Politics, Legal & Regulation

August 18, 2019 @ 1:41 pm By Cali Haan  |  

The UK’s Advertising Standards Authority has upheld complaints against crypto-derivatives trading platform BitMEX claiming the company violated UK advertising standards with an ad it published on the front page of a national newspaper in January. According to the ASA, the “misleading” ad featured a logarithmic… Read More

August 18, 2019 @ 8:07 am By Cali Haan  |  

Coinbase, a large, US-based cryptocurrency trading platform, experienced a shake up of its UK banking services this week. On Wednesday, an anonymous “rBitcoin” forum participant on Reddit posted that (Banco) Santander was refusing to deposit money to the individuals’ Coinbase UK account, probably because of… Read More

August 18, 2019 @ 8:02 am By Cali Haan  |  

Maryland Attorney General Brian E. Frosh announced this week that the Maryland Securities Division has joined “Operation Cryptosweep,” a coordinated crackdown on fraudulent cryptocurrency projects involving least 40 North American state and provincial regulators. Frosh notes that an environment of sometimes surging interest in cryptocurrencies can… Read More

August 16, 2019 @ 10:09 am By JD Alois  |  

The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) filed an Administrative Proceeding earlier this week regarding an initial coin offering (ICO) affiliated with SimplyVital Health – a company that pursued an ICO in late 2017 and early 2018. The SEC claims that SimplyVital sold unregistered securities. SimplyVital… Read More

August 15, 2019 @ 3:45 pm By JD Alois  |  

Singapore has emerged as an Asian hub of crypto innovation. The southeast Asian country has always been Fintech friendly as policymaker has sought to establish a jurisdiction of financial innovation. Published last month, the Inland Revenue Authority of Singapore proposed an approach to crypto that… Read More

August 15, 2019 @ 12:27 pm By JD Alois  |  

The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) Enforcement Division has charged Alan Heide with defrauding retail investors. Heide was the former CFO of 1 Global Capital – a merchant cash advance platform (MCA). 1 Global is now bankrupt and former principles Carl Ruderman and Henry J…. Read More

August 15, 2019 @ 8:24 am By JD Alois  |  

DLXLaw, a boutique law firm that specializes in blockchain and smart contracts, recently helped a digital asset issuer receive a no-action letter (NAL) from the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). By receiving the NAL, the issuer, Pocketful of Quarters, received an implicit green light to… Read More

August 15, 2019 @ 7:23 am By JD Alois  |  

Lendingblock, a platform that enables fully collateralized crypto vs crypto lending agreements, has received a Distributed Ledger Technology (DLT) provider license from the Gibraltar Financial Services Commission (GFSC). Lendingblock received an in-principle DLT license in late 2018. By providing collateralized borrowing and lending, Lendingblock can… Read More

August 14, 2019 @ 3:19 pm By JD Alois  |  

Fincera Inc. (OTCQB: YUANF), a China-based peer to peer lending platform providing access to capital for SMEs, has become the target of a local government attempt to shut down P2P lenders. According to a note from Fincera, the Hebei provincial government, where Fincera is based,… Read More

August 14, 2019 @ 8:32 am By JD Alois  |  

“Another clear sign that cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin, Ethereum and XRP are not only part of mainstream finance, but also the future of money.” deVere Group CEO Nigel Green believes recent actions by UK tax authorities are signs that cryptocurrency is winning the battle of becoming… Read More

August 13, 2019 @ 8:14 pm By Cali Haan  |  

A judge has declared ‘moot’ Ross Ulbricht’s latest attempt to have his multiple life sentences voided/overruled lawyer Paul Grant failed to file papers withdrawing self as Ulbricht’s counsel. Ulbricht is seeking to have his sentences vacated and is alleging that original defense lawyer Joshua Drathel gave… Read More

August 13, 2019 @ 4:44 pm By JD Alois  |  

The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) Enforcement Division has announced charges against Reginald “Reggie” Middleton who allegedly engaged in fraud related to a digital securities offering. The courts have granted an emergency freeze on $8 million in assets of a reported $14.8 million that Middleton… Read More

August 13, 2019 @ 12:42 pm By JD Alois  |  

New Zealand appears to be the first country to officially approve paying employees in crypto. According to a Tax Bulletin published by the Commissioner of Inland Revenue, the New Zealand tax authority, crypto-assets may be used in remuneration as long as it adheres to certain… Read More

August 10, 2019 @ 3:59 pm By JD Alois  |  

The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has posted the agenda for the 2019 Government-Business Forum on Small Business Capital Formation scheduled for next week in Omaha, Nebraska. Typically, all of the Commissioners will participate in the Forum. During the tenure of prior Chairmen, the SEC… 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 @ 1:35 pm By JD Alois  |  

Digital assets and blockchain technology continue to infiltrate the financial services sector at a growing rate. Blockchain or distributed ledger technology (DLT) is being tested or used to issue securities and currencies and manage back-office operations. In light of this reality, the Federal Reserve Bank… Read More

August 9, 2019 @ 1:50 am By JD Alois  |  

For some people, Blockchain or distributed ledger technology (DLT) holds almost mystical potential to revolutionize everything. While there is more than a bit of hyperbole associated with blockchain, it is a fact that many corporates are incorporating DLT within their operations to streamline and remove… Read More