Deadline Day: Momentous SEC Decision on Spot Bitcoin ETF Expected Today

It’s Deadline Day for an SEC Decision on Spot Bitcoin ETFs. Here’s What to Watch.

Today could be the day.

The Securities and Exchange Commission faces a final deadline Wednesday to rule on at least one of 11 applications for exchange-traded funds that hold bitcoin. The decision is long awaited by cryptocurrency watchers—and the prospect that some or all of the applications will be approved has lately been seen as bullish for bitcoin.

There was some drama late Tuesday: After a message on the social network X said the SEC had approved the funds, the message was deleted and the agency said its account had been “compromised.”

Assuming that drama doesn’t create an extra delay, four scenarios could play out:

–The SEC could approve all 11 applications. While it technically needs to act on only one—from a joint venture that includes Cathie Wood’s ARK Investment Management—it might do so to remove the appearance of favoritism.

–It could reject all 11. That is seen as unlikely at this stage.

–It could approve applications submitted by exchanges, but not by asset managers, since different divisions handle those categories.

–It could do something more complex.

SEC’s X Account Hacked, Causing Frenzy Over Bitcoin ETF

For 15 minutes, the cryptocurrency industry was euphoric.

At 4:11 p.m. on Tuesday, the official X account of the Securities and Exchange Commission announced that regulators had approved a new investment product tracking the price of Bitcoin, an apparent victory for embattled crypto supporters. Coinbase, a giant crypto exchange, posted a celebratory banner. Crypto executives hailed it as a historic day for the industry. Bitcoin’s price spiked.

Then at 4:26 p.m., Gary Gensler, the chair of the S.E.C., posted that the agency’s account had been compromised, resulting in an “unauthorized tweet.” An S.E.C. spokeswoman confirmed the hack in an emailed statement.

Moreno Valley Man Pleads Guilty to Running Ponzi Scheme That Took in More Than $24 Million from Hundreds of Victim Investors

A Riverside County man has pleaded guilty to a federal criminal charge for running a Ponzi scheme that lasted nearly 20 years and fraudulently obtained more than $24 million from at least 200 investors, the Justice Department announced today.

Paul Horton Smith Sr., 59, of Moreno Valley, pleaded guilty late Monday afternoon to one count of wire fraud.

According to his plea agreement, Smith operated Riverside-based companies named Northstar Communications LLC, Planning Services Inc., and eGate LLC. From July 2000 to May 2020, Smith obtained money from investors by soliciting individuals – who often were elderly or retired – to invest in something Smith called “Northstar.” Some of the investors previously were Planning Services clients.

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While Smith led most Northstar investors to believe his company reinvested their initial investment, generating the percentage they were to earn, in fact, he never invested the money. Instead, Smith deposited all investor funds into a non-interest-bearing checking account.

Cybersecurity Rule Could Prompt Firms to ‘Cry Wolf’

The SEC cybersecurity incident disclosure rules that went into effect in December require public companies to report “material” cybersecurity incidents within four business days of determining the incident’s materiality.

As the former chief security officer of Facebook and Uber who experienced his own travails dealing with cyberattacks, Sullivan is concerned that the SEC’s rule may result in premature or inadvertently inaccurate disclosures because of the inherent conflict between the chief information security officer’s proper impulse to “pull every fire alarm” at the first hint of a hack and the rapidly evolving, forensically challenging nature of cyber breaches.

Women Exceed 50% of Law Firm Associates for First Time

Women make up more than 50% of law firm associates, the first time they achieved that threshold in the 32 years the National Association of Law Placement has been tracking the data.

Women associates have steadily made progress in joining associate ranks over the last five years. They made up nearly 46% of associates in 2018, according to NALP. The report also shows women make up nearly 40% of all attorneys at firms in 2023, the highest percentage NALP has tracked.