Politics, Legal & Regulation

January 24, 2019 @ 2:44 am By Cali Haan  |  

The Pennsylvania Department of Banking and Securities (DoBS) published guidance today exempting cryptocurrency exchanges and crypto ATM businesses from having to register in the state as money-transmission businesses. According to Grimes Law, licensing as a money transmitter in Pennsylvania requires a Surety Bond of $1 million… Read More

January 23, 2019 @ 4:25 pm By JD Alois  |  

Congressman Patrick McHenry, the Republican leader of the House Financial Services Committee, has asked Committee Chairwoman Maxine Waters to move forward on hearings in “critical areas that the committee should prioritize in the first months of the new Congress.” The list of hearings requested by… Read More

January 23, 2019 @ 1:13 pm By Cali Haan  |  

Spain’s finance regulator, The Comision Nacional del Mercado de Valores (CNMV), has blacklisted a purported crypto and Forex brokerage called FX Trading corporation after the CNMV determined the company was facilitating “asset” trades for Spanish investors without being licensed to do so in the country,… Read More

January 23, 2019 @ 8:16 am By JD Alois  |  

The UK Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) issued a consultation today on the emerging “cryptoasset” sector of finance.  The UK is well known for its thoughtful regulatory approach when it comes to innovative new financial services and the final outcome will be watched with interest around… Read More

January 22, 2019 @ 11:58 pm By Cali Haan  |  

Two executives from the Korean cryptocurrency Komid have been imprisoned for creating fake volume on the exchange in order to deceive investors, Korean media outlet Blockinpress reports. Komid Choi has reportedly been sentenced in Seoul to three year’s imprisonment for fraud and embezzlement, and an accomplice, Park… Read More

January 22, 2019 @ 2:25 pm By JD Alois  |  

Just about every international organization that touches finance has postulated on initial coin offerings (ICOs) and what should be done with this new form of access to capital. Last week, the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) had their say. Last fall, the OECD… Read More

January 22, 2019 @ 11:07 am By Cali Haan  |  

Seven men police believe conspired to rob multiple Bitcoin “mines” in Iceland have been convicted, and their leader sentenced to 4.5 years in prison, Icelandic news outlet DV reports. Starting in December 2017, and for several weeks thereafter, six men led by Sindri Thor Steffanson allegedly robbed… Read More

January 22, 2019 @ 10:25 am By JD Alois  |  

This past week, the state of Wyoming introduced legislation designed to clarify the taxable status of digital assets. The bill (SF 0125), is being sponsored by state Senators Nethercott, Driskill, Perkins and Rothfuss, along with Representatives Harshman, Lindholm, Loucks, Olsen and Wilson. Wyoming has positioned… Read More

January 21, 2019 @ 11:28 am By JD Alois  |  

A joint report by the European Securities Markets Authority (ESMA), the European Banking Authority (EBA), and the European Insurance and Occupational Pensions Authority (EIOPA), addresses the topic of Fintech Sandboxes, the approach by regulators to partner with emerging Fintech firms by creating a safe place… Read More

January 21, 2019 @ 8:44 am By JD Alois  |  

Crypto Garage has accepted into the Japanese Financial Services Authority (FSA) Fintech Sandbox program. This is the first blockchain and finance project authorized by the Sandbox. The FSA announced the news in a release which was followed by a post by the parent company of… Read More

January 20, 2019 @ 6:01 pm By JD Alois  |  

SIM Swap fraud is a pressing problem not only in the crypto world but identity fraud in general. A fairly new scam, the con is hatched when a criminal takes over an individual’s mobile phone by cloning the hardware. Once the perpetrator controls the mobile… Read More

January 20, 2019 @ 12:00 pm By Cali Haan  |  

“Due to the boom that the commercialization of these assets,” profits from the sale and trading of bitcoins and other cryptocurrencies are now taxable in Chile, Diario Bitcoin reports. Chilean tax authorities have added a special provision to tax form 22, a deliberately vague, catch-all… Read More

January 20, 2019 @ 10:00 am By Cali Haan  |  

An average of $2 million USD in Bitcoins per day is still flowing into Dark Net markets, despite an 80% price slump and the mid-2017 shuttering of Alpha Bay and Hansa, two popular Dark marketplaces, Reuters reports. Reuters says that flow represents a doubling of… Read More

January 19, 2019 @ 10:35 am By Cali Haan  |  

Seven individuals have been arrested in Taiwan and charged with operating a crypto investment scheme police believe defrauded 1000 investors out of $51 million USD, Focus Taiwan reports. The seven are charged with “violating multiple banking and business…laws” covered by Taiwan’s Banking and Multi-Level Marketing Supervision acts. Among… Read More

January 18, 2019 @ 3:00 pm By Mark Elenowitz  |  

In 2012 the Jumpstart Our Business Startups (JOBS) Act was signed into law by President Barack Obama. It required the SEC to write rules and issue studies on capital formation, disclosure, and registration requirements. There were three main areas that the investment community took notice… Read More

January 17, 2019 @ 3:47 pm By JD Alois  |  

Last month, CI covered the Cambridge Centre for Alternative Finance (CCAF) Americas Report. Overall, alternative finance grew 26% with the US dominating the sector as the largest market in the region. But digging into Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC), this market grew by a huge 94%… Read More

January 17, 2019 @ 12:19 pm By Cali Haan  |  

Authorities responsible for regulating finance, banking and taxation in South Africa have issued a consultation paper stating that regulation of the cryptocurrency/digital token sector should be enacted forthwith and adjusted to accommodate innovation later: “The IFWG and Crypto Assets Regulatory Working Group is of the… Read More

January 16, 2019 @ 11:23 pm By JD Alois  |  

The Small Business and Entrepreneurship Council (SBE Council) is out with their policy goals for the incoming Congress. SBE Council is an entity that advocates on behalf of the sector of the economy (small business) that drives most job creation and economic growth. Thus, it… Read More

January 16, 2019 @ 2:50 pm By Cali Haan  |  

New Zealand cryptocurrency exchange Cryptopia went dark this week after “suffer(ing) a security breach which resulted in significant losses,” on Monday: The exchange is still offline this morning and all trading suspended pending “maintenance.” New Zealand Police issued a press release today regarding the hack stating… Read More

January 16, 2019 @ 11:03 am By Cali Haan  |  

Nicolas Maduro, President of Venezuela, has announced a ten-fold increase to the value of the country’s new national cryptocurrency, el petro, to 36 ooo sovereign bolivars (not to be confused with standard bolivars) and has also raised the minimum wage in the country by 18 000… Read More