Politics, Legal & Regulation

November 30, 2018 @ 4:49 pm By Cali Haan  |  

A raid initiated yesterday at Deutsche Bank headquarters in Frankfurt has continued into today as 170 police, prosecutors and tax officials look for evidence of money laundering described in the Panama papers, Reuters reports. The raid has involved a comprehensive search of the offices of… Read More

November 30, 2018 @ 1:10 pm By Cali Haan  |  

A 27-year-old woman in New York has pleaded guilty to financing the Islamic State of Iraq and al-Sham (ISIS or Daesh). According to a release from the US Department of Justice, between March and July 31st, 2017, Zoobia Shahnaz of Brentwood, New York, committed multiple acts… Read More

November 30, 2018 @ 12:55 pm By JD Alois  |  

Congressman Patrick McHenry has been elected as the Ranking Member of the powerful House Financial Services Committee. As Republicans lose control of House, Committee leadership positions have swapped parties. McHenry has been a member of the House Financial Services Committee for some time. “I am… Read More

November 30, 2018 @ 12:37 pm By Cali Haan  |  

The U.S. Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) has sanctioned the Bitcoin addresses of two Iranians the office says processed Bitcoin ransoms on behalf of Iranian hackers who targeted government and business sites in the US and Canada. Anyone who does… Read More

November 30, 2018 @ 8:10 am By Cali Haan  |  

The Chairperson of the SEC, Jay Clayton, spoke about the regulation of cryptocurrencies Thursday evening with reporter and author Andrew Ross Sorkin at a “Times Talk” hosted by The New York Times. Sorkin began by stating that Clayton may have “the swing vote” regarding the… Read More

November 29, 2018 @ 6:46 pm By JD Alois  |  

The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has settled charges against two high-profile initial coin offering (ICO) promoters.  Music producer DJ Khaled and boxer Floyd Mayweather Jr. were cited for failing to disclose they were remunerated for promoting ICOs via their social media channels. The SEC… Read More

November 29, 2018 @ 2:27 pm By Cali Haan  |  

Plaintiffs who pressed criminal fraud charges in Cyprus against accused former BTC-e crypto exchange administrator Alexander Vinnick have withdrawn the charges, TASS reports. “A court session of the Limassol District Court was held on November 27, 2018, where the plaintiffs withdrew the action to accuse… Read More

November 29, 2018 @ 4:35 am By Cali Haan  |  

  A lawsuit involving a prominent figure in the “thriving” Israeli crypto sector, Moshe Hogeg, has revealed that one of the country’s most famous crypto companies, Invest.com, was formed in part from from a failed Israeli binary options firm sanctioned internationally for fraud, Times of Israel reports. On… Read More

November 28, 2018 @ 5:29 pm By Cali Haan  |  

  The Texas State Securities Board (TSSB) has issued an emergency cease-and-desist order against an accused serial fraudster, Mark Steven Royer. Mr. Royer is allegedly selling the “My Crypto Mine” project, which bears the features of a pyramid scheme. Earlier this year, Royer and two partners… Read More

November 27, 2018 @ 9:26 pm By Samuel Guzik  |  

As the expression goes:  “Look before you leap.”  But if you are an innovator, determined to blaze a trail never before navigated – there is not much to look at. Being a pioneer can be a lonely and dangerous adventure.  Nothing could be more true… Read More

November 27, 2018 @ 10:10 am By Cali Haan  |  

Nasdaq is proceeding with plans to list a Bitcoin futures product on its exchange despite Bitcoin’s waning fortunes in 2017, sources to Bloomberg say. Nasdaq hopes to have its Bitcoin futures market up and running by Q1 2018 and is working now to meet expectations at… Read More

November 27, 2018 @ 9:54 am By JD Alois  |  

The US Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) has published a primer on “Smart Contracts” today. The document has been created by the CFTC’s innovation division – LabCFTC. LabCFTC Director Daniel Gorfine commented that smart contracts are being used to drive automation in markets and may… Read More

November 27, 2018 @ 9:36 am By Cali Haan  |  

Bulgarian police have arrested and charged 3 people accused of stealing $5 million in cryptocurrencies, Reuters reports. The arrests were announced Monday by officials from the Bulgarian Ministry of the Interior and local prosecutors. Police seized $3 million in cryptocurrency at the scene as well… Read More

November 26, 2018 @ 10:23 pm By JD Alois  |  

Australia based Birchal believes that equity crowdfunding may be the “silver bullet” for SMEs turned away by traditional banks. Pointing to a recent note from the Australian Small Business Finance Advisory Panel that many small businesses find it challenging to access finance, Birchal believes Fintech… Read More

November 26, 2018 @ 3:56 pm By JD Alois  |  

Today, Bitcoin is the most widely recognized and accepted crypto on the planet. While you can do a lot of things with BTC, there is one thing you cannot do: pay your taxes. That is until today. Starting this week, OhioCrypto has been launched by… Read More

November 26, 2018 @ 10:46 am By JD Alois  |  

On November 16th, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) announced its first enforcement actions against initial coin offerings (ICOs) that did not file for an appropriate securities exemption following the SEC’s DAO report. The SEC settled claims with both Paragon and AirFox with each ICO issuer… Read More

November 26, 2018 @ 7:19 am By JD Alois  |  

The UK Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) has issued a statement on the PayPal acquisition of iZettle – an event that was announced in early 2018 and closed in September. PayPal purchased Sweden based iZettle for $2.2 billion as the company seeks to gain access… Read More

November 25, 2018 @ 6:18 pm By JD Alois  |  

Alexander Vinnik, the alleged former BTC-e crypto exchange operator, is going to stop eating according to a report in RIA Novosti. Vinnik was arrested in Greece while on vacation in 2017 at the behest of the US Justice Department.  Vinnick has allegedly committed money laundering… Read More

November 25, 2018 @ 5:31 pm By Therese Torris  |  

While the price of bitcoin and most cryptocurrencies is experiencing one of its frequents crashes, the French government and the French regulators are steadfastly working hand in hand to make France a cryptoasset-friendly country. After tackling the issue of initial coin offering (ICO) regulation and… Read More

November 25, 2018 @ 7:52 am By JD Alois  |  

Speaking last week at the Regulation of Cryptocurrencies event in London, Christopher Woolard, Executive Director of Strategy and Competition at the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA), outlined his agencies view of crypto assets and provided insight into possible regulation. Woolard defined digital assets or cryptocurrencies as falling under… Read More