News emanating from Nigeria reveals that the country’s central bank has allegedly placed a ban on buying and selling cryptocurrencies. A circular disseminated by the Nigerian Central Bank has revealed the apex bank’s intention to clamp down on bitcoin buying and selling. The Central Bank issued a memo signed by its Director of Finance and...Read More
The Government of India seems to have resumed its efforts to ban cryptocurrencies after a lull in a political and legal battle. The latest move by politicians came this week when they revealed a bill that could put any activity related to cryptocurrencies in checkmate. If Cryptocurrencies Are Legal, a Law Can Make Them Illegal...Read More
Coinbase asks FinCEN to pause last year’s rulemakings for cryptocurrency businesses. Shortly after, the agency officially extended the deadline for comments by another 45 days. Crypto Regulations to Wait Major digital currency exchange Coinbase has sent a letter to the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) to hold up the planned crypto regulations. The US-based venue has...Read More
Global regulators have always branded cryptocurrencies, especially bitcoin, as a tool for illicit activities such as money laundering and crime financing. Even the newly-confirmed US Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen recently raised concerns over the same issue. Experts like ECB President Christine Lagarde and Shark Tank’s Kevin O’Leary have also called for a unified global regulatory...Read More
Janet Yellen is keeping true to form as a crypto critic and has linked cryptocurrencies to terrorist financing and money laundering. Meanwhile, another report has emerged showing that virtual currencies only account for an insignificant proportion of global financial crimes. Yellen Espouses Well-Worn Crypto FUD Speaking during her virtual confirmation hearing before the U.S. Senate,...Read More
With the initial deadline for comments long expired, FinCEN has decided to extend the comment period for its proposed controversial crypto regulation for an additional 15 days. FinCen Sets New Deadline The Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN), an office of the U.S. Department of Treasury, announced the news of the extension via a press release...Read More
Anchorage, a crypto custodial service, has become the first to receive a national trust charter from the United States Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC). The move puts the firm in the position to claim the mantle of the first U.S.-based national crypto bank. Anchorage Digital Bank Scores OCC Approval According to a...Read More
New Zealand’s financial regulator has warned investors of the dangers of investing in Bitcoin. The comments were aimed at the recent fluctuations in the price of the major cryptocurrencies, which have shown quite the amplitude. Negativity, Led By The Recent Ups and Downs of BTC Price New Zealand’s Financial Markets Authority (FMA) has issued a...Read More
The largest US-based cryptocurrency exchange Coinbase has issued a formal apology for users in the UK and the EU region. The company acknowledged that its services have been unstable because of the high number of new registrations and the latest regulatory requirements. More Users Led To Problems On Coinbase Coinbase users located in the UK...Read More
2021 has started off well for most of the crypto ecosystem, except for Ripple. The company is on the verge of one of the riskiest lawsuits in the history of the industry, and the pessimism surrounding its XRP token has led it into a downward spiral that is causing significant losses to those who still...Read More
Two more companies that could be affected by the recently proposed FinCEN crypto regulations, namely Square and Andreessen Horowitz, have confronted the legislation. Both believe that the industry requires clear rules but asserted that FinCEN has failed in its rushed attempt. Square Goes After The FinCEN Crypto Regulations CryptoPotato reported recently that the US Treasury’s...Read More
The U.S. Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) has published more crypto-friendly guidelines allowing greater participation by regulated financial institutions in the industry. US Banks Can Now Use Stablecoins and Blockchains for Settlement In a press release issued on Monday (Jan. 4, 2020), the OCC revealed its decision to allow Federally chartered banks...Read More
Several US Congress members and a Senator have joined Coinbase in asking the US Treasury to extend the timeframe for responses to the recently proposed crypto regulations. The lawmakers argued that the agency hadn’t provided enough time for all concerned parties to issue their feedback. US Congresspeople Ask For Crypto Regulation Extension CryptoPotato reported recently...Read More
Switzerland’s SEBA bank successfully completes a series B fundraiser, giving further merit to the notion that the country is becoming a hub for cryptocurrency business. Another Successful Fundraiser The Swiss start-up bank has officially completed its second stage of capital fundraising. The institution which sells cryptocurrencies to its customers has been planning the Series B...Read More
The cryptocurrency world has been used to regulators coming down hard on the crypto businesses, especially in China. However, according to a recent update, Hong Kong regulators have given its first SFC-License to OSL. According to the official announcement from the parent company of OSL, BC Technology group: “OSL, Asia’s leading digital asset platform and...Read More
Despite a somewhat tumultuous year for the crypto-market amidst the COVID-19 pandemic, the market made a strong recovery. In fact, 2020 also saw significantly positive regulatory initiatives in the United States, when compared to the previous two years. The same was recently noted by Carla Carriveau, Chief Legal Officer at CoinList, after she said, “The...Read More
Facebook shook the world last year after announcing plans to introduce a “single global digital currency” dubbed Libra. However, the social media giant’s efforts were quickly scalded by global regulators as the project received massive blowback. Facebook didn’t give up on its idea. Instead, the company decided to rebrand its two main products. Firstly, the...Read More
Coinbase’s CEO Brian Armstrong has sent a letter to the US Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin regarding new rumored regulations on self-hosted cryptocurrency wallets. Armstrong believes that if implemented, the new legislation could harm users and, ultimately, the role of the US in the cryptocurrency financial field. New Regulations On Self-Hosted Crypto Wallets? The CEO of...Read More
The Coinbase Chief Legal Officer Paul Grewal published a post earlier informing customers that the popular exchange will seize offering margin trading. Clients will not be able to place margin trading orders starting from 2 p.m. PT on November 25th, 2020. At the same time, the platform will cancel all open limit orders. The San...Read More
Americans have just elected Cynthia Lummis (R) as their first female pro bitcoin senator, and she seems ready to make history. Lummis (R) became senator-elect from the state of Wyoming after beating the democrat candidate Mike Enzi. She has a long and well-known career in politics, but few know about her proud past as a...Read More
Two indigenous tribes from the northern region of Brazil have joined forces to create a cryptocurrency to save their future and have access to a decent income after a lack of attention from that country’s government. The two tribes are known for their with ancestral rivalries. Brazil’s President Jair Bolsonaro is known for his derogatory...Read More
In the latest turn of events, the Russian Ministry of Finance has taken a harsh stance wrt cryptocurrency regulations. Crypto holders on not disclosing their digital assets (worth 45 million rubles or more) at least twice in a period of three years stand to face a jail term of up to three years. This, however,...Read More
Brad Garlinghouse believes that bitcoin holding companies will soon be affected by new policies from the Biden-led administration. Bitcoin Will be Subject to Climate Change Management Policies According to a tweet on Monday (November 9, 2020), Ripple CEO Brad Garlinghouse has envisaged that Bitcoin holding companies might come under scrutiny once the Biden admin begins...Read More
U.S. authorities have just seized millions of dollars in crypto from one of Brazil’s biggest and most famous scams, ending one dark chapter in the history of crypto scams in the country. The joint initiative —started by the brazilian authorities— had the codename “Operation Egypt” (did you understand the reference?) and aimed to end a...Read More
Cryptocurrency trading platforms in Hong Kong will soon be subjected to full legal scrutiny as the nation’s financial watchdog plans to release a new regulatory framework. The Hong Kong’s Securities and Futures Commission (SFC) announced that it plans to regulate all cryptocurrency exchanges in the country, Reuters reported Tuesday. Hong Kong has struggled in the...Read More
Founder and former executive chairman of the multinational technology conglomerate Alibaba Group, Jack Ma, believes that world regulators need to improve the legislation around digital currencies as they could create value. Ma: Digital Currencies Could Create Value In a recent speech reported by Bloomberg, the Chinese billionaire criticized the current global financial regulatory framework for...Read More
The story of the legal battle between Kik and the SEC seems to be coming to an end. Today, the SEC filed a motion with the Southern District Court of New York to close the case with a $5 million fine. Kik was being sued for issuing and selling unregistered securities through the ICO of...Read More
The United States Financial Crimes Enforcement Network has just struck another low blow to privacy enthusiasts after announcing the first penalty for a Bitcoin mixer. According to an official press release, FinCEN issued a $60 million civil penalty against Larry Dean Harmon, the man responsible for several Bitcoin privacy-focused services. Larry Dean Harmon was the...Read More
Coinbase has released its recent Transparency Report, and the results are not at all encouraging for privacy advocates and believers in an “anti-establishment” philosophy of cryptocurrencies. According to the company, out of 1914 requests for information it received, 1848 of them corresponded to subpoenas and interactions made by criminal investigation agencies, and only 66 came...Read More
The World Economic Forum (WEF) has collaborated with the Global Blockchain Business Council (GBBC) to launch a new initiative assessing the state of blockchain and cryptocurrencies. Dubbed the Global Standards Mapping Initiative (GSMI), it will determine the industry landscape by examining a few distinctive areas. WEF Launches GSMI To Examine Blockchain State According to the...Read More
