Regulation

The Economic and Monetary Affairs Committee of the European Parliament has voted for measures requiring banks holding cryptocurrencies to set aside a punitive amount of capital. In a Jan. 24 notice, the European Parliament announced the committee had voted overwhelmingly in favor of amendments to its Capital Requirements Regulation and Capital Requirements Directive applying to

Over the last couple of years, numerous reports have surfaced regarding governments worldwide exploring the issuance of their very own central bank digital currency. In fact, to date, nine countries have rolled out an active CBDC offering. In this regard, China’s digital yuan witnessed widespread use during the 2022 Winter Olympics.  Other countries that have

Troubled cryptocurrency company Digital Currency Group (DCG) is facing more legal issues as its subsidiary Genesis Capital got slapped with a new class action lawsuit. A group of Genesis creditors filed a securities class action (SCA) lawsuit against DCG and its founder and CEO Barry Silbert, alleging violations of the federal securities laws. The lawsuit

The policy decision-makers in the United Kingdom are divided on whether the sale, marketing, and distribution of derivatives and exchange-traded notes (ETNs) tied with cryptocurrencies should be prohibited when it comes to retail investors. The Regulatory Policy Committee believes the measure, adopted in 2021, is unjustified under the current circumstances.  The chief British regulator, the

Hester Peirce, Commissioner of the Securities and Exchanges Commission (SEC) pointed out six key lessons in a recent speech that industry players must remember what crypto is really about. In a speech at the Digital Assets at Duke conference, Peirce laid down some lessons to be learned from the issues that the crypto industry had

Bankrupt crypto lending firm BlockFi has plans to sell off $160 million in loans backed by around 68,000 Bitcoin mining machines as part of bankruptcy proceedings, according to reports. In a Bloomberg report on Jan. 24, two people “familiar with the matter” claim that BlockFi started the process of selling off the loans last year.

The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) has confirmed the Lazarus Group and APT38 as the culprits behind the $100 million Harmony Bridge Hack from June 2022. The North Korea-linked cyber group had long been suspected of being behind the attack but their involvement hadn’t been confirmed by authorities until now. According to a Jan. 23

The approach to crypto regulatory enforcement by the United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) stalled the advancement of Bitcoin (BTC) in the country, according to the CEO of Grayscale Investments. In a letter published in The Wall Street Journal on Jan. 23, the chief of the cryptocurrency asset management firm, Michael Sonnenshein, said he

Megan Crowell, the chief people officer at crypto lending firm BlockFi, has petitioned a court to allow bonuses for “key employees” amid Chapter 11 bankruptcy proceedings. In a Jan. 23 declaration for United State Bankruptcy Court in the District of New Jersey, Crowell said without giving certain financial incentives, BlockFi might be unable to retain

The New York Department of Financial Services, or NYDFS, has released guidelines on how licensed crypto firms should handle customer assets should they face “insolvency or similar proceeding”. In a Jan. 23 announcement, NYDFS superintendent Adrienne Harris said crypto firms and exchanges operating under a BitLicense — required in New York state — should segregate

The European Union Agency for Law Enforcement Cooperation, or Europol, has reported authorities took control of crypto wallets containing more than $19 million in cryptocurrency as part of enforcement actions against crypto firm Bitzlato. In a Jan. 23 announcement, Europol reported that roughly 46% of assets — 1 billion euro, or $1.09 billion at the

Japan’s new regulations allowing investors to trade using stablecoins like Tether (USDT) are expected to be adopted no later than in June 2023, according to a local financial authority. The Financial Services Agency (FSA) of Japan is working on lifting the ban on the domestic distribution of stablecoins, planning to allow certain stablecoins later this

The good news of the last week is that Bitcoin (BTC) has continued to rebound, making around 10% up from Jan. 16 to Jan. 23. But the worrying trend of crypto companies making headlines due to their troubles with the law has yet to change. The United States Department of Justice launched a “major international

South Africa’s Advertising Regulatory Board (ARB) has included a new clause for the cryptocurrency industry aimed at protecting consumers from unethical advertising. Companies and individuals in South Africa must abide by certain advertising standards pertaining to the provision of cryptocurrency products and services in a new clause introduced to Section III of the country’s advertising code.

Australian crypto executives have urged caution over lumping all digital assets in the same boat as financial products, after recent comments from Australia’s assistant treasurer on the ma Speaking to the Sydney Morning Herald on Jan. 22, Assistant Treasurer and Minister for Financial Services Stephen Jones was commenting on the state of crypto regulation in

A former Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) official has slammed “cryptocurrency lobbyists” for labeling SEC enforcement actions as “regulation by enforcement” — calling the term a “Bogus Big Crypto Catch Phrase.” John Reed Stark, a former chief of the SEC’s Office of Internet Enforcement and a crypto skeptic, opined in a Jan. 22 post that

Central African Republic (CAR), a developing country in Central Africa, set up a 15-member committee responsible for drafting a bill on the use of cryptocurrencies and tokenization in the region. According to Faustin-Archange Touadéra, the president of CAR, cryptocurrencies can potentially help eradicate the country’s financial barriers. He believed in creating a business-friendly environment supported

The small Nordic country of Norway may not be particularly notable on the global crypto map. With its 22 blockchain solution providers, the nation doesn’t stand out even at the regional level.  However, as the race to test and implement central bank digital currencies (CBDCs) accelerates every day, the Scandinavian nation is taking an active

Amid ongoing investigations around the defunct crypto exchange FTX, the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) questions the due diligence conducted by institutional investors and their accountability regarding the loss of users’ funds. CFTC Commissioner Christy Goldsmith Romero stated that VCs that had to write down their investments in millions of dollars to nearly zero raises

According to new court filings, disgraced FTX founder Sam Bankman-Fried (SBF) will be subject to the forfeiture of roughly $700 million worth of assets if he were to be found guilty of fraud. In a court document filed on Jan 20, U.S. federal prosecutor Damian Williams outlined that the “government respectfully gives notice that the