Former presidential candidate Ron Paul sounded the alarm bells on a government crackdown on bitcoin at an interview last week with Kitco News’ Michelle Makori. Separately, ex-SEC Chair Jay Clayton also warned of potential new regulations around bitcoin.
Valkyrie Digital Assets LLC, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Valkyrie Investments Inc., has thrown its hat in the ring to obtain SEC approval for the launch of a bitcoin ETF. On Friday, Valkyrie submitted its application to the regulator for the “Valkyrie Bitcoin Fund,” to be listed on the New York Stock Exchange.
VanEck filed an application with the SEC last week for a VanEck Bitcoin Trust. The SEC has removed unmoved thus far and turned down all previous applications for launching a bitcoin ETF. VanEck itself retracted its previous ETF application in September 2019.
The SEC will likely sue Ripple, CEO Brad Garlinghouse, and co-founder Chris Larsen, according to Fortune. The SEC will charge the defendants for selling XRP tokens, which it alleges are unlicensed securities. XRP ranks third in the pecking order of cryptocurrencies with a market cap of $23 billion. The SEC would make the case that XRP is a security and it needed to be registered as an investment contract prior to its sale.
The SEC on Wednesday amended its definition of “accredited investor,” a term that drew a line between high-earning, deep-pocketed investors and retail investors for access to often lucrative opportunities in the private capital markets. Also known as “alternative investments,” these markets include, for example, venture capital, hedge funds, private equity, and real estate.