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…

FTX Boss Ryan Salame’s Maryland Home Searched by FBI in Unexplained Raid

According to unnamed sources, the home of Ryan Salame, the former co-chief executive of FTX Digital Markets, was searched by the U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) on Thursday. The grounds for the raid remain unknown, and neither Salame nor his…

Coinbase Shares Wells Response, Challenges SEC’s Change in Attitude Towards Its Core Businesses

On April 27, Coinbase, the crypto exchange based in San Francisco, made public the disclosure of its response to the Wells notice it had received from the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) back in March. The company maintained that the…

Latam Insights — Alliance Against Inflation, BTG Pactual Launches Stablecoin, and Argentina Debuts New Dollar

Welcome to Latam Insights, a compendium of the most relevant crypto and economic development news from Latin America during the last week. In this issue: Latin American nations ink an agreement to reduce inflation, Brazil-based BTG Pactual launches its own dollar-pegged…

Multichain Wallet Bitkeep Raises $30 Million From Bitget to Strengthen Links Between Defi and Cefi

On Wednesday, the multichain wallet Bitkeep announced it raised $30 million from the crypto derivatives platform Bitget. Bitkeep now has an overall valuation of $300 million, with goals aimed at strengthening the links between decentralized finance (defi) and centralized finance (cefi)….

Silicon Valley Bank Faces Financial Woes as Stock Is Halted, Sells $21 Billion Bond Portfolio at a $1.8 Billion Loss

On March 10, 2023, market observers are discussing the troubles Silicon Valley Bank (SVB) faces, as the firm’s stock slid more than 60% in the last 24 hours. SVB was forced to sell a $21 billion bond portfolio at a $1.8…

Egyptian Fintech MNT-Halan Secures $400 Million in Funding, Valuation Rises to Over $1 Billion

Egyptian fintech MNT-Halan announced on Feb. 1 that it had raised over $340 million via debt and equity and it expects to raise an additional $60 million from leading international investors. The latest funding round sees MNT-Halan’s valuation rise to over…

Artificial Intelligence and Cryptocurrency: The Rise of AI-Focused Projects in 2023

Trends show that artificial intelligence (AI) will be a major topic in 2023, as data indicates a surge in interest. Since interest peaked and Microsoft invested billions into Chatgpt, demand for AI-focused cryptocurrency projects has risen dramatically. For example, the crypto…

US Government Seizes $700 Million in Assets From Disgraced FTX Co-Founder Sam Bankman-Fried

Federal prosecutors have seized $697 million in assets, mostly comprised of more than 56 million Robinhood shares worth $526 million, from FTX co-founder Sam Bankman-Fried. Court filings detailed that the U.S. government seized a series of bank accounts belonging to Bankman-Fried,…

Samsung Is Investing More Than $35 Million in Latam-Focused Metaverse Initiatives

Samsung, the Korean electronics behemoth, has revealed it is currently investing more than $35 million dollars in metaverse initiatives for the Latam audience. The objective behind this move is to help the brand attract and connect with younger audiences, as part…