Today in crypto, US regulators are exploring a shift to 24/7 capital markets and new rules for crypto derivatives. Sora Ventures unveiled a $1 billion Bitcoin treasury fund, and an SEC probe found the agency’s IT department accidentally del…
Today in crypto, US regulators are exploring a shift to 24/7 capital markets and new rules for crypto derivatives. Sora Ventures unveiled a $1 billion Bitcoin treasury fund, and an SEC probe found the agency’s IT department accidentally deleted a year of text messages from Chair Gary Gensler’s phone.
US regulators release joint statement teasing 24/7 capital markets
The US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) released a joint statement on Friday exploring a possible shift to 24/7 capital markets and regulations for crypto derivatives.
Scaling onchain finance requires a 24/7 trading environment across asset classes, the regulators said in the statement.
Crafting regulatory clarity for event contracts and perpetual futures — futures contracts without an expiry date — was also a priority. However, the agencies clarified:
“Further expanding trading hours could better align US markets with the evolving reality of a global, always-on economy. Expanding trading hours may be more viable in some asset classes than others, so there may not be a one-size-fits-all approach for all products.”
The potential pivot to “always-on” financial markets would increase capital velocity but also increase risk for traders, exposing their overnight and long-term positions to market participants in different time zones, who could knock them out of trades while they sleep.
Sora Ventures announces $1B Bitcoin treasury fund
Sora Ventures, a crypto venture capital firm, has launched a $1 billion Bitcoin treasury fund with the goal of acquiring the full amount within the next six months. The initiative was unveiled during Taipei Blockchain Week, where founder Jason Fang introduced the project as a landmark step in integrating Bitcoin into broader financial markets.
Fang described the fund as “Asia’s first $1 billion Bitcoin treasury fund,” highlighting its focus on positioning Bitcoin as a strategic asset for regional institutions. The announcement was made during a panel discussion on bringing BTC strategies into major Asian equity markets, signaling the firm’s intent to connect traditional finance with the digital asset space.
The fund is being supported by an initial $200 million commitment from institutional partners across Asia. According to Fang, the primary aim is to drive corporate treasury adoption of Bitcoin, helping companies diversify reserves and strengthen exposure to digital assets while expanding the cryptocurrency’s role in mainstream finance.
“Avoidable errors” led to a year’s worth of Gary Gensler’s texts getting wiped
A Securities and Exchange Commission investigation into missing text messages from former chair Gary Gensler’s phone between October 2022 and September 2023 has concluded that “avoidable errors” led to their loss.
The SEC Office of Inspector General (OIG) investigated how nearly a year’s worth of text messages from Gary Gensler were permanently lost between October 2022 and September 2023, during the height of the agency’s crypto enforcement action campaign.
In a report released on Wednesday, the OIG revealed that the SEC’s IT department “implemented a poorly understood and automated policy that caused an enterprise wipe of Gensler’s government-issued mobile device,” which deleted stored text messages and operating system logs.
The loss was worsened by poor change management, lack of proper backups, ignored system alerts, and unaddressed vendor software flaws.
The OIG found that some of Gensler’s deleted texts involved SEC enforcement actions against crypto companies and their founders, meaning that key communications about how and when the SEC pursued cases may never be fully known, even to courts, Congress, or the public.
