UK gambling white paper arrives, Coinbase sues SEC… SEC strikes back

This week saw a major overhaul of gambling laws in the UK and the toe-to-toe between Coinbase and the US Securities and Exchange Commission continue.

The gambling white paper in the UK has finally arrived, introducing a slew of proposed changes that will undergo consultation over the next months, before a final implementation of the proposals is set in law.

The white paper has made no mention of a change to cryptocurrency rules, meeting expectations that the Gambling Commission and  the Department of Sports, Media and Culture are not going to weigh in on these matters as part of the review of the Gambling Act 2005.

As Argentina faces economic uncertainty and is negotiating with the International Monetary Fund, the country is also seeing cryptocurrency usage rise. Financial instability is generally tied with stronger adoption of cryptocurrency, which is the case in Argentina. Even warnings from the global financial watchdog have not curbed locals’ enthusiasm to hedge their bets on digital assets.

Axie Infinity, once touted as a blockchain game that turned players into millionaires, is struggling to keep its user base.

Once, the game sported a population of 2.7 million players, and there were stories of people exchanging and selling game currency to purchase real estate. The Filipino government even wanted to tax these gains. Now, the game’s customer base has shrunk to 250,000 active users daily. This is mostly due to the falling price value of the game’s native token.

FTX has seized control of several blue chip NFTs, including Otherdeed, Mutant Ape, Bored Ape, and Azuki, which have a collective value of $4m. The bankrupt exchange may now auction them off and help itself get a financial foothold as it is still reeling from the financial collapse allegedly orchestrated by its former boss, Sam Bankman-Fried.

The US Department of Justice (DoJ) this week charged several people with market manipulation in a cryptocurrency scheme. A total of five individuals were charged in the scam, with the culprits attempting to manipulate the price of Ethereum-based digital currency, Hydro. If found guilty, the defendants may face up to five years in prison.

The tug of war between Coinbase and the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has continued yet another week.

Coinbase launched a lawsuit against the regulator, arguing that it had been waiting on an answer from the watchdog since 2022. In the absence of communication, Coinbase has made it clear that it intends to force the information out of SEC if it must. At the same time, the exchange has been preparing to possibly withdraw from the US market because of ham-fisted regulation by SEC.

SEC chairman Gary Gensler posted a Twitter video message on Thursday and said that the “law was clear” and that Coinbase, among other companies, were trying to break said law without offering investors a minimum degree of security.

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Written by Barney

Co-founder

Barney is co-founder of CryptoGamblingNews.com. When not at work he can usually be found behind a Nikon. He's won numerous international competitions for his photography and volunteers as a content creator for aid organisations in Africa.

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