Top Crypto News: This Week’s Biggest Cryptocurrency Headlines

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  • Here are some of the top crypto news headlines this week.
  • Consensus 2022 kicked off earlier this week, opening up one of the biggest avenues for crypto policy talk among industry notables.
  • Binance (BNB-USD) sees its own investigation open, amid lofty claims from Reuters of the exchange’s role in crypto crime.
top crypto news - Top Crypto News: This Week’s Biggest Cryptocurrency Headlines

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The crypto market is in much better shape than it was a month ago. Indeed, it seems as though the asset class is finally reaching a turnaround point after it shaved $1 trillion from its total market capitalization. But although we are seeing the market slowly entering a regenerative state, uplifting news is hard to come by. Much of the top crypto news this week isn’t very positive.

Much of the week has been talk of policy and regulation for the market. Of course, justifying this talk are a slew of bearish turns of events: hacks, exposés and government investigations are sapping up much of the crypto news bandwidth. So while the market’s losses seem to be reaching a bottom floor, there is adversity yet to overcome. Here’s what to know about this week’s top crypto news.

Top Crypto News of the Week

Binance gets hit with accusations from SEC and Reuters

Binance (BNB-USD) is likely scrambling behind the scenes to get some good PR out there this week. Earlier, the exchange platform was accused by the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) over the launch of its BNB crypto in 2017. The agency claims that the coin is a security, rather than a currency; as such, it should have registered the initial coin offering (ICO) with the SEC prior to launch. Moreover, the company is spotlighted in a lengthy Reuters article accusing it of processing billions of dollars in illicit transactions. Specifically, it links the exchange to Russian darknet drug market Hydra and the North Korean state-funded hacker group Lazarus.

Optimism network facing more adversity after market maker’s severe mistake

The Optimism (OP-USD) network got some spotlight last week after its turbulent OP crypto airdrop. Yes, shame on the network for not properly accommodating the many investors looking to claim the token. However, the network’s suffering this week is no fault of its own. Optimism developers tried to distribute 20 million OP tokens to market maker Wintermute; however, Wintermute employees provided the wrong wallet address. The 20 million OP were sent to an unregistered wallet, which a bad actor quickly claimed for themselves. The thief now controls all of the tokens, giving them significant governance power over the nascent network.

Bored Ape hacker highlights security issues surrounding notable NFT project

Non-fungible token (NFT) collection Bored Ape Yacht Club is one of the largest in the world, with the collection totaling many billions of dollars. But while the project is certainly lucrative, it is proving less than secure. A hack over the past weekend is the third hack of the community this year. A thief was able to infiltrate the community’s Discord, take control of a community manager’s account, and use the account to implement a phishing scam. The assets stolen through this scam total nearly $360,000. Investors are criticizing the project for not taking proper measures to secure its official social media channels.

Exchange firings and rescissions show companies backed into a corner financially

The market leveling seen this year is starting to hit even the largest of players in the industry. That much is proven by the recent trend of firings among prominent exchange companies. Winklevoss twin-backed Gemini is one of the first to pare its workforce, firing 10% of its employees. Coinbase (NASDAQ:COIN), meanwhile, is stirring up even more trouble; leaked emails suggest that the company promised not to rescind offers to new hires, just days before it rescinded all of its offers to new hires.

Bipartisan crypto bill introduced to Congress is one of the most high-profile thus far

Perhaps the biggest crypto bill yet has just made it to the House floor this week. Authored by Republican Senator Cynthia Lummis, and sponsored by Democrat Senator Kirsten Gillibrand, the bill is one of the earliest bipartisan pieces of crypto legislature. The bill is particularly notable for removing much of the SEC’s authority over crypto assets. Instead, it grants the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) regulatory authority. It also looks to provide tax exemptions for small gains. Moreover, it sets the stage for further research into the environmental toll of the industry.

Consensus 2022 kicks off in Austin, TX

One of the biggest crypto conferences of the year is beginning this week in Texas. From Thursday through Sunday, some of the biggest names in the industry will be at Consensus 2022. The meeting is most notably a forum through which these influencers can talk about industry regulation and other major issues. Speakers at the event range from Senators Gillibrand and Lummis, to executives like Binance founder Chanpeng Zhao, to even free speech advocates like Edward Snowden. Panels from the event are already turning to news headlines. Investors can watch the event through and official stream on the CoinDesk website.

On the date of publication, Brenden Rearick did not have (either directly or indirectly) any positions in the securities mentioned in this article. The opinions expressed in this article are those of the writer, subject to the InvestorPlace.com Publishing Guidelines.


Article printed from InvestorPlace Media, https://investorplace.com/2022/06/top-crypto-news-this-weeks-biggest-cryptocurrency-headlines-10/.

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