Tom Tate, the Mayor of Gold Coast metropolitan, has suggested that Australians could pay their council rates, otherwise known as local property taxes, in cryptocurrency. “Why can’t we pay rates on cryptocurrency if the risk is not high?” he said. He also noted that the council will recruit a chief investment officer tasked with promoting...Read More
The National Bank of Ethiopia (NBE) clarified in a recent statement that it is still “illegal” to transact using Bitcoin or other cryptocurrencies. Citizens are encouraged to continue trading using the Ethiopian Birr. As reported by the state-affiliated Fana Broadcasting Corporate (FBC), Bitcoin and cryptocurrencies are yet to be recognized by the NBE as a...Read More
The a16z-backed Indian crypto exchange – CoinSwitch Kuber – announced the launch of an index that tracks the performance of crypto assets based on the Indian rupee rather than the US dollar. CoinSwitch CEO Kuber Ashish Singhal tweeted the latest updates regarding the newly unveiled index, the Crypto Rupee Index (CRE8). He stated that it...Read More
The San Francisco-based 401(k) provider ForUsAll is suing the US Labor Department for investigating businesses offering cryptocurrencies within customers’ retirement accounts. The company alleges that the department is infringing on customers’ rights to choose how to invest their own money. Violating the APA According to the complaint filed on Thursday, ForUsAll declares the DOL’s attack...Read More
In a first such attempt to counter lobby, the technologists wrote to the US lawmakers terming cryptocurrencies as “risky, flawed, and unproven digital financial instruments.” Counter-lobby Efforts As per the report by Financial Times, the 26 computer scientists and academics, including Harvard lecturer Bruce Schneier, former Microsoft engineer Miguel de Icaza and principal engineer at...Read More
The Turkish authorities are reportedly working on a draft bill to set up additional control over the local digital asset market. The legislation focuses on crypto exchanges, too, as they should have a minimum of 100 million liras ($6.1 million) in capital to operate on domestic soil. Regulations on the Way? Turkey and cryptocurrencies have...Read More
The Circle CEO continued to push the adoption of digital currencies as he viewed cash’s features, including portability, privacy and role in securing individual sovereignty, are what could make digital cash alluring to people. “Cash Is King” In a panel discussion hosted by the World Economic Forum, Circle CEO Jeremy Allaire elaborated his bullish thesis...Read More
India’s banking sector regulator used the market crash to support his argument that crypto has no underlying value and justify his stance that it can be a threat to financial stability. RBI Justifies Not Regulating Crypto Reminding his often repeated caution to the people, Reserve Bank of India (RBI) Governor Shaktikanta Das said that had...Read More
India’s regulatory uncertainty for the crypto sector came into sharp focus at the ongoing World Economic Forum (WEF) Annual Meeting in Davos. In an interview with Reuters, CoinSwitch Kuber CEO Ashish Singhal highlighted the government’s policy dilemma on the industry. “Users don’t know what will happen with their holdings – is the government going to...Read More
The recent havoc in the crypto market wreaked by Terra’s collapse has put stablecoins under the spotlight again. As of now, the next move by America’s top financial watchdog (the Securities and Exchange Commission) on crypto regulations remains unclear. An SEC Commissioner revealed in a recent interview that stablecoin regulations might not fall into SEC’s...Read More
Commonwealth Bank (CommBank), the largest bank in Australia, has reportedly suspended its planned in-app cryptocurrency trading pilot without setting a new timeframe for when it would resume the service. CommBank Pauses Crypto Services at Pilot Phase According to the Guardian Australia, on Thursday (May 19, 2022), Matt Comyn, the chief executive officer of the Commonwealth...Read More
As global regulators are ramping up forces targeting digital asset firms, Coinbase announced the launch of a global crypto-native think tank that aims to accelerate research on the industry and hold constructive discussions with policymakers. Coinbase Institute The blog post by the largest US-based crypto exchange stated that the newly established think tank, Coinbase Institute,...Read More
The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) toughened up its stance against cryptocurrencies, citing the rising asset class as a threat to its sovereign interest and a negative impact on the banking system. The news came on the heels of Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong blaming India’s central bank for denying the Unified Payments Interface (UPI) services...Read More
With the crash of TerraUSD —the largest algorithmic stablecoin in the ecosystem— and the de-pegging of other stablecoins like Stasis, DEI (not to be confused with DAI and even Tether), banking institutions like the European Central Bank, used this weakness in in their favor and started promoting their new CBDCs. On May 16, Italian economist...Read More
The catastrophic failure of Terra’s algorithmic stablecoin, TerraUSD (UST), last week exacerbated the chaos in the crypto industry and accelerated plans to regulate the stablecoins market. Following the market meltdown, global financial regulators started proposing different legislations to regulate stablecoins better and prevent similar incidents from occurring in the future. UK to Legalize and Regulate...Read More
Portugal’s Finance Minister Fernando Medina has confirmed plans to apply capital gains taxes on cryptocurrency profits. Though he has not committed to a specific date, he stressed that there can no longer be gaps within the tax system around transactions involving digital assets. Ending the Tax Haven? Cryptocurrencies are currently subject to very few tax...Read More
Indian regulators are making the rulebook tough for celebrity endorsement of crypto products. The Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) has advised prominent public personalities, including celebrities and sportsmen, to refrain from endorsing anything related to the digital asset industry. SEBI’s stance is based on the logic that crypto products are not regulated in...Read More
Peirce, also affectionately known as ‘Crypto Mom,’ said that there might soon be movement on stablecoin regulations in the U.S. The comments came at an online panel debate hosted by the London-based Official Monetary and Financial Institutions Forum (OMFIF) policy think tank on May 12. “One place we might see some movement is around stablecoins,”...Read More
The new government of South Korea will reportedly finalize the regulatory framework on the local digital asset ecosystem next year and enforce it in 2024. The legislation will aim to incorporate cryptocurrencies like bitcoin into the country’s institutional system. In addition, the authorities have greenlighted the Bank of Korea’s efforts to launch a CBDC in...Read More
Rug pulls have grown to become a menace in the space of decentralized finance and have resulted in hundreds of millions stolen from users. Being amongst the most common types of scams, some US politicians have taken aim and want to outlaw them. State Senator Kevin Thomas and Assembly member Clyde Vanel have introduced Senate...Read More
On April 21, Victoria Rodriguez Ceja, Governor of the Bank of Mexico (Banxico), said during a hearing before the Mexican Senate that the CBDC (MDBC) “will be in circulation” by 2025. According to Rodriguez, the CBDC will enable greater financial inclusion for citizens while expanding existing payment options. They also expect to deploy new automation...Read More
Blockpass, a digital identity verification provider partnering with various crypto wallets and exchanges, has started offering KYC services to Cardano’s commercial arm, EMURGO. Cardano-based addresses will be added to the Blockpass App, and projects can directly access on-chain KYC services, if needed, to comply with regulatory requirements. Positioned as the axis of the Cardano ecosystem,...Read More
Proof-of-work (PoW) protocols have been under fire for years due to their massive energy consumption – particularly hurting the battle against climate change. The latest censure against the mining industry derived from the US Congressman Jared Huffman. He penned a letter to the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) on Wednesday, requesting it to investigate and address...Read More
The U.S. government has just sanctioned the first cryptocurrency mining company, which also happens to be from Russia. This comes a day after the IMF warned that Russia could potentially evade economic sanctions by mining cryptocurrencies. On April 20, the U.S. Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) sanctioned BitRiver, a cryptocurrency mining company...Read More
The Korea Fair Trade Commission (KFTC) is reportedly ready to impose tougher regulations on Dunama – the parent company of the country’s largest crypto exchange, Upbit – by classifying it as a “large enterprise.” The authority deems firms with more than 5 trillion won ($4.03 billion) assets subject to stricter regulatory scrutiny, requiring them to...Read More
Russia could use cryptocurrency mining to evade sanctions, according to the IMF. The IMF warned in its new report that sanctioned countries like Russia could use cryptocurrencies and significantly boost their mining industry to evade any economic sanctions imposed on them. The International Monetary Fund (IMF) indicated in its report on global financial stability that...Read More
Once considered an attractive country for Chinese Bitcoin miners after the country’s crackdown on any BTC mining activity, Kazakhstan now seems to be set to creating new taxes that will negatively impact the industry. On April 14, the Minister of National Economy, Alibek Kuantyrov, said in a government briefing that his team is working on...Read More
Coin Center has vehemently pushed back the controversial SEC proposal that sought to redefine the definition of “exchange” within the Securities Exchange Act in a bid to “include systems that offer the use of non-firm trading interest and communications protocols to bring together buyers and sellers of securities.” The group deemed the regulator’s move as...Read More
Russia’s Ministry of Finance has reportedly finalized its cryptocurrency regulation bill and is ready to apply it soon. The legislation particularly touches upon digital asset mining as experts believe it will create new opportunities for participants. On the other hand, it might drive investors to “the black market.” It Is High Time for Some Clarity...Read More
Two of India’s largest crypto exchanges – CoinSwitch Kuber and WazirX – have halted deposits in Indian rupees citing regulatory problems, triggering a wave of angry protests by investors on social media. It comes two days after Coinbase halted deposits in Indian rupees on Sunday, barely 3 days following its launch in India on April...Read More
