All right, lads and lasses, gather round! Gather round! Time to talk about some fascinating shenanigans across the pond involving Genesis Global Trading, our American mates who got into a spot of bother with New York’s financial watchdog, the Department of Financial Services (DFS).
You see, our friend over at the DFS, Superintendent Adrienne A. Harris, recently announced that Genesis Global Trading was found playing fast and loose with the system, violating virtual currency and cybersecurity regulations. Blimey, right? These missteps left their defences vulnerable to all sorts of unsavoury capers like underhanded activities and cyber threats.
And how did the DFS respond? With an £8 million fine! That’s going to leave a dent! This isn’t just a one-off either. Under Harris, the DFS has been pulling its weight in cracking down on virtual currency companies, with fines totalling over £140 million. That’s not a sum to sniff at!
This all came about because the DFS found that Genesis hadn’t met the necessary standards. And we’re not just talking about minor oversights, no, we’re talking about big stuff like anti-money laundering compliance, transaction monitoring, suspicious activity reporting, and the like. A sad case of not dotting their “i”s and crossing their “t”s, really.
Now, don’t go muddling Genesis Global Trading with Genesis Global Capital, will you? They are separate entities. Genesis Global Trading was the only one licensed by the DFS and it’s the firm we’re talking about here.
You know, it’s worth mentioning that the DFS is leading the charge in regulation of virtual currency. All over the world, from the heart of Europe to the bustling streets of Singapore, they are setting the precedent and creating a global regulatory framework. They’ve been working hard to maintain standards, even bringing in over 60 new experts under Harris’ initiative, some of them adept in the shadowy realms of cyber security, anti-money laundering laws and the likes.
They’ve been issuing some incredibly innovative guidelines and policy updates too. Stuff like guidance for USD-backed stablecoins, precautions to safeguard customers in case of a cryptocurrency insolvency, and the use of blockchain analytics tools. They’re leaving no stone unturned, these guys.
In fact, the DFS was the first to pull up Binance, causing Paxos to halt the minting of Paxos-issued BUSD. And they negotiated one of the biggest settlements in global cryptocurrency history with Coinbase, Inc. That’s making waves!
Sadly, for our friends at Genesis Global Trading, they’ve decided to fold their hand. They’re surrendering their BitLicense and are now in the process of winding up their operations. A cautionary tale, indeed!
All in all, it’s been quite a kerfuffle! But it just goes to show, in the wild west world of virtual currency, even with the glamour and the glitz, rules are rules, and they are there for a reason: to protect consumers and keep the bad fellas at bay.
by Parker Bytes
