The EU Parliament and Council recently reached a provisional agreement on a list of anti-money laundering and anti-terrorist financing laws. Although further deliberation on other proposed measures is yet to be had, the new measures will help streamline the efforts of the national financial agencies of EU countries in this area. Although cryptocurrencies are not...Read More
Reports have emerged depicting long lines in front of a physical gold sales location in Germany, in view of pending legislation which would once again lower the anonymous purchase limit, this time from €10,000 to €2,000. The last drop happened in 2017 when the limit was set at €15,000. A draft bill from the German...Read More
Every year, Bitcoin faces a new foe intent on crippling it by undermining the foundations it was built upon. From mining cartels to developer disputes, Bitcoin has faced a barrage of threats over the past decade. When it’s not internecine conflict taking its toll, it’s external forces including politicians and regulators seeking to exert control....Read More
Utorg.io is a digital asset exchange based in the U.K. that allows users in Europe and around the world to trade cryptocurrencies with stablecoins and fiat money. What sets the new platform apart from many incumbents is the simplified verification procedure for traders who don’t exceed а daily limit of $1,000. Its decision to provide...Read More
In times of mounting pressure on crypto companies to comply with expanding due diligence requirements, Poloniex has taken a step in the opposite direction. The exchange is lifting restrictions that applied to unverified users in response to customer demand. New and current accounts will enjoy access to unlimited trading and deposits. Also read: P2P Crypto...Read More
The Amended Directive to the Fourth EU Money Laundering Directive will go into force in Germany on January 1, 2020. Some of the key changes affect how the German Banking Act and Payment Supervision Services Act relate to crypto. Crypto-Assets Are Now Financial Instruments The new law defines crypto-assets in a somewhat unwieldy manner: digital representation...Read More
With stricter new regulations on the horizon for the crypto space around the world, Australians have found that it’s actually their traditional financial institutions that have been breaching well-established anti-money laundering rules and other industry standards this year. Westpac, one of the country’s largest banks, is now under investigation for millions of purported violations of...Read More
Regulatory measures continue to wreak havoc on smaller cryptocurrency firms. Simplecoin, a social crypto mining platform, is shutting down in early January of 2020. Several crypto firms have been forced to take drastic action in recent weeks. The End is Nigh for Simplecoin Simplecoin simply follow suit in this regard. The company foresees problems with...Read More
According to the blockchain analysis firm Ciphertrace, major U.S. banks process roughly $2 billion in digital currency transactions that go undetected every year. Ciphertrace disclosed a slew of financial institutions have not deployed the right KYC/AML infrastructure to detect unregistered cryptocurrency transfers. Also read: US to Strictly Enforce Crypto Rules Similar to FATF Guidelines All...Read More
Bottle Pay, a cryptocurrency payments provider from the U.K., has announced its decision to cease operations by the end of the year. Despite attracting some serious funding and expanding its user base significantly in the past few months, the company has found it unacceptable to continue to work under the upcoming EU regulations. AMLD5, the...Read More
This week, Chainalysis announced the completion of a full AML solution applied on the Bitfinex exchange. The blockchain analysis is becoming the next frontier of verification, as the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) rules start to be unrolled from the summer of 2020. Regulators Worldwide Start Looking at Blockchain Activity Directly Chainalysis remarks that institutions...Read More
The Verkhovna Rada, Ukraine’s legislature, has approved amendments that introduce legal terms and definitions pertaining to the crypto space. The new legislation, which aims to transpose the FATF standards into national law, also identifies who is to take responsibility for the oversight of cryptocurrencies in the country. Also read: Crypto Startups to Get up to...Read More
The Financial Stability Board (FSB) has appointed Ryozo Himino, Japan’s top cryptocurrency regulator, as the new head of its Standing Committee on Supervisory and Regulatory Cooperation. FSA Cryptocurrency Regulator Joins FSB In a press statement issued on Monday (September 2, 2019), the international financial system watchdog announced Himino’s appointment. According to the press statement, the...Read More
A recent opinion article by Peter Lin, “Why Regulation Is The Best Thing For Crypto,” presents common arguments on why the state and state-affiliated institutions should administer cryptocurrency. Underlying the arguments is an assumption: the free market cannot provide necessary standards for crypto and the state must step into the void. Also read: Why the...Read More
FinCEN director Kenneth Blanco urged casinos to follow the agency’s guidelines in regards to suspicious convertible virtual currency activity. Kenneth A. Blanco, the director of the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN), has urged casinos to follow the agency’s guidelines in regards to suspicious convertible virtual currency (CVC) activity. During his speech at the 12th Annual...Read More
CoinGecko has joined a blockchain analytics network focusing on anti-money laundering and know your customer issues in an effort to improve its exchange transparency services. Crypto market aggregator CoinGecko has joined the network of blockchain analytics and anti-money laundering (AML) company Coinfirm. This partnership will reportedly allow CoinGecko to improve its exchange Trust Score algorithm,...Read More
