Weekly Crypto Roundup: new rules, severe report cards, and yet more hacks

Mainstream companies and regulators are feeling the ripples coming from the crypto industry

As several crypto firms reported falling revenues in the second quarter of 2022, a growing number of traders are facing the ripple effect of the meltdown spreading from the crypto industry to mainstream companies, triggering regulators around the world to act.

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This week U.S. Senators Debbie Stabenow and John Boozman proposed the Stabenow-Boozman bill, which aims to give the Commodities Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) the main responsibility of regulating Bitcoin and Ether. At present, the crypto industry is struggling to navigate the regulatory overlaps of the CFTC - which is thought to be more tolerant of crypto innovation - and the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), which is known for taking legal action against a number of crypto companies.

The SEC has thousands of full-time employees and a budget nearing $2 billion, while the CFTC has fewer than 1,000 full-time employees and its budget is well below $500 million.

The proposal comes as Bitcoin’s value more than halved this year to touch prices below $19,000, and a number of crypto lending/trading platforms fought to maintain operations - or simply suspended user transfers and withdrawals.

On the other side of the Atlantic, the Indian government is closely watching the crypto sector.

In a written reply to the Rajya Sabha on Tuesday, the Minister of State for Finance, Pankaj Chaudhary reported that the Directorate of Enforcement is probing the Indian crypto exchange WazirX. The platform was alleged to have laundered around Rs 2,790 crore.