Terraform Labs has agreed to a settlement with the United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) totaling around $4.47 billion. This agreement comes after a jury found Terraform Labs and its co-founder responsible for the collapse of the Terra ecosystem, resulting in the loss of $40 billion in investor assets.
Chris Amani, the CEO of Terraform Labs, has announced that the company will shut down its operations following the settlement. The company intends to sell off key projects within the Terra ecosystem and transfer control of the Terra blockchain to the community.
In a separate development, Ripple, a blockchain payments company, is facing a similar situation with the SEC. Ripple’s lawyers have requested the court to consider an appropriate civil penalty after the SEC settled with Terraform Labs. The SEC is seeking approximately $2 billion from Ripple in disgorgement, prejudgment interest, and civil penalties. Ripple is arguing for a penalty of no more than $10 million, but the SEC disagrees with their reasoning.
President Joe Biden has made new appointments for leadership positions at financial regulators, including the SEC, FDIC, Treasury Department, and Financial Stability Oversight Council. These appointments include Christy Goldsmith Romero, Kristin Johnson, and Caroline Crenshaw for various key roles.
Meanwhile, Turkey is planning to implement a 0.03% transaction tax on cryptocurrency trading as part of its efforts to regulate financial transactions more comprehensively. This move is in response to the country’s budget deficit and aims to address the impact of recent earthquakes in 2023.
In Australia, the Australian Securities Exchange (ASX) has approved its first spot Bitcoin ETF, which will be launched on June 20. The VanEck Bitcoin ETF (VBTC) will be issued by investment firm VanEck, marking a significant development in the country’s cryptocurrency market.