Regulation

The Indian government may be looking into establishing a legal framework for crypto-based digital currencies as “assets” as early as February.  According to a Tuesday report from Indian news outlet Business Today, officials with the country’s Finance Ministry said the potential legal framework would treat cryptocurrencies closer to commodities than currencies. If this legislation comes

During an earnings call with investors and stakeholders, Michael Miebach, CEO of Mastercard, discussed his positive outlook on the cryptocurrency industry. The company has not only seen sizable volume growth in consumers using their Mastercards to purchase crypto but has also secured several partnerships with cryptocurrency firms. But Miebach’s most ambitious viewpoint emerged during a

Japanese cryptocurrency exchange Liquid has announced that its subsidiary firm, Quoine Corporation, has acquired a Type I Financial Instruments Business license under the Financial Instruments and Exchange Act from the Japanese regulatory authorities. The approval will allow Liquid to commence derivatives trading on its platform, offering investment opportunities to both retail and institutional clients, although

A group of high-level U.S. government attorneys has oulined their priorities for the enforcement and prosecution of individuals and companies that have committed crypto-related crimes. Enforcement officials from the U.S. Department of Justice (DoJ), Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), and Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) spoke about the direction their agencies will take at a

Despite Russian officials’ increased interest in cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin (BTC), Russia’s internet ombudsman expressed confidence that local crypto regulations will remain largely prohibitive. Dmitry Marinichev, Russia’s ombudsman for the protection of entrepreneurs’ rights under Russian President Vladimir Putin, discussed Russia’s approach to cryptocurrency regulations at a panel of a major local industry event, Blockchain Life 2021,

The Bitcoin Fund (QBTCu.TO), a closed-end investment vehicle based in Canada, has received regulatory approval from the Dubai Financial Services Authority. The fund debuted on Nasdaq on June 23, 2021 and became the first listed digital asset fund in the Middle East. The fund’s goal is to provide investors in the shares of the fund

The central bank of Spain is introducing new registration guidelines for local virtual currency service providers, or VASPs, including banking institutions. The Bank of Spain has issued instructions on VASP registration for Anti-Money Laundering, or AML, purposes, requiring institutions to submit their registration requests through an electronic registry, Cointelegraph en Español reported Oct. 25. Issuing

Jelena McWilliams, the chairperson of the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, or FDIC, has said the agency is working with other regulators in the United States to explore “under what circumstances banks can engage in activities involving crypto assets.” In a speech at the Money20/20 fintech conference on Oct. 25, McWilliams said the FDIC, in coordination

Tether Operations Limited, the firm operating the Tether (USDT)-centric platform tether.to, announced today that it will use Notabene, an end-to-end solution for cryptocurrency Travel Rule compliance. Tether will begin testing Notabene’s cross-border transaction monitoring system for virtual asset service providers (VASPs) to combat financial crimes such as money laundering. Notabene is a new technology for

U.S. regulatory bodies have reportedly agreed that the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) will lead the United States’ efforts to regulate the stablecoin sector. According to an Oct. 26 Bloomberg report citing anonymous sources “familiar with the matter,” the SEC has reached an agreement with other U.S. agencies to take the reins on proposing legislation

The biggest regulatory story of the week, if not the year, has been the United States Security and Exchange Commission’s lack of opposition to the launch of the first-ever Bitcoin (BTC) exchange-traded funds, which took eight long years to materialize. While the first ETFs are tracking CME-traded Bitcoin futures rather than the asset’s spot price, the

Nigerian President Muhammadu Buhari is set to officially introduced the country’s central bank digital currency (CBDC), the eNaira. The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has published a document in which it reaffirmed its intention to introduce the eNaira, after previously attempting but failing to do so on Oct. 1. According to the Design Paper for

New York-based decentralized prediction market Polymarket has come under investigations from the United States Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC). According to an Oct. 23 report from Bloomberg citing anonymous sources, the CFTC is investigating whether Polymarket is allowing its customers to trade binary options and swaps that should be registered with the financial regulator. The

In her monthly Expert Take column, Selva Ozelli, an international tax attorney and CPA, covers the intersection between emerging technologies and sustainability, and provides the latest developments around taxes, AML/CFT regulations and legal issues affecting crypto and blockchain. Lately, news headlines are focused on regulators’ concerns over the lack of investor protections in the cryptocurrency

Hong Kong, one of the most significant and leading financial centers in the world, has played a large role in the development of cryptocurrencies. For instance, the Chinese territory has birthed some of the most established and successful crypto companies to date including the crypto derivatives exchange FTX, along with the digital asset platform Crypto.com. 

On the opening day of Messari Mainnet 2021, New York City’s long-awaited first crypto conference since the start of COVID-19, reports came blazing in via a viral tweet that the United States Securities and Exchange Commission had served a subpoena to an event panelist at the top of an escalator in broad daylight. While it’s