Regulation

Institutional cryptocurrency custodian Protego’s conditional national trust banking charter has expired without it receiving permanent approval, according to a report in Fortune on March 17. Protego failed to meet pre-conversion requirements, the magazine reported. A spokesperson for the United States Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) told Fortune that the firm did not

Signum Digital, a joint venture of Coinstreet and Somerley, has announced that it has received an approval-in-principle from the Hong Kong Securities and Futures Commission (SFC) for its security token offering (STO) and subscription platform. Security tokens are a new category of digital assets built on blockchain technology representing ownership of tangible assets, such as

The Solana-based decentralized exchange (DEX) Orca will block all United States users from trading using its web interface beginning March 31, according to a March 16 notice posted to its official website.  The exchange did over $634 million worth of trading volume in February and has over $46 million total value locked in Solana smart

The District Court of the Southern District of New York declined the United States government’s reasonings for halting the acquisition of bankrupt brokerage company Voyager by Binance.US. According to Judge Michael Wiles, any protractions with the deal will harm the interests of Voyager’s former clients, who are waiting to return their funds.  The decision to

Massachusetts Senator Elizabeth Warren, one of the more prominent anti-crypto voices in the United States Congress, has called on Jerome Powell to recuse himself amid an internal probe at the Federal Reserve. Speaking to reporters in Washington D.C. on March 15, Warren said Powell had led “the de-regulatory movement” at the Fed potentially touching upon

United States officials want to remove a provision included in bankrupt lender Voyager Digital’s plan to sell its digital assets to crypto exchange Binance.US that would prevent them from legally pursuing anyone involved with the sale.  In a motion filed on March 14 in a New York bankruptcy court, U.S. trustee William Harrington and other

The European Parliament passed the Data Act on March 14. The comprehensive bill was intended to “boost innovation by removing barriers obstructing access to industrial data.” Among its provisions is an article that would require smart contracts to be alterable.  The legislation established rules for fairly sharing data generated by “connected products or related services,”

The overnight collapse of two major traditional banks — Silicon Valley Bank (SVB) and Signature Bank — triggered a series of events that impacted millions of businesses, venture capitalists and bottom-line investors alike. However, United States President Joe Biden assured taxpayers that they would not feel the burn as the federal government takes action to

Last week, another major quake shook crypto markets. Silvergate Bank — a crypto-fiat gateway network for financial institutions and a significant on-ramp for cryptocurrencies in the United States — shut down operations due to liquidity problems.  A couple of days later, another ​​Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation-insured institution, Silicon Valley Bank (SVB), was shut down by

The wider cryptocurrency community continues to debate the ongoing fallout following the closure of three major American banks, with calls for neobank services for the industry on the cards. Silicon Valley Bank (SVB), which has traditionally served startups across a number of innovation sector industries, was shuttered by California’s Department of Financial Protection and Innovation

United States authorities are working on “material action” over the weekend in an attempt to limit the ripple effect across the country’s banking system after the Silicon Valley Bank abruptly collapsed on March 10. According to a Reuters report citing unnamed sources, officials in the Joe Biden administration assessed the impact of the bank failure

Billionaire Bill Ackman has urged the United States government to “guarantee” all deposits held by Silicon Valley Bank (SVB) within the next “48 hours,” or it risks the “destruction” of many financial institutions. In a Mar. 11 tweet, Bill Ackman, CEO of hedge fund management firm Pershing Square, said a “giant sucking sound” will be

Almost immediately after USD Coin (USDC) issuer Circle revealed it could not withdraw $3.3 billion of its $40 billion reserves from Silicon Valley Bank (SVB), the resultant sell-off caused the price of the stablecoin to fall below its $1 peg. On March 9, Circle initiated a wire transfer to remove its funds from SVB as

United States Senators Elizabeth Warren and Ron Wyden asked the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board (PCAOB) to hold auditors accountable for failed crypto projects.  The PCAOB — a nonprofit overseeing the audits of public companies and other issuers — recently stated that proof-of-reserves (POR) are not equivalent to audits conducted under PCAOB auditing standards. POR

Kristi Noem, the governor of South Dakota, has used her authority to veto legislation aimed at changing the definition of money to exclude cryptocurrencies. In a March 9 notice to South Dakota house speaker Hugh Bartels, Noem said she had vetoed House Bill 1193, which proposed amending the state’s Uniform Commercial Code, or UCC, to

Thailand’s Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) is preparing to hold a new public hearing on a potential ban on staking and lending services in the country. Thailand’s SEC officially announced on March 8 that the authority is seeking public comments on a draft regulation prohibiting virtual asset service providers (VASPs) from providing or getting involved

Statements from Republican lawmakers ahead of the inaugural hearing of the United States House of Representatives subcommittee focused on digital assets, financial technology and inclusion suggest partisan divides on crypto regulation. In a March 6 memo, House Financial Services Committee Republicans said the first hearing of the Subcommittee on Digital Assets, Financial Technology, and Inclusion

The voluntary liquidation of Silvergate Bank has sparked many to share their thoughts about the source of its troubles and the broader impact of the crypto-friendly bank’s collapse on crypto.  From lawmakers to crypto analysts, crypto firm executives to commentators — nearly everyone’s had something to say regarding the recent announcement from Silvergate. Some United

The United States Commodity Futures Trading Commission, or CFTC, was a part of discussions on a regulatory framework for digital assets as well as use cases for blockchain technology. In a March 8 meeting of the CFTC’s Market Risk Advisory Committee, commissioners, regulators, and industry representatives were scheduled to discuss “critical policy considerations” as part

Considering the regulatory struggle to keep up with ever-evolving innovations, Margrethe Vestager, the executive vice president of the European Commission, recommended a headstart into brainstorming implications of technologies such as the Metaverse and ChatGPT. Vestager highlighted how digital transition and the shift to a digital economy have brought about risk and opportunities for the masses