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8 a .m. Eastern April 23rd, and

1:40

this is your Daily Crypto Report.

1:42

Bitcoin is down slightly at $93

1:44

,549. ETH is down

1:46

slightly at $1 ,797. XRP

1:49

is down half a

1:51

percent at $2 .25. New

1:53

SEC Chairman Paul Atkins said it is

1:55

swearing in Tuesday that the agency will

1:57

take a rational, coherent, and principled approach

1:59

to regulating crypto. He called building a

2:01

firm regulatory framework for digital assets

2:03

his top priority. Atkins, who served

2:05

as SEC Commissioner from 2002 -2008

2:07

and advised Trump during his first

2:10

term replaces former chair Gary Ginsler.

2:12

His comments mark a clear shift

2:14

from Ginsler's more aggressive stance. Atkins

2:16

said it's a new day at

2:18

the SEC and emphasized returning to

2:20

the agency's core mission, protecting investors,

2:22

ensuring orderly markets, and enabling capital

2:24

formation. Well, Cantor Fitzgerald is teaming

2:26

up with SoftBank, Tether, and Bitfinex

2:28

to launch a $3 billion Bitcoin investment

2:30

vehicle called 21 Capital according to

2:32

the Financial Times. The goal is

2:34

to build a publicly traded Bitcoin

2:36

holding firm similar to Michael Saylor's

2:38

strategy. The respective Bitcoin contributions would

2:40

be converted into shares of 21

2:43

Capital at $10 each, valuing Bitcoin

2:45

at around $85 ,000. Cantor's

2:47

special purpose acquisition company Cantor Equity

2:49

Partners raised $200 million in January

2:51

and will lead the effort. The

2:53

plan also includes raising an additional

2:55

$350 million via a convertible bond

2:58

and $200 million in private equity

3:00

to buy more Bitcoin. The deal could be

3:02

announced in the coming weeks but isn't finalized

3:04

yet. While the SEC has dropped

3:06

its fraud case against Hex founder Richard

3:08

Hart marking a rare full retreat

3:10

in a crypto enforcement action, Hart declared

3:12

the SEC lost and crypto won.

3:14

Calling it a victory for open -source

3:16

software and the crypto industry, the SEC

3:18

initially sued Hart in July of

3:20

2023, accusing him and his projects, Hex,

3:22

Pulse Chain and Pulse X, of

3:24

raising over $1 billion through unregistered securities

3:26

and using some of the funds

3:28

for luxury purchases. But in February, a

3:30

New York court tossed the case,

3:32

ruling the SEC didn't show the alleged

3:34

misconduct was tied to the US. The

3:36

agency missed its deadline to refile and

3:38

officially backed out on April 21. Despite

3:41

the win in the US, Hart

3:43

still faces legal trouble in Europe. He

3:45

remains on Europol's most wanted list

3:47

after Finland issued a warrant for fraud

3:49

and tax evasion. Interpol posted a

3:51

red notice for his arrest last December.

3:53

And finally, the SEC has charged

3:55

PGI Global founder Ramil Palafox with running

3:57

a fraudulent crypto scheme that raised

3:59

around $198 million. Palafox allegedly

4:01

misused over $57 million to buy

4:03

Lamborghini's watches and homes while paying

4:05

earlier investors with new money in

4:07

a Ponzi -like setup. From 2020 to

4:09

2021, PGI promised high returns from

4:11

crypto and forex trading backed by

4:13

claims of AI -powered auto trading,

4:15

but the SEC says no actual

4:18

trading occurred and the platform relied

4:20

on multi -level marketing tactics. to lure

4:22

investors. The SEC's complaint accuses Palafox

4:24

of violating anti -fraud and securities

4:26

registration laws. The agency is seeking

4:28

to permanently ban him from selling

4:30

securities or crypto and is asking

4:32

for financial penalties and repayment of

4:34

the alleged gains. The complaint also

4:36

named several individuals and entities that

4:38

received funds seeking to clawback those

4:40

amounts. The case is supported by

4:42

the FBI and IRS. Palafox has

4:44

also been arraigned on criminal charges

4:46

in a parallel action. This is

4:48

one of the first major enforcement

4:50

efforts from the SEC's new cyber

4:52

and emerging technologies unit. That's all

4:55

for us today. Visit us at

4:57

DailyCryptoreport .io and listen to us everywhere

4:59

else you podcast under DailyCryptoreport. Lest

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we forget this past season of love

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