On Sunday, Congressman Tom Emmer demanded that SEC Chairman Gary Gensler testify before Congress regarding his approach to regulating cryptocurrency. The Democrat from Minnesota claimed that the SEC had fallen short in gathering the data required to avoid tragedies like the $32 billion bankruptcy of the bitcoin exchange FTX. He argued that the SEC has consistently shown a lack of clarity on its strategy and has yet to offer insightful analysis.
Celebrities are accused of breaking state and federal laws by promoting Bored Ape Yacht Club NFTs while hiding their financial ties to the yacht club’s parent firm. Oseary, also listed as a founder in the lawsuit, invested in MoonPay at an early stage. Numerous of the suit’s famous clients, including Justin Bieber, Curry, Hilton, Kevin Hart, Jimmy Fallon, and Gwyneth Paltrow, are investors in MoonPay, which has a current valuation of $3.4 billion. According to the lawsuit, Yuga’s longtime agent for Madonna, Guy Oseary, urged his wide-ranging celebrity network to publicly support Yuga’s products, including Bored Ape NFTs, in exchange for payments from Yuga that were secretly sent through MoonPay. The lawsuit’s 100-page filing essentially only conveys one story, despite its ten claims, which vary from violating federal securities laws to violating California’s consumer protection laws. It details an elaborated alleged scheme that Hollywood’s elite reportedly planned to boost the value of Bored Apes through a flood of celebrity endorsements while secretly benefiting everyone involved through a covert payments scam laundered through a well-known cryptocurrency company.
As chairman and CEO of investment bank Goldman Sachs, David Solomon (DJ D-Sol stage name) demonstrated this week that he’s stuck in the past with a Wall Street Journal opinion piece he published titled: “Blockchain Is Much More Than Crypto.” The article was released shortly after Goldman announced it would spend “tens of millions” on discounted crypto investments. A 100 million euro, two-year digital bond for the European Investment Bank was arranged by Goldman Sachs using a private blockchain, and settlement took place in 60 seconds instead of the usual five days.
