New York has ‘outsized role to play’ in crypto ecosystem — State regulator head

Published

6 months ago

May 14, 2025

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<div>New York has 'outsized role to play' in crypto ecosystem — State regulator head</div>

Adrienne Harris, the head of the New York State Department of Financial Services (NYDFS), said New York has an “outsized role to play” in the crypto ecosystem, particularly in shaping regulatory frameworks for digital assets.

During a panel on May 14 at Consensus 2025 in Toronto, she said the NY estate is frequently asked to provide guidance on regulators. “With respect to federal regulation and legislation […] members of Congress are often coming to us [NYDFS] asking about our process, about our regulations, about guidance, how they should be thinking about legislation,” Harris said.

New York has 'outsized role to play' in crypto ecosystem — State regulator head — *Interview with Adrienne Harris (pictured left). Source: Cointelegraph*

According to Harris, the NYDFS was “unnecessarily tough” and lacked resources in the past. Now, under her purview, she said the NYDFS is “tough but fair,” noting that the digital currency oversight team has since doubled in size.

Harris took over as superintendent of the NYDFS in September 2021 after spending time working in the educational, nonprofit, and private sectors. In New York State, crypto businesses must either obtain a BitLicense or a limited-purpose trust charter.

“We’ve added nine pieces of regulatory guidance, so it’s still very tough to get a BitLicense or a limited-purpose trust charter,” Harris said. “But I think […] the proof is in the pudding when you see that FTX, Voyager, Celsius, didn’t pass our test and therefore couldn’t do business.”

All three of those crypto companies went bankrupt in 2022. The result was a widespread contagion in the industry and years-long legal proceedings. FTX’s founder, Sam Bankman-Fried, and Celsius Network’s Alex Mashinsky were sentenced to 25 and 12 years in prison, respectively. Voyager’s founder, Steven Ehrlich, is facing legal charges for allegedly misleading customers.

Harris ‘hopeful’ for stablecoin legislation

Stablecoin legislation has been a topic at the forefront of many crypto industry advocates in 2025. Recently considered a bipartisan endeavor, it devolved into a dispute on May 8 when Democrats withdrew support for the GENIUS Act over concerns about President Trump’s crypto ventures.

Still, Harris remains “hopeful” Congress will eventually pass stablecoin legislation.

We’ve been working with Congress on all the variations of their crypto and stablecoin legislation now over the last three years almost.

According to Harris, all recent legislation tied to stablecoin regulation has been reviewed by New York officials.

“There isn’t a version of any of those bills, be it House or Senate, R’s or D’s, that don’t come to meet to the team to say, give us your feedback, give us your technical assistance, your insights here,” she said, adding that most of these suggestions have been incorporated into legislations.

The NYDFS, according to Harrus, still wants to be “a state path for crypto companies.”

Magazine: Bitcoin payments are being undermined by centralized stablecoins

Politics

MEV bot trial ends in mistrial after jury deadlock on brothers’ verdict

Published

6 hours ago

November 8, 2025

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MEV bot trial ends in mistrial after jury deadlock on brothers’ verdict

A New York jury was unable to reach a verdict in the case of Anton and James Peraire-Bueno, the MIT-educated brothers accused of fraud and money laundering related to a 2023 exploit of the Ethereum blockchain that resulted in the removal of $25 million in digital assets.

In a Friday ruling, US District Judge Jessica Clarke declared a mistrial in the case after jurors failed to agree on whether to convict or acquit the brothers, Inner City Press reported.

The decision came after a three-week trial in Manhattan federal court, resulting in differing theories from prosecutors and the defense regarding the Peraire-Buenos’ alleged actions involving maximal extractable value (MEV) bots.

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A MEV attack occurs when traders or validators exploit transaction ordering on a blockchain for profit. Using automated MEV bots, they front-run or sandwich other trades by paying higher fees for priority.

In the brothers’ case, they allegedly used MEV bots to “trick” users into trades. The exploit, though planned by the two for months, reportedly took just 12 seconds to net the pair $25 million.

In closing arguments to the jury this week, prosecutors argued that the brothers “tricked” and “defrauded” users by engaging in a “bait and switch” scheme, allowing them to extract about $25 million in crypto. They cited evidence suggesting that the two plotted their moves for months and researched potential consequences of their actions.

“Ladies and gentlemen, bait and switch is not a trading strategy,” said prosecutors on Tuesday, according to Inner City Press. “It is fraud. It is cheating. It is rigging the system. They pretended to be a legitimate MEV-Boost validator.”

In contrast, defense lawyers for the Peraire-Buenos pushed back against the US government’s theory of the two pretending to be “honest validators” to extract the funds, though the court ultimately allowed the argument to be presented to the jury.

“This is like stealing a base in baseball,” said the defense team on Tuesday. “If there’s no fraud, there’s no conspiracy, there’s no money laundering.”