This week, a chapter closed on one of the more outlandish crypto crimes we’ve seen (which is saying a lot for crypto): a couple of internet influencers pulled off a massive crypto heist that fueled their lavish lifestyle, leading to the Department of Justice’s largest asset seizure in history.
“It means that people are going to be more vulnerable to an industry that is rife with fraud, abuse, market manipulation and cyber-breaches,” said Patrick Woodall, the managing director for policy at Americans for Financial Reform, which advocates for stronger financial regulations. “This is an industry that is extremely volatile, where people take big losses, where market manipulation by insiders is very prevalent.”
Crypto tycoons are storming into U.S. politics and attempting to reshape how we choose our elected officials. And the industry remains mostly controlled by a small group of very wealthy people even though fewer than one-sixth of people have ever owned any cryptocurrency. But crypto tycoons are pouring money into politics, aiming to bypass regulatory oversight, consolidate their power, and restructure American politics for their own benefit.
Today, 38 labor unions, investors, and advocates submitted a letter to the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) in support of a proposed rule that would increase oversight of asset managers with substantial voting power in banks. The proposal would bolster FDIC oversight when asset managers gain control of over 10 percent of voting securities of bank holding companies with FDIC-supervised subsidiaries.
As landlords, private equity firms raise rents, impose new fees, skimp on property maintenance and pursue tenants more aggressively in court, the Americans for Financial Reform research noted. “The cumulative effect is a massive transfer of wealth from mainly low- and middle-income renters, who can’t afford the onerous barriers to homeownership, to some of the wealthiest men in America,” it said.
“From the beginning of this republic, even the most humble citizen was entitled to their day in court and a fair hearing. And at no point, until the creation of forced arbitration did someone say, ‘Hey you can have a right to your day in court except when your complaint is about a big corporation,” said Christine Chen Zinner, senior policy counsel at Americans for Financial Reform.
Cryptocurrency promises a high-tech opportunity to make buckets of money, but like most get-rich-quick schemes, rip-offs are ubiquitous. The crypto industry is rife with scams, hustles akin to stock swindles, cyberbreaches, and other crimes that can easily separate investors and consumers from their money.
The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau’s (CFPB) recent enforcement action against Ejudicate, a forced arbitration platform, highlights the urgent need to restrain a practice that hurts millions of consumers. The agency found Ejudicate had misled student borrowers about its neutrality in arbitration and illegally started sham forced arbitrations against those borrowers.
Since fall 2023, AFREF and partners have been part of an ongoing Campaign for Lower Home Energy Costs. The goal is for The Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) to require new homes with mortgages backed by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac to be built to
Researchers at Americans for Financial Reform Education Fund, Global Energy Monitor and Private Equity Stakeholder Project assessed the holdings of 21 private equity firms, overseeing a combined $6tn in assets under management.