SEC Probes First Republic Bank Executives for Insider Trading; Lawmakers Dump Bank’s Shares Before Collapse

After the second largest bank failure in history, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) is reportedly investigating First Republic Bank executives for allegedly engaging in insider trading. Two sources have claimed that the securities regulator is scrutinizing the bank’s executives…

Crypto Exchange Coinbase Faces Legal Action Over Biometric Data Collection

The Nasdaq-listed cryptocurrency exchange Coinbase has been accused of “wrongfully” profiting from its users’ facial and fingerprint scans. “Coinbase collects, stores, possesses, otherwise obtains, uses, and disseminates its users’ biometric data to, amongst other things, further enhance Coinbase and its online…

Pacwest Stock Plummets Over 35% Following Release of Q1 Earnings Report Amidst Turmoil in Banking Industry

Following the acquisition of First Republic Bank by JPMorgan Chase, several regional banks such as Pacwest and Western Alliance experienced a significant drop in their stock prices. On Tuesday afternoon, all four major U.S. benchmark stock indexes are in decline as…

Chip Giant Intel Abandons Bitcoin ASIC Production

After announcing the production of bitcoin application-specific integrated circuits (ASICs), Intel, the world’s largest semiconductor chip manufacturer by revenue, appears to be abandoning its blockchain chip production. On Tuesday, a spokesperson for the chip manufacturer explained that Intel has “end-of-lifed the…

ECB President Lagarde Warns of ‘Major Disaster’ If US Defaults on Debt Obligations

There is a lot of discussion lately about the U.S. government’s debt ceiling and whether Congress will act before defaulting. In a recent interview, Christine Lagarde, the president of the European Central Bank (ECB), said she is confident the U.S. can…

Meta Winding Down Support for NFTs on Facebook, Instagram

U.S. tech giant Meta is giving up on operations with non-fungible tokens (NFTs) amid ongoing turbulence in the crypto space. The company allowed creators to share digital collectibles on its leading social media platforms last year. Meta Platforms Cutting Off Support…

USDC Stablecoin Nears Parity With USD After Fed’s Bailout Announcement

The stablecoin USDC has nearly regained parity with the U.S. dollar after rising just above $0.99 on March 12, 2023, at 7:20 p.m. Eastern Time. The stablecoin jumped back to the $0.99 range after the U.S. Federal Reserve revealed it would…

Report: Silicon Valley Bank Under FDIC Auction as Calls for Bailout Grow

The U.S. Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) began an auction process for Silicon Valley Bank (SVB) late Saturday night, according to reports. Final bids are due by Sunday afternoon. Unnamed sources indicate that the FDIC is seeking to close the deal…

Extreme Market Turbulence: Critics Call Warren’s Silvergate Take ‘Terribly Misinformed,’ SVB Collapses, Vitalik’s Token Sell-Off Moves Markets, and More — Week in Review

It’s been a turbulent week in finance with the so-called crypto-friendly Silvergate Bank announcing its liquidation, U.S. Senator Elizabeth Warren blaming the event on “crypto risk,” and individuals on social media pointing out that Warren is “terribly misinformed.” Additionally, U.S. Regulators…

Google Cloud to Become Tezos Validator and Offer Validation Services

Google Cloud, the remote services division of the software giant, has announced a partnership with blockchain company Tezos to become a block validator (“baker”) in its network. As part of this partnership, Google Cloud will also offer Tezos validation services through…