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Leo Schwartz

Leo Schwartz

The Nation

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The SEC bungled a crypto lawsuit. Then came an alleged kidnapping in Dubai—and questions about $400 million of investor funds

A police report filed in Utah details a strange development in the infamous Debt Box case, where a judge sanctioned the Gary Gensler-led agency.

23.07.2024 3

Fortune

Leo Schwartz

Kamala Harris could mean an end to Democrats’ hard line on crypto—but it’s too soon to say for sure

While President Biden took a harsh stance toward digital assets, Harris has signaled a pro-tech agenda.

22.07.2024 7

Fortune

Leo Schwartz

Crypto CEO Ryan Selkis resigns after tweeting it’s ‘literal war’ with those who don’t vote for Trump

Ryan Selkis, who started the blockchain intelligence company Messari, resigned after a series of politically charged tweets.

19.07.2024 10

Fortune

Leo Schwartz

Elon Musk’s support of Trump is a ‘salient example of his level of distraction,’ says former Musk employee-turned-EV-rival Peter Rawlinson, CEO of Lucid Motors

Lucid Motors CEO Peter Rawlinson said the last time he spoke to Musk was when he handed in his resignation.

17.07.2024 10

Fortune

Leo Schwartz

Getting to the moon is a ‘moral obligation’ to preserve humanity, space tech executives say

The sector has grown to be worth billions of dollars as companies like SpaceX and Blue Origin continue to expand.

17.07.2024 10

Fortune

Leo Schwartz

Why business leaders view AI as an opportunity to take ‘toil out of our work’

AI tools can help boost productivity at work to focus on more "human" tasks, according to executives.

17.07.2024 10

Fortune

Leo Schwartz

How VCs from Alphabet’s CapitalG to Norwest are coping with a dead IPO landscape: ‘We’re not here to time the market’ 

Venture investors are rethinking their business model as billion-dollar companies struggle to find exits.

17.07.2024 5

Fortune

Leo Schwartz

How trust and safety leaders at top tech companies are approaching the security threat of AI: ‘Trust but verify’

Executives from Salesforce to Cisco are trying to train their employees to use AI-powered tools without leaving their firms open to attacks.

16.07.2024 9

Fortune

Leo Schwartz

Robinhood CEO Vlad Tenev touts crypto and tokenization as the natural transition for financial services: ‘An obvious technology advantage’

Speaking at Fortune's Brainstorm Tech conference, the Robinhood founder discussed his firm's transition from the meme stock craze to a diversified...

16.07.2024 6

Fortune

Leo Schwartz

SEC drops key stablecoin investigation in win for crypto industry

The Gary Gensler-led agency issued a Wells notice against Paxos in Feb. 2023, indicating an active investigation and possible enforcement action.

11.07.2024 20

Fortune

Leo Schwartz

Goldman Sachs to launch three tokenization projects by end of year, says digital assets chief

The banking giant sees a major uptick in demand for crypto services, from trading to Bitcoin ETFs.

10.07.2024 9

Fortune

Leo Schwartz

Southwest’s Gary Kelly flew the company through pandemic turbulence, but will an activist attack bring it all crashing down?

Elliott Management is seeking to oust CEO Bob Jordan and Kelly after disclosing a $1.9 billion stake.

03.07.2024 7

Fortune

Leo Schwartz

SEC sues MetaMask developer Consensys as it extends legal crusade against crypto industry

The lawsuit comes days after Consensys announced that the SEC had dropped its investigation into Ethereum.

28.06.2024 6

Fortune

Leo Schwartz

Carnival shares rise as flood of demand for cruise bookings bolsters record quarterly results

The momentum is driven by record booking volumes for 2025 sailings, the cruise company announced on Tuesday.

26.06.2024 6

Fortune

Leo Schwartz

The CFTC is probing Jump Crypto, previously one of the sector’s biggest players

After taking an active role in the blockchain sector, Jump has since pulled back on its crypto efforts.

20.06.2024 10

Fortune

Leo Schwartz

What Warren Buffett's 9-day buying tear of oil stock Occidental says about Berkshire Hathaway's bigger strategy

Berkshire Hathaway has a long relationship with the oil and gas giant Occidental.

18.06.2024 5

Fortune

Leo Schwartz

Q&A with the author of The Trolls of Wall Street: Gambling, conspiracies and the return of Roaring Kitty

An interview with Nathaniel Popper, a former New York Times journalist, as meme stocks roar back into the headlines.

10.06.2024 10

Fortune

Leo Schwartz

Roaring Kitty blasts E-Trade over ban threat during triumphant return to YouTube

Keith Gill claimed during a YouTube livestream that he is not working with anyone on his recent GameStop trading crusade.

07.06.2024 4

Fortune

Leo Schwartz

He taught at MIT, worked at Morgan Stanley, and convinced Bill Ackman and Galaxy to back his $200 million crypto fund by his early 30s. His future is now in jeopardy

How Shima Capital’s fast-and-loose approach to compliance alienated its backers and could run afoul of the SEC.

06.06.2024 10

Fortune

Leo Schwartz

Venture giant a16z ramps up political push with additional $25 million donation to crypto super PAC Fairshake

a16z crypto head Chris Dixon announced the donation at Consensus on Thursday, bringing the firm's total contributions to Fairshake to $47 million.

30.05.2024 10

Fortune

Leo Schwartz

Controversial blockchain firm Prometheum launches long-awaited Ethereum custody

Prometheum aims to launch a digital asset trading platform later this year under current SEC regulation.

20.05.2024 20

Fortune

Leo Schwartz

Top New York regulator Adrienne Harris optimistic about a federal stablecoin deal—but not at the expense of state authority

The Department of Financial Services superintendent spoke at a Fortune event about crypto oversight and bank stability.

16.05.2024 60

Fortune

Leo Schwartz

Social media spurred the last banking crisis. Can it prevent the next one?

A U.S. banking regulator is working with an intelligence firm to monitor social media platforms like Twitter and Discord for risk ahead of...

15.05.2024 40

Fortune

Leo Schwartz

Genesis and LedgerPrime alum raise $28 million for Arbelos, a crypto trading rival to Jane Street

As institutional money floods into crypto, the industry veterans are building a derivatives-focused business to provide liquidity to hedge funds and...

08.05.2024 20

Fortune

Leo Schwartz

Ex-DFS regulator raises $5.1 million for crypto venture fund backed by Winklevoss twins and Robert Leshner

Matthew Homer was formerly an executive deputy superintendent at the New York Department of Financial Services.

02.05.2024 70

Fortune

Leo Schwartz

Publicly traded Bitcoin mining firm Stronghold may sell itself in wake of latest ‘halving’

CEO Greg Beard is set to announce the plan on an earnings call later today.

02.05.2024 50

Fortune

Leo Schwartz

BlackRock leads $47 million round for Securitize: ‘Another step in the evolution of our digital assets strategy’

Other investors include Hamilton Lane and Tradeweb Markets, with traditional financial firms diving headfirst into tokenization.

01.05.2024 40

Fortune

Leo Schwartz

Binance founder Changpeng ‘CZ’ Zhao sentenced to 4 months, will enter prison as country’s richest inmate

The settlement came amid a string of enforcement actions against crypto industry leaders, including FTX's Sam Bankman-Fried.

30.04.2024 10

Fortune

Leo Schwartz

Tiger Global-backed Braintrust bet big on blockchain. Now it’s launching an AI-powered hiring platform

Braintrust Air will use AI to conduct autonomous interviews with job candidates, with Nestle and Guardian Life already signed up.

29.04.2024 10

Fortune

Leo Schwartz

Movement Labs raises $38 million to build layer-2 blockchain on Ethereum with Facebook tech

Polychain led the Series A funding round, which included participation from Hack VC, dao5, and Robot Ventures.

25.04.2024 10

Fortune

Leo Schwartz

Crypto app Strike launches Bitcoin services across Europe

Founder and CEO Jack Mallers said the company is profitable after an $80 million funding round in 2022.

24.04.2024 30

Fortune

Leo Schwartz

Why VCs are pouring hundreds of millions of dollars into a little-known AI crypto project called Bittensor

Prominent blockchain firms including Polychain, Digital Currency Group, and dao5 are buying up TAO, the token for the decentralized AI company...

15.04.2024 50

Fortune

Leo Schwartz

VanEck CEO says brokerage platforms aren’t yet recommending Bitcoin ETFs: ‘There’s a long ways to go’

Jan van Eck told Fortune that he doesn't expect the SEC to approve an Ethereum ETF.

11.04.2024 70

Fortune

Leo Schwartz

Anthony Pompliano and ex-TechCrunch reporter launch Token Relations to improve crypto projects’ communications

The project, which is bootstrapped by Pompliano, counts Avalanche, Aptos, and Optimism as launch partners.

09.04.2024 20

Fortune

Leo Schwartz

Paradigm leads $225 million round for Monad Labs, which is building a layer-1 blockchain to take on Ethereum and Solana

The crypto firm founded by ex-Jump Crypto traders also received investment from Electric Capital and Neil Mehta's Greenoaks Capital.

09.04.2024 30

Fortune

Leo Schwartz

Sam Bankman-Fried sentenced to 25 years in prison as the FTX saga draws to a close

A jury convicted the disgraced founder of seven counts related to the collapse of his crypto exchange in November.

28.03.2024 9

Fortune

Leo Schwartz

Judge rejects Coinbase’s ‘major questions doctrine’ argument in landmark SEC case

Judge Katherine Failla ruled on Wednesday that the SEC could continue its lawsuit against the leading U.S. crypto exchange.

27.03.2024 10

Fortune

Leo Schwartz

DOJ accuses crypto exchange KuCoin of money laundering violations and receiving billions in suspicious funds

The Seychelles-based firm is one of the top crypto exchanges by trading volume.

26.03.2024 30

Fortune

Leo Schwartz

How 80-year-old Fidelity became a crypto pioneer—and what’s next after its successful Bitcoin ETF

Under CEO Abigail Johnson, Fidelity has invested heavily in blockchain technology, including a Bitcoin ETF, mining, and a custody and trading...

25.03.2024 40

Fortune

Leo Schwartz

Judge slams SEC for ‘gross abuse of power’ in crypto case, imposes sanctions

The judge also rejected the SEC's motion to dismiss after the agency expressed its 'regrets' for misrepresenting facts.

19.03.2024 40

Fortune

Leo Schwartz

Mastercard-owned CipherTrace tells clients it is shutting down key products

Mastercard recently retracted a report from a CipherTrace investigator in the Bitcoin Fog case, citing 'unverifiable and unauditable' data.

14.03.2024 30

Fortune

Leo Schwartz

The untold story of Kickstarter’s crypto Hail Mary—and the secret $100 million a16z-led investment to save its fading brand

Inside the once-hot startup's struggle to regain its relevance despite a massive check from the crypto arm of the venture giant Andreessen Horowitz.

11.03.2024 30

Fortune

Leo Schwartz

Wyoming wants to become the Delaware of DAOs with new crypto law for decentralized autonomous organizations

The legislation is the latest blockchain-focused regulation from the Cowboy State.

08.03.2024 30

Fortune

Leo Schwartz

Digital Currency Group files motion to dismiss New York attorney general’s lawsuit: ‘A thin web of baseless innuendo’

The crypto empire led by Barry Silbert was hit by the enforcement action, which alleged widespread fraud, last October.

06.03.2024 20

Fortune

Leo Schwartz

Binance US laid off 2/3 of staff in wake of SEC lawsuit, revenue plunged 75% after ‘near-mortal blow’

New court documents on Tuesday underscored how the U.S. arm of the embattled crypto exchange is in a precarious position.

05.03.2024 20

Fortune

Leo Schwartz

New ruling in SEC’s Coinbase insider trading lawsuit comes as a blow to the crypto industry as judge finds secondary token sales were securities

A federal judge agreed with Gary Gensler that sales of crypto assets are securities, even on secondary markets like exchanges.

03.03.2024 10

Fortune

Leo Schwartz

Bitcoin ETFs hit record volume as single-day high of $612 million pours into BlackRock

January's launch of the exchange-traded investment vehicles has helped drive the recent rally in digital assets.

01.03.2024 40

Fortune

Leo Schwartz

Winklevoss-led Gemini agrees to return over $1 billion to customers in deal with NY regulator that includes $37 million fine

The Department of Financial Services announced the settlement on Wednesday against the troubled crypto firm.

29.02.2024 20

Fortune

Leo Schwartz

FTX fraudster Sam Bankman-Fried asks judge for 6.5 or years or less, says public doesn’t know his ‘true’ self

The lawyers of the disgraced crypto entrepreneur filed a sentencing memorandum on Tuesday night asking for a lenient judgment.

28.02.2024 10

Fortune

Leo Schwartz

Crypto platform Anchorage launches Porto, a self-custody wallet for institutions

The new product is aimed at venture capital, private equity, and sovereign wealth funds who need more flexibility with decentralized ecosystems.

26.02.2024 10

Fortune

Leo Schwartz

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