Sam Bankman-Fried’s (SBF’s) lawyers have reached an agreement with federal prosecutors concerning his use of messaging apps. According to a Feb. 6 court document, both parties have agreed SBF “shall not use any encrypted or ephemeral call of messaging application, including but not limited to Signal.” However, under the agreement, the former FTX CEO will
Regulation
The U.K. outline of the future financial services regulatory regime for crypto covers a broad range of topics, from the troubles of algorithmic stablecoins to nonfungible tokens and initial coin offerings. And it’s certainly good news for the industry, as the upcoming regulation doesn’t propose a ban on algorithmic stablecoins or excessive requirements on data
The Bank of Italy is looking for new ways to apply distributed ledger technology (DLT) and is preparing for the advent of Markets in Crypto-Assets (MiCA) regulation, bank governor Ignazio Visco told a congress of Assiom Forex, the Italian financial markets association, on Feb. 4. DLT may offer benefits such as cheaper cross-border transactions and
John Ray, who took over as CEO of crypto exchange FTX, has described some of the chaotic experiences at the firm following the company declaring bankruptcy. In testimony for FTX’s case in the United States Bankruptcy Court for the District of Delaware on Feb. 6, Ray said he and other professionals had “carefully” been conducting
Regulators in Hong Kong are stepping up their game when it comes to monitoring the activities of the crypto industry. According to a Securities and Futures Commission report filed on Feb. 6, it plans to hire four additional staff to “better supervise” the activities of local virtual asset (VA) providers. Moreover, the extra oversight will help
South Korea established guidance that specifies which types of digital assets will be considered and regulated as securities in the country. In a press release, the Financial Services Commission (FSC) highlighted that digital assets that fit the characteristics laid out in the country’s Capital Markets Act will be treated as securities. This law considers securities
The International Criminal Police Organization (ICPO), or Interpol, is investigating how it could police crimes in the metaverse. However, a top Interpol executive believes there are issues with defining a metaverse crime. According to BBC, Interpol Secretary General Jurgen Stock revealed the agency’s intent to oversee criminal activities on the metaverse. Stock highlighted the ability
For many countries, the tax season is right around the corner, which means companies in the crypto industry will need to be ready to help their users comply with local regulations. On Feb. 6, crypto exchange Binance announced it is launching a tax reporting tool to help users stay on track of their crypto transactions
When the financial system or the economy as a whole undergoes a rapid and large decline, it is said to be in a financial crisis. Financial assets like stocks, bonds, and real estate often see a sharp and significant decline in value during financial crises. They can also be identified by a decline in credit
The New Jersey Bureau of Securities has ordered three website operators to stop luring romance-seeking victims into their fraudulent cryptocurrency investment schemes. The three firms hit with the cease and desist orders were Meta Capitals Limited, Cresttrademining Limited and Forex Market Trade, according to a Feb. 3 press release from New Jersey’s Attorney General Matthew Platkin.
The Bank of England (BoE) and Treasury believes the United Kingdom is likely to need to create a central bank digital currency (CBDC) by 2030, according to a Telegraph report on Feb. 4. The “digital pound” roadmap is set to be introduced next week, a government source told the newspaper. Deputy Governor Jon Cunliffe is
India’s Finance Minister, Nirmala Sitharaman, suggested that regulation “cannot be done” by a single country, it requires an international effort, in a recent television interview. Speaking to Rahul Joshi on CNBC-TV18 in India on Feb. 3, Sitharaman noted that while the central bank is the “authority for issuing cryptocurrency,” the rest of the digital assets
The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) has seized two non-fungible tokens (NFTs) worth more than $100,000 and 86.5 Ether (ETH) from a reported phishing scammer. The alleged scammer in question, Chase Senecal — known as Horror (HZ) online — was initially exposed via a lengthy investigation by independent blockchain sleuth ZachXBT posted back in September.
The tZERO Crypto exchange, whose majority owner is Overstock, will shut down on March 6, the company announced via Twitter on Feb. 3. The company says that it will continue to focus on its regulated securities products after the shutdown, as the United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and other regulators clarify the legal
Rostin Behnam, chair of the United States Commodity Futures Trading Commission, or CFTC, has said he will be continuing efforts for the agency to regulate non-security tokens. In remarks released for a Feb. 3 American Bar Association event, Behnam pointed to “bankruptcies, failures, and runs” as part of the justification for Congress to give the
Welcome to Finance Redefined, your weekly dose of essential decentralized finance (DeFi) insights — a newsletter crafted to bring you significant developments over the last week. 2023 started on a bullish note for the entire crypto market, including the DeFi ecosystem, with most of the tokens posting double-digit gains in January and recording multi-month highs.
United States lawmakers with the Senate Banking Committee have scheduled a second hearing exploring the impact of a crypto market crash. In a Feb. 3 announcement, Senate Banking Committee Chair Sherrod Brown said senators would convene on Feb. 14 in a hearing titled “Crypto Crash: Why Financial System Safeguards are Needed for Digital Assets.” The
An economic bubble is a time of fast economic expansion that is driven by speculative enthusiasm and excessively high asset prices. A bubble is characterized by an increase in demand for an asset, such as commodities, stocks or real estate, which drives up its price. A number of factors, including easy access to credit, low
Following the global regulatory race, Australia opened the public consultation on its own taxonomy of crypto assets. The national regulators propose to distinguish four major types of products related to the crypto industry. On Feb. 3, the Australian Treasury released a consultation paper on “Token Mapping,” announcing it as a foundational step in the Government’s
Crypto mining firm Core Scientific made a deal with the New York Digital Investment Group (NYDIG) to pay off an outstanding debt of $38.6 million by handing over more than 27,000 mining machines used as collateral. In a court filing, the company said that the mining rigs were no longer essential to its operations and