Month: March 2021

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Article: Coinbase pays $6.5M to settle government investigation into false reporting

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Coinbase pays $6.5M to settle government investigation into false reporting

DUNCAN RILEY, 21 March 2021

Cryptocurrency exchange Coinbase Global Inc. has been fined $6.5 million by the U.S. Commodity Future Trading Commision to settle allegations that it undertook reckless false, misleading or inaccurate reporting as well as so-called wash trading between 2015 and 2018.

Along with the fine, announced Friday, Coinbase is also subject to stop any further violations of the Commodity Exchange Act or CFTC regulations.

Between January 2015 and September 2018, Coinbase is said to have operated two automated trading programs, Hedger and Replicator, that generated orders that at times matched one another on the GDAX electronic trading platform operated by the company. Although the GDAX rules did disclose that Coinbase was trading on the GDAX it failed to disclose that Coinbase was operating more than one trading program and trading through multiple accounts. Continue reading “Article: Coinbase pays $6.5M to settle government investigation into false reporting”

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Article: Coinbase Expected to Pay $ 6.5 Million Fine Following Market Manipulation Allegations

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Coinbase Expected to Pay $ 6.5 Million Fine Following Market Manipulation Allegations

EXPLICA.CO, 20 March 2021

The Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) issued on Friday (19) a request to file and resolve charges against Coinbase, the San Francisco, California-based exchange, for “reckless, false, misleading or inaccurate reports, as well as negotiations for employee laundering in the GDAX (current Coinbase Pro) of the Coinbase platform. ”The order requires the broker to pay a civil penalty of US $ 6.5 million (R $ 35.69 million) and stop any other violation of the Commodity Exchange Act or CFTC regulations, as charged.

“Reporting false, misleading or inaccurate transaction information undermines the integrity of digital asset pricing,” said Chief Inspector Vincent McGonagle. “This enforcement action sends the message that the Commission will act to safeguard the integrity and transparency of such information.”

Understand the case:

According to the prosecution, between January 2015 and September 2018, Coinbase “recklessly delivered false, misleading or inaccurate reports on transactions in digital assets, including Bitcoin, on the GDAX e-commerce platform that it operated.” During these 3 years, Coinbase operated two trading bots, Hedger and Replicator, which generated orders that sometimes coincided with each other. The GDAX trading rules specifically disclosed that Coinbase operated on GDAX, but did not disclose that Coinbase operated more than one trading program and was effectively generating volume across multiple accounts.

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Web: Is Global and Mail Compromised and Helping Criminal Naked Short Selling by Anson Funds?

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Web: Is Global and Mail Compromised and Helping Criminal Naked Short Selling by Anson Funds?

u/stewartoregon, Reddit, 11 hours ago

Is there a correlation between negative articles in the Globe and Mail and Anson Fund’s short positions?

To whom it may concern,

I have started looking for articles on companies that Anson Funds apparently holds a large short position in (using the list from a previous post on BurnedByAnsonFunds) and began noticing The Globe and Mail seems to have critical articles about many of them…

Continue reading “Web: Is Global and Mail Compromised and Helping Criminal Naked Short Selling by Anson Funds?”

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Article: NatWest money laundering case linked to second criminal trial, prosecutors say

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NatWest money laundering case linked to second criminal trial, prosecutors say

Iain Withers, 19 March 2021

LONDON (Reuters) – Criminal money laundering charges against British state-backed bank NatWest are linked to a separate case against 13 individuals based in cities across the country, prosecutors have told Reuters.

Britain’s financial regulator, the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA), started a criminal action against NatWest on Tuesday, making it the first bank to be charged under a 2007 money laundering law.

The FCA accused NatWest of failing to monitor suspect activity by a client that deposited about 365 million pounds($500 million) in its accounts over five years, of which 264 million was in cash.

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Article: Schwab Must Face Suit Over Short-Sell Trading Glitch

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Schwab Must Face Suit Over Short-Sell Trading Glitch

Melissa Angell, 19 March 2021

A California federal judge ruled Friday that Charles Schwab & Co. must face a proposed class action brought by one of its retail customers challenging an alleged bug in its trading system that prevented the customer from exiting his short position.

U.S. Magistrate Judge Laurel Beeler wrote in her 14-page order that Robert Wright adequately stated a breach of contract claim, finding that factual issues about Schwab’s control of the alleged glitch and Wright’s reaction to the incident preclude dismissal. Continue reading “Article: Schwab Must Face Suit Over Short-Sell Trading Glitch”

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Article: The future of bitcoin with Max Keiser, plus the US’s bombing addiction, and surveillance capitalism

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The future of bitcoin with Max Keiser, plus the US’s bombing addiction, and surveillance capitalism

RT NEws,  19 March 2021

Max Keiser is Lee Camp’s guest this week, for a conversation about bitcoin. Keiser argues that bitcoin has the potential to change the world in a progressive direction by replacing government-controlled fiat currencies and democratizing the economy. They discuss the future of bitcoin, market manipulation by the oligarchs at the top of the system, how cryptocurrencies can make imperialist wars irrelevant, and the real inflation rate.

After that, Lee explores the results of a new study by the women’s peace organization CODEPINK, which found that, over the past 20 years, the US has dropped an average of 46 bombs a day.

Finally, Natalie McGill reports on the surveillance system Flock, which is similar to the Amazon Ring, but offers extra, creepier methods of invading the privacy of your neighbors. She also looks into a new web search engine from the browser Brave, which allows you to surf anonymously, block third-party vendors from scraping your info, and prioritize independent news sites in search results.

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Article: Why Is Everyone (Still) Talking About GameStop Stock?

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Why Is Everyone (Still) Talking About GameStop Stock?

Keith Noonan, 19 March 2021

GameStop (NYSE:GME) has to be 2021’s most interesting stock. The video game retailer started to pick up momentum ahead of the launch of new game consoles from Sony and Microsoft last year, and over the past two months, short-squeeze mania and other big developments have led to incredible swings for the the company’s share price.

GameStop’s stock climbed as high as $483 per share during the height of short-squeeze mania. While the stock briefly returned to trading in the range of $50 per share, it’s bounced back once again and traded at $201.75 at Thursday’s close. That price represents a 971% increase year to date and a 4,715% increase from the $4.19 share price the stock had one year ago.

Why is GameStop surging, and what comes next?

How did we get here?
The start of GameStop’s improbable, supercharged rally can be traced back to the introduction of Sony’s PlayStation 5 console and Microsoft’s Xbox Series X and Series S platforms in 2020. New console launches have historically led to a cyclical upcycle for GameStop’s business and stock performance.

Pricing momentum created by the new hardware launches was further intensified by news that activist investor and Chewy co-founder Ryan Cohen was amassing a large stake in the company and would advocate for pushing the business toward an e-commerce focus.

From there, Reddit’s WallStreetBets group began championing the stock as a potential target for a huge short squeeze. Social media users noticed that enormous short interest had amassed against GameStop — and that a massive run for the stock could potentially be generated through a bit of favorable news and coordinated buying.

Prior to the first major short squeeze, GameStop had about 50 million shares of its stock outstanding. At the same time, roughly 70 million shares of the company’s stock had been sold short — meaning that investors had placed bets against more shares of the company’s stock than actually existed.

Short interest exceeding the company’s actual outstanding share count was made possible through a practice called naked short selling, which allows bets to be placed against shares that haven’t actually been borrowed. WallStreetBets members wound up being right about the squeeze, and GameStop bulls notched incredible gains as short-sellers were forced to buy back the stock at elevated levels in hopes of avoiding massive losses.

A combination of continued short-squeeze momentum and indications that the company would be aggressively pursuing its pivot to online retail have added new chapters to the story of GameStop’s incredible rally, and it currently stands as one of the best-performing stocks of the year. Cohen has been appointed chairman of a new committee to accelerate the business’s online retail push, a bounce for the stock has once again attracted new short interest, and the GameStop saga rages on.

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Article: Prosecutor: Alleged money launderer Ian Freeman holds $1.6 million in Bitcoins

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Prosecutor: Alleged money launderer Ian Freeman holds $1.6 million in Bitcoins

Mark Hayward New Hampshire Union Leader, 19 March 2021

CONCORD — Free-Keene leader Ian Freeman has accessed $1.66 million worth of Bitcoins and had $178,000 in cash in his safe when his house was raided by federal authorities this week, prosecutors said on Friday.

Federal prosecutors also said Freeman has access to gold, silver, and possibly other liquid assets and cryptocurrencies. Freeman — who faces eight felony charges including money laundering, wire fraud and conspiracy — could tap those assets and use them to flee if a judge releases him on bail, prosecutors warned.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Georgina MacDonald voiced those concerns during an hour-plus bail hearing streamed live Friday from U.S. District Court in Concord.

The hearing ended with Judge Magistrate Andrea Johnstone deferring a decision and promising a written order as soon as possible.

On Tuesday, the FBI arrested Freeman and five others who are part of the libertarian Free Keene movement on charges related to a Bitcoin-dollar exchange system they ran through churches they were closely affiliated with.

Freeman is the only one to face charges of money laundering and operating a continuing financial crimes enterprise, which call for mandatory minimum sentences of 10 years.

MacDonald termed Freeman a sophisticated cybercriminal.

Close to 70 people, including media, FBI agents and some with cryptic names, logged on for the hearing. Freeman participated via video feed from Merrimack County jail.

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Article: Current Attempts To Define Regulator Roles in Cryptocurrency Enforcement Actions

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Current Attempts To Define Regulator Roles in Cryptocurrency Enforcement Actions

Kenneth M. Breen and Phara A. Guberman, 19 March 2021

On March 5, 2021, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York charged John McAfee and his former employee, Jimmy Gale Watson, with conspiracy, fraud, and money laundering charges in connection with his cryptocurrency activities—specifically McAfee’s Twitter statements touting various cryptocurrencies and his false and misleading statements concerning personal investments or other involvement with those same cryptocurrencies. The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) have filed civil charges against McAfee and his former colleague in separate parallel actions, each based on a different aspect of McAfee’s alleged scheme. This case and the expected upcoming congressional task force on cryptocurrencies are likely to provide the market with more clarity on how coins and projects will be treated in investigations, including whether they can be treated as securities or commodities and the relative roles of the SEC and CFTC.

In the McAfee case, the first alleged part of the scheme is a pump-and-dump. A pump-and-dump scheme generally involves a party or entity acquiring a position in a financial instrument and then artificially inflating the value of that instrument before selling at an inflated price. In this case, McAfee and his team allegedly bought large quantities of various less popular than Bitcoin but publicly traded cryptocurrencies, such as Dogecoin, Reddcoin, and Verge. McAfee, a public figure of sorts because of his anti-virus software and social media following, then publicly endorsed and recommended a particular cryptocurrency on Twitter. When the value of that cryptocurrency increased, McAfee and his team sold their investments, earning a cumulative profit of approximately $2 million. According to the indictment, McAfee liquidated many of his cryptocurrency holdings through New York Stock-Exchange-based companies, implicating various securities laws.

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Article: UPDATE 1-Italian court sentences Popolare Vicenza managers to jail over bank’s collapse

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UPDATE 1-Italian court sentences Popolare Vicenza managers to jail over bank’s collapse

Reuters Staff, 19 March 2021

VICENZA, Italy, March 19 (Reuters) – An Italian judge on Friday sentenced four executives of former cooperative bank Popolare di Vicenza to jail for market manipulation and obstruction of regulators following the 2017 collapse of the Veneto-based lender.

Reading out the sentences at the end of a trial lasting some two years, judge Debora De Stefani said the court had sentenced former President Gianni Zonin to six-and-a-half years in prison.

Former executive Emanuele Giustini was given a jail term of six years and three months, while former managers Paolo Marin and Andrea Piazzetta were both given six-year prison terms.

Lawyers of the four convicted managers could not be reached for comment.

Italy liquidated Popolare di Vicenza and regional peer Veneto Bank in June 2017, selling their good assets for 1 euro to Intesa Sanpaolo, while state-owned loan manager AMCO took on 18 billion euros ($21.42 billion) in troubled debts from the two regional banks.

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Article: GameStop stock surge lingo: Here’s what Reddit’s WallStreetBets vocabulary means

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GameStop stock surge lingo: Here’s what Reddit’s WallStreetBets vocabulary means

Katie Conner, 19 March 2021

Reddit’s community, WallStreetBets, is still assisting in the rise of GameStop’s stock, which is currently sitting at $272 per share and even hit an all-time high last week. Reddit users are battling it out with Wall Street to keep GameStop’s stock prices soaring while Wall Street expected a crash. Small investors are using Reddit communities to drive “meme stocks,” causing short sales and https://www.investopedia.com/terms/s/shortsqueeze.asp. And it’s not just GameStop. Other companies, like AMC and Nokia, have also been affected by the coordinated surge.

No, this doesn’t mean you should necessarily drop everything and fully invest in the stock of the moment. Some are calling the market manipulation a “Ponzi scheme,” and the stock price will likely even out once the hullabaloo dies down.

In fact, broker TD Ameritrade restricted trading of the GameStop and AMC stocks on Jan. 26 and continues to post an advisory note to clients about market volatility. Trading app Robinhood followed suit on Jan. 27 in response to the runaway growth — the company got itself into trouble by restricting stock trades and will be closely reviewed by the SEC (It’s currently limiting buys on AMC and GameStop stocks). The White House has said it’s monitoring the situation.

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Article: UPDATED | Lordstown Motors now facing class-action lawsuit as stock slips another 14 percent

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UPDATED | Lordstown Motors now facing class-action lawsuit as stock slips another 14 percent

Justin Dennis, 18 March 2021

“I don’t think anyone thought that we had actual orders, right? That’s just not the nature of this business,” Lordstown Motors CEO Steve Burns said during an interview this morning on CNBC’s Squawk Box.

LORDSTOWN — Lordstown Motors Corp. is now facing a class action lawsuit from investors alleging executives delivered misleading statements about the company and committed securities violations.

Attorney Drew Legando of Cleveland law firm Merriman, Legando, Williams and Klang LLC filed the suit Monday in Ohio’s Northern District federal court on behalf of Lordstown Motors shareholder Matthew Rico.

Rico purchased 24 shares of Lordstown Motors (NASDAQ: RIDE) between Feb. 18 and March 5, paying in total about $540, according to a shareholder certification filed alongside the complaint. The stock has lost nearly half its value since Rico’s first purchase, which he made just a week after the stock had reached a nearly five-month peak.

At a 47 percent loss, Rico’s shares lost about $250 in value, more than half of which was lost after the short-seller firm Hindenburg Research published a damaging report on the state of the company and accused executives of misleading investors.

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THE DOLLAR HAS NO INTRINSIC VALUE : DO YOUR ASSETS?