Venture Capital Firm hosts meeting with crypto regulators.

According to a Wall Street Journal report, Andreessen Horowitz hosted a private event in May that invited officials from the Treasury Department, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC), as well as cryptocurrency companies on the venture firm’s portfolio. Although these regulators and companies regularly meet in private and public conferences, the assembly of so many high-level government agencies that have influence over cryptocurrencies still made Andreessen Horowitz’s event “unusual,” according to regulatory experts cited by the Journal. It is reported he tried to persuade Washington officials to loosen up regulations on cryptocurrencies.

SEC reaches $10M settlement with crypto token issuers accused of fraud.

The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has settled charges with a cryptocurrency firm and its founders for allegedly operating an unregistered exchange and offering unregistered securities. The firm, Bitqyck Inc., and its founders Bruce Bise and Sam Mendez­, defrauded investors in securities offerings of two crypto tokens — Bitqy and BitqyM, the SEC said Thursday.

Maxine Waters still not happy with Facebook’s cryptocurrency project called Libra.

Democratic Congresswoman Maxine Waters says she remains concerned about Facebook’s proposed cryptocurrency Libra, after meeting officials in Switzerland, the Libra Association’s headquarters.

Waters, who is also the Chairwoman of the U.S. House Committee on Financial Services, issued a statement on Sunday, saying that Switzerland’s government officials were “helpful in understanding the status, complexity, and magnitude of Facebook’s plans.”

“My concerns remain with allowing a large tech company to create a privately controlled, alternative global currency.”

She added: “I look forward to continuing our Congressional delegation, examining these issues, money laundering, and other matters within the Committee’s jurisdiction.”

One of President Trump’s closest advisors said that crypto should be regulated like other electronic financial transactions through systems like SWIFT.

Pompeo shared his thoughts in an interview with CNBC on Tuesday, saying: “The same set of requirements that apply to things flowing through SWIFT or flowing through our financial institutions ought to apply to those transactions as well.”

Pompeo is not a fan of anonymous transactions and says it “would decrease security of the world.”

Image source: cryptonewsz.com

SEC issues cease-and-desist order against ICO Rating. Contains prominent team members from projects like NEO.

The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has issued a cease-and-desist order against ICO Rating, a cryptocurrency research and ratings firm. The commission is alleging that ICO Rating violated Section 17(b) of the Securities Act by publishing and giving publicity to reports “that describe securities in exchange for compensation received, directly or indirectly, from issuers, underwriters, or dealers, without disclosing its receipt of that compensation or the amount thereof.”

ICORating lists multiple team members from prominent cryptocurrency projects like NEO. No company members were charged in the SEC settlement.

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