Regulation

ZA Bank, Hong Kong’s biggest virtual bank by assets, is reportedly set to provide crypto account services and facilitate crypto-to-fiat exchanges. According to an April 12 Bloomberg report, the bank will act as a settlement bank to allow token deposits at licensed exchanges to be withdrawn in Hong Kong dollars, Chinese yuan and United States

The Australian government is being pushed to ban the payment of cyber ransoms, usually demanded in cryptocurrency, following a local business suffering a mass data breach and subsequent ransom demand. Australian financial institution Latitude Financial first announced on March 16 that it was hit by a cyber attack and provided an update on April 11

United States financial regulators are tightening their grip on the crypto industry and the U.S. dollar has also been under pressure with countries distancing themselves from dollar hegemony, but the chief of Stellar says stablecoin regulation may solve that. In an April 11 Bloomberg interview, Denelle Dixon, the CEO and Executive Director of the Stellar

The brother of a former Coinbase employee has agreed to pay the cryptocurrency exchange nearly $470,000 for his role in an insider trading scheme. According to a New York District Court filing signed on April 6 and made public on April 10, Nikhil Wahi — brother of former Coinbase product manager Ishan Wahi — will

Executives at the stablecoin issuer Circle and the bankrupt cryptocurrency lender BlockFi have been questioned by two members of Congress investigating the so-called “mutual backscratching arrangements” alleged to have taken place with the now-failed Silicon Valley Bank (SVB). On April 9, letters from Senator Elizabeth Warren and Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (AOC) were sent to Circle,

While regulators and policymakers dither and try to decide if cryptocurrencies have a future in the economy, early adopters, including terrorists and violent extremists, are exploiting a law enforcement blind spot. The ease by which money laundering and terrorism financing take place with cryptocurrencies and the more dangerous privacy coins are becoming a security threat of

The U.S. state of Wyoming has requested to intervene in the case between Custodia Bank and the Federal Reserve System, seeking to defend its framework allowing certain crypto firms to qualify as state-chartered banks. In an April 10 court filing, Wyoming Attorney General Bridget Hill filed a motion to “intervene in the defense” of the

The Banque de France has contributed to the discussion of European crypto asset regulation with a close examination of decentralized finance (DeFi) and potential approaches to its regulation. The discussion is timely, given the growing use of tokenization in finance and the introduction of blockchain technology in many economic sectors, the authors said.   The

The share of global crypto developers based in the United States declined by 26% from 2018 to 2022, according to a report from venture capital firm Andreessen Horowitz, also known as a16z. The report, titled “State of Crypto 2023,” cited data from Electric Capital and SimilarWeb to support its findings. Today, we’re excited to share

The International Monetary Fund, or IMF, has pointed to the collapse of FTX as well as “turmoil” in the banking sector in its calls for regulation of digital assets. In its Global Financial Stability Report released on April 11, the IMF renewed calls for “comprehensive and consistent regulation and adequate supervision” following the failures of

Regulators in the United States have been piling on the pressure on the crypto space over the last year, even more so in light of the FTX demise and collapse of Silicon Valley Bank (SVB). Now, according to a job posting on the official government website, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission is seeking to

Beijing-based cryptocurrency mining firm Bitmain has reportedly violated tax regulations in China, with local authorities imposing major fines. Bitmain Technologies has been slapped with a tax penalty from the Beijing Municipal Office of the State Administration of Taxation, the local news agency Sina Finance reported on April 11. The authority fined Bitmain about 25 million

Presidential hopefuls Robert F. Kennedy Jr. (RFK Jr.) and Ron DeSantis are rallying against the Federal Reserve’s FedNow payments system claiming it would pave the way for a Central Bank Digital Currency (CBDC). In an April 11 Twitter thread, Democrat RFK Jr. — the nephew of former president John F. Kennedy Jr. — once again

The new R&D law has overly broad language that states “any and all” software development must be amortized over five years if the development took place in the United States, or over 15 years if the work was done overseas. The change doesn’t sound so bad on its surface; some argue it might even create

Japan has shown support for OpenAI amid a sea of bans by different countries and uncertainties for the artificial intelligence (AI) company. Chief Cabinet Secretary Hirokazu Matsuno stated on Monday, April 10, that Japan would contemplate incorporating AI technology into government systems, such as OpenAI’s ChatGPT chatbot, provided privacy and cybersecurity issues are addressed. Following

FTX was run by three inexperienced people “not long out of college,” who relied on “a hodgepodge” of online shared documents and communications across a series of different apps to manage the multi-billion dollar empire according to FTX CEO John Ray III. In an April 9 court filing in a Delaware Bankruptcy Court, John J

Two Texas lawmakers have introduced identical bills for creating a state-based digital currency backed by gold, a move that comes despite objections from several United States lawmakers against introducing a central bank digital currency (CBDC). Senator Bryan Hughes introduced Senate Bill 2334 on March 10, with Representative Mark Dorazio introducing House Bill 4903 on the same day,

Japan-based decentralized autonomous organization (DAO) Sushi’s head chef Jared Grey and his counsel stated that as far as they know, no one associated with Sushi has violated U.S. federal security laws, while providing reassurance that he is cooperating with the United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) subpoena. In an April 8 statement, Grey answered the

A bill seeking to regulate Bitcoin mining activity in the State of Arkansas has passed in both the House of Representatives and Senate, moving now to the governor’s office for approval. According to the bill, the Arkansas Data Centers Act of 2023 intends to regulate the Bitcoin mining industry in the American state, creating guidelines

Crypto-friendly Congressman Tom Emmer has slammed U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) chair Gary Gensler for his approach to cryptocurrency regulation, labeling him as a “bad faith regulator.” Great interview by @laurashin with @GOPMajorityWhip! Congress is working in their districts this week and next, but expect a VERY busy last 2 weeks of April for