Ex-SEC chair, now heading SDNY, offers rebuke in $12M crypto fraud case  

Nearly 30 crypto advocate groups led by the lobby group the Crypto Council for Innovation (CCI) have asked the Securities and Exchange Commission for clear regulatory guidance on crypto staking and staking services.The CCI’s Proof of Stake Alliance (POSA) group argued in an April 30 letter to the agency’s Crypto Task Force lead, SEC Commissioner Hester Peirce, that staking is fundamentally a technical process, not an investment activity. “Staking isn’t niche — it’s the backbone of the decentralized internet,” the letter said. The letter responded to the SEC’s call for public input on whether staking and liquid staking, where crypto users lock up their tokens to earn more, should be regulated under federal securities laws.The coalition called for the SEC to support responsible inclusion of staking features in exchange-traded products (ETPs), and “avoid overly prescriptive rules that could freeze market structures and stifle innovation in the staking space.”The group argued that staking fails to meet the securities-defining Howey test definition of an “investment contract” as stakers retain ownership of their assets.Source: Crypto Council for InnovationThey added that blockchain protocols, not a staking provider’s efforts, determine rewards, and providers don’t deliver profits through managerial decisions like a company does. The letter requested that the SEC Issue principles-based guidance similar to recent SEC staff statements on proof-of-work mining.“In the past 4 months, we’ve seen more movement and constructive dialogue with the SEC than in the past 4 years,” the group said. “Now, the industry is stepping up with concrete principles to include in guidance — a reflection of this new collaborative approach.”Related: Ethereum ETF staking will have little impact without multimonth rally: AnalystThe group argued that the existing securities disclosure regime is ill-suited for staking services, which are fundamentally technical rather than financial in nature. Big names in support of staking clarity The Proof of Stake Alliance includes several high-profile crypto organizations and companies, including the venture capital firm Andreessen Horowitz (a16z), blockchain software firm Consensys, and the crypto exchange Kraken, which restored staking services in the US earlier this year.The SEC has yet to approve a crypto staking exchange-traded fund (ETF) and delayed the decision on allowing staking for Grayscale’s spot Ether ETF on April 14.In April, Bloomberg ETF analyst James Seyffart predicted that an Ether ETF that includes staking could come as soon as May.Magazine: ZK-proofs unlock trillions in Bitcoin for DeFi — BitcoinOS and Starknet

Bloomberg Intelligence has boosted its estimated odds of US regulators approving a Solana exchange-traded fund (ETF) in 2025 to 90%, according to an April 30 post on the X platform. The company also set more favorable chances of approval for other altcoin ETFs, including proposed funds holding XRP (XRP) and Dogecoin (DOGE), Bloomberg analyst Eric Balchunas said in an X post. The estimates reflect an improved outlook from Bloomberg analysts. In a February analysis, Bloomberg pegged the odds of a Solana (SOL) ETF approval at only 70%. They ascribed a 65% and 75% chance of approval to funds holding XRP and DOGE, respectively. As of April 30, six asset managers — including Grayscale, VanEck and 21Shares — are awaiting clearance from the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) to list ETFs holding the Solana blockchain network’s native cryptocurrency. The same number of issuers are waiting on approval for XRP ETFs, and three are seeking approval for DOGE funds, according to Bloomberg data. The SEC has until October to review and potentially approve the proposed funds. Revised altcoin ETF approval odds. Source: Bloomberg IntelligenceRelated: SEC acknowledges slew of crypto ETF filings as reviews, approvals accelerateAltcoin ETF maniaAsset managers are seeking the SEC’s permission to list dozens of altcoin ETFs, with up to 70 crypto ETFs awaiting the agency’s review as of April. The deluge of filings reflects US President Donald Trump’s efforts to soften the SEC’s regulatory posture toward cryptocurrencies since taking office in January. In March, the Chicago Mercantile Exchange (CME), the US’s largest derivatives exchange, listed futures contracts tied to Solana.According to Chris Chung, founder of Solana-based swap platform Titan, the listing on the regulated futures exchange signals that approvals for Solana ETFs could be next.“[T]he timeline could extend into 2026 due to the SEC’s precedent of taking 240–260 days to review filings,” Bloomberg analyst James Seyffart also said in a previous forecast. In April, US securities exchange Nasdaq asked regulators for permission to list a 21Shares ETF holding Dogecoin, adding to the roster of DOGE funds awaiting a US public listing.Magazine: TV hit Peaky Blinders to launch crypto game, FIFA Rivals on Polkadot: Web3 Gamer

The crypto industry has seen a significant shift toward regulatory compliance since its early days, according to James Smith, co-founder of Elliptic, a crypto compliance firm established in 2013.“In the early days, only a few companies approached compliance in a serious way,” Smith told Cointelegraph at the Token2049 event. “Coinbase was our first customer — they knew from the start that they wanted to build their business that way. But for most others, it just wasn’t a major priority.”Elliptic co-founder James Smith at Token2049. Source: CointelegraphThat began to shift as regulators, including those in New York State, took a more active interest in the crypto industry. The involvement of traditional financial institutions like Fidelity and DBS Bank also contributed, as they entered the space with established compliance expectations from traditional finance services.Fidelity, for instance, offered its first crypto service for customers in 2019, while the Asian giant DBS created a digital exchange for accredited and institutional investors in 2020.“We’ve seen a big change in the last couple of years. Exchanges on the global map all care about compliance now, because they want to be part of a global ecosystem,” Smith said.Related: DeFi security and compliance must be improved to attract institutionsCompliance questions after Bybit hack Crypto exchanges and peer-to-peer protocols remain the industry’s key compliance targets. For authorities, these firms are seen as critical choke points where Anti-Money Laundering and broader financial surveillance controls take effect. At the same time, they’re frequent candidates for sophisticated hacks and laundering operations, as seen in the Lazarus Group’s tactics.The latest example comes from the Bybit hack, where the Lazarus Group engaged in a sophisticated money laundering scheme to funnel funds. The hackers quickly swapped low-liquidity tokens for Ether (ETH), then swapped them for Bitcoin (BTC) using no-KYC (Know Your Customer) decentralized exchanges. “They went through some no KYC exchanges, which probably shouldn’t exist, but also through a decentralized protocol where there was lots of liquidity provision that enabled them to get it into Bitcoin,” Smith said, adding that “we’re making it too easy for them as an industry.” Smith also noted that even after firms flagged the funds as stolen, users continued to trade them through decentralized platforms. “Why was there so much liquidity available to help launder this money?” he said, arguing that those providing liquidity to such protocols should be subject to basic checks on the source and destination of funds. “Go and look at who’s making money. And that’s the first place to start putting some controls.”Magazine: Lazarus Group’s favorite exploit revealed — Crypto hacks analysis