United Kingdom babanks HSBC Holdings and Nationwide Building Society are banning cryptocurrency purchases via credit cards for retail customers. They join a growing list of banks in the country to tighten restrictions on digital assets. A Bloomberg report on March 2 claims the step back is a response to warnings by UK regulators and scandals
Regulation
Three United States senators led by Elizabeth Warren have sent a letter to Binance CEO Changpeng “CZ” Zhao and Binance.US CEO Brian Shroder expressing concern over a number of facets of Binance’s activities and requesting information from the companies that includes their balance sheets. Crypto skeptic Warren’s cosigners were fellow Democrat Chris Van Hollen and
Two United States senators have penned a letter asking Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg to halt a plan to allow young adults to access the firm’s metaverse platform, Horizon Worlds. In a March 1 letter, Senators Edward Markey and Richard Blumenthal said that Meta’s reported plan to “invite young users into a digital space rife with
The Office of the Attorney General for the District of Columbia in the United States is moving forward on a lawsuit against business intelligence firm MicroStrategy executive chair Michael Saylor related to tax evasion. According to a Feb. 28 filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, MicroStrategy said the court had not dismissed a
Legislation has been introduced in the American state of South Dakota to amend the Uniform Commercial Code (UCC) to limit the definition of money to exclude cryptocurrencies. Central bank digital currencies (CBDCs) would still be considered money under the proposed new definition. The 117-page amendment, introduced into the state House of Representatives by Republican Mike
Cryptocurrency exchange Coinbase announced that it had terminated its partnership with Silvergate Bank as its United States dollar banking partner, citing an ongoing investigation. In a tweet, the exchange said: “In light of recent developments & out of an abundance of caution, Coinbase is no longer accepting or initiating payments to or from Silvergate.“ The
Amid various reports about Binance trying to revive its crypto licensing plans in Singapore, the crypto exchange has set the record straight. Binance told Cointelegraph that Ceffu, its “independent institutional custody partner,” will apply for an institutional crypto custody license when Singapore’s central bank opens applications. Singapore has established itself as a hub for crypto
An investor with nearly $2 million worth of funds frozen in bankrupt cryptocurrency lender BlockFi has filed a class action complaint against its founders, two directors and crypto exchange Gemini. In a Feb. 28 complaint filed in the U.S. District Court for the District of New Jersey, investor Trey Greene accused the defendants of numerous
The United States commodities regulator is set to take a close look at the decentralized finance space at an upcoming meeting of its tech committee, where it has also invited crypto industry executives to present. The Commodities Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) announced on March 1 that the agenda for the March 22 meeting of its Technology Advisory
For years, Bitcoiners have repeated the mantra “be your own bank.” But in truth, storing any type of crypto in a wallet has been a lot closer to stuffing cash under your mattress than to a complex financial institution like a bank. Admittedly, it’s an improvement in that crypto can be transferred across the globe
Around 20% of banks have exposure to crypto assets, a Bank for International Settlements (BIS) report released Feb. 28 found. The majority of those banks are in the Western Hemisphere. According to the report — which is based on data from the first half of 2022 — 17 Group 1 banks reported approximately 2.9 billion
Civil charges were announced against former FTX director of engineering Nishad Singh on Feb. 28, the same day he entered a guilty plea to three counts of criminal fraud in Manhattan district court. Both the United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) are pressing charges against Singh. Singh
Stablecoins are entering a period of great uncertainty following the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission labeling BUSD an “unregistered security” and ordering Paxos to stop minting new tokens. Do these moves signal a wider war by U.S. regulators on stablecoins? Could the SEC declare all stablecoins securities, or is BUSD a special case? Independent crypto
A cryptocurrency researcher and former CIA analyst believes the United States government’s relatively slow start on Central Bank Digital Currency (CBDC) development may result in it losing grip on controlling the global financial system. Yaya Fanusie, the policy head at the crypto advocacy group the Crypto Council for Innovation explained in a Feb. 28 Bloomberg
A move by Binance US to acquire assets belonging to the bankrupt crypto lending firm Voyager Digital has been favored by 97% of Voyager’s customers. A Feb. 28 court filing shows an overwhelming majority of Voyager Digital account holders are in favor of the buyout from the United States-based arm of the crypto exchange Binance.
The creation of a United States digital dollar would “crowd out” the cryptocurrency ecosystem and protect the national security of the U.S. according to a former top advisor in president Joe Biden’s administration. Daleep Singh — a former Deputy National Security Advisor for International Economics in the Biden administration — made the comments at a
A draft for the approval of an expansion of crypto trading activities to non-banking members has been published by the Tel Aviv Stock Exchange (TASE) for public comments. In a TASE first, a Feb. 27 announcement stated the proposed structure will enable customers to deposit fiat money designated for investments in digital assets. Non-banking members
The French National Assembly has voted in favor of legislating stricter licensing rules for new cryptocurrency firms in order to harmonize local laws with proposed European Union (EU) standards. The vote was passed with 109 votes (60.5%) in favor to 71 (39.5%) against. With the French Senate having already passed the bill, it will now
Coinbase has launched a grassroots political campaign to promote pro-crypto policies, according to a Feb. 28 Twitter thread from the company. The company said that the #Crypto435 campaign is intended to “grow the crypto advocacy community and share tools and resources,” so that crypto users can make their voices heard in all 435 congressional districts.
According to a deputy governor, the United Kingdom is not ready to issue a central bank digital currency (CBDC) just yet, as the Bank of England (BoE) doesn’t have enough expertise. There is more than a 50% chance that the central bank of the United Kingdom would issue a CBDC, but the regulator doesn’t have