The CEO of the Nasdaq-listed cryptocurrency exchange Coinbase, Brian Armstrong, commented on the enforcement action against Ripple Labs by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) Monday. Referencing a Forbes article titled “The crypto uprising the SEC didn’t see coming,” he tweeted:
The Ripple case seems to be going better than expected. Meanwhile, the SEC is realizing that attacking crypto is politically unpopular (because it harms consumers).
“The irony is that the people they are supposedly protecting are the ones attacking them,” the Coinbase boss added.
Ripple CEO Brad Garlinghouse has made a similar statement regarding the SEC. Noting that the regulator is refusing to provide a clear framework for crypto, he said: “Instead of working with the industry, the SEC is using their meetings with companies as lead generation for their enforcement actions.” He added that many XRP holders have filed a class-action lawsuit against the SEC, emphasizing, “These are the exact people the SEC is supposed to be protecting.”
Several people on Twitter expressed surprise to see Armstrong tweeting a positive comment about Ripple. Many took his statement as a bullish sign that the price of XRP will soon pump.
Some people suspect that Coinbase may be relisting XRP soon. “Sounds like Brian Armstrong and Coinbase should be getting ready to relist XRP,” one person tweeted. However, some are still skeptical, arguing that Coinbase will not relist XRP until the lawsuit is over. Coinbase delisted XRP in January, soon after the SEC filed a lawsuit against Ripple Labs and its executives, CEO Garlinghouse and co-founder Chris Larsen.
The Nasdaq-listed company itself recently ran into trouble with the securities watchdog when it tried to launch a lending program. The exchange discussed the product with the SEC but was threatened with legal action if it proceeded with the launch. This caused Coinbase to shelve the product.
What do you think about Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong’s comment on Ripple? Let us know in the comments section below.
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German authorities are auctioning bitcoin seized from the darknet in cybercrime cases. The auction website reportedly experienced high traffic to bitcoin listings, with 4,000 new registered users over the past few days.
The Justice Ministry of North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany’s largest state by population, announced Monday an auction of bitcoin seized from criminal cases.
Justiz Auktion, the auction website for the ministry, experienced high traffic to the bitcoin listings Monday after the prosecutors began listing the cryptocurrency on the site, Bloomberg reported, adding that the auction platform had 4,000 new registered users in the last few days.
The bitcoins were seized in cybercrime and drug trafficking cases, mostly from the darknet, the publication conveyed. Prosecutors in Germany cannot sell seized cryptocurrencies on the market; they are required to auction them like any other seized stolen goods.
The Ministry of Justice was quoted as saying:
Each euro that’s extracted from criminal networks helps weakens them.
The auction site currently has 15 listings for bitcoin. One is for 10 BTC, three are for 1 BTC, six are for 0.5 BTC, and five are for 0.1 BTC.
According to the auction website, the seized bitcoins are stored on official paper wallets at the Central and Contact Point Cybercrime North Rhine-Westphalia (ZAC NRW). ZAC NRW is the central contact point for investigative authorities, particularly public prosecutors and police authorities, in North Rhine-Westphalia in the area of computer crime.
The website explains that bitcoin transfers will take place by “personally handing over the paper wallet including the private key.” It adds that if an electronic transfer to a bitcoin address of the winning bidder is preferred, it will be done “after video identification at the expense of the buyer at the usual transaction fees.”
The handover or transfer will take place only after the purchase price has been received by the Cologne Public Prosecutor’s Office. The process can take 2 working days.
Would you buy seized bitcoin from governments? Let us know in the comments
Credit to @ news.bitcoin.com
