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Howard Fischer, Moses Singer partner and former SEC senior trial counsel, weighs in on Nasdaq dropping its plans for a crypto custody service. Fischer notes the stock market operator may have considered the potential concerns over its reputation when analyzing how certain players are operating within the digital asset industry, citing the blowup of crypto exchange FTX.

Hul 20, 2023

Rep. Ritchie Torres (D-NY) joins First Mover to discuss how the SEC is handling crypto regulation, noting that under SEC Chair Gary Gensler there has been a "weaponization" of the agency against the crypto industry. The Congressman goes on to argue why he thinks this is an "abuse of power."

Hul 19, 2023

John Todaro, senior research analyst at Needham & Company, discusses why a court ruling that Ripple’s XRP token should not be considered a security if sold via an exchange or through programmatic sales is actually a positive for Coinbase. Todaro also explains why Coinbase "looks like really the only adult left in the room in crypto, so to speak, at the exchange level" and why Coinbase is the "de facto large remaining player." 

Hul 18, 2023

Crypto exchanges are piling in to list Ripple's XRP token on their platforms after a court ruled the sale of the tokens on exchanges and through algorithms did not constitute investment contracts. "The court very elegantly distinguishes between sales where purchasers are really buying a commodity, a good, and those sales where there's more promises and commitments made," said Michael Selig, counsel at Willkie Farr & Gallagher LLP.

Hul 14, 2023

Lisa Bragança, former SEC enforcement branch chief and Bragança Law attorney, reacts to the SEC accusing bankrupt crypto lender Celsius Network and former CEO Alex Mashinsky of securities fraud. This comes as Bloomberg reports that Mashinsky was arrested following an investigation into the company's collapse.

Hul 13, 2023

Tim Massad, former CFTC chairman and current director of the Digital Assets Policy Project at the Harvard Kennedy School, weighs in on the state of crypto regulation in the U.S., Massad said "our hand is going to be forced sooner or later on doing something on stablecoins" due to the actions of other jurisdictions. Plus, Massad reacts to stablecoins being a possible path forward for a united legislative effort.

Hul 12, 2023

Sasha Hodder, founder and managing partner of Hodder Law Firm, addresses Twitter's threat of legal action against Facebook parent company Meta. "If it's true that these people went over there and took their trade secrets that they learned for years at Twitter, and then handed it over to Facebook and built this program using the same source code, certainly there would be some remedies available Elon, under various trade secret laws," Hodder said.

Hul 10, 2023

Architect founder and CEO Brett Harrison weighs in on the future of spot bitcoin ETFs in the U.S. in the wake of Fidelity, WisdomTree, VanEck, ARK Invest, Galaxy/Invesco and BlackRock all filing applications over the past few weeks, “Is it arbitrary that the spot Bitcoin ETF cannot be approved when these other spot commodity ETFs have been approved in the past?” Harrison said.

Hul 3, 2023

BitGo CEO Mike Belshe told First Mover "we've got some pending" acquisitions and foresees "consolidation in the space over the next six months" after abandoning its takeover of rival Prime Trust. Belshe also envisions "the opportunity to bring in some adjacent businesses that really help bolster and strengthen us as a full-service custodian."

Hun 26, 2023

Amid rapid evolution in the digital asset ecosystem, Rajeev Bamra, SVP of DeFi and Digital Assets at Moody’s Investors Service, underscores the importance of regulatory compliance. "The recent investigations and regulatory actions highlight the importance of compliance and risk controls," Bamra says, warning that lack of progress could "diminish the attractiveness of the United States for firms and investors."

Hun 23, 2023