Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong says he's heard rumors the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) would like to ban retail investors from engaging in cryptocurrency staking, the income-generating technique at the core of running proof of stake blockchains including Ethereum. "I hope that's not the case as I believe it would be a terrible path for the U.S. if that was allowed to happen," he tweeted Wednesday. The SEC declined to comment.

Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong (CoinDesk)

The governance token for the liquid staking platform Lido surged on the rumor suggested by Armstong that the SEC might ban staking for retail customers. The Lido protocol, governed by the LDO token (LDO), allows for the staking of ether (ETH). LDO surged around 11% in the immediate aftermath of the comments, and is up 8.4% in the past 24 hours.

Binance is helping assemble a consortium of crypto companies with a view towards rebuilding trust in the industry and is taking on an active role in consulting on regulations, according to a person with knowledge of the plans. A number of companies have already signed up to come on board. They span the crypto industry, including individual projects, exchanges and blockchain analytics firms, the person said, without naming any of the firms involved. Binance declined to comment.

(CryptoCompare)

Trading activity increased strongly across the board in January, but derivatives volume grew faster than that of spot markets, according to data from CryptoCompare.

Derivatives volume in January was up 76.1% from December to $2.04 trillion, the largest percentage increase since January 2021 when volume rose 114%.

Derivatives trading now represents 70.3% of the entire crypto market, up from 68% in December, according to CryptoCompare data.

The large trading activity increase came alongside big gains for the world’s largest cryptocurrencies by market capitalization, with bitcoin (BTC) and ether (ETH) up 40% and 32%, respectively, in January.

“This suggests that price increases were driven by derivative market speculation rather than spot market accumulation,” said CryptoCompare in its report.

Since 2015, Consensus has served as grounds for calibration, collaboration and resolution for thousands of professionals and builders forging the future of finance and the new digital economy. If you haven’t already purchased your pass, register before Friday to save on walk-up rates! Save $600 on the Two-Day pass and $900 on the Pro pass. Plus, take an extra 15% off with code FM15. Learn more and register.