Cheyenne Ligon

On the news team at CoinDesk, Cheyenne focuses on crypto regulation and crime. Cheyenne is originally from Houston, Texas. She studied political science at Tulane University in Louisiana. In December 2021, she graduated from CUNY's Craig Newmark Graduate School of Journalism, where she focused on business and economics reporting. She has no significant crypto holdings.

Recent

SEC Chair Gary Gensler (Nikhilesh De/CoinDesk)

Policy

Regulations

Judge Sends Coinbase Back to the Drawing Board Over Efforts to Subpoena SEC’s Gary Gensler

The New York judge overseeing the SEC’s case against Coinbase said the crypto exchange’s attempts to subpoena Gensler’s personal devices were surprising – “and not in a good...

By Nikhilesh De Cheyenne Ligon

Jul 11, 2024 at 7:18 p.m. UTC

Jul 11, 2024

RegulationsGary GenslerSECCoinbase

BitMEX founder and former CEO Arthur Hayes pleaded guilty to an identical charge as the exchange, a few years earlier. (CoinDesk archives)

Policy

Regulations

Crypto Exchange BitMEX Pleads Guilty to Violating the Bank Secrecy Act From 2015 to 2020

Four BitMEX executives have previously pleaded guilty to the same charge.

By Cheyenne Ligon

Jul 10, 2024 at 10:24 p.m. UTC

Jul 10, 2024

RegulationsBitMEXBSA

Policy

Regulations

As DOE Preps for Take Two of Controversial Crypto Mining Survey, Industry Weighs in

The DOE dropped an earlier attempt to compel commercial crypto mining outfits to cooperate with an “emergency” energy-usage survey.

By Cheyenne Ligon

Jul 10, 2024 at 8:27 p.m. UTC

Jul 10, 2024

RegulationsMiningDepartment of Energy

Gary Wang (left) and Nishad Singh both pleaded guilty to criminal charges and testified against their former boss and friend, FTX founder Sam Bankman-Fried. (Victor Chen, Nikhilesh De, modified by CoinDesk)

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Regulations

Former FTX Execs Nishad Singh, Gary Wang to Be Sentenced Later This Year

The duo pled guilty to criminal fraud charges and testified against their former boss, Sam Bankman-Fried, last year.

By Nikhilesh De Cheyenne Ligon

Jul 9, 2024 at 2:37 p.m. UTC

Jul 9, 2024

RegulationsFTXNishad singhGary wangSam Bankman-FriedFTX CollapseSBF Trial

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Regulations

Sacked Northern Data Execs File Suit Against Tether-Backed Company, Alleging Fraud

The two executives, Joshua Porter and Gulsen Kama, say they were fired for attempting to blow the whistle on alleged accounting and securities fraud at the company.

By Cheyenne Ligon

Jul 5, 2024 at 5:02 p.m. UTC

Jul 5, 2024

RegulationsNorthern DataIRSlawsuits

DCG CEO Barry Silbert (CoinDesk archives)

Policy

Regulations

DCG, Top Executives Renew Push to Get New York AG’s Civil Fraud Suit Dropped

The late-night messages NYAG alleged were evidence of a fraudulent conspiracy were, according to DCG’s lawyers, “lawful, good-faith efforts by DCG to support a subsidiary.”

By Cheyenne Ligon

Jul 2, 2024 at 7:24 p.m. UTC

Jul 2, 2024

RegulationsDCGGenesisBarry SilbertNew York Attorney GeneralNYAG

Brad Garlinghouse, CEO of Ripple, speaks at Consensus 2024. (Shutterstock/CoinDesk)

Policy

Regulations

Ripple’s Big Court Win Nonetheless Muddied Waters on Whether XRP Is a Security Deserving Tougher Regulation

In a near-vacuum of legal and regulatory clarity for crypto, district judges’ opinions on whether a given token is a security or not – which determines the level of regulation...

By Cheyenne Ligon

Jun 28, 2024 at 7:09 p.m. UTC

Jun 28, 2024

RegulationsRippleXRP