Despite Russia pushing the idea of using cryptocurrencies for cross-border payments, it still remains unclear what digital asset exactly the government plans to adopt for such transactions. Russian authorities are quite unlikely to approve the use of cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin (BTC) for cross-border transactions, according to local lawyers and fintech executives. Bank of Russia needs
Regulation
Kazakhstan is ready to legalize a mechanism for converting cryptocurrencies to cash if there is demand, said President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev, per local news agency Informburo on Sept. 28. Speaking at the international forum Digital Bridge 2022, Tokayev emphasized that Kazakhstan aims to become an international leader in the field of digital technology, cryptocurrency ecosystem and
The United Arab Emirates (UAE) Ministry of Economy has announced a new headquarters located where anyone in the world can visit — the Metaverse. According to Gulf News, the announcement was made on Sept. 28 by UAE Minister of Economy Abdulla bin Touq Al Marri during the Dubai Metaverse Assembly, with the minister stating “this is
Terraform Labs, the company behind the development of the Terra (LUNA) blockchain said South Korea’s case against its co-founder Do Kwon has become political, alleging prosecutors expanded the definition of a security in response to public pressure. “We believe that this case has become highly politicized, and that the actions of the Korean prosecutors demonstrate
Commodity Futures Trading Commissioner (CFTC) Caroline Pham has proposed the creation of an “Office of the Retail Advocate” aimed at expanding the CFTC’s consumer protection mandate. Pham referred to the office as a “voice for the people” in a speech given at an event hosted by blockchain project Corda on Sept. 27, suggesting recent events
The White House released its first comprehensive framework this month for the Responsible Development of Digital Assets following President Joe Biden’s March 9 executive order. The order called for regulators to assess the industry and develop recommendations to safeguard investors while simultaneously promoting innovation. While more work is needed, the framework is a step in
United States Senators Marsha Blackburn and Cynthia Lummis have introduced proposed changes to a 2015 bill that would allow “voluntary information sharing of cyber threat indicators among cryptocurrency companies.” According to a draft bill on amending the Cybersecurity Information Sharing Act of 2015, Blackburn and Lummis suggested U.S. lawmakers allow companies involved with distributed ledger
The United States Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) Market Risk Advisory Committee (MRAC) held its first meeting with its new membership Sept. 28. In her opening statement, the committee’s sponsor, Commissioner Kristin N. Johnson, ran through a laundry list of issues for consideration, but spent the bulk of her time talking about digital assets. This is
The Bank for International Settlements, or BIS, has reported it will be partnering with the central banks of Israel, Norway and Sweden to explore international retail and remittance payments use cases for central bank digital currencies, or CBDCs. In a Sept. 28 announcement, the BIS said the collaboration — named Project Icebreaker — will involve
There’s more to crypto than just assets, Bank of England Deputy Governor Sir Jon Cunliffe reminded the Association for Financial Markets in Europe Conference in London on Sept. 28. The distributed ledger technology (DLT) behind crypto assets has far-reaching implications for traditional markets and interoperability. DLT will touch on trading, clearing, settlement and custody as it is
As more countries make progress in terms of developing and implementing central bank digital currencies (CBDCs), Ghana’s central bank aims to keep up and complete its research on CBDCs with the goal of financial inclusion, according to Kwame Oppong, the head of fintech and innovation at the Bank of Ghana. In an interview with Cointelegraph’s
Singapore-based digital asset platform Crypto.com scored a major regulatory approval in France. The digital asset platform was approved to register as a Digital Asset Service Provider (DASP) by the stock market regulator Autorité des marchés financiers (AMF). The approval was granted after the platform received clearance from the Autorité de Contrôle Prudentiel et de Résolution
Thailand’s largest crypto exchange Bitkub has come under regulatory scrutiny from the country’s Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) over falsifying and creating artificial trading volume on its platform. Thai SEC ordered legal action against the crypto exchange and two individuals alleging the crypto platform was involved in wash trading, a process where investors buy and
United States Federal Reserve chairman Jerome Powell has spoken out about the expansion of decentralized finance (DeFi) and its impact on the traditional finance ecosystem, calling for appropriate regulation. During an event titled the “Opportunities and challenges of the tokenisation of finance” hosted by the Banque de France on Sept. 27, Jerome Powell said there
New Jersey Representative Josh Gottheimer said that United States lawmakers needed to pass legislation clarifying regulators’ role over crypto or risk companies taking their business abroad. Following a roundtable discussion on Sept. 27 with Commodity Futures Trading Commission chair Rostin Behnam and many industry leaders, Gottheimer said some of the crypto bills proposed by members
Binance announced the existence of its Global Law Enforcement Training Program in a blogpost on Sept. 27. The creation of the program could be considered retroactive, since the company’s investigations team has been holding workshops for law enforcement for the past year. Binance expanded its investigations team a year ago, and has held one-day workshops
The United Kingdom’s Financial Conduct Authority, or FCA, has added cryptocurrency-friendly payments app Revolut to its list of companies authorized to offer crypto products and services in the country. In a Monday update to its list of registered crypto asset firms in the U.K., the FCA showed Revolut was in compliance with amended regulations from
Japan is expected to enact new rules on money transfers to prevent the use of crypto for money laundering, according to local news agency Nikkei. The changes will bring Japan up-to-date with Financial Action Task Force (FATF) recommendations. An amendment to the Act on Prevention of Transfer of Criminal Proceeds will be introduced in the
South Korean authorities have requested crypto exchange OKX and Kucoin to freeze 3,313 Bitcoin (BTC) reportedly tied to Do Kwon, the co-founder of Terra blockchain developer Terraform Labs. Kwon, who is currently on the run from the Korean authorities in the securities violation case, reportedly created a new wallet on Sept. 15, just a day
Russia is in the pilot phase of its central bank digital currency development (CBDC), and new reports indicate that the country could use its national digital currency to settle international trade. According to a report published in Reuters, Russia is reportedly planning to use the digital rouble for mutual settlements with China by next year.