Crypto attorney James A. Murphy, known online as &#8220;MetaLawMan,&#8221; has filed a lawsuit against the U.S. Department of Homeland Security. This lawsuit seeks documents that may disclose the identity of Satoshi Nakamoto, the pseudonymous creator of Bitcoin (BTC). Filed in…

Crypto lawyer sues US gov to reveal Bitcoin creator’s identity

Australia&#8217;s corporate watchdog has been given the nod to shut down 95 &#8220;hydra&#8221; 
companies that it suspects engaged in crypto investment and romance scams, 
known as &#8220;pig butchering.&#8221;
The Australian Securities and Investments Commission&#8217;s application to wind up 
the companies was approved by the Federal Court of Australia on just and 
equitable grounds after ASIC found that most of the companies had been 
incorporated with false information.
Many of these companies were set up purporting to provide &#8220;genuine services&#8221; 
but were instead believed to be scamming their victims,**** ASIC Deputy Chair 
Sarah Court said in an April 8 statement.
&#8220;There appears to be a common pattern of scam activity in the nature of &#8216;pig 
butchering,'&#8221; Justice Angus Stewart said in an April 4 court ruling after 
looking at 48 &#8220;Reviews of Misconduct&#8221; from 17 companies accused of 
facilitating romance scams. The judgment was made on March 21.
_Source:__Rocky Perrotta_
Pig butchering scams involve scammers building fake relationships with victims 
to win their trust before convincing them to invest in a fraudulent crypto or 
financial scheme.
The securities regulator also suspects that much of the scam activity is 
coming from Southeast Asia.
Insolvency and restructuring advisers Catherine Conneely and Thomas Birch of 
Cor Cordis have been appointed as joint liquidators of the 95 companies.
_**Related:**__**Australian regulator &#8216;s &#8216;blitz&#8217; hits crypto exchanges, money 
remitters**_
Nearly 1,500 claims by &#8220;investors&#8221; had been received by the provisional 
liquidators, amounting to total claims of over $35.8 million, according to the 
court order.
The claimants are based in 14 countries, including Australia, the US, 
Cameroon, Ghana, India, Nepal, the Philippines and France.
The provisional liquidators found that only three of the 95 firms had assets 
to their name and recommended that the other 92 companies be wound up and 
immediately deregistered.
## ASIC shutting down scam websites
ASIC said it has been removing around 130 scam websites each week of late, 
bringing its total to over 10,000 sites, which have included over 7,200 fake 
investment platform scams and 1,564 phishing scams.
&#8220;However, these scams are like hydras: you shut down one and two more take its 
place. That&#8217;s why we&#8217;re warning consumers that the threat of scams and 
identity fraud remains high. We remind consumers to be vigilant,&#8221; Court said.
Australia&#8217;s National Anti-Scam Centre recently reported a 26% fall in scam 
losses to $2 billion in 2024, while the number of scam reports also fell by 
17.8% to 494,732.
_**Magazine:**__**Financial nihilism in crypto is over &#8212; It&#8217;s time to dream 
big again**_

Aussie regulator to shut 95 ‘hydra’ firms linked to crypto, romance scams

The debut of a leveraged XRP ETF in the US could significantly boost investor 
interest and market activity in cryptocurrency ETFs.
The post First-ever leveraged XRP ETF set to debut in the US appeared first on 
Crypto Briefing.

First-ever leveraged XRP ETF set to debut in the US

Bitcoin price started a fresh decline below the $80,000 zone. BTC is now 
correcting losses and might face resistance near the $80,500 zone. Bitcoin 
started a fresh decline below the $80,000 zone. The price is trading below 
$81,500 and the 100 hourly Simple moving average. There is a connecting 
bearish trend line forming with resistance at $80,400 on the hourly chart of 
the BTC/USD pair (data feed from Kraken). The pair could start another 
increase if it clears the $81,500 zone. Bitcoin Price Starts Recovery Bitcoin 
price started a fresh decline below the $82,000 and $81,200 levels. BTC traded 
below the $80,500 and $80,000 levels to enter a bearish zone. The price even 
dived below the $78,000 support zone. A low was formed at $74,409 and the 
price started a recovery wave. There was a move above the $76,800 level. The 
price climbed above the 50% Fib retracement level of the recent decline from 
the $83,680 swing high to the $74,409 low. However, the price is struggling to 
continue higher. Bitcoin price is now trading below $81,200 and the 100 hourly 
Simple moving average. On the upside, immediate resistance is near the $80,400 
level. There is also a connecting bearish trend line forming with resistance 
at $80,400 on the hourly chart of the BTC/USD pair. The first key resistance 
is near the $81,500 level or the 76.4% Fib retracement level of the recent 
decline from the $83,680 swing high to the $74,409 low. The next key 
resistance could be $82,500. A close above the $82,500 resistance might send 
the price further higher. In the stated case, the price could rise and test 
the $83,500 resistance level. Any more gains might send the price toward the 
$85,000 level. Another Decline In BTC? If Bitcoin fails to rise above the 
$80,500 resistance zone, it could start a fresh decline. Immediate support on 
the downside is near the $79,500 level. The first major support is near the 
$78,000 level. The next support is now near the $76,500 zone. Any more losses 
might send the price toward the $75,000 support in the near term. The main 
support sits at $74,400. Technical indicators: Hourly MACD – The MACD is now 
gaining pace in the bullish zone. Hourly RSI (Relative Strength Index) – The 
RSI for BTC/USD is now above the 50 level. Major Support Levels – $79,500, 
followed by $78,000. Major Resistance Levels – $80,500 and $81,500.

Bitcoin Price Recovery In Play—But Major Hurdles Loom Large

Ray Dalio warns global markets are sleepwalking into a once-in-a-generation 
collapse driven by debt, division, and power shifts far deeper than tariff 
headlines suggest. Markets Obsess Over Tariffs—But Dalio Says the Real 
Collapse Runs Far Deeper Bridgewater Associates founder Ray Dalio cautioned 
Monday on social media platform X that the public’s fixation on tariff 
headlines […]

Ray Dalio Warns of a Once-in-a-Lifetime Global Meltdown Masked by Tariff Distraction

The US Securities and Exchange Commission has released the list of executives 
from US crypto and finance giants that will take part in a roundtable 
discussion on crypto trading regulation.
On April 7, the regulator said its upcoming April 11 roundtable will discuss 
how it should handle crypto trading rules, calling it &#8220;Between a Block and a 
Hard Place: Tailoring Regulation for Crypto Trading.&#8221;
It will be the second in a series of discussions on crypto, headed by its 
recently-formed Crypto Task Force.
Taking part are Uniswap Labs chief legal officer Katherine Minarik, Cumberland 
DRW associate general counsel Chelsea Pizzola and Coinbase institutional 
product vice president Gregory Tusar &#8212; all firms that had once been in the 
regulator&#8217;s scope.
Under the Biden administration, the regulator sued Cumberland DRW in October 
and Coinbase in June 2023 for alleged securities law violations, but both 
lawsuits were dropped this year under the Trump administration.
The SEC also started an investigation for possible enforcement action into 
Uniswap Labs in April 2024, which was dropped in February with no further 
action.
Also taking part in the roundtable are New York Stock Exchange product chief 
Jon Herrick, crypto brokerage FalconX business lead Austin Reid, securities 
tokenizing firm Texture Capital CEO Richard Johnson and the University of 
California, Berkeley finance chair Christine Parlour.
_Source:__SEC_
Dave Lauer, co-founder of the advocacy group We the Investors and Tyler 
Gellasch, CEO of the not-for-profit Healthy Markets Association, will also 
take part, while law firm Goodwin Procter partner Nicholas Losurdo will 
moderate the discussion.
Representing the SEC will be acting chair Mark Uyeda, Crypto Task Force chief 
of staff Richard Gabbert and Commissioners Caroline Crenshaw and Hester 
Peirce.
The roundtable is the second crypto-focused discussion in a series of five 
that the SEC dubbed the &#8220;Spring Sprint Toward Crypto Clarity.&#8221; The first was 
on March 21, regarding the legal status of crypto, while three future 
discussions will cover custody, tokenization, and decentralized finance 
(DeFi).
## SEC&#8217;s Uyeda orders review of staff crypto comments
The roundtables come as the SEC, under President Donald Trump, works to revamp 
its oversight of the crypto industry, with its latest action being to review 
staff statements on crypto so they can possibly be changed or withdrawn.
Uyeda said in an April 5 statement shared by the SEC on X that due to Trump&#8217;s 
executive order on deregulation and recommendations from the Elon Musk-led 
Department of Government Efficiency, or DOGE, he was reviewing seven staff 
statements, five of which concerned crypto.
_Source:__SEC_
&#8220;The purpose of this review is to identify staff statements that should be 
modified or rescinded consistent with current agency priorities,&#8221; Uyeda said.
_**Related:**__**SEC paints &#8216;a distorted picture&#8217; of USD stablecoin market &#8212; 
Crenshaw**_ _** **_
The first on the list was an April 2019 analysis from the Strategic Hub for 
Innovation and Financial Technology on how crypto sales could be investment 
contracts under the securities defining Howey test &#8212; an argument the agency 
had made to sue multiple crypto firms for legal violations.
Also up for review are two Division of Investment Management statements, one 
from May 2021 asking investors to consider the risks of funds with exposure to 
Bitcoin futures and a November 2020 statement asking for feedback on whether 
state-chartered banks meet standards to be qualified custodians.
The SEC will also look into a December 2022 Division of Corporation Finance 
statement that urged SEC-regulated companies to evaluate their disclosures to 
mention if a slew of crypto firm bankruptcies and collapses at the time 
impacted their business.
Finally, the agency will review a Division of Examinations alert from February 
2021 that said, &#8220;a number of activities related to the offer, sale and trading 
of digital assets that are securities present unique risks to investors.&#8221;
_**Legal Panel:**__**XRP win leaves Ripple a &#8216;bad actor&#8217; with no crypto legal 
precedent set**_ _** **_