More than 70 US crypto ETFs await SEC decision this year — Bloomberg  

Acting US Attorney for the Eastern District of New York (EDNY) John Durham has departed as President Donald Trump’s pick takes control of the office.In a May 5 notice, the US Attorney’s Office for EDNY said Joseph Nocella will serve as interim US Attorney for the region for 120 days or until a Senate-confirmed nominee assumes the role. Nocella’s appointment came as jury selection began in the criminal trial of Braden John Karony, the former CEO of crypto firm SafeMoon.It’s unclear how the advancement of Nocella, appointed by US President Donald Trump this month, could affect prosecutors’ case against Karony, who faces charges of securities fraud conspiracy, wire fraud conspiracy, and money laundering conspiracy. Nocella said he intended to help prosecute “narcotics-traffickers, gang members, terrorists, human-traffickers and other criminals.”The former SafeMoon CEO asked the court in February to consider pushing back the start of the trial based on “significant changes” Trump had proposed affecting US securities laws, potentially impacting his criminal case.Related: What do crypto users want to happen to Alex Mashinsky?Though not as well known for criminal cases involving high-profile figures in the crypto industry, the Eastern District of New York has been responsible for overseeing cases against individuals tied to digital assets, including a Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) complaint against Hex founder Richard Heart and fraudsters. Its neighboring district, the Southern District of New York, will oversee the sentencing of former Celsius CEO Alex Mashinsky on May 8. Jay Clayton, a Wall Street insider and the former chair of the SEC, became the interim US Attorney for the district in April.Criminal trial to start on May 6SafeMoon’s Karony, Kyle Nagy, and Thomas Smith were charged in November 2023 for “diverted and misappropriated millions of dollars’ worth” of the platform’s SFM token between 2021 and 2022. Karony has pleaded not guilty to all charges and has been free on a $3 million bond since February 2024.In a May 5 filing, Karony agreed to have jury selection for his trial proceed under US Magistrate Judge James Cho. District Judge Eric Komitee is expected to oversee the trial starting on May 6.Magazine: Crypto wanted to overthrow banks, now it’s becoming them in stablecoin fight

US President Donald Trump’s crypto businesses are drawing increased scrutiny on Capitol Hill and beginning to influence the progress of US digital asset legislation. As Republican lawmakers in the US House of Representatives unveiled their draft of a digital asset market structure bill on May 5, Democrats prepared for a united response to Donald Trump’s deepening connections with the industry.Speaking to Cointelegraph on May 5, a Democratic staffer with knowledge of the matter said that House Financial Services Committee Ranking Member Maxine Waters planned to lead some members of her party out of a Republican-led hearing discussing digital assets. The May 6 hearing, entitled “American Innovation and the Future of Digital Assets” and led by Committee Chair French Hill, could address draft legislation proposed by Republican lawmakers to establish a crypto market regulatory structure.In a May 5 statement, Rep. Hill and three top Republicans unveiled the draft bill, which could clarify the treatment of digital assets by the US’s financial regulators: the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC). Hill and others echoed some of Trump’s talking points on crypto — e.g, making the US a “crypto capital of the world” — suggesting deference to the president’s previously announced policies.The draft bill included a provision requiring the SEC and CFTC to issue joint rules defining digital commodities. According to the text, transactions involving digital commodities “shall be deemed not to be an offer or sale of an investment contract” as long as the purchaser did not have “an ownership interest or other interest in the revenues, profits, or assets.”According to the Democratic staffer, rules required all members of the House Financial Services Committee to agree to move forward with the digital asset hearing, suggesting that Waters intended to block the Republican-controlled event and conduct a shadow hearing to explore Trump’s and his family’s ties to the crypto industry. At least nine Democrats have reportedly considered a similar move to oppose a proposed stablecoin bill in the Senate.Calls for impeachment, criticism from both sidesSome members of Congress have already called for Trump’s impeachment after he offered the opportunity for some of his top memecoin holders to tour the White House and attend a private dinner. In addition to the memecoin, the president’s family has backed the firm World Liberty Financial, which recently launched its own stablecoin, and an Abu Dhabi-based investment firm used the USD1 stablecoin to settle a $2 billion investment in Binance.Related: US Senator calls for Trump impeachment, cites memecoin dinnerWaters, according to the staffer, requested that Hill and Republicans amend any proposed legislation to explicitly prevent potential conflicts of interest in which Trump could personally enrich himself through crypto ventures. Cointelegraph reached out to Hill’s office but did not receive a response at the time of publication. The Arkansas lawmaker reportedly said in March that the Trump family’s involvement in the crypto industry makes related legislation “more complicated.”Republican lawmakers in the United States currently have control of the House, Senate, and presidency. At least two senators supportive of Trump have criticized his memecoin dinner, hinting that the president was selling access to his office. It’s unclear at the time of publication who among the memecoin holders could attend the May 22 dinner in person.Magazine: Trump’s crypto ventures raise conflict of interest, insider trading questionsThis is a developing story, and further information will be added as it becomes available.

The Securities and Exchange Commission’s (SEC) enforcement approach on crypto firms has left a lasting “regulatory overhang” within the industry, according to Devin Finzer, co-founder and CEO of OpenSea. Speaking to Cointelegraph, Finzer said that during Biden’s administration the agency unfairly targeted good actors in the crypto space, including OpenSea. “There’s all sorts of digital assets, you know, you shouldn’t treat them all the same. That’s obvious. But I think the approach that the prior SEC was taking was kind of this, you know, very, very generic.”The SEC issued a Wells notice — a formal notification that is often a precursor to enforcement action — to OpenSea in 2024, alleging that the NFT marketplace was operating as an exchange for unregistered securities. At the time, Finzer criticized the SEC for taking an approach of “regulation by enforcement” and said that OpenSea was prepared to “stand up and fight.”With the SEC under new leadership by Chair Paul Atkins, Finzer is hopeful for a more balanced regulatory framework. “Good crypto regulation needs to balance, sort of, protecting consumers but also preserving the ability to innovate,” Finzer said. “It’s not just a one-size-fits-all problem, right?”Under the Trump administration, the SEC has scaled back enforcement actions against several crypto firms, marking a policy shift in the US after years of enforcement actions led by former Chair Gary Gensler.For instance, the agency has withdrawn legal challenges against exchanges Coinbase and Kraken, NFT companies Yuga Labs and OpenSea, and decentralized finance protocol Uniswap — most of them opened during Gensler’s term. The SEC has even dismissed its years-long case against Ripple.During the 2024 US election cycle, the crypto industry widely backed then-candidate Donald Trump, who promised to make the United States “the crypto capital of the planet.” Overall, crypto super political action committees, or PACs, donated over $119 million into the coffers of pro-crypto candidates, helping shape the elections.Related: Crypto’s debanking problem persists despite new regulationsNFTs: Low trading volume, high innovationThe SEC crackdown on crypto firms had weighed on the markets downturn following FTX collapse in November 2022, driving investors away from crypto products such as nonfungible tokensSince then, NFT trading volume has plummeted from its 2021 peak, affecting protocols and platforms such as OpenSea. In 2023, the company laid off 50% of its staff amid the market turmoil.Finzer says the NFT space is still flourishing, with innovation and new applications coming to life — especially in the gaming industry and art collectibles. Despite this, OpenSea has started exploring other areas, seeking to diversify its business to become a destination for all onchain trading beyond NFTs.“I mean, for the first time in the history of the internet, people have the ability to own digital stuff, right, in a real way,” Finzer said. “[…] you can move them around between different applications and take them with you wherever you go on the internet. And that’s something that’s really powerful.”Related: OpenSea denies NFT airdrop rumors, calls website a test page