Politics, Legal & Regulation

June 30, 2023 @ 9:51 am By JD Alois  |  

The Financial Services and Markets Act 2023 has been granted Royal Assent. The comprehensive legislation aims to grow the UK economy while enabling innovation. London has long been a top global financial services center. This leadership has morphed into the UK becoming one of the… Read More

June 29, 2023 @ 11:43 am By JD Alois  |  

The House Financial Services Committee, under the leadership of Republicans, has sent another letter to SEC Chairman Gary Gensler – this time blasting Gensler for ignoring a previous missive. The Chairman of the Committee, Patrick McHenry, the Chairman of the House Judiciary Committee, Jim Jordan,… Read More

June 28, 2023 @ 6:56 pm By JD Alois  |  

Like many other jurisdictions, the European Union has been reviewing the potential to launch a digital Euro, and today, the EU took another step in that direction. As expected, the EU issued a proposal to create a digital Euro which seeks to satisfy the needs… Read More

June 28, 2023 @ 3:07 pm By JD Alois  |  

Earlier this month, draft legislation was introduced by Congress to work towards a regulatory structure for digital assets. Last week, the North American Securities Administrators Association (NASAA) sent a letter to two House committees telling Congress they did not support the proposed rules. While most… Read More

June 28, 2023 @ 12:59 pm By JD Alois  |  

Deloitte Switzerland has partnered with Polimec to provide reusable KYC or know your customer. These credentials will be using Polkadot, and the “banking grade” KYC credentials will be issued by Deloitte. The company explains that this information will be utilized to empower the global fundraising… Read More

June 28, 2023 @ 12:03 pm By JD Alois  |  

Michael Ackerman, from Alliance, Ohio, has been ordered to pay over $50 million for a bogus digital asset trading scam. The Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) has received a default judgment regarding Ackerman from the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York…. Read More

June 28, 2023 @ 11:56 am By Omar Faridi  |  

The US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has announced separate lawsuits against crypto giants, Binance and Coinbase. A brokerage company now claims that it has a blueprint in order to bring crypto trading into the larger regulated market. As first reported by the WSJ, Prometheum’s… Read More

June 28, 2023 @ 8:36 am By Omar Faridi  |  

UK law may be able to accommodate crypto-assets by introducing a new category of personal property that may include digital assets, independent body the Law Commission stated on Wednesday (June 28, 2023). In a ne report that has been commissioned by the government, the Law… Read More

June 27, 2023 @ 6:30 pm By JD Alois  |  

The European Union is expected to release its proposal on digital payments and a possible digital euro soon. In advance of the anticipated release, the Crypto Council for Innovation has issued a statement on the forthcoming policy. Mark Foster, the EU Policy Lead at the… Read More

June 27, 2023 @ 5:04 pm By JD Alois  |  

The Bank of Lithuania has terminated the electronic money institution (EMI) license of UAB Payrnet. The bank said the license was revoked due to “serious, systematic and multiple violations of legal act. The company allegedly violated the Law on Electronic Money and Electronic Money Institutions,… Read More

June 27, 2023 @ 11:55 am By Omar Faridi  |  

Bybit, which claims to be the world’s “third most visited” crypto exchange, is pleased to announce that it has successfully obtained a license to operate a crypto exchange and provide custody services in Cyprus. This milestone demonstrates Bybit‘s commitment “to working within regulatory frameworks and… Read More

June 27, 2023 @ 9:43 am By Omar Faridi  |  

The Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) published a report proposing a framework for designing open, interoperable networks for digital assets (i.e. tokenized real-economy and financial assets). The report Enabling Open & Interoperable Networks was jointly “developed with subject matter experts at the Bank for International… Read More

June 26, 2023 @ 10:14 am By JD Alois  |  

The Autorité des Marchés Financiers (AMF), the main securities regulator in France, says it wants to become a regulator that supports financial innovation. As part of its strategic ambitions for the coming years, the AMF, as presented by its current Chair Marie-Anne Barbat-Layani, has issued… Read More

June 26, 2023 @ 7:38 am By Omar Faridi  |  

The FSMA has noted that Binance is offering and providing exchange services in Belgium between virtual currencies and legal currencies, as well as custody wallet services, from countries that are “not members of the European Economic Area.” The FSMA has therefore ordered Binance “to cease,… Read More

June 25, 2023 @ 7:25 pm By JD Alois  |  

The FATF (Financial Action Task Force) has just concluded its third Plenary under the Presidency of T. Raja Kumar of Singapore and has posted an update on the gathering. Amongst other hot topics, the group has bemoaned the slow pace of adoption of the FATF… Read More

June 24, 2023 @ 2:24 pm By JD Alois  |  

Prime Trust, once one of the most successful Fintechs serving the securities crowdfunding industry, is now insolvent, according to a document filed by the State of Nevada, Department of Business and Industry, Financial Institutions Division (NFID). In a cease and desist (C&D) order, NFID claims… Read More

June 24, 2023 @ 9:58 am By Omar Faridi  |  

Crypto.com announced that it has received its Virtual Asset Service Provider (VASP) registration from the Bank of Spain. Crypto.com secured this registration “following a comprehensive review of its compliance with Anti-Money Laundering Directive (AMLD) and other financial crimes laws, as well as measures to safeguard… Read More

June 23, 2023 @ 5:34 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

The European Union has introduced the European Digital Infrastructure Consortium (EDIC), a new entity that aims to focus on promoting blockchain policy in order to move Europe’s “digital decade” forward in a meaningful manner. The EDIC should become operational towards the end of 2024 and… Read More

June 23, 2023 @ 11:24 am By Omar Faridi  |  

Monero’s encryption tech, which makes use of signatures from several different users to conceal who has carried out a monetary transfer, has reportedly not been hacked by any nation (at least it has not been widely reported). As reported by Fast Company, analysts with the… Read More

June 23, 2023 @ 9:31 am By Omar Faridi  |  

CACEIS, the asset servicing unit that’s owned by Credit Agricole (ACA.PA) and Santander (NYSE: SAN), has reportedly registered with France’s markets regulator AMF in order to offer digital asset custody services (including cryptocurrencies). The firm has registered as a digital asset service provider (DASP) on… Read More