX said in a court filing in Wilmington, Delaware, late on Wednesday that the DOJ’s proposed review would only add cost and delay to its bankruptcy case.
FTX acknowledged “fraud, dishonesty, incompetence, misconduct, mismanagement, and irregularity” in its past conduct, but said that its previous wrongdoing is already being probed by the company’s new management, its creditors and law enforcement agencies.
As part of its own investigation, FTX asked U.S. Bankruptcy Judge John Dorsey, who is overseeing its Chapter 11 proceedings, to help it secure documents from Bankman-Fried, members of his family and other insiders with information about FTX transactions that used “misappropriated and stolen” funds.
These transactions, it said, include a $16.7 million Bahamian real estate purchase under the name of Bankman-Fried’s parents, Joseph Bankman and Barbara Fried.
FTX is also seeking information about political donations connected to Bankman-Fried, asking wide-ranging questions about Mind the Gap, a political action committee founded by Barbara Fried, and Guarding Against Pandemics, an advocacy organization founded by Sam Bankman-Fried and his brother, Gabriel Bankman-Fried.
FTX said Guarding Against Pandemics’ multimillion-dollar Washington, D.C., headquarters was purchased with misappropriated funds.
A spokesperson for Mind the Gap said it did not receive direct contributions from Sam Bankman-Fried, although Bankman-Fried made donations to some political causes it recommended to its donor network.
FTX, once among the world’s top crypto exchanges, shook the sector in November by filing for bankruptcy, leaving an estimated 9 million customers and other investors facing total losses in the billions of dollars.
The U.S. Department of Justice’s bankruptcy watchdog has called for an independent investigation into its collapse, a request that received backing from a bipartisan group of U.S. senators.
FTX’s new CEO, John Ray, who worked with court-appointed examiners while leading Enron Corp and Residential Capital through bankruptcy, is prepared to testify that examiners in those two cases cost a combined $150 million and provided “minimal” benefits to creditors, FTX said.
FTX’s official committee of creditors joined the company in opposing the appointment of an examiner.
FTX also on Wednesday night filed a new list of creditors in bankruptcy court, which included financial watchdogs and government agencies from the United States, Japan and Switzerland, as well as companies including Airbnb Inc and crypto giant Binance.
Sam Bankman-Fried, who has been accused of stealing billions of dollars from FTX customers to pay debts incurred by his crypto-focused hedge fund, has pleaded not guilty to fraud charges. He is scheduled to face trial in October.
The leading institutions have decided to step into the Defi and the Web3 ecosystem.
This further impacts the Crypto Ecosystem positively.
Reports say that these institutions invested $9.3b in the Crypto market in 2021.
It marks a complete technological shift as the Crypto market increased to around 36%.
Now, one of the major reasons that triggered the change is attributed to a shift in technology called Merge.
Ethereum, the second largest Cryptocurrency, undertook a major shift from the Proof of Work to the Proof of Stake.
Now investors and institutions have their own expectations. Let’s seep deep into the study to have a better understanding.
What Is Ethereum Merge?
Ethereum, the world’s second-largest Cryptocurrency, shifted from energy-intensive technology offering sustainability systems to play.
They are calling it “Merge.”
The community built a new engine and a hardened hull.
They shifted from the Proof work system to proof-of-stake.
Proof of work involves a wide network of computers.
Under the system, if investors are to mine crypto, they must solve puzzles to mine crypto.
The level of the puzzles increases with mining.
This complex and energy-intensive technology was used to add new blocks to the system.
The Proof of Stake mechanism is an alternative technology that consumes less energy and computing power.
According to findings, POS consumes one-tenth of the energy to mine Ethereum.
Here one needs not to devote less energy and fuel consumption to run the illustrious computer systems.
What Institutions And Investors Should Expect
With a major technological shift, Ethereum has attained a paradigm shift, at least in terms of adoption-friendly technology.
They attained an advantage against Bitcoin, their rival and the largest Cryptocurrency in terms of market value.
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Now this change will bring in positive into the business ecosystem.
The institutions and the investors now have different expectations of the change. The section focuses mainly on the changes.
1. Reduced Carbon Footprint
As discussed above, POS technology consumes a 99.5% decrease in energy consumption.
Now, the reduction of Carbon foot printing has a significant impact on institutions.
Our world is grappling with a carbon footprint, and its rapid increase in power negatively affects the environment.
You might have heard about the Paris 2015 environment summit, where it was found out the stakeholder had constructive planning, including the Net Zero programs, to stop the rise of the sea water level.
Now, with the Proof of stake, the stakeholders can mine Cryptocurrency with lesser power consumption, which syncs with the Net Zero targets of individual nations.
Hence the step provokes to be helpful for institutions, government, and the environment.
With this major technological high long jump, the companies are able to obtain their own sustainability goals and objectives.
2. Improved Security
Economic and trading democratization has always been the need of the hour.
The business entities investing heavily in Cryptocurrency needs are all driven by energy security and sustainable development.
They are always looking for alternative energy to increase their business opportunities.
But the traditional system economy, centralized in nature, stopped them from this.
With Cryptocurrency, they were able to get the technological shift.
With Proof of stake, the use of Blockchain became more common.
We all know that the Blockchain is an advanced data maintenance system storing data in a decentralized network.
Once the information is entered, it is entered forever. It can’t be manipulated.
Another reason for the improved technology is that the cost of attacking networks has dramatically increased.
Presently more than 45000 Ethereum have been staked so far.
Even 51% of the attacks would cost over $11B.
With improved security, more new investors are expected to join the system and gain growth in this ecosystem.
Closing The Discussion
The Ethereum merger has more for the investors and the institutions.
Now with the merger, cross-team economic collaborations have increased. It is good for increasing business opportunities.
This produces an ecosystem for business growth and stability.
The induction of POS has enabled client diversity and interoperability. They are important steps toward the growth of Cryptocurrency.
These are the advantages the institutions and investors are going to get with the help of the Merge.
