The cryptocurrency conglomerate Digital Currency Group closed its wealth management division, the latest sign of trouble amid a deep and prolonged slump in the crypto industry.

When U.S. banks fell like dominoes during the Great Depression, the cause was often a classic run: Depositors withdrew cash en masse amid fears that lenders were amassing huge losses on bad loans and investments. The cryptocurrency era just put a new twist on that.

U.S. authorities are ratcheting up pressure on Sam Bankman-Fried's inner circle as they scrutinize former close FTX associate Nishad Singh, according to people familiar with the matter.

The Securities and Exchange Commission is pushing back on Binance.US's plan to buy the bankrupt crypto lender Voyager Digital, a deal valued at about $1 billion, according to a bankruptcy court filing.

Nadine Chakar will take the helm at Securrency from current CEO Dan Doney, who will become chief technology officer.

Genesis Global Trading has laid off more than 60 employees in its latest round of job cuts, amounting to roughly 30% of the troubled crypto brokerage's workforce.

Former Celsius Network Chief Executive Alex Mashinsky, whose once highflying crypto lender went bankrupt last year, was sued for fraud by the New York attorney general — the latest fallout from turmoil in the industry.

The crypto broker Genesis told clients in a new update that it needs more time to come up with a solution for the troubles at its lending unit.

Coinbase Global, the largest U.S. cryptocurrency exchange, said its U.S. unit reached a $100 million settlement with New York regulators for letting customers open accounts with insufficient background checks.

In a joint statement, the Federal Reserve, Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. and Office of the Comptroller of the Currency said issuing and holding cryptocurrencies is "likely to be inconsistent with safe and sound banking practices."

FTX founder Sam Bankman-Fried pleaded not guilty to criminal charges Tuesday, a move that lays the foundation for one of the most high-profile white-collar fraud trials in recent years.

At the start of 2022, Biden administration officials were cautious about how to regulate the commingling of cryptocurrencies and traditional finance. By the end of the year, agencies had taken a tougher stance, and the downfall of FTX portended more of the same in 2023.

The FTX collapse and other recent disasters in the cryptocurrency space show that there is an urgent need for oversight. A self-regulatory body would get there fastest, while preserving the ethos of cryptocurrency.

Even as DeFi remains mostly unregulated, it offers no shield against the legal consequences of alleged fraud.

Federal agencies' complaints against FTX's leaders have led to scrutiny of the banks it worked with. While it's unlikely the bankers will be held accountable for the cryptocurrency exchange's wrongdoing, the case could make it more difficult any bank that wants to work with crypto-related businesses.

Sam Bankman-Fried has tried to suggest he didn't know what was happening at sister firm Alameda Research, which Caroline Ellison ran from Hong Kong while he was in the Bahamas. That casts his role in FTX's collapse as mismanagement rather than fraud. But Gary Wang, who was FTX's co-founder and based in the Bahamas with Bankman-Fried, doesn't fit into that picture.

Sam Bankman-Fried was released on a $250 million bail package after making his first U.S. court appearance to face fraud charges over the collapse of FTX, the cryptocurrency exchange he co-founded.

The remains of Sam Bankman-Fried's former empire FTX Group are drawing interest from some of the largest names in distressed investing, in a daredevil bet that heavily discounted creditor claims on the bankrupt cryptocurrency conglomerate will ultimately pay off.

Banks, fintechs and credit unions are cautiously investing in technology and customer experience as next year's economy remains uncertain.