Tag: ceo

Bakkt Announces the Promotion of the Company’s Former Chief Product Officer to CEO

The futures exchange company, Bakkt, also owned by the Intercontinental Exchange, has replaced its CEO, and promoted Mike Blandina, from his previous position as Chief Product Officer. The announcement was through an official press release, and Blandina has already begun the transition into the new role since Dec. 20th. This change of position was vital as the company’s former CEO, Kelly Loeffler is due to commence her appointed position of United States senate. Blandina’s experience is vast as he has previously worked with giant firms such as Google and PayPal.

ICE’s chairman has expressed confidence in the newly appointed CEO and believes he will be ‘responsible for steering the company on its road to excellence.’ To quote accurately, “As CEO, Mike will chart Bakkt’s strategic direction, payment products, and markets, as well as overseeing the regulatory and financial performance of the company. His more than 25 years of experience across product, engineering, strategy, and operations will continue to serve us well.” 

In its early stages, Bakkt was facing slow growth but since, has quickly regained itself and set new records. In the press release, it also states how at present, Bakkt has reached 6,226 Bitcoin futures contracts, showing 25% more growth than its records. 

Image via Shutterstock

HSBC Chief Legal Officer Stuart Levey Gets Appointed as Libra’s New CEO, Expert in Dealing with Regulatory Backlash

The Libra Association appointed its first CEO, Stuart Levey, the Chief Legal Officer at HSBC Holdings. Levey will be overseeing the Libra digital currency and payments system and holds a strong compliance track record and is expected to join Libra in the coming months. However, HSBC has not shown the same upright compliance record.

Levey is also expected to “combine technology innovation with robust compliance and regulatory framework.” The Facebook-led project has invited scrutiny from global regulators, with concerns over its threat to national sovereignty with its potential launch. Many of Libra’s original members, including Vodafone, PayPal, and Visa have also chosen to leave the association. 

Being a Harvard graduate and having spent more than ten years in the US government departments, Levey served seven years as the Under Secretary of the Treasury for Terrorism and Financial Intelligence during the George W. Bush and Barack Obama administrations. 

“Technology provides us with the opportunity to make it easier for individuals and businesses to send and receive money, and to empower more than a billion people who have been left on the sidelines of the financial system, all with robust controls to detect and deter illicit financial activity. I look forward to working closely with governments, regulators, and all of our stakeholders to realize this vision,” said Levey.

HSBC invited Levey onboard to address the scandal HSBC faced after the company was found to have laundered money for a drug cartel in Mexico totaling to $881 million. HSBC was fined for its malpractices for a whopping $1.9 billion.

The digital currency initiative was announced in 2018, which took the world by storm with its controversial project. With the ICO bubble having expanded exponentially in 2017, the public started to become aware of cryptocurrencies. Digital currency and cryptocurrency were still seen in the light of being scandalous, illicit, and unfamiliar.

Taking the regulated road

After surviving months of intense backlash by global regulators, the project had been called to a halt. The Libra Network will no longer be permissionless and will be adding comprehensive anti-money laundering and combatting the financing of terrorism protocols, to be able to enforce sanctions over coins in the network and to be able to handle requests from law enforcement.

Libra has applied for a payment system license from the Swiss Financial Markets Supervisory Authority (FINMA), to be able to allow the Libra payments system to be used publicly. One of the major updates of the Libra whitepaper is that it explicitly mentions the limits of what users are able to do on the network, including balance and transaction limits, and the network would only be accessible to regulated crypto firms in the beginning.

Binance believes Libra could be the SpaceX of the payment industry

Binance took a closer look at Libra’s recent whitepaper update and concluded that Facebook’s project could potentially disrupt the payment industry. Taking into account that the Libra Association recently applied to the Swiss Financial Market Supervisory Authority FINMA for a payment system license, Binance stated that such a payment system may very likely qualify as being “systemically important.” By applying for the payment system license, the Libra payments system would be accessible to the public.

Technology entrepreneur Elon Musk, the founder of SpaceX, was mentioned in the report as an industry leader in the space sector due to its significant step forward in improving speed for rocket journeys.

Image via Shutterstock

Coinbase CEO Avoids Mainstream Media, Prefers YouTube, Podcasts and Blogs

Brian Armstrong the Coinbase CEO, has joined the list of cryptocurrency executives who prefer to leverage their own blogs and platforms to distribute information to the media, as opposed to direct contact with any journalists.

Coinbase CEO, Brian Armstrong noted in a tweet that company leaders seem increasingly unwilling to engage with the mainstream media and prefer to use social media platforms like Youtube, Twitter, and their own blogs.

Coinbase CEO Circumvents Mainstream Media

According to the tweet discussion, Armstrong does believe that there are credible journalists in the media and that mainstream mediums still fulfill ‘an important role in society’. However, he asserts that he believes the best strategy is to build a network of a handful of respected journalists and use modern social platforms the majority of the time.

Armstrong weighed the value of going on a national TV program to promote his site, which he claims may generate 100 or so visitors; versus specialist tech publications which tend to drive traffic into the thousands.

Armstrong Not Alone as Crypto CEOs Show Support

Armstrong’s post did instigate a small discussion on Twitter regarding how other cryptocurrency executives and CEOs try to navigate the world of journalism and media communications.

Kraken’s co-founder Jesse Powell was onboard with Armstrong suggesting that too many journalists are out for a sensational click-bait headline. Powell said, “It’s a high risk, low reward relative to publishing your own content or doing a live podcast/video, which can’t be distorted.”

In contrast Catherine Coley, the CEO of Binance.US responded to the tweet in support of the ‘amazing storyteller’ in the mainstream media. 

 I actually believe in the press and how important it is. Yes, we can speak directly to current users now, but for advancing the industry it’s more about telling stories through amazing storytellers. We will continue to support them, especially our fearless crypto reporters.

Image via TechCrunch

Ripple CEO Brad Garlinghouse Criticizes India’s New Bill Seeking to Ban Crypto Trading

Ripple CEO Brad Garlinghouse has posted a tweet criticizing India’s government’s renewed efforts to introduce a law to ban cryptocurrency trading.

Garlinghouse tweeted that he is completely disappointed by the government’s flip-flop policies on cryptocurrency, which would be harmful to the crypto industry. He further claims that India has one of the biggest underbanked and unbanked populations in the world.

War on Cryptocurrency Continues

On September 15, India’s federal cabinet drafted a new bill that would ban trading of any virtual currencies in the country. The news has caused a bit of worry and confusion within the crypto community, with many key players speaking against the move.

India has been opposing the cryptocurrencies for many years. In 2018, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) imposed a banking ban on cryptocurrency exchanges. Supreme Court of India lifted the ban on a landmark ruling on March 4, 2020. Since the ban was quashed, crypto exchanges in the country have seen a massive rise in trading volume.

However, if the proposed bill is passed, it would eliminate significant progress that has been made over the past few months.

The country’s aversion towards the crypto industry appears counter-productive, given that the nation has a financial inclusion problem. India is among the top nations in the world with financial inclusion problems with more than 150 million unbanked adults (rivaling neighboring China among developing nations).

Digital currencies have become a popular approach that many people in India use to access cross-border payments, with the nation having one of the highest remittances in the world. Another cryptocurrency ban would therefore be counter-productive given the massive potentials of virtual currencies in the nation.

The Government Encouraging Blockchain Technology

Although India’s government intends to ban cryptocurrency trading, it is developing a favorable environment for blockchain technology. The new law puts blockchain innovation as a top priority when it comes to educational certificates, land registration, supply chain management, and several others.  The government has been eyeing blockchain because the technology has a big potential of being applied in various sectors like governance, education, cybersecurity, banking, and securing the future of the country’s economic development and growth.

Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey Says Coinbase CEO's Apolitical Stance "Leaves People Behind"

Following the move by Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong to offer severance packages to staff who disagrees with the ‘apolitical’ stance of the company, industry heavyweights including Twitter’s Chief Executive Officer Jack Dorsey has waded into the controversy.

Taking to his Twitter handle, Dorsey faulted Armstrong’s position, saying that Bitcoin and cryptocurrencies were are direct activism against the predatory financial system, which in itself is a major societal issue everyone should be interested in.

The Twitter CEO said:

“Bitcoin (aka “crypto”) is direct activism against an unverifiable and exclusionary financial system which negatively affects so much of our society. Important to at *least* acknowledge and connect the related societal issues your customers face daily. This leaves people behind.”

Recall that Blockchain.news reported that Armstrong intends to integrate the company’s mission as the ultimate focus of his staff, while categorically stating that wider societal issues will not be debated in the line of duty. In faulting this, Dorsey said opined that connecting with broader societal challenges can help make workplace missions clear.

Dorsey said:“There are real issues that real people who use these services every day experience. Why would we not acknowledge and connect with our mission? Not asking for solutions, but as we connect the issues the solutions become clearer.”

Furthermore, he pointed out that workers in one company are customers in another and as such, the company’s current position is ‘against relevancy’ for the largest audience.

While it is unclear how many more twists the Coinbase policy will stir, some observers have supported the move by Coinbase noting that businesses are expected to stay out of politics.

Despite differing positions, the Twitter CEO has recently made the rounds declaring that the future of his company lies in blockchain technology, a sentiment Armstrong and Dorsey apparently share

Ripple CEO Says DOJ Report Offers No Regulatory Clarity, XRP Price Not Influenced

The tightening regulations on cryptocurrency raise many concerns and the DoJ’s new guidance around cryptocurrency enforcement, which casts the industry as fraught with criminal activity, has Ripple’s CEO and the crypto community up in arms.

Ripple CEO Brad Garlinghouse has been critical of the oppressive US regulation towards blockchain and digital assets. On Oct 7, incidentally, only two days after John McAfee’s arrest in Spain for ICO fraud and tax evasion, the Ripple CEO tweeted:

“Strongest internet companies built in the US, in part b/c of regulatory clarity. We have that opp with blockchain + digital assets. Responsible players like Ripple aren’t looking to avoid rules, we just want to operate in a jurisdiction where the rules are clear.”

The day after Garlinghouse floated the idea that Ripple may move operations to avoid crushing United States regulation, the crypto regulatory environment further intensified.

Attorney General William P. Barr published a cryptocurrency enforcement framework that provides, “a comprehensive overview of the emerging threats and enforcement challenges associated with the increasing prevalence and use of cryptocurrency; details the important relationships that the Department of Justice has built with regulatory and enforcement partners both within the United States government and around the world; and outlines the Department’s response strategies.”

What seems to have alarmed the crypto community and Ripple’s CEO is that the report cites the words “crime” and “criminals” almost 170 times and states: “Ripple Labs willfully violated several requirements of the [Bank Secrecy Act] BSA.”

Ripple CEO Brad Garlinghouse believes the report falls short of providing any further clear guidance, which he believes the United States desperately needs. He tweeted:

“An 70+ page contradictory report is not regulatory clarity — many responsible private players are trying to follow the rules, but that becomes increasingly hard when there’s no single arbiter of the law.”

The Ripple CEO commented on the report believing that the report is not regulatory clarity highlighting that unclear regulation is making it increasingly difficult to follow the rules.

Garlinghouse said:

“We need a framework (like #DCEA) that provides clarity, protects consumers AND fosters innovation in the United States or companies will move their investment (or whole company) overseas.”

As mentioned, Ripple is prominently cited in the DOJ’s report as “one example of successful collaboration, FinCEN, working in coordination with the United States Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of California, assessed a $700,000 civil monetary penalty in 2015 against Ripple Labs Inc. and its wholly-owned subsidiary, XRP II, LLC.67″

The XRP Price Reaction

Despite talks of relocation, Ripple is currently a US-based blockchain company and the DOJ’s Cryptocurrency Enforcement Framework will no doubt have a direct and profound impact on Ripple’s future and the XRP price.

Source: TradingView XRP/USDT

At the time of writing, Ripple’s XPR token remains uninfluenced by the Cryptocurrency Enforcement Framework news and is up 2.45% over the last 24hrs, sitting at a price of  $0.25. However, the Ripple XRP price still appears to be on a downtrend. Charts analysis indicates that the 30-day moving average has become the support level after a price surge on Oct 4. But the 90-day MA is a critical resistance level that XRP must break to resume any upward price action, the Ripple crypto is currently consolidating below the 90-day MA.

The XRP price appears content to fluctuate between the 90-day MA and the 30-day MA levels, but we expect that when the DOJ regulation is put into action, XRP price could face a drop. 

Additional reporting by Kun Hu

Ripple CEO Hints at Firm's Likely Move from US after DOJ Report

Ripple’s Chief Executive Officer Brad Garlinghouse has further hinted that Ripple Labs may exit the United States and relocate their base of operations to another country due to unclear regulation for blockchain and digital asset firms and projects.

As the Ripple executive noted, the fact that US regulators are unable to enact a unifying framework to regulate the crypto industry is posing a disadvantage to some United States-based firms and this might just drive the company to set up camp in other more receptive countries.

Garlinghouse tweeted;

“The lack of a single national regulatory framework is putting US innovation and US companies at a significant disadvantage. All we’re asking for is a level playing field – if we need to move to another country to get that, then that’s the path we will have to take.”

As Blockchain.news reported, the initial inclination given that suggests Ripple may seek relocate its headquarters abroad came from Ripple’s co-founder Chris Larsen. Larsen who said that the United States has crushing biased regulations set up the stage for Garlinghouse who noted that the Department of Justice in its recent publication of Cryptocurrency Enforcement Framework highlighted 8 different regulatory bodies with a differing view about crypto assets.

“Last week’s DOJ report lists 8 separate US reg bodies each with a different view: crypto is property, crypto is a commodity, crypto is a virtual currency, crypto is a security, etc. Regulation shouldn’t be a guessing game.”

Garlinghouse is renowned for speaking out against unfriendly cryptocurrency laws as he did with India and his current reaction with respect to the position of US regulators is not uncommon. While the Ripple CEO did not give a hint of the probable country the company might likely relocate to, it is apparent that the CEO is set to make the move as he noted that some regulations made by the US regulators already favor Chinese companies over that of the United States’, a situation that does not place all companies on “equal footing.”

XRP Price Drops During Ripple Swell Conference

Ripple is hosting the annual conference Swell discussing global payments on October 14 and 15 which brings together world industry leaders and policymakers.

At the conference, Mahesh Uttamchandani from World Bank Group has discussed the advantage of digitizing social payment.

From the discussions and presentations, regulations and legal issues are currently the a concern for innovation and continues to be a huge concern for crypto markets.

David Mills, associate director of the Federal Reserve Board, gave a speech on CDBC. He said:

“Part of our innovation process is to understand how emerging technologies or technologies that could be used for central bank digital currencies (CDBC) tie to security, protection of data, consumer protections and legal foundations. We think both on the technology innovation front and on the policy and business side front.”

For Ripple’s CEO Brad Garlinghouse, the event was not all good news as he would later voice is concerns via Twitter on the crushing and unclear regulation practices in the United States. The Ripple CEO recently even hinted that the firm will relocate to Asia or Europe following the DoJ’s recent crypto enforcement report. Garlinghouse re-tweeted his interview from the event: .

“US interests, companies & innovation are all at stake in this race for control of our future global financial infra. China, UK, and others are far ahead — US is out of sync and needs to implement a clear reg framework now.”

In the face of the complexity with regulation, Ripple’s XRP token price plunged. XRP has dropped around 3.6% over the last 24 hours. The price movement appears consistent with the overall crypto market and stock market performance. As with the DOJ recent report that appeared to frame all privacy-preferenced transactions as criminal, there are looming regulatory concerns within the crypto market. The overall markets are also filled with uncertainty, especially as the hope begins to fade for another round of stimulus before the elections in the United States.

Source: TradingView, Ripple XRP Price Chart

Technically speaking, the XRP is still on a downtrend. As analyzed in “Ripple (XRP) Price Surged Above a Critical Level”, XRP has moved between the 90-day MA level and 30-day MA level. After surging above 30-day MA on Oct 4, the XPR has consolidated along with the below of 90-day Moving Average. News of the exciting Ripple Swell Conference did not deter the price from plunging, but it is not clear if the XRP price will continue to slip or rebound when it meets the 30-day MA support level.  

JPMorgan CEO Jamie Dimon Loves Blockchain but says Bitcoin Still Not His "Cup of Tea"

Speaking at the New York Times DealBook Summit on November 18, JPMorgan Chairman and CEO, Jamie Dimon showed his disinterest in Bitcoin (BTC) cryptocurrency, saying that “it’s just not my cup of tea.”

Andrew Ross Sorkin, the Co-anchor of “Squawk Box”, CNBC’s Signature Morning program, was the business reporter who hosted the virtual DealBook Summit. Besides, the presence of Dimon, other guests who also attended the event included Senator Elizabeth Warren, LeBron James, the US NBA basketball player, and Ruth Porat, the Chief Financial Officer of Alphabet Inc., and its subsidiary Google.

During the online event, Dimon expressed his support for blockchain technology, talking about its merits like having the potential to transform financial institutions and bring lower costs and faster execution of transactions, improved auditability and transparency, and other benefits. He mentioned that JPMorgan would always support blockchain technology.

Dimon said:

“The blockchain itself will be critical to letting people move money around the world cheaper. We will always support blockchain technology.”

However, he declined to give reasons behind his opposition to Bitcoin. He said that the cryptocurrency oversight is inevitable by making a prediction that governments would soon enforce stringent regulation of the cryptocurrency. 

Dimon, however, appreciated that several very smart individuals like Paul Tudor Jones are buying Bitcoin with belief that the cryptocurrency would outperform US treasury bonds, US dollars, and gold. The JPMorgan CEO  said:

“Let them do that. It’s just not my cup of tea.”

While Dimon is skeptical of BTC, he regretted calling Bitcoin a fraud and loves and believes in the technology behind the cryptocurrency. In 2017, he placed his big bet on the technology as JPMorgan Chase launched a blockchain-based system to reduce global transaction speeds. 

JPMorgan Chase Launching JPM Coin Raises Questions

Despite Dimon expressing hostility to Bitcoin, JPMorgan Chase launched JPM Coin to serve as a value token on the Quorum consortium blockchain. Late last month, the U.S based investment bank created JPM Coin to facilitate smooth interbank payments (i.e., to speed transactions like payments between firms or bond transactions). The reason why Dimon is not interested in Bitcoin is still unknown.

Binance.US CEO Brian Brooks Steps Down, Cites Strategic Differences with Colleagues

Brian Brooks announced in his Twitter account that he has resigned from Binance.US CEO just after taking the managing position four months ago.

On Friday, August 6, Brian Brooks tweeted that he resigned because of “differences over the strategic direction” between him and his colleagues at Binance Group:  

“Letting you all know that I have resigned as CEO of Binance-US…. I wish my former colleagues much success. Exciting new things to come!”

Binance CEO Changpeng Zhao (Binance.US chairman) talked about the development and said he is “confident in Binance.US’ business and its commitment to serve its customers.” Zhao stated that Brook’s departure would not affect Binance.US customers in any way:  

“Brian’s work for Binance.US has been invaluable, and we hope he will continue to be an integral part of the crypto industry’s growth, advocating for regulations that move our industry forward. We wish him the very best in his future endeavours.”

Zhao did not say why Brooks left the group, and even Brooks did not explain the specific reason. So far, Binace.US has not elaborated on any successor or an interim expert to replace Brooks.

Binance Facing Increasing Scrutiny 

Brooks’ departure, together with the departure of Ricardo Da Ros, director of Binance Brazil, raise more questions as regulators crack down on Binance, the world’s largest crypto exchange in the world, has intensified.

On Wednesday, July 14, Mr. Ricardo Da Ros announced his resignation as a director of Binance Brazil after serving the position for six months at the firm. Da Ros stated that he could not accomplish what he wanted within the first six months, so he departed from the company.

Brooks and Da Ros have resigned when regulators in the UK, Thailand, Italy, Japan, Germany, and Hong Kong have cracked down on Binance because of worries over investor protection. Financial regulators worldwide have raised concerns that the boom in crypto assets is aiding money laundering and increasing systemic risks.  

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