Regulation

Italy’s new crypto-powered debit card supplier Bitsa has just expanded its prepaid card with major privacy-focused altcoin Monero (XMR). By enabling Monero support on its Bitsa Card, the company unclocks “all types” of XMR-based card transactions in physical stores and online, including card-to-card transfers and Monero conversion to euro (EUR), Bitsa announced on Feb. 21.

Another United States regulatory agency has weighed in on Telegram’s ongoing legal battle with the Securities Exchange Commission. Following a request by the New York Southern District Court, a division at the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) has filed a letter with the court on Feb. 18, expressing its views on the complicated case involving

Paxos, a New York-regulated financial firm and the issuer of a USD-pegged stablecoin, has launched its blockchain-based settlement platform. After announcing Paxos Settlement Service in late 2019, Paxos Trust Company has launched the product to settle select United States-listed equity trades between the two broker-dealers, Swiss financial services firm Credit Suisse and Nomura Group-owned Instinet,

Governments around the world are facing hard choices when it comes to cryptocurrency: overregulate it and risk losing the benefits to the economy, or do nothing and make themselves vulnerable to those who step up. Currently, the European Union can’t figure out what to do about Libra, the digital currency set to be released by

The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, or SEC, recently announced its conquest over yet another unregistered ICO from 2017. The SEC went after Enigma for its 2017 ICO, labeling the capital raise as an unregistered securities offering, the governing body said in a statement on Feb. 19. Enigma settled with the SEC, agreeing “to return

With the 2019 tax season upon us, the IRS is leaving nothing off the table. Cryptocurrency holders are looking for ways to avoid reporting failures on their returns, and the agency has noticed. According to a Feb. 19 report by Bloomberg Tax, the IRS has invited cryptocurrency companies and advocates to appear for a March

Former New York mayor and present-day Presidential candidate Mike Bloomberg seems to be snuggling up to the crypto community. In a proposal for financial reform released Feb. 18, the Democratic candidate not only wrote about cryptocurrency as an asset class, but also offered a regulatory framework for cryptocurrency in the U.S. That framework remains vague,

A successful tokenization trial could lead to big changes in Russia’s proposed cryptocurrency legislation. The Central Bank of Russia (CBR) announced on Feb. 17 the completion of a blockchain tokenization pilot using a platform developed by Nornickel within its regulatory sandbox.  The bank subsequently proposed to amend Russia’s digital assets law to accommodate tokenization platforms.

The Central Bank of Russia (CBR) published a new set of rules for suspicious transactions, Russian finance publication RBC reported on Feb. 17. The update broadly categorizes any cryptocurrency-linked transaction as a potential money laundering risk. The bank issued an update to directive 375-P, which lists all signs of suspicious activity that may be linked

Legislators in Brazil have gotten support to regulate the crypto market following allegations of fraud at Atlas Quantum, Zero10, and Trader Group last year, and February saw some of the results of those actions. Bitcoin.com has reported that two major cryptocurrency exchanges based in the South American nation have been shut down following threats of

Since the 2017 mania, every year in the crypto and blockchain space has been increasingly eventful. 2019 was no exception: Along with Facebook’s Libra project and China’s digital yuan endeavors, Intercontinental Exchange’s digital assets platform Bakkt was finally launched. Its CEO, Kelly Loeffler, ensured a smooth start for the exchange, then swiftly left her business

This past week in Japan, native exchange Bitpoint released data showing a massive deficit from 2019, Japan’s Financial Services Agency mentioned upcoming tightened regulations, Japanese and European central banks researched distributed ledger technology, Japan’s Liberal Democratic Party chairman expressed fears of Libra and the Chinese digital yuan, and the GMO Coin exchange hit 300,000 users.

The Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) has filed charges against a Colorado native and associated investment company on fraud charges. Denver local Breonna Clark, along with Colorado-based Venture Capital Investments Ltd., face civil action from the CFTC for defrauding investors, the agency said in a statement on Feb. 14. The pair also faces charges for

China continues to pull ahead in the central bank digital currency race as more details on its secretive digital yuan project intermittently surface. As a result, more countries are beginning to worry about the potential implications. Over the past few weeks, a number of Japanese lawmakers have publicly expressed their preference for a CBDC controlled

Despite ongoing uncertainty regarding cryptocurrency regulation in India, major global crypto exchange OKEx has just made another push in the country’s market. On Feb. 14, OKEx partnered with India’s largest cryptocurrency trading platform, CoinDCX, to launch a new crypto futures product in India. As part of the partnership, OKEx will make a major step into

After naming Kristina Littman as Chief of the Division of Enforcement’s Cyber Unit in December, the United States Securities and Exchange Commission has introduced more fresh blood to its ranks. On Feb. 13, Nancy Sumption was announced as the successor to Kevin Zerrusen, the former Senior Advisor for Cybersecurity Policy to Chairman Jay Clayton.  Nancy

Wells Fargo Strategic Capital, the venture arm of the fourth-largest bank in the U.S., is contributing $5 million to Elliptic’s Series B funding round. According to a Feb. 13 press release, the investment will help the company build products for large financial institutions. The latest investment brings Elliptic’s Series B raise to more than $28

Though the Democratic presidential race in the United States may have lost its most forward-thinking candidate when it comes to cryptocurrency, that doesn’t mean it’s not still a hot button issue across party lines. The number of patents and companies associated with cryptocurrencies and blockchains continues to rise in the US market, making it both

The United States Commodity Futures Trading Commission’s fintech lab will host office hours during New York Fintech Week. In April, the CFTC’s fintech research unit, LabCFTC, will host office hours during New York Fintech Week to engage with innovators in the field, according to a recently published announcement. LabCFTC’s objective is to promote market-enhancing fintech

So far, 2020 has been a year of cryptocurrency regulation: The European Union, the United Kingdom and Singapore have officially introduced their approaches to the burgeoning industry. Now, Australia has published its national roadmap, hoping to become a global blockchain leader.  Last Friday, Australia’s Department of Industry, Science, Energy and Resources launched the national blockchain