Kraken to launch a bank, the professionals handling the FTX bankruptcy case billed a total of $38 million plus expenses for January, according to court records

Kraken is making progress with its plans to launch its own bank despite a challenging regulatory environment. The closure of its on-chain staking services for US clients has resulted in SEC charges, including a $30 million fine, leading to rising caution in the banking sector.

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Kraken's chief legal officer Marco Santori said the bank was on track to launch "very soon" and confirmed their banking relationships were secure. However, he warned that increased caution could stifle innovation in the crypto sector, and while there was no conspiratorial crackdown on the crypto sector, the issue could become electoral fodder in the US.

FTX bankruptcy team makes $38 million!

The professionals handling the FTX bankruptcy case billed a total of $38 million plus expenses for January, according to court records. Law firms Sullivan & Cromwell, Quinn Emmanuel Urquhart & Sullivan, and Landis Rath & Cobb were retained as counsel, with over 180 lawyers and 50 non-lawyer staff assigned to the case.

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Consultancy AlixPartners conducted forensic analysis on decentralized finance products and tokens, while financial services firms Alvarez & Marsal and Perella Weinberg Partners worked on sorting through FTX’s accounting records. Sullivan & Cromwell billed $16.8 million for January, with the majority of its time spent on discovery, asset disposition, and asset analysis and recovery.

US Judge questions suspicious SEC behaviour over spot ETF

During the first appeals hearing on March 7, federal appellate court judges questioned the SEC's arguments over Grayscale Investments' spot Bitcoin ETF application. Grayscale's lead counsel, Don Verrilli, argued that the SEC's rejection of the application was "arbitrary" and that Grayscale wants to be regulated.

However, SEC lawyer Emily Parise said that Grayscale's argument was an "unsupported empirical leap" and that the company had not provided sufficient data to alleviate its concerns. Judge Neomi Rao questioned why the SEC had approved futures ETFs but rejected a spot ETF, and Parise said there was a lack of evidence and data to prevent fraud and manipulation.

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