Bittrex slams SEC ‘crusade,’ crypto firms flee Canada, BoE weighs limiting stablecoin payments

SEC sues Bittrex in continued enforcement push

Bittrex Global shot back after the US Securities and Exchange Commission slammed Bittrex with a lawsuit, accusing Bittrex of operating in the US as an unregistered entity.

“The SEC has initiated these proceedings despite the fact that Bittrex Global has no US customers, has never held itself out as doing business in the US or with US persons, and has taken pains to disclose to US persons that they are not permitted to use its exchange,” Bittrex Global said in a statement.

The SEC lawsuit “yet again, makes plain that the crypto markets suffer from a lack of regulatory compliance, not a lack of regulatory clarity,” said SEC Chair Gary Gensler, accusing Bittrex to have gone “to great lengths to evade” rules.

The suit named co-founder William Shihara and foreign subsidiary Bittrex Global GmbH as defendants.

Bittrex tweeted that it was “disappointed” with “Chairman Gensler’s larger crusade to drive cryptocurrency out of the United States.”

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Crypto firms Paxos and dYdX flee Canada amidst crypto crackdown

Crypto firms are making the tough decision whether or not to leave Canada following the country’s recent crackdown on digital assets.

Stablecoin issuer Paxos and decentralised exchange dYdX have opted to shutter activities in Canada, while major exchanges Coinbase and Binance have expressed plans to meet regulators’ requirements.

Canada has an older, more robust regulatory framework than its neighbour the US.

However, lawmakers have been rattled by revelations following the collapses of Terra/Luna and FTX in 2022.

As a result, they have upped their regulatory scrutiny, including the outright banning of margin and leverage trading on Canadian platforms.

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Bank of England looking to limit Stablecoin payments

The Bank of England considers if limits should be placed on stablecoin payments, according to Deputy Governor Jon Cunliffe.

In a Monday speech, Cunliffe outlined plans for the BoE to work with the Financial Conduct Authority later in the year to regulate stablecoins in the UK.

The speech comes ahead of parliament’s finalisation of the Financial Services and Markets bill, which will place stablecoins under existing payment rules.

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ETH flowing into DeFi protocols, leaving CeFi following Shapella upgrade

DeFi protocols appear to be benefiting from last week’s Ethereum Shapella upgrade, with large amounts of unstaked ETH moving into on-chain protocols.

Centralised exchanges are also seeing outflows of ETH as DeFi protocols such as Rocket Pool and Frax Ether offer different ways for ETH holders to invest, stake, and earn yield.

Major exchange Binance will allow users to unstake ETH from their own staking products on Wednesday, April 19, and liquid staking platform Lido will allow withdrawals in May.

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Micheal Saylor adds Bitcoin Lightning network to corporate email

Feel like sending a billionaire money? MicroStrategy co-founder Michael Saylor has added Bitcoin’s Lightning Network to his corporate email address — and according to him, users are already sending him BTC.

The Lightning Network is a layer 2 scaling solution for Bitcoin which allows bitcoin payments to occur on top of the blockchain, effectively creating faster and cheaper transactions.

Saylor tweeted following the conversion of his email, displaying several transactions, ostensibly from supporters, donating Bitcoin to his wallet address.

Crypto shows positive inflows for four consecutive weeks

Crypto asset flows showed positive results for the past four weeks, largely thanks to the recent Bitcoin rally.

In total, over $345 million has entered the space since mid-March, a month that saw rising prices despite regulatory pressure in the US and beyond.

With $104 million out of $114 million in inflows traced to Bitcoin last week, the asset continues to dominate the market.

New draft bill proposes two-year ban on ‘endogenously collateralized’ stablecoins — Unchained

SEC’s Bittrex lawsuit says ALGO, DASH are unregistered securities —The Defiant

Kyber Network warns liquidity providers of ‘potential vulnerability’ in Elastic platform — The Block