Gensler says existing laws sufficient to tame crypto, Bitcoin has best quarter in years

SEC chair claims existing securities laws sufficient to wrangle crypto

The Securities and Exchange Commission’s chair Gary Gensler told the House appropriations committee on Wednesday that existing securities laws are sufficient to regulate crypto.

The statement contradicts efforts by many in the crypto industry – including those staring down the SEC’s barrel – to convince regulators that the agency’s regulation-by-enforcement approach is strangling businesses trying to operate in the US.

NOW READ: Gensler tells lawmakers crypto exchanges taunt SEC saying ‘catch us if you can’

Bitcoin has best quarter in two years; liquidity woes remain

Bitcoin maxis may be rejoicing as BTC closes in on its best quarter in two years.

The world’s leading cryptocurrency by market size outperformed other assets – digital and real-world alike – pulling ahead of rival ETH, gold, and the Nasdaq.

Despite the push, reports emerged that liquidity outflows are at multi-month lows, which some say will increase BTC volatility.

NOW READ: Hydra Ventures – an investment DAO that invests in investment DAOs – raises $10m

USDT reaches $79.5bn supply as rival USDC loses 23% following depeg

Leading stablecoin USDT reached a 22-month high in market dominance as second place rival USDC saw $10 billion in outflows this month.

USDC’s decline began on March 10, when a bank run crippled key banking partner Silicon Valley Bank – locking up $3.3 of USDC’s then-$43 billion supply.

Fear that USDC may be at further risk led to a nearly 20% depeg, but the price soon recovered as issuer Circle reassured the market that its stablecoin reserves were well-diversified.

Still, USDC outflows continued through March, bringing USDC supply down to $33 billion, and driving USDT to its current supply at $79.5 billion, or 60% of the total stablecoin market.

NOW READ: Silvergate short seller says he’s betting against Signature: ‘Binance is next’

FTX lawyers argue against Sam Bankman-Fried’s request for company to foot legal bills

Lawyers for beleaguered crypto exchange FTX spoke out against former CEO Sam Bankman-Fried’s request to have the company foot his legal bills.

Earlier in March, Bankman-Fried requested to have access to FTX’s “director and officer insurance plan,” which would cover most or all of his upcoming expenses.

Opposing voices in FTX’s legal team as well as a committee of FTX creditors argue that it would be unjust for Bankman-Fried to have access to funds before former customers do.

NOW READ: US requests extradition of Do Kwon from Montenegro

US regulator says crypto didn’t play ‘direct role’ in bank meltdown

US Treasury Department undersecretary Nellie Liang said Wednesday that she didn’t “believe crypto played a direct role” in the failures of Silicon Valley Bank or Signature Ban.

Some critics have stated that the bank closures were at least partially linked to a wider regulatory push against digital assets, including former politician and Signature board member Barney Frank.

Conversely, various regulators have placed the blame for the wave of bank collapses on wider business risks including interest rate mismanagement.

More web3 news from around the web...

The SEC charges crypto platform Beaxy, founder – Axios

Andy Warhol artworks to be offered as tokenised investments on Ethereum – CoinDesk

Blocktrace builds AI chatbot to simplify blockchain transaction tracking – Decrypt