Author: The Wall Street Journal
Wall Street has a message for its many clients that have been eager to invest in cryptocurrencies: OK, OK, we hear you. The largest U.S. banks, securities firms and custodians, many of whom once greeted the emergence of digital assets with skepticism, are now showcasing their forays into the market. “It’s a moment in time when the traditional industry has woken up and more broadly accepted this is happening,” said Walt Lukken, president and chief executive of the Futures Industry Association, a large trade group for the derivatives markets. Their recent conversion, industry executives said, has less to do with…
Facing scrutiny, cryptocurrency industry builds ranks with advisers and lawyers familiar with Capitol Hill. The cryptocurrency industry has staked out a spot at Washington’s revolving door, hiring scores of former government officials and regulators as it seeks to shape policies to govern the largely unregulated market. Those working for or advising cryptocurrency firms or investment funds include three former chairs of the Securities and Exchange Commission, three former chairs of the Commodity Futures Trading Commission, three former U.S. senators, and at least one former White House chief of staff, former Treasury secretary and former chair of the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation. …
Shake Shack Inc. is offering the cryptocurrency bitcoin as a reward for purchases made at the burger chain using Cash App, a digital wallet offered by Block Inc. Customers will receive 15% of their purchase back in the form of bitcoin on any Shake Shack purchase made with Cash Card, a debit card available to Cash App users, and by buying items via Cash Boost, a rewards program available to Cash Card members. Users can search for the promotion in Cash App, under the Cash Boost program and Cash Card tab, through mid-March. Shake Shack is testing whether it can reach younger consumers on…
Kuna, Ukraine’s largest crypto exchange, has emerged as central hub for the country’s efforts to raise funds via cryptocurrencies. The founder of Ukraine’s largest cryptocurrency exchange, Kuna, has been sleeping only a few hours a day since Russia invaded his country. Trading of cryptocurrencies on Kuna has jumped since the war began. The surge is, in part, a consequence of strict capital controls implemented by the Ukrainian central bank: limits on ATM withdrawals, restrictions on the country’s official electronic-currency system and suspension of the foreign-exchange market. But cryptocurrency and Kuna are also providing a vehicle for outsiders to donate to Ukraine, raising funds for…
Hedge funds, registered investment advisers and some companies step up their stakes in cryptocurrencies as the market becomes more mainstream Institutional clients traded $1.14 trillion worth of cryptocurrencies on exchange Coinbase Global Inc. COIN -1.52% in 2021, up from just $120 billion the year before, and more than twice the $535 billion for retail. Retail traders comprised bitcoin’s market in the early years and traded on exchanges that offered a single bet: buy or sell bitcoin, 24 hours a day, seven days a week. That resulted in a small, erratic market that could be easily moved by modestly sized trades. “It’s a completely different…
Celsius Network LLC, a cryptocurrency lender, has hired the former finance chief of the Royal Bank of Canada to become its new chief financial officer. Rod Bolger, who left Canada’s largest bank in September after five years as its CFO, officially started working at Hoboken, N.J.-based Celsius on Monday. Mr. Bolger succeeds interim CFO Roni Cohen-Pavon, who stepped in after the previous finance chief, Yaron Shalem, was named in Israel as part of a police investigation into money laundering. Mr. Shalem had been CFO for 10 months, according to his LinkedIn profile. Celsius suspended him in November and said that no company…
It’s time to start contemplating how vast wealth created in cryptocurrencies filters through the rest of the economy. Cryptocurrency companies just spent millions of dollars on Super Bowl ads. What’s harder to say is how much crypto investors spent on game day. Vast wealth has been created in cryptocurrencies, which globally now have a value of nearly $2 trillion, according to CoinMarketCap. While that pales in comparison to many other asset classes, it has risen quickly. The global value of crypto grew by nearly $1.5 trillion last year, compared with the S&P 500’s rise of nearly $9 trillion in market…
Federal prosecutors are investigating whether short-sellers conspired to drive down stock prices by sharing damaging research reports ahead of time and engaging in illegal trading tactics, people familiar with the matter said. The U.S. Justice Department has seized hardware, trading records and private communications in an effort to prove a wide-ranging conspiracy among investors who bet against corporate shares, the people said. One tactic under investigation is “spoofing,” an illegal ploy that involves flooding the market with fake orders in an effort to push a stock price up or down, they said. Another is “scalping,” where activist short-sellers cash out…
Lawmakers are considering whether agency needs additional authority to police market The nation’s top derivatives regulator is testifying Wednesday about cryptocurrencies before a congressional panel that is weighing the need for new legislation to bring the volatile asset class under government oversight. Rostin Behnam, the recently confirmed chairman of the Commodity Futures Trading Commission, is appearing before the Senate Agriculture Committee for a hearing examining risks, regulation and innovation in the cryptocurrency industry. Additional witnesses include billionaire cryptocurrency entrepreneur Sam Bankman-Fried. Regulators in the Biden administration have likened the $1.7 trillion cryptocurrency market to the Wild West and said it lacks the safeguards…
Americans tuning in to the Super Bowl on Sunday will be inundated with ads from cryptocurrency companies, including the trading platform FTX, which plans to give away millions of dollars in bitcoin. FTX has spent heavily on sports partnerships to try to make itself a brand name in crypto, including an ad with NFL star Tom Brady, a sponsorship with Major League Baseball and a $135 million deal to rename the Miami Heat’s stadium the FTX Arena. Co-founder and chief executive Sam Bankman-Fried, who recently moved FTX’s headquarters from Hong Kong to the Bahamas, says the ads are as much…