Weekly Roundup

Congress Crackdown: In a series of letters sent on Tuesday, the House Committee on Oversight and Reform asked four agencies, and five digital asset exchanges — Coinbase, FTX, Binance.US, Kraken, and KuCoin — for information and documents about what they are doing to safeguard consumers against scams and combat cryptocurrency-related fraud.

FBI Defi Warning: The FBI has issued a new warning for investors in decentralized finance platforms, which have been targeted with $2 billion in hacks this year. One way cybercriminals are exploiting vulnerabilities is through smart contracts that govern Defi platforms. The FBI team dedicated to cryptocurrency is shifting its focus to disrupting international criminal networks.

Accidental Transfer: Cryptocurrency-exchange Crypto.com accidentally transferred over $10 million to an Australian woman and failed to notice the error for seven months. The company launched legal action against the woman, who had already spent or transferred most of the money.

Proprietary Trading Proposal: A proposal by the SEC to expand the definition of broker-dealers to cover firms that escape regulation through electronic trading is generating a significant backlash from market participants and their representatives. Critics believe the proposal would have a particularly negative effect on private investment funds.

Crypto ETFs: According to Bloomberg Intelligence, most crypto-linked ETFs have near-perfect correlations. Bloomberg Intelligence ETF analyst James Seyffart explained that there are a limited number of companies with concentrated exposure to the crypto market, making it difficult for funds to differentiate themselves.

In the Mix: This Week’s Top FinTech Thought Leader

  • Jim Cramer, CNBC reporter and “Mad Money” host, encouraged investors to avoid speculative investments, like cryptocurrency and meme stocks. Following Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell’s speech last Friday, Cramer said, “Don’t get memed. Don’t get SPAC’d. Don’t get crypto’d.”

  • Sam Bankman-Fried, founder and CEO of FTX, spoke with Bloomberg about the $1 billion he invested in crypto companies heavily impacted by market downturns. He remarked that he had to make snap judgments, knowing not all the investments would pay off. He stated that one of his goals was to “get the industry to a place where it is happy to accept sensible regulation.”

  • Stacy-Marie Ishmael, Bloomberg Cryptocurrency Managing Editor, discusses the recent partnership between Blackrock and Coinbase on the Bloomberg Crypto Podcast.