June 18, 2018 @ 7:23 pm By JD Alois  |  

The Bank of International Settlements (BIS) is out with a report on cryptocurrencies that hammers the new technology. Created in 1930, a time of profound economic uncertainty, BIS serves central banks by promoting financial stability and cooperation. The BIS is actually owned by 60 central banks,… Read More

June 18, 2018 @ 6:56 pm By JD Alois  |  

The House Financial Services Subcommittee on Terrorism and Illicit Finance, has scheduled a hearing on June 20th on the topic of “Illicit Use of Virtual Currency and the Law Enforcement Response.” This is an important topic that impacts all cryptocurrencies so expect wide viewership from… Read More

June 18, 2018 @ 12:24 pm By JD Alois  |  

The European Crowdfunding Network (ECN) is the leading independent advocate for Fintech innovation, including crowdfunding, in Europe. The ECN has earned a reputation of engaging with a broad group of industry participants, thought leaders and public officials to help guide the evolution of new forms… Read More

June 17, 2018 @ 2:05 pm By JD Alois  |  

In April of this year, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) commented on the status of cryptocurrencies. The RBI stated “we have decided to ring fence the RBI regulated entities from the risk of dealing with entities associated with virtual currencies. They are required to… Read More

June 15, 2018 @ 11:27 am By JD Alois  |  

Fintech is gaining another boost today as the UK International Trade Secretary Dr. Liam Fox, MP, has launched a new Fintech investment drive. The UK is a leading Fintech hub. The fact the UK government has been very supportive of Fintech innovation is one of… Read More

June 14, 2018 @ 8:10 pm By JD Alois  |  

Ethereum rose dramatically today following the comments of William Hinman, Director of the Division of Corporate Finance at the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), who inserted a statement in a speech today that ended the question of Ethereum being a security. Hinman told an audience… Read More

June 14, 2018 @ 1:10 pm By JD Alois  |  

Ethereum Not a Security Speaking at the Yahoo Finance conference in San Francisco today, Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) Director of Corporate Finance William Hinman tackled the topic of morphing initial coin offerings (ICOs) and whether an ICO could start life as a security and… Read More

June 14, 2018 @ 10:49 am By JD Alois  |  

In a speech delivered by the President of BAFIN Felix Hufeld, Germany’s Federal Financial Supervisory Authority, addressed the topic of blockchain, Bitcoin and cryptocurrency in general. According to BAFIN’s President, blockchain is a very promising technology. But when it comes to crypto, well not so… Read More

June 13, 2018 @ 9:56 am By Cali Haan  |  

Police in Japan have decided to charge three individuals for infecting computers of unsuspecting individuals with software that mines privacy cryptocurrency Monero. The Japanese daily news provider Mainichi reports that the three individuals are accused of setting up web sites designed to attract and then… Read More

June 12, 2018 @ 10:50 pm By Cali Haan  |  

A LocalBitcoins seller, known as “Bitcoin Maven,” who plead guilty to running an unregistered money transmission business and laundering drug money for Bitcoin, had her sentencing postponed yesterday at a federal court in LA. As part of a pre-indictment plea agreement, Theresa Tetley, 50, pleaded… Read More

June 12, 2018 @ 12:01 pm By Cali Haan  |  

The Guardian Newspaper has reported that Brittany Kaiser, a director at Cambridge Analytica, a data firm tied to election interference across the globe, told friends that she visited Julian Assange at the Ecuadorian embassy in February 2017 to discuss the outcome of the 2016 US… Read More

June 12, 2018 @ 11:26 am By JD Alois  |  

The House Financial Services Committee has scheduled a hearing entitled “Financial Industry Regulation: the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency.” The hearing, which will involve the Comptroller of the OCC Joseph Otting, will take place on Wednesday, June 13 at 10AM ET at the Rayburn… Read More

June 12, 2018 @ 8:03 am By JD Alois  |  

Lithuania has published a set of guidelines seeking to provide greater clarity for cryptocurrencies and initial coin offerings (ICOs). Vilius Šapoka, the Lithuanian Minister of Finance, wrote that his country has seen an ” explosion of ICOs and blockchain based projects.” This explosion has created… Read More

June 11, 2018 @ 8:13 pm By JD Alois  |  

The Canadian Securities Administrators (CSA) has published a notice addressing the issue of initial coin offerings (ICOs) and whether, or not, these tokens are securities. The document by the CSA leaves little room for utility tokens to actually exist – at least not in the… Read More

June 11, 2018 @ 6:00 pm By Cali Haan  |  

Brett Redfearn, the Director of the Division of Trading and Markets at the SEC has criticized crypto producers and exchanges for failing to voluntarily register and report their activities to the SEC. “We’re underwhelmed by the enthusiasm for coming within the regulatory structure right now,”… Read More

June 10, 2018 @ 6:54 pm By JD Alois  |  

The Canadian Government, under the auspices of the Department of Finance, has published a series of updated rules to strengthen Canada’s AML / ATF Regime that includes regulating businesses dealing in virtual currency. The Canadian government states that the fast changing financial services industry is being… Read More

June 8, 2018 @ 11:44 am By JD Alois  |  

Yesterday, the Securities and Exchange Commission, Division of Enforcement, posted an update on the Titanium Blockchain enforcement action that reviewed the preliminary injunction filed against the firm. A quick review of the update indicated little new pertaining to the SEC’s move to shut down the… Read More

June 8, 2018 @ 9:27 am By JD Alois  |  

On May 25th 2018, the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) entered into force. GDPR is a EU law on data protection and privacy for individuals – an area of profound importance in the digital universe. GDPR seeks to give more control to EU citizens over… Read More

June 7, 2018 @ 10:12 am By Cali Haan  |  

Cryptocurrency used to fundraise for business ventures are regulated securities, cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin are not, and relevant laws will reman, the same, Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) Chairperson, Jay Clayton, said yesterday on CNBC. The point made by Clayton draws a hard line for any… Read More

June 6, 2018 @ 4:21 pm By JD Alois  |  

It has been widely reported today that mutual fund giant Fidelity is hiring a “DevOps System Engineer to help engineer, create and deploy a Digital Asset exchange.” The fact that Fidelity is going crypto is just further validation of the digital asset revolution that is… Read More