Mashinsky’s Arrest, Ripple Ruling, Etc.

I was on vacation for the last week-and-a-half but before I left, I sent a list of things to watch for to my colleagues that in hindsight, was wholly inadequate. Anyway, here’s my effort to catch up.

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The narrative

It was a really busy [checks notes] 11 days, huh?

Why it matters

The legal and regulatory aspects of the crypto ecosystem continue to evolve.

Breaking it down

I was on vacation for a bit. Here is a list of things that happened in crypto regulatory land in that time (that I’ve seen):

• Alex Mashinsky of Celsius was arrested and pleaded not guilty to charges of securities fraud, commodities fraud, wire fraud and conspiracy to manipulate the price of CEL (Celsius’ token). The Securities and Exchange Commission, the Commodity Futures Trading Commission and the Federal Trade Commission also filed lawsuits (the FTC and Celsius settled, though executives including Mashinsky, Shlomi Daniel Leon and Hanoch “Nuke” Goldstein didn’t).
• The federal judge overseeing the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission’s case against Ripple Labs published a decision on the motions for summary judgment, ruling that while Ripple violated securities laws in its institutional sales, it did not do so in putting XRP on exchanges and letting the retail public buy the tokens through those intermediaries.
• The SEC acknowledged and started the clock on a bunch ofbitcoin exchangetraded fund (ETF) applications.
• The Group of 20 said it welcomed Financial Stability Board recommendations on stablecoin and crypto asset activity arrangements.
• The U.S. Secret Service seized around $58 million in funds belonging to Deltec Bank as part of an investigation into an international money laundering investigation. A Deltec spokesperson said it had been cooperating with U.S. law enforcement and intended to file a claim for the cash.
• A Marathon Digital Holdings shareholder is suing the company’s directors and officers, alleging they lied about Marathon’s revenue and operations.
• BlockFi’s leadership saw FTX’s balance sheet but continued to use the platform, a filing by its creditors said.
• A state court signed off on the Nevada Department of Business and Industry’s move…