"Virtual Currency is Untraceable? WRONG"

U.S. issues criminal charges in first cryptocurrency sanctions case

In the ruling, the judge called cryptocurrency’s reputation for providing anonymity to users a myth. He added that while some legal experts argue that virtual moneys such as bitcoin, ethereum or Tether are not subject to U.S. sanctions laws because they are created and move outside the traditional financial system, recent action taken by the Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control require federal courts to find otherwise.

“Issue One: virtual currency is untraceable? WRONG. . . . Issue Two: sanctions do not apply to virtual currency? WRONG,” Faruqui wrote, adopting and crediting the staccato-delivery style of the late American political commentator John McLaughlin and his long-running television program, “The McLaughlin Group.”

Crypto Prices Move in Tandem With Traditional Markets, Punishing Investors

The three-month correlation between the cryptocurrencies bitcoin and ether and the major U.S. stock indexes hit its highest level on record last week, according to Dow Jones Market Data. That level, between 0.67 and 0.78, is more than triple the average correlation between crypto and the S&P 500 from 2019 to 2021. A correlation of 1 suggests the markets are moving in lockstep, while 0 says they aren’t related. The one- and two-month correlations are at record levels.

Regulators anxious about stablecoins like tether after UST collapse

U.S. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen directly addressed the issue of both UST and tether “breaking the buck” this week. In a congressional hearing, Yellen said such assets don’t currently pose a systemic risk to financial stability — but suggested they eventually could.

“I wouldn’t characterize it at this scale as a real threat to financial stability but they’re growing very rapidly,” she told lawmakers Thursday.

“They present the same kind of risks that we have known for centuries in connection with bank runs.”