Today in Crypto: Coincheck to Go Public After SPAC Merger; UK Watchdog Flags 50 Crypto Companies; NY PoW Mining Ban Advances; Katie Haun Raises $1.5B for Web3 Ventures

Coincheck, the Japanese crypto marketplace, will merge with special purpose acquisition company (SPAC) Thunder Bridge Capital Partners IV, in order to go public on Nasdaq, a press release said.

The proposed transaction is valued at about $1.25 billion and is expected to be finalized in the second half of 2022. Thunder Bridge President and CEO Gary Simanson will become the CEO of the combined company.

Meanwhile, Britain’s Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) is continuing its clampdown on fraudulent or misleading crypto ads, sending out an enforcement notice to over 50 companies, a press release said.

The release said the companies, which were not named, have until May 2 to comply with ad guidance or face enforcement action.

The guidance requires ads: 1) should clearly state cryptocurrencies are unregulated in the U.K. and that the value of investments can go down; 2) must not state or imply that investment decisions are trivial, simple, easy or suitable for anyone; 3) must not imply a sense of urgency to buy or create a fear of missing out, or that investments are “low risk.”

The ASA called this a “red alert” priority issue.

Meanwhile, GMI, the crypto political action committee, landed big contributions from large industry names last month – it entered March with over $3.4 million, according to Coindesk.

The report notes that super PACs are allowed to put millions into ad campaigns. BlockFi CEO Zac Prince, venture firm Blockchain Capital and crypto investor Brian Kelly donated $400,000 to GMI in February.

Elsewhere, members of the New York State Assembly’s Environmental Conservation Committee voted Tuesday (March 22) to advance a bill callling for a two-year moratorium on the energy-intensive crypto mining used on the Bitcoin blockchain, among others, Bloomberg wrote.

The bill would ban proof-of-work (PoW) cryptocurrency mining for two years. This came before the March 31 deadline at which the state would decide whether to grant pollution permits to the Greenidge Generation power plant that provides electricity to a crypto mining operation in central New York.

In other news, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis said the state has been working on a plan for businesses to pay tax in crypto, Bloomberg wrote.

DeSantis has been embracing Florida’s status as a new hub for the digital money – Blockchain.com has offices in Miami, and Miami Mayor Francis Suarez has welcomed crypto and said he’ll receive his paycheck in the coin.

Finally, investor Katie Haun has a new venture capital firm, Haun Ventures, that  raised $1.5 billion focusing on Web3, crypto, blockchain and NFTs.

Haun said it could be a good time to deploy a crypto fund now, despite the turbulent times for the assets. She said her experience taught her that “great projects are going to be built in every cycle.”