NEW YORK, Feb. 24, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Bloomberg and Elwood Technologies today announced a strategic integration enabling investments from clients using Elwood's market-leading cryptocurrency trading platform to flow directly into Bloomberg AIM, a leading buy-side order management system (OMS).

Elwood's comprehensive crypto native solution, with purpose-built infrastructure, delivering deep liquidity and extensive market data, is the gateway for institutional access to digital assets. The integration combines Elwood's institutional cryptocurrency trading capabilities with Bloomberg's data, analytics, and workflow tools, enabling the financial institutions and investment managers on the AIM platform to capture and manage their crypto investments alongside the rest of their portfolio for a unified investment process. Elwood will adopt the Financial Instrument Global Identifier (FIGI) for crypto assets as the common identifier for the integration.

"We are very pleased to be able to offer Bloomberg AIM clients integrated access to Elwood's market-leading cryptocurrency trading platform. It has always been our goal to provide clients with the cutting-edge capabilities necessary to manage their entire investment portfolio in an integrated manner, and this increasingly includes alternative asset classes such as cryptocurrencies," said Ian Peckett, Global Head of Buy-Side Product at Bloomberg.

The integration with Elwood is representative of Bloomberg's 'Buy Side from Every Side' philosophy and commitment to provide clients with the ability to maintain the full portfolio perspective they need for risk and exposure management when investing in innovative and alternative products without needing to fundamentally change their operating model.

James Stickland, CEO of Elwood Technologies, added, "This strategic partnership continues to deliver on our mission of providing access to digital asset markets in a way that institutions expect. We look forward to working closely with Bloomberg to simplify institutional access to cryptocurrency markets."

The integration is expected to be completed and available for mutual clients of Elwood and Bloomberg AIM in Q2 2022.

Bloomberg's Buy-Side solutions deliver front-to-back technology for the investment lifecycle, from decision support and order management, to portfolio management and post-trade services, for some of the largest asset managers, asset owners, and hedge funds. Bloomberg AIM, a leading order management system (OMS), is used by nearly 15,000 professionals at over 900 client firms globally to manage more than $17 trillion in assets. PORT is a multi-asset portfolio and risk analytics solution that delivers advanced risk and return attribution models. PORT has 47,000 active users across 15,000 client firms globally. Bloomberg's post-trade offering streamlines post-trade workflows and reduce operational risk through reconciliation, straight-through processing (STP), settlement exceptions and collateral management solutions.

About BloombergBloomberg, the global business and financial information and news leader, gives influential decision makers a critical edge by connecting them to a dynamic network of information, people and ideas. The company's strength delivering data, news and analytics through innovative technology, quickly and accurately is at the core of the Bloomberg Terminal. Bloomberg's enterprise solutions build on the company's core strength: leveraging technology to allow customers to access, integrate, distribute and manage data and information across organizations more efficiently and effectively. For more information, visit Bloomberg.com/company or request a demo.

About ElwoodElwood Technologiesis a rapidly growing global fintech, building institutional-grade digital assets trading infrastructure. Its seamless end-to-end OMS/EMS/PMS platform provides low-latency connectivity to global crypto exchanges and deep liquidity via one single API. Built by industry experts with decades of combined experience in alternative investment management, Elwood Technologies provides market infrastructure at scale, enabling financial institutions, neobanks, and corporations to access the digital asset markets quickly and efficiently.

SOURCE Bloomberg

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Bitwise Asset Management general counsel Katherine Dowling reacts to Coinbases Super Bowl ad and discusses cryptocurrency regulation.

A cryptocurrency expert is sounding the alarm on how the Canadian government is freezing the crypto wallets of Freedom Convoy protesters and said that it's something that can "very realistically" happen in the United States.

In an effort to take action against participants of the Freedom Convoy protests in Canada, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau invoked the Emergencies Act on Monday, giving the government power to clear protests by towing vehicles and even more direct measures like freezing personal bank accounts.

Deputy Prime Minister Chrystia Freeland said during a press conference on Thursday that crypto wallets have been frozen.

"The names of both individuals and entities, as well as crypto wallets, have been shared by the RCMP with financial institutions and accounts have been frozen, and more accounts will be frozen," Freeland said.

FBI FORMING CRYPTO ENFORCEMENT TEAM

A truck convoy of anti-COVID-19 vaccine mandate demonstrators continues to block the highway at the busy U.S. border crossing in Coutts, Alta., Wednesday, Feb. 2, 2022. (Jeff McIntosh /The Canadian Press / AP Newsroom)

Nicholas Anthony, manager of the Cato Institute's Center for Monetary and Financial Alternatives, told FOX Business that the same strategy the Canadian government is using to silence protesters can "very realistically happen here."

"I think this really needs to be an eye opener for Americans across the country, across political ideologies," Anthony said. "But this is something that could very realistically happen here, and this is something that shows that they really need to have stronger financial privacy protections in place. And really, they should have a right to their financial privacy."

He added that the seizure of personal funds is something "reserved for authoritarian regimes" as a form of punishment for citizens who dissent with government policy.

"This shouldn't be something that can just happen on a whim, and seeing it just north of the border is clear evidence," Anthony said.

Anthony's comments come as American truckers are planning their own "Freedom Convoy" as a way to protest the U.S. governments COVID-19 restrictions and mandates.

AS RUSSIAN CYBERATTACK LOOMS, CYBERSPACE IS 21ST CENTURY BATTLEGROUND: EXPERTS

As crypto companies increase their advertising spending, brands have pumped out crypto-themed campaigns or marketing gimmicks to leverage the buzz surrounding cryptocurrencies. (Photo Illustration by Chesnot/Getty Images / Getty Images)

Anthony said that "no one is safe" from the type of actions the Canadian government is taking against protesters' personal bank accounts and crypto wallets.

"And as sad as it is to say, no one is safe from that, whether it's traditional bank accounts or cryptocurrencies held with a third-party intermediary, it really doesn't matter. That is, if it's a third party that is acting as the go between. And there's still that risk of seizure," he said.

According to Anthony, the best way for individuals to "get around" potential government seizure of their crypto wallet is to avoid third-party platforms and to host their cryptocurrencies in a "self-hosted wallet."

He pointed to a bill introduced this week in the U.S. House of Representatives by Rep. Warren Davidson, R-Ohio, titled the "Keep Your Coins Act," which would prohibit any federal government agency from creating a regulation that would "impair a persons ability to act as self-custodian."

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Representation of cryptocurrency Binance Coin, the native token of the cryptocurrency exchange, is seen in this illustration from Nov. 29, 2021. (Reuters/Dado Ruvic/Illustration/File Photo / Reuters Photos)

For those who think the U.S. government should have the authority to seize bank accounts or crypto wallets at a moment's notice, Anthony said that they should look at how authoritarian countries have used that power in the past.

"I would point them in the direction of Russia. They used this practice to shut down political dissidents that criticized Vladimir Putin. In Sudan, they used it to shut down advocacy groups. And, in China, they used it to shut down the pro-democracy protests," Anthony said.

Fox News' Louis Casiano contributed to this report

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Cryptocurrency expert says US should watch what Canadian government is doing to protesters: 'No one is safe' - Fox Business

The Federal Reserve has banned its senior officials from investing in cryptocurrency. Officials covered by the new rules will have 12 months from the effective date of the rules to dispose of all impermissible holdings, said the Federal Open Market Committee.

The Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) announced Friday that it has unanimously formally adopted comprehensive new rules for the investment and trading activity of senior officials.

The FOMC is a committee within the U.S. Federal Reserve System charged with overseeing the nations open market operations.

The rules were first announced in October last year to strengthen the impartiality and integrity of the Committees work by guarding against even the appearance of any conflict of interest, the announcement details, elaborating:

Under the new rules, senior Federal Reserve officials are prohibited from holding investments in individual bonds, agency securities, cryptocurrencies, commodities, or foreign currencies.

In addition, they are also banned from purchasing individual stocks or sector funds, entering into derivatives contracts, and engaging in short sales or purchasing securities on margin. Cryptocurrency was not included in the October announcement.

The new rules apply to Reserve Bank presidents, board members, first vice-president, research directors, FOMC staff officers, the manager and deputy manager of the System Open Market Account, board division directors who regularly attend Committee meetings, any other individual designated by the chairman, and the spouses and minor children of these individuals.

The Federal Reserve expects the rules to apply to additional staff after further review and analysis.

The rules follow a controversy last year in which several senior Fed officials traded stocks and other investments just before the central bank adopted sweeping measures to help the economy through the Covid-19 crisis. Eric Rosengren, president of the Federal Reserve Bank of Boston, and Robert Kaplan, president of the Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas, left their positions following the controversy.

The FOMC explained:

Officials covered by the new rules will have 12 months from the effective date of the rules to dispose of all impermissible holdings.

Going forward, newly covered officials will have 6 months to dispose of all impermissible holdings, the FOMC noted, adding that the rules will take effect on May 1.

Do you think senior Fed officials should be banned from investments listed above? Let us know in the comments section below.

A student of Austrian Economics, Kevin found Bitcoin in 2011 and has been an evangelist ever since. His interests lie in Bitcoin security, open-source systems, network effects and the intersection between economics and cryptography.

Image Credits: Shutterstock, Pixabay, Wiki Commons

Disclaimer: This article is for informational purposes only. It is not a direct offer or solicitation of an offer to buy or sell, or a recommendation or endorsement of any products, services, or companies. Bitcoin.com does not provide investment, tax, legal, or accounting advice. Neither the company nor the author is responsible, directly or indirectly, for any damage or loss caused or alleged to be caused by or in connection with the use of or reliance on any content, goods or services mentioned in this article.

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Fed Bans Senior Officials From Cryptocurrency Investing Regulation Bitcoin News - Bitcoin News

The Justice Department named a veteran cybersecurity prosecutor to lead a new team dedicated to investigating and prosecuting illicit cryptocurrency schemes carried out by cyber criminals and nation states including North Korea and Iran.

Eun Young Choi will be the first director of the National Cryptocurrency Enforcement Team, which will serve as the focal point for efforts to identify and dismantle the misuse of cryptocurrencies and other digital assets, Deputy Attorney General Lisa Monaco announced Thursday.

If were going to see as I think we will cryptocurrency gaining more traction and gaining wider adoption, weve got to make sure that the ecosystem that they operate in can be trusted and, frankly, can be policed, Monaco said in an interview. Were going to make it our business to go after them and get those proceeds back and make it clear to them that they cant hide.

The $2 trillion market for cryptocurrencies has boomed as companies and investors look to reap higher returns and get a foothold in a technology seen as still in its early days.

Prosecutors and regulators are rushing to determine how to police that space as well as the market for other digital assets such as nonfungible tokens which has become a new frontier for criminals and rogue nations to steal and launder billions of dollars through anonymous avenues like blockchain transactions, encryption and digital wallets.

Illicit transactionsjumpedalmost 80% to $14 billion, an all-time high, in 2021, according to blockchain analytics firm Chainalysis. Still, crime made up a much smaller share of total crypto transaction volume, which increased drastically last year, the firm said.

One of the main focuses for the new team will be rooting out illegal activity on virtual currency exchanges as well as cryptocurrency tumbler, or mixing, services, which are used to obscure tainted funds, Choi said in an interview.

Known among her colleagues as EYC, Choi most recently served as senior counsel to Monaco on cybersecurity matters. The crypto team is housed within the departments criminal division and has more than a dozen experienced prosecutors with plans to hire more personnel.

Were trying to centralize so that were a one-stop shop of all the subject matter experts within the department, Choi, 41, said.

When the creation of the crypto team was announced in October, Monaco said a key focus would be bringing cases against cryptocurrency exchanges and other entities that are found to be violating the law and assisting in the movement of illicit financing. The team would add support to current probes while pursuing new ones.

Although Choi didnt single out any exchanges by name, Bloomberg News previously reported that the Justice Department and the Internal Revenue Service are investigating whether Binance Holdings Ltd., the worlds biggest crypto trading platform, is a conduit for money laundering and tax evasion.

Choi said her team is reaching out to crypto companies that have robust anti-laundering policies and strong compliance programs, as well as blockchain analytics firms.

The information they hold is crucial to rooting out the abuse of cryptocurrencies because theyre the ones who can see in their own systems suspicious activities that may be happening, she said.

In a sign of the scale of the challenge U.S. law enforcement faces, the Justice Department this month seized Bitcoin valued at about$3.6 billionthat was stolen during a 2016 hack, the largest financial seizure ever. In addition, the U.S. Marshals Service which is the primary custodian of seized assets for the department was in possession of $919 million in 22 different cryptocurrencies at the end of 2021.

Chois appointment comes after years spent chasing hacking and crypto attacks.

In one of her first major cases, she led the successful prosecution of the 2014hackagainst JPMorgan Chase & Co., which saw hundreds of millions of dollars stolen by hackers and conspirators in more than a dozen countries. She also argued the appeal in the case against Ross Ulbricht, the founder and chief administrator of the now-shuttered Silk Road underground virtual drug bazaar.

What her appointment shows is that cryptocurrency is really at the intersection of complex financial investigations, cybersecurity, anti-money laundering, narcotics trafficking and cross-border enforcement, said Edward Imperatore, who was a colleague of Choi in the cybercrime unit of the U.S. attorneys office in Manhattan. She has experience in each one of these areas.

As cryptocurrencies become more mainstream, the potential for wrongdoing has increased exponentially. Crypto fraud now cuts across a swath of activity including financial crimes, bribery, narcotics cases, ransomware attacks, hacking attacks, money laundering, terrorist financing and sanctions evasion, Choi said.

Chois team will lead the departments efforts to coordinate with U.S. and international law enforcement agencies, regulatory bodies and private industry. It also will enhance the criminal divisions existing efforts to provide support and training to federal, state, local and international law enforcement agencies.

The Federal Bureau of Investigation also plans to announce on Thursday the creation of a new virtual asset exploitation unit.

It is going to be important for us to have a united front in trying to determine what tools and authorities were all bringing to this approach on digital assets, Choi said.

Theres some tension, however, between private companies dealing with crypto and what the department is doing.

Companies are concerned that Justice and regulatory agencies will take a heavy handed approach toward enforcement actions, according to a former federal prosecutor who asked to remain anonymous speaking about relations between private companies and the department.

U.S. agencies struggled for years to get companies to disclose hacking attacks and cyber vulnerabilities. Those private-sector victims feared such reporting would put them in the crosshairs of prosecutors or that there might be some regulatory blowback. But U.S. officials have expressed hope that theyve turned a corner in recent years, especially with successful efforts to help companies recover stolen funds.

In addition to this months Bitcoin seizure in the Bitfinex hacking case, last year the U.S. recovered almost all the Bitcoin ransom paid to the perpetrators of a cyber attack on Colonial Pipeline Co. that sparked a fuel shortage along the U.S. east coast.

(Updates with comment from former colleague in 17th paragraph)

With assistance from Allyson Versprille, Tom Schoenberg and Christian Berthelsen.

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US Justice Department taps new cryptocurrency czar - Aljazeera.com

DENVER While Colorado pushes to be the hub of cryptocurrency and blockchain technology, the 5th annual ETHDenver event welcomed more than 12,000 people from 100 different countries this year, which is the highest attendance in the event has experienced.

"This line took like three hours yesterday," Bobby Miller said as he was waiting in a line that wrapped around the former Denver Sports Castle building, where the event was held.

By now, at least in passing, you may have heard of the terms "cryptocurrency," a decentralized digital currency, and "blockchain," a peer-to-peer network online ledger that supports major cryptocurrencies.

Those topics were the basis of the event, where industry leaders would share their insights of the future of cryptocurrency and people would compete to create the next big thing.

"In simple terms, it's the world's largest blockchain technology, software development competition," ETHDenver Founder and Executive Steward John Paller said. "So teams come from all over the world to build these next-generation applications, protocols, currencies, whatever it might be, that have different use cases around things like social impact, mobile phones, decentralized finance, digital communities."

The contestants are competing for over $1.5 million in prizes and bounties and $2 million in investment capital, Paller said.

It's an event CEO of Chain Safe Systems, Aiden Hyman, has attended for the last five years.

"The point here is to empower people to be more financially literate, to be in control of their finances, and to honestly be in control of their entire digital footprint," Hyman said. "Without events like this, we really wouldn't have the community we have and our company wouldn't be where it is today."

It's people like Hyman that Gov. Jared Polis hopes to continue attracting to Denver.

Polis, who spoke at the event Friday, is pushing hard to make sure Colorado is the first digital currency state in the union.

It's a vision that Paller shares.

"We could be a destination of choice for this innovation to work here, live here, invest here, build here, and really experience the future. Governor Polis is the founder of the Blockchain Caucus in Congress," Paller said.

Polis also signed Colorado's first blockchain-related law known as the "Colorado Digital Token Act."

For those who have yet to consider life in a digital currency world, your time may be running out.

The governor recently shared his vision with CNBC, stating that paying for drivers licenses and state taxes with cryptocurrencies may be an option as early as this summer.

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ETHDenver event attracting thousands of cryptocurrency and blockchain fans from around the world - The Denver Channel