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👉SEC goes after Digital Currency Group, Trump reportedly preps crypto executive order, & other news


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Your weekly roundup of the 🔥hottest news in crypto:

👉SEC goes after Digital Currency Group, Trump reportedly preps crypto executive order

Written by Ciaran Lyons

Jan. 12 - 18

#1

SEC charges Digital Currency Group for misleading investors

The United States Securities and Exchange Commission has charged Digital Currency Group (DCG) and former Genesis Global Capital CEO Soichoro "Michael" Moro with misleading investors about the financial health of Genesis in the aftermath of the Three Arrows Capital (3AC) collapse.

According to the Jan. 17 filing, DCG and Moro have agreed to pay a combined $38.5 million in civil penalties, with DCG liable for $38 million and Moro liable for $500,000.

Moro and DCG agreed to the civil penalties without admitting to or denying any violations of the Securities Act of 1933.

The settlement is the latest chapter in the legal saga of Genesis, which filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in January 2023 due to a 2022 default by 3AC — a former borrower of Genesis.

Get the full story

#2

US government says funds from 2016 hack should return to Bitfinex

Attorneys for the US government recently submitted a motion requesting that the Bitcoin forfeited as a result of the 2016 Bitfinex hack should be returned to the cryptocurrency exchange.

The Jan. 14 legal filing stipulated the return of approximately 94,643 BTC and unspecified amounts of Bitcoin Cash, Bitcoin Satoshi Vision and Bitcoin Gold generated through hard forks back to the exchange on an in-kind basis.

Ilya Lichtenstein and his wife Heather Morgan, aka Razzlekhan, were both arrested in 2022 and later convicted for the 2016 hack of the Bitfinex exchange, which resulted in the theft of 119,754 BTC.

At the time, the stolen Bitcoin amounted to only $72 million. Today, that same amount of BTC is worth over $11.8 billion — raising debate over Bitfinex's compensation plan for victims of the hack at the time.

#3

Trump plans executive order making crypto a national priority: Report

US President-elect Donald Trump is reportedly expected to sign an executive order designating crypto as a national priority that could come as soon as he re-enters office on Jan. 20.

Bloomberg reported on Jan. 17, citing people familiar with the plans, that the order would mean regulatory agencies would be guided to work with the industry. It could also create a crypto council to advocate the industry's policy wishes.

The order could be signed on Jan. 20 — Trump's first day back as president — but it's not final and could change before it's made public, the report said.

Trump is widely speculated to be lining up a day-one crypto-related executive order as the local industry heavily backed his campaign, and the incoming president promised that the US would be a "crypto capital."

The New York Times similarly reported on Jan. 16 that crypto executives had offered input to Trump's crypto czar, David Sacks, on an executive order covering multiple areas of crypto policy.

#4 Prediction of the week

Bitcoin price still on track for $180K in 2025: Interview with Filbfilb

Bitcoin hitting $130,000 would be a great result for the current bull market, pseudonymous longtime trader and analyst Filbfilb says.

In his latest interview with Cointelegraph, the co-founder of trading suite DecenTrader gave his predictions on where BTC price action may be headed this cycle.

Bitcoin is bouncing back after a trip to two-month lows and is holding well above $100,000 as of Jan. 17, per data from Cointelegraph Markets Pro and TradingView.

For Filbfilb, good things lie in wait — especially with the incoming US government administration under President-elect Donald Trump.
Pro-Bitcoin and pro-crypto policies could well offer a short-term market impulse, but it may not all be smooth sailing — any talk of trade wars, for instance, could strike a punishing blow to the risk-asset bull run.
That said, BTC/USD should lead the pack, with Bitcoin even hitting new highs in crypto market dominance, Filbfilb said.

"I see no evidence based on previous cyclical data which would imply that Bitcoin has topped for now. Clearly, it might be different this time, but I think there's a reasonable argument that Bitcoin could go on toward the $180,000 target I had been looking at in early 2023," Filbfilb told Cointelegraph.

#5 FUD of the week

US consumer finance watchdog sued for treating digital wallets like banks

Two technology trade groups have filed a lawsuit against the US Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, challenging its push to treat payment apps and digital wallets like banks.

The complaint, filed on Jan. 16 by TechNet — a bipartisan network of technology CEOs and senior executives — and internet freedom activist group NetChoice, opposes a rule issued by the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) in December.

The rule expands CFPB's supervisory authority over "general-use digital consumer payment applications," targeting larger participants such as payment apps, digital wallets and other nonbank financial service providers.

The 259-page rule does not include crypto waller providers or decentralized wallets but aims to target large non-bank companies.

#6 FUD of the week

Upbit crypto exchange receives suspension notice in South Korea

Upbit, one of the largest cryptocurrency exchanges in South Korea, has reportedly received a suspension notice for alleged Know Your Customer violations.

The Financial Intelligence Unit (FIU) of South Korea's Financial Services Commission has notified Upbit of possible punitive measures, according to a Jan. 16 report by Naver.

As part of the measures, the authorities seek to suspend new user registrations on Upbit for six months, with existing users unaffected.

According to the report, Upbit can submit its feedback on the restrictions to the FIU by Jan. 20. The authority plans to make a final decision on the penalty on Jan. 21.