Politics, Legal & Regulation

January 16, 2019 @ 8:40 am By JD Alois  |  

CI has recently covered two European reports on the emerging crypto-asset or digital asset marketplace. Both the European Securities Markets Authority (ESMA) and the European Banking Authority (EBA) have had their say on what the European Commission should do. A few days later, the European… Read More

January 16, 2019 @ 1:46 am By JD Alois  |  

Last week, on the same day the European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA) published a report on digital assets sharing their perspective with the European Commission (EC), the European Banking Authority (EBA) did the same. The EBA said that crypto-asset-related activity in the EU is… Read More

January 15, 2019 @ 12:04 pm By JD Alois  |  

Even while much of the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) is on furlough due to the US government shutdown, today the SEC announced charges against nine defendants for participating a hack into the SEC’s EDGAR system – the database that hosts all mandated securities filings…. Read More

January 15, 2019 @ 10:57 am By Cali Haan  |  

A man who spent $2570 USD in Bitcoin buying a Glock 9 mm gun, a silencer and 150 rounds of ammunition on the Dark Net has been sentenced to five years in prison by a judge in Scotland, Bloomberg reports. David Mitchell, 48, whom the… Read More

January 15, 2019 @ 9:06 am By Erin Hobey  |  

Airtm, which operates a blockchain and bank-connected digital wallet and the P2P exchange platform AirPlatform, aims to provide globally-connected financial services to consumers and businesses in the developing world. The platform is now focusing its efforts on Venezuela, specifically in the new Airdrop Venezuela campaign. “Over the… Read More

January 14, 2019 @ 9:48 pm By Anthony Zeoli  |  

While most people were busy with last minute Christmas shopping, on December 20th of last year, Representatives Warren Davidson and Darren Soto were busy finalizing and introducing the proposed new “Token Taxonomy Act” (HR 7356). The proposed Token Taxonomy Act seeks to modify both existing… Read More

January 14, 2019 @ 8:14 pm By JD Alois  |  

The Danish Tax Agency has been authorized to obtain information on trading in cryptocurrencies via three separate crypto exchanges operating in Denmark. This will mark the first time the information is being made available to the tax authorities which seek to review trading data on crypto beginning on January 1, 2016, up to December 31, 2018. Skattestyrelsen har fået tilladelse… Read More

January 14, 2019 @ 4:15 pm By Cali Haan  |  

The Bulgarian National Revenue Agency (NRA) is launching a series of “control actions” to inspect nine cryptocurrency exchanges operating in the region, Novinite reports. The inspections are being conducted in order to ensure that clients and the companies themselves are complying with local tax requirements…. Read More

January 11, 2019 @ 12:52 pm By Cali Haan  |  

The Chinese National Internet Information Office (CNIIO) issued rules to govern the country’s “Blockchain Information Services” sector yesterday. The rules will go into force February 15th, 2019. The rules, which include ID requirements and development of channels to provide information to China’s “social credit” system (used for… Read More

January 11, 2019 @ 6:29 am By JD Alois  |  

Perkins Coie has added to its tech and blockchain team with the addition of John Delaney as a partner in the New York City office. Delaney joins the firm’s Technology Transactions & Privacy (TTP) practice. Perkins Coie said Delany is the fifth lateral to join… Read More

January 10, 2019 @ 10:23 pm By JD Alois  |  

Last month, the Cambridge Centre for Alternative Finance (CCAF) published their annual report on alternative finance covering the Americas. “Reaching New Heights” covered online alternative finance data in North, South, and Central America as well as the Caribbean. CI wrote about the report when it first came… Read More

January 10, 2019 @ 8:50 pm By Cali Haan  |  

Ardo Hansson, an Estonian who is also the Governor of the European Central Bank, told conference attendees in Riga, Latvia, recently that cryptocurrencies are “[a] complete load of nonsense,” and will probably fail, Bloomberg reports. He also called the sector, which has been hailed by many,… Read More

January 10, 2019 @ 2:00 pm By Cali Haan  |  

Venezuela has formally asked the United States to consult on the sanctions it has imposed on the South American country, including sanctions on its state-issued cryptocurrency, el Petro. The request was also, “circulated to the (WTO) Dispute Settlement Body.” Venezuela claims the “unilateral coercive” sanctions against… Read More

January 9, 2019 @ 2:37 pm By Cali Haan  |  

The Riksbank of Sweden has issued a warning to the public that, “On certain websites and in social media, false information is circulating claiming that the Riksbank is selling e-kronas.” The Riksbank also says it has been contacted by individuals saying they have been solicited… Read More

January 9, 2019 @ 12:55 pm By JD Alois  |  

The European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA) has just published its “Advice” on “Initial Coin Offerings and Crypto-Assets.” In the past, ESMA has issued several warnings regarding crypto-assets and virtual currencies. The Advice outlines ESMA’s position on the issues that exist in the rules within ESMA’s… Read More

January 8, 2019 @ 10:04 pm By Cali Haan  |  

John Bigatton, a licensed Australian finance professional who promote, Bitconnect, an apparent $2.6 billion USD cryptocurrency Ponzi scheme that collapsed last January, has had his assets frozen by an Australian federal judge and has been banned from traveling, The Sydney Morning Herald reports. Bigatton is… Read More

January 8, 2019 @ 2:00 pm By JD Alois  |  

Fintech Predictions for 2019. Financial innovation continues to evolve at a rapid pace. Startups launch and shutdown with regularity. Traditional financial firms experiment and partner with more agile firms. It’s all about the digitization of finance where services are ubiquitous and instantaneous – all available… Read More

January 8, 2019 @ 12:37 pm By Cali Haan  |  

Police in India say they have arrested the second-in-command of an elaborate crypto fraud that bilked investors out of 5 billion rupees (~$71.6 million USD), The Indian Express reports. The man, Rohit Kumar, has now been charged with cheating, criminal conspiracy and violation of the… Read More

January 7, 2019 @ 6:00 pm By Lorna Smith  |  

Initial Coin Offerings (ICOs) are booming in offshore financial centres. In 2017, only a small minority of cryptocurrency transactions were taking place offshore but just a year later, according to a study by PriceWaterhouseCoopers and CryptoValley, the Cayman Islands, British Virgin Islands (BVI) and Singapore… Read More

January 7, 2019 @ 5:01 pm By Cali Haan  |  

The President of the Chartered Financial Analyst Institute, Paul Smith, has taken to the media to call out shrinking IPO markets in the US and call for the restoration of fair and secure investment opportunities for retirement savers. Smith points at “alarming changes” in US… Read More