August 10, 2019 @ 4:12 pm By Cali Haan  |  

A cryptocurrency data research firm says that 80% of the world’s $4 billion USD supply of Tethers, a cryptographic/digital proxy of USD, is controlled by about 300 entities, Bloomberg reports. These “whales” all control more than $1 million USD in tethers each. By comparison, at… Read More

August 10, 2019 @ 3:26 pm By Cali Haan  |  

About 15 countries are collaborating on a system to collect and share identifying data about individuals trading cryptocurrencies, Nikkei Asian Review reports. The news follows other reports this week that Japan’s Ministry of Finance and Financial Services Agency (FSA) have offered to build a regulated global network… Read More

August 10, 2019 @ 2:42 pm By Cali Haan  |  

Two women, aged 28 and 21, and three men, aged 56, 44 and 33 years, have been charged with fraud and money laundering by Queensland, Australia’s Financial and Cyber Crime Group (State Crime Command), for allegedly pervading a fraudulent cryptocurrency investment scheme from the Gold Coast… Read More

August 9, 2019 @ 6:51 pm By Cali Haan  |  

The Securities Commission in the Canadian province of Nova Scotia has issued an alert warning local investors to be wary of a crypto project/ICO sale called aGiftoken, which is not licensed to sell securities in the region. aGifttoken is now selling a 10-20 million AGT tokens… Read More

August 9, 2019 @ 6:34 pm By Cali Haan  |  

New Jersey Governor Phil Murphy has approved two bills to support the development of blockchain technology in the state, NJ Biz reports. ‘Blockchains’ are essentially distributed (shared) databases that use encryption to secure data. Their use was widely hyped during the crypto craze of 2017…. Read More

August 9, 2019 @ 6:25 am By Cali Haan  |  

Researchers writing for the Columbia Law School blog have found that many speculative and established companies that promised to develop blockchains between 2009 and mid-2018 “stimulated investor attention,” but that, “Few firms…developed successful blockchain projects.” The researchers begin by recalling that: “In January 2018, Securities… Read More

August 9, 2019 @ 2:29 am By Cali Haan  |  

A Regtech/blockchain forensics firm called Clain has determined that hackers who stole 7074 Bitcoins (worth $80 million USD) from the Binance exchange in May used a tumbling service called Chipmixer to obfuscate movements of the stolen funds. Clain, “a start-up…that provides enhanced AML/KYC solutions in… Read More

August 8, 2019 @ 10:28 pm By Cali Haan  |  

South Korean financial regulators are planning to align the country with widely adopted FATF global guidelines by directly regulating crypto exchanges in the country under a licensing regime, Business Korea (BK) reports. The new FATF guidelines require crypto exchanges to report transactions that exceed a certain… Read More

August 8, 2019 @ 5:53 pm By Cali Haan  |  

The Texas State Securities Board (TSSB) has issued cease and desist orders against “Forex and Bitcoin Trader,” an unregistered dealer of cryptocurrencies, derivatives and foreign currency promising 900% returns in 14 days in online advertisements targeting Dallas investors. This is the fourth emergency action undertaken… Read More

August 8, 2019 @ 7:39 am By Cali Haan  |  

A hacker has started leaking KYC (know your customer) data he or she claims is from Binance, the world’s largest crypto exchange by volume. The data, which includes photos of passports and other IDs, is now being circulated on a Telegram channel with 10 000 users that… Read More

August 7, 2019 @ 11:44 pm By Cali Haan  |  

The European Central Bank (ECB) says it is working to close gaps in its crypto-network monitoring regime in order to ensure that risks, “currently contained and/or manageable,” do not, “increase over time and have future implications,” for mainstream financial systems. “Spillover effects may…be transmitted to… Read More

August 7, 2019 @ 9:33 pm By Cali Haan  |  

A civil case against American crypto trading platform Coinbase alleging the exchange bungled its listing of Bitcoin Cash (a fork of Bitcoin) will proceed on grounds of possible negligence in California. Fraud and unlawful conduct allegations have been dismissed after the judge determined that the… Read More

August 7, 2019 @ 4:03 am By Cali Haan  |  

Japan financial authorities are building a regulated global network for cryptocurrency transfers and trades similar to SWIFT, an anonymous source from the Japanese governments has told Reuters. The system will be developed in cooperation with other countries sand should launch within a few years. Reuters… Read More

August 7, 2019 @ 3:55 am By Cali Haan  |  

A source to Coindesk is claiming that Britain’s tax authority, HM Revenue & Customs, has sent letters to three cryptocurrency exchanges requesting access to the trading records of British customers served by the platforms. According to the source, Coinbase, eToro, and CEX.IO have all received… Read More

August 7, 2019 @ 2:42 am By Cali Haan  |  

Kyle Bass, a fund manager who predicted the 2008 economic crisis says the troubles in Hong Kong, US-China trade tensions and Chinese debt are probably incentivizing capital flight into Bitcoin, gold, and other currencies as investors and citizens seek refuge from a depreciating yuan. “If… Read More

August 7, 2019 @ 1:35 am By Cali Haan  |  

Walmart is looking to create a digital coin similar to Facebook’s, but the coin’s design and its connection to a universe of real products suggest the world’s largest retailer is hoping to create a loyalty system on overdrive. According to Walmart’s patent for the coin… Read More

August 6, 2019 @ 8:33 pm By Cali Haan  |  

As of January 1, 2020, businesses facilitating “currency transmissions” for a fee among residents of Rhode Island will have to be licensed under state money transmission laws, law firm Alston and Bird reports. The term “currency transmission” is defined by the bill as, “maintaining control… Read More

August 6, 2019 @ 7:36 am By Cali Haan  |  

After a three-year-long investigation, Cyberpol, has concluded that Bitcoin mining is “unlawful,” because miners are minting money outside of the regulated monetary system and then suffusing this money back into regular economies. Cyberpol is an international non-profit agency for investigating cyber attacks by criminals, international… Read More

August 6, 2019 @ 2:40 am By Cali Haan  |  

Police Major Gen Preecha Charoensahayanon, chief of Thailand’s Anti-Money Laundering Office (AMLO) says cryptocurrencies, “will be a tool of new money laundering,” in the country going forward. “That’s why we’re amending laws to prepare us for new online missions,” Charoensahayanon told The Bangkok Post. Charoensahayanon… Read More

August 6, 2019 @ 1:35 am By Cali Haan  |  

As part of its stated goal, “to offer support for all assets that meet our technical standards and…comply with applicable laws…(and give) customers around the world…access…to at least 90%…of all digital assets in circulation,” Coinbase has announced it is “exploring the addition of new assets.”… Read More