Tag: Cryptocurrency

Cryptocurrency News: US Regulators Should ‘Maybe’ Ban Crypto + Digital Asset Anti-Money Laundering Act of 2022

Tina Marie (Ms. Cat)

Banking Committee Chair: US Regulators Should ‘Maybe’ Ban Crypto

The senator [Sherrod Brown] also pointed to numerous incidents to back up his claims, not just the recent collapse of FTX but also issues such as “the threat to national security from Korean cyber criminals to drug trafficking and human trafficking and financing of terrorism and all the things that can come out of crypto.”

…

Senator Elizabeth Warren unveiled a new bill governing cryptocurrencies earlier this month, dubbed the Digital Asset Anti-Money Laundering Act.

Warren’s bill would look to force crypto asset providers to offer audited financial statements and impose bank-like capital requirements more in line with what is expected of traditional financial institutions. The act would also give the SEC increased powers to regulate the asset class.

Get ready for the Digital Dollar!

Related:

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Shadowy US Spy Firm Promises To Surveil Crypto Users For the Highest Bidder

Tina Marie (Ms. Cat)

Leaked files reviewed by MintPress expose how intelligence services the world over can track cryptocurrency transactions to their source and therefore identify users by monitoring the movements of smartphone and Internet-of-Things (IoT) devices, such as Amazon Echo. The contents comprehensively detonate the myth of crypto anonymity, and have grave implications for individuals and states seeking to shield their financial activity from the prying eyes of hostile governments and authorities.

Shadowy US Spy Firm Promises To Surveil Crypto Users For the Highest Bidder

Previously:

Anomaly Six

Sheila Bair, Former Chair of the FDIC, Is Now an “Organizer/Director” of a Cayman Islands Crypto Company that Got a U.S. National Bank Charter Last Year

Tina Marie (Ms. Cat)1 Comment

On November 17, Sheila Bair, the former Chair of the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) during the financial crisis of 2008, went on CNBC to lament the lack of controls leading to the collapse of the crypto currency exchange, FTX. During the interview, Bair used the phrase “nobody looking behind the curtain.”

Sheila Bair, Former Chair of the FDIC, Is Now an “Organizer/Director” of a Cayman Islands Crypto Company that Got a U.S. National Bank Charter Last Year

Related (why no one was prosecuted for the financial crisis of 2007–2008 + another comment):

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Evidence Grows that Crypto and Federally-Insured Banks Are a Combustible Mixture

Tina Marie (Ms. Cat)

The fallout from the collapse of the crypto exchange FTX and its missing billions of dollars of customer funds has, finally, galvanized some members of Congress to push back against the swarms of crypto lobbyists whose activities are clearly impacting the safety and soundness of U.S. banks.

Evidence Grows that Crypto and Federally-Insured Banks Are a Combustible Mixture

Before FTX collapse, founder poured millions into pandemic prevention

Tina Marie (Ms. Cat)

Before FTX collapse, founder poured millions into pandemic prevention (archived)

The Bankman-Frieds’ family foundation in February also committed $5 million to ProPublica, a nonprofit news organization, to support reporting focused on pandemic preparedness and biosecurity, including one-third of the grant delivered upfront. The funding has subsidized several staff and articles — including a high-profile story with Vanity Fair about the possibility that covid leaked from a Chinese laboratory, which frustrated some of the Bankman-Frieds’ pandemic advisers who pointed to criticism of its translations of Mandarin Chinese. ProPublica was told last week that the remaining two-thirds of the grant is being paused, a spokesperson confirmed.

Source.
OpenSecrets.

What Is Behind Claim Joe Biden ‘Laundered’ Billions in Ukraine Aid via FTX?

Tina Marie (Ms. Cat)

What Is Behind Claim Joe Biden ‘Laundered’ Billions in Ukraine Aid via FTX?

Multiple tweets, posted between November 12-15, 2022, claim that Ukraine sent billions of dollars sourced from foreign aid to FTX, which was then sent back to the Democratic party.

…

Caught in the tailwinds of the scandal, many onlookers have pointed out the links between FTX and U.S. political parties, particularly the Democrats.

Bankman-Fried’s personal contributions to the Democrats have been public knowledge for some time, and he was the subject of a Politico profile in August 2022 that described him as the “newest megadonor,” but he has also made contributions to Republicans.

He tweeted on November 5, 2022, that he was “a significant donor in both D and R primaries. Supporting constructive candidates across the aisle to prevent pandemics and bring a bipartisan climate to DC. And working with them to support permissionless finance.”

“As part of this, @rsalame7926 [FTX Executive Ryan Salame] and I signed up campaigns to accept crypto; and gave some, including millions to Senate & House Republicans.”

…

Earlier this year, it was reported by The Intercept that FTX executive Ryan Salame started American Dream Federal Action, his own super PAC focused solely on electing Republicans, into which he invested millions of dollars.

Salame also contributed to the Republican Senate Leadership Fund and Congressional Leadership Fund. These donations were also reported, as per The Intercept article above, prior to the collapse of FTX.

The underlying implication among the claimants—that the Democratic Party was the sole beneficiary of donations stemming from FTX wealth—is provably false.

Related:

FTX’s SBF has made donations to Republican and Democrat parties

First, if there was any money laundering, both Democrats and Republicans were involved. Second, I don’t believe anything that Hal Turner says because he was an FBI Informant,

This Is Where Bankrupt FTX’s Money Went: $74 Million for Caribbean Real Estate; $59 Million to Politicians; Tens of Millions to Big Law, Celebrity Endorsements…

Tina Marie (Ms. Cat)

This Is Where Bankrupt FTX’s Money Went: $74 Million for Caribbean Real Estate; $59 Million to Politicians; Tens of Millions to Big Law, Celebrity Endorsements…

According to data at the Federal Election Commission, Bankman-Fried sluiced $36 million on the campaign coffers of Democrats during the latest campaign cycle. Ryan Salame, the Co-CEO of FTX Digital Markets, the Bahamian subsidiary of FTX, dumped $23 million into the campaign coffers of Republicans and a Super PAC he created to support them, American Dream Federal Action.

S.4760 was introduced by a Democrat and has both Democratic and Republican cosponsors. S.4356 was introduced by a Republican and has one Democratic cosponsor. FTX Digital Markets’ (Bahamian subsidiary of FTX) Co-CEO donated to Republicans, but all we’re hearing about is Sam Bankman-Fried’s donations to Democrats.

Screenshot from OpenSecrets
Screenshot from Ecosia search results

Exclusive: The Fugitive Who Tried to Spark a US-China War

Tina Marie (Ms. Cat)

Exclusive: The Fugitive Who Tried to Spark a US-China War

Guo’s intelligence handlers, Ma and Zhou, were allies of Ling Jihua, who was former President Hu Jintao’s chief of staff. The crucial link between Ma and Ling was provided by Sun Zhengcai, the former party secretary of Chongqing, also a Politburo member.

As we’ve seen, Zhou, Ling, and Sun all ended up in jail – targets of Xi’s anti-corruption campaign. But, remarkably, not Guo – who according to former Chinese government officials was Ma’s MSS agent in charge of special ops overseas.

Guo’s job in 2012 was to sabotage the ascension of Xi by spreading an array of fake news in China and among the Chinese diaspora. That failed.

Nonetheless, Guo remained at work as an MSS agent until at least October 2021, according to well-placed Chinese sources. Considering his recent activities and the fact he was lavishly embraced by prominent US China hawks, it appears that his assignment was to cause maximum damage to US-China relations, arguably derailing them to a point of no return.

Steve Bannon & Guo Wengui.

Links behind paywalls (all but a few that I weren’t archived):

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America’s Failed Fascist Coup…Steve Bannon’s High Treason With Chinese Patron and Why the U.S. Authorities Ignore

Tina Marie (Ms. Cat)

America’s Failed Fascist Coup… Steve Bannon’s High Treason With Chinese Patron and Why the U.S. Authorities Ignore

As for Bannon’s financial patron, Guo Wengui, he is now officially declared bankrupt but still living in the United States. Given his role in sponsoring a failed coup in the U.S., one would think that the authorities might be considering extraditing him to China where he is wanted on serious corruption charges. That doesn’t appear to be a likely outcome. Why not? It seems that Guo’s anti-China views and broadcasts to the Chinese-American diaspora are too useful for the U.S. establishment in pursuing its hostile policy towards Beijing.

Washington’s hostile agenda against China (dressed up as a purported security threat) is evidently a much bigger priority than defending its own democratic institutions.

Wrong GTV, I believe.

Related:

A Fugitive Chinese Mogul Spent Big to Overturn the 2020 Election

The new information shows that Guo played a previously unreported role in financing the promotion of false election fraud claims in the immediate aftermath of Trump’s defeat. Guo’s spending on these efforts was not against the law. But Guo—a divisive figure with extensive legal problems—had ample reason to seek Trump’s favor. Guo is pursuing political asylum in the United States. If denied, he could face deportation and probable imprisonment in China. He was then, and remains, under investigation by US federal prosecutors for possible fraud and other malfeasance. Since 2020, the US Security and Exchange Commission has also been investigating his role in what it has said was an illegal public offering by a Guo media company. The SEC forced three companies linked to Guo to pay a $539 million settlement last year. According to two sources with knowledge of the probe, the commission is continuing to investigate Guo personally.

Guo has also been accused in lawsuits filed by former business partners and Chinese dissidents of working as a Chinese agent while posing as a CCP critic. No court has ruled on the legitimacy of those allegations, and Guo denies them. He denies all allegations of fraud and other wrongdoing, as well.

Who is Guo Wengui?