Politics, Legal & Regulation

September 3, 2019 @ 7:50 am By Cali Haan  |  

A draft bill designed to bring Bulgaria in line with anti-money laundering regimes in Europe and smooth the country’s bid to join the European Exchange Rate Mechanism (ERM II) and Banking Union has passed first reading in the Bulgarian parliament, Kinstellar reports. According to the… Read More

September 1, 2019 @ 10:28 am By Cali Haan  |  

In a Reddit post titled, “Warning about using Wasabi: it can ruin your life,” a poster called “u/green105” has alleged that his or her partner was arrested and jailed “for days” for innocently handling Bitcoins traced to a serious crime. Wasabi is a Bitcoin wallet… Read More

September 1, 2019 @ 9:24 am By Cali Haan  |  

“Cybergendarmes” from France’s C3N anti-cybercrime centre have dismantled a botnet that infected 850 000 computers worldwide with a virus to mine the privacy cryptocurrency Monero, BBC reports. The botnet (a network of “zombified” computers commandeered by a virus to proliferate viruses) is believed to have… Read More

August 31, 2019 @ 2:30 pm By Cali Haan  |  

The agency regulating Japan’s financial markets, the Financial Services Agency (FSA), with the cooperation of the Japan Virtual Currency Exchange Association (JVCEA), has called on the country’s crypto sector to make sure it is familiar with revised laws The agency has also announced it will be… Read More

August 31, 2019 @ 1:28 pm By Cali Haan  |  

A Seattle woman and former Amazon Web Services employee accused of stealing personal data from credit card-issuer Capital One and 30 other companies also used victim’s servers to mine cryptocurrency, prosecutors in the State of Washington allege. Paige Thompson is accused of accessing victims’ servers… Read More

August 31, 2019 @ 12:08 pm By Cali Haan  |  

An Australian living in Boulder, Colorado has been sentenced to one year and a day in prison and 12 months probation for laundering money using Bitcoins. Emilio Testa, age 32, was arrested after selling bitcoins to undercover agents. “According to the stipulated facts contained in… Read More

August 30, 2019 @ 2:48 pm By Michael B. Saryan and Charles S. Kaufman  |  

Each year, billions of dollars in direct foreign investment flow to U.S. developers and entrepreneurs under the EB-5 Immigrant Investor Program. The program gives foreign investors the opportunity to obtain permanent U.S. residency – a green card – if they make a qualifying investment in… Read More

August 30, 2019 @ 6:51 am By Cali Haan  |  

Content warning: This article contains brief descriptions of the abuse of children. Reader discretion is advised. Cryptocurrencies are making cyber-crime, terror financing, money laundering and child exploitation much easier, Neil Walsh, chief of the Cybercrime and Anti-Money-Laundering section of the United Nation’s Office on Drugs and Crime… Read More

August 29, 2019 @ 9:26 pm By Cali Haan  |  

Vanbex principles Lisa Cheng and Kevin Hobbs, chief architect Brian Onn, developer Jeffery Walsh and TD bank have been named in a class action suit filed in the Supreme Court of British Columbia August 26th by two BC residents who say the lost $30 000… Read More

August 29, 2019 @ 12:28 pm By JD Alois  |  

The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has settled charges with Bitqyck Inc. and its founders, Bruce Bise and Sam Mendez. The SEC alleges that Biqyck and its founders defrauded investors and operated an unregistered exchange. Bitqyck also created and maintained its own online trading platform… Read More

August 29, 2019 @ 9:26 am By JD Alois  |  

Europe possesses one of the most robust markets for digital assets. Multiple countries have established bespoke rules to facilitate, or at least regulate, digital asset offerings. These may be securities or utilities or both. Gibraltar, Malta, Switzerland were quick out of the gate with rules…. Read More

August 29, 2019 @ 8:16 am By JD Alois  |  

Starting September 1,  in New Zealand companies will be able to pay employees in cryptocurrencies. As Crowdfund Insider previously reported, a Tax Bulletin published by the Commissioner of Inland Revenue, the New Zealand tax authority, cryptocurrency may be used to pay employees as long as it… Read More

August 29, 2019 @ 2:37 am By Cali Haan  |  

Three defendants who used “deceptive” marketing practices to pervade cryptocurrency “chain referral schemes” called “Bitcoin Funding Team” and “My7Network,” as well as a fourth man who also falsely promoted “Jetcoin,” have settled with the US Federal Trade Commission (FTC). The men, Thomas Dluca, Louis Gatto, Eric… Read More

August 28, 2019 @ 2:32 pm By Dr. Zvi Gabbay  |  

Colu Group Offers to Buy Back ALL Tokens Issued in ICO The key role and responsibility of financial regulators is to identify and correct market deficiencies that have an adverse effect on investors and end-clients. For this reason, regulators are especially sensitive to corporate conduct… Read More

August 28, 2019 @ 1:34 pm By Cali Haan  |  

A judge in Southwark, England, has seized $900 000 in Bitcoins from confessed prolific hacker Grant West, 27, once described as a “one-man cybercrime wave,” The Guardian reports. The judge reportedly warned West that he would face an additional four years in prison if he… Read More

August 28, 2019 @ 7:46 am By Cali Haan  |  

Andrew M Cuomo, Governor of the State of New York, has signed legislation restoring the statute of limitations pertaining to the state’s powerful Martin Act securities laws to six years from three. The previous six-year statute, which lawyers Wes Scott and Ryan Franklin say applied… Read More

August 27, 2019 @ 7:51 pm By JD Alois  |  

Paragon, a Cannabis-focused company that completed an initial coin offering (ICO) that was determined to be an offering of unregistered securities by the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), has begun accepting applications for investor refunds. According to a recent update on the Paragon site, the… Read More

August 27, 2019 @ 6:41 pm By Cali Haan  |  

The Thailand Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) is warning the public there to be wary of crypto investment schemes soliciting investments from offshore, The Bangkok Post reports. The latest warning named one company in particular, FX Trading Corporation, although “several other companies and websites” are… Read More

August 27, 2019 @ 6:27 pm By Cali Haan  |  

Two young men from Surrey, a suburb of Vancouver, have been charged with wire fraud, money laundering and aggravated identity theft after allegedly conning an Oregon woman out of bitcoins worth $233,220 USD at current prices. Between October 2017 and August 2018, Karanjit Singh Khatkar,… Read More

August 27, 2019 @ 10:30 am By Cali Haan  |  

A young man in Los Angeles has pleaded guilty to charges of drug dealing, unlicensed money transmitting and money laundering relating to the processing of $25 million USD in illicit money via his Bitcoin trading services. Kunal Kalra, 25, also known as “Kumar,” “shecklemayne” and… Read More