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Donald Trump has nominated Paul Atkins, a pro-crypto former SEC commissioner, to replace Gary Gensler as SEC chair.
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United States President-elect Donald Trump nominated Paul Atkins to replace Gary Gensler as chair of the Securities and Exchange Commission.
According to Trump’s Dec. 4 announcement on Truth Social, the pro-crypto nominee has experience as a former SEC commissioner and is the founder and CEO of Patomak Global Partners, a risk-management consultancy.
Trump’s nomination of Atkins follows through on a promise to cryptocurrency voters made during his campaign that he would replace Gensler with a pro-crypto SEC chair.
Gensler doubled down on his anti-crypto rhetoric through early and mid-November despite the threat of removal and tendered his resignation on Nov. 21.
SEC defends amended suit against Binance, CZ over securities claims
On Dec. 5, the SEC responded to a motion to dismiss its amended lawsuit against crypto exchanges Binance and Binance.US and its former CEO, Changpeng Zhao, for allegedly operating an unregistered securities exchange.
The initial and continued allegation was based on the sale of 10 cryptocurrencies on the secondary market intermediated with the exchange’s native BNB (BNB) coin.
The SEC filed its amended complaint after Judge Amy Berman Jackson of the US District Court for the District of Columbia questioned the agency’s reasoning in a complaint that made the same allegation. The Binance exchanges and the former CEO filed a motion for its dismissal on Nov. 4.
Crypto compliance “no longer optional” under Australia’s new draft guidelines
On Dec. 4, the Australian Securities and Investment Commission released a consultation paper on proposed guidance for crypto that would prevent unlicensed crypto exchanges and firms from dealing with digital assets.
Kate Cooper, CEO of Australia and head of APAC at the Standard Chartered-backed crypto custodian Zodia Custody, informed Cointelegraph that it was a “wake-up call” and that compliance is “no longer optional for the industry.”
The proposed guidance would mandate crypto exchanges and businesses to obtain one or both Australian financial services licenses — the Australian Financial Services License (AFSL) and the Australian Market License.
Russia sentences Hydra market founder to life in prison
The founder of crypto mixing service Hydra has been sentenced to life in prison by a Russian court alongside 15 accomplices found guilty of organizing a criminal community and illegally producing and selling psychotropic substances and drugs.
Hydra founder Stanislav Moiseev’s accomplices received sentencing ranging from eight to 23 years by the Moscow Regional Court, according to a Dec. 2 statement from the Moscow Prosecutor’s office.
Moiseev also received a fine of $38,100, while his accomplices were hit with a combined fine of $152,400 for the activities of the mixing service, which managed over $5 billion worth of crypto during its operations.
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