Four United States Republican senators led by Bill Hagerty have written a letter to the heads of federal banking regulatory agencies, questioning the ideological motivation behind recent regulatory moves in regard to cryptocurrency. They compared the regulators’ policies to the Obama administration’s Operation Choke Point. The senators addressed Federal Reserve Board Chair Jerome Powell, Federal
Regulation
Nigerian President-elect Bola Tinubu has recently released a manifesto that, if implemented, would enable the use of blockchain technology and cryptocurrencies in the nation’s banking and finance sector. The manifesto suggests reviewing existing Nigerian Security Exchange Commission (SEC) regulations on digital assets to make them more business-friendly. The new regulation provides a framework for regulating
A federal judge in Florida, United States, is considering dismissing NBA superstar Shaquille O’Neal and tennis athlete Naomi Osaka from the FTX lawsuit, pointing out that it’s unclear whether the two have been served. In a paperless order, U.S. District Judge K. Michael Moore reportedly told the plaintiffs to provide cause on why O’Neal and
Thailand’s Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) is preparing to hold a new public hearing on a potential ban on staking and lending services in the country. Thailand’s SEC officially announced on March 8 that the authority is seeking public comments on a draft regulation prohibiting virtual asset service providers (VASPs) from providing or getting involved
A crypto startup backed by the American rapper Jayceon Terrell Taylor, better known as “The Game,” had its registration revoked by the United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) for violating securities laws after failing to file periodic reports. ParagonCoin Limited, a crypto firm focusing on the marijuana industry, had its license revoked by the
The United States Department of Justice (DOJ) has filed an appeal against the latest decision in the case for the selling of assets between Voyager Digital and Binance.US. On March 8, the U.S. Trustee for Region 2 made the appeal to the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York against the approval
The United States Federal Reserve is set to create a “specialized team of experts” to keep up with developments in the cryptocurrency industry, according to a Fed official, amid concerns from the Fed of “unregulated” stablecoins. Speaking at the Peterson Institute for International Economics in Washington on Mar. 9, Vice Chair for Supervision Michael Barr
The collapse of crypto exchange FTX and other bearish events in the space were at the center of discussions among lawmakers and witnesses at the inaugural hearing of the United States House Committee on Financial Services’ Subcommittee on Digital Assets, Financial Technology and Inclusion. Addressing lawmakers at the March 9 hearing, BitGo co-founder and CEO
A phased-in 30% tax on cryptocurrency mining electricity costs has been proposed by United States president Joe Biden in his administration’s 2024 fiscal year budget. A Department of the Treasury supplementary budget explainer paper released Mar. 9 said any firm using resources — whether they be owned or rented — would be “subject to an
New York state Attorney General Letitia James announced that she has filed suit against cryptocurrency exchange KuCoin after she was able to buy and sell crypto on the exchange, which is not registered in New York. “This action is one of the first times a regulator is claiming in court that ETH, one of the
The closure of Silvergate Bank is not a systematic risk for the United States banking system but could have a significant impact on the crypto markets, multiple sources told Cointelegraph. The consequences may include increasing banking concentration among a few partners and presenting challenges for venture capital firms seeking to establish banking relationships in the
Statements from Republican lawmakers ahead of the inaugural hearing of the United States House of Representatives subcommittee focused on digital assets, financial technology and inclusion suggest partisan divides on crypto regulation. In a March 6 memo, House Financial Services Committee Republicans said the first hearing of the Subcommittee on Digital Assets, Financial Technology, and Inclusion
The United States Treasury has announced deputies of the multilateral Russian Elites, Proxies, and Oligarchs, or REPO, Task Force have targeted crypto in Russian entities’ attempts to evade sanctions. In a March 9 announcement, the U.S. Treasury said the task force had blocked or frozen more than $58 billion worth of assets subject to sanctions
According to a statement on Mar. 9, bank messaging platform Society for Worldwide Interbank Financial Telecommunications, or SWIFT, disclosed that the financial institution witnessed positive results related to its pilot test of linking different central bank digital currencies (CBDCs). During a 12-week testing period, SWIFT simulated nearly 5,000 transactions between two different blockchain networks and
Crypto tax software provider CoinTracker is integrating its software with H&R Block, a company that helps millions of customers prepare their income taxes across Canada, the United States and Australia. In an announcement seen by Cointelegraph, CoinTracker noted the partnership will allow American H&R Block customers to use CoinTracker and automatically fill in their Form 8949
The National Bank of Ukraine (NBU) has expressed a mixed stance on cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin (BTC) after a year of war in the country. The central bank of Ukraine sees both good and bad in virtual assets, taking a more skeptical approach to crypto due to financial and economic issues caused by the invasion, according
The Public Company Accounting Oversight Board (PCAOB) — a watchdog that oversees audits of public companies in the United States — recently issued an advisory that warned investors about proof-of-reserves (PoR) reports issued by auditing firms. Crypto entities may engage a service provider to issue “proof of reserve” reports. A new Investor Advisory from the
The Federal Financial Supervisory Authority of Germany (BaFin) is not ready to classify nonfungible tokens (NFTs) as securities. The agency suggests classifying the NFTs on a case-by-case basis. On March 8, the BaFin journal published an explanatory note considering NFTs legal classification. At this point, the regulators don’t see how NFTs meet the criteria to
A federal judge has refused to consolidate several proposed class-action lawsuits against the FTX exchange by investors. According to the judge, the exchange and its defendants have not yet been heard. On March 8, United States District Judge Jacqueline Scott Corley laid down the order that denied plaintiffs a request to consolidate five proposed class-action lawsuits
Amid the United States regulators increasingly scrutinizing stablecoins, the community continues to pitch new ideas of stablecoins independent from the U.S. dollar. Arthur Hayes, co-founder and former CEO of BitMEX cryptocurrency exchange, has proposed creating a new stablecoin with a value pegged to the sum of $1 worth of Bitcoin (BTC) and one inverse perpetual