Regulation

The New Jersey Bureau of Securities has ordered three website operators to stop luring romance-seeking victims into their fraudulent cryptocurrency investment schemes. The three firms hit with the cease and desist orders were Meta Capitals Limited, Cresttrademining Limited and Forex Market Trade, according to a Feb. 3 press release from New Jersey’s Attorney General Matthew Platkin.

The Bank of England (BoE) and Treasury believes the United Kingdom is likely to need to create a central bank digital currency (CBDC) by 2030, according to a Telegraph report on Feb. 4.  The “digital pound” roadmap is set to be introduced next week, a government source told the newspaper. Deputy Governor Jon Cunliffe is

In a recent television interview, India’s Finance Minister, Nirmala Sitharaman, suggested that regulation “cannot be done” by a single country; it requires an international effort. Speaking to Rahul Joshi on CNBC-TV18 in India on Feb. 3, Sitharaman noted that while the central bank is the “authority for issuing cryptocurrency,” the rest of the digital assets created

The tZERO Crypto exchange, whose majority owner is Overstock, will shut down on March 6, the company announced via Twitter on Feb. 3. The company says that it will continue to focus on its regulated securities products after the shutdown, as the United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and other regulators clarify the legal

The Australian government is bolstering its market regulator’s digital asset team as part of a “multi-stage approach” aimed at clamping down on crypto and ensuring proper risk disclosures from crypto firms. A Feb. 2 joint statement by Australian Treasurer Jim Chalmers and Assistant Treasurer Stephen Jones explained that the new measures are aimed at protecting consumers

Our weekly roundup of news from East Asia curates the industry’s most important developments. Huawei moves to trademark its NFTs According to a Jan. 28 report by Sina News, Chinese telecom giant Huawei has recently filed for eight trademarks related to its Huawei “YunYunBao” nonfungible tokens (NFT) series. The trademarks include digital collectibles in the

One of India’s biggest retail chains, Reliance Retail, announced that they have started accepting the digital rupee at one of its store lines and plans to extend the rollout to all its businesses.  In a report by Tech Crunch, the company said that CBDC support is already rolled out at Freshpik, its gourmet store line.

A proposed class action suit against cryptocurrency exchange Coinbase, Coinbase Global and CEO Brian Armstrong alleging unregistered securities sales was dismissed in the United States District Court of Southern New York on Feb. 1. The suit, filed on March 11, claimed that 79 of the tokens listed on Coinbase were securities being sold without proper

Cryptocurrency and blockchain technology found no mention in India’s union budget for the year 2023, bringing down the hopes of millions of crypto holders in the country. Many in the Indian crypto community were hoping for some reduction to the high crypto tax, implemented in March 2022. Indian finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman presented the union

Dennis Porter, chief executive officer of the Satoshi Action Fund, is taking the fight for hearts and minds on Bitcoin mining to Washington, D.C. and beyond in an effort to support friendly legislation. Porter, who first discovered Bitcoin (BTC) in 2017, told Cointelegraph his path on advocating the benefits of mining has taken him to

Kazakhstan, one of the world’s biggest Bitcoin (BTC) mining destinations, issued a consultation paper to gauge public interest in proposed amendments to improve the cryptocurrency trading framework. The policy paper, released on Jan. 27, was laid down by the Astana Financial Services Authority (AFSA), a Kazakh regulator. The AFSA pointed out that the Astana International Financial Centre’s Digital Asset Trading

United States prosecutors in the criminal case against former FTX CEO Sam Bankman-Fried have released text and email messages from SBF to current CEO John Ray. In court documents released on Jan. 30, the Justice Department responded to a motion from Bankman-Fried’s legal team attempting to remove some of the proposed modifications for his bail

USD Coin (USDC) issuer Circle has released an accountant-verified report of its treasury reserve holdings backing more than $44.5 billion worth of tokens currently in circulation. Circle’s December 2022 reserve report, reviewed by Grant Thornton accountancy group, breaks down the current make-up of the stablecoin issuer’s reserve vault. According to Circle, 44,553,543,212 USDC is currently

Panama’s crypto bill saga has reached a new chapter, with the country’s Supreme Court deciding the future of the local crypto industry. Panama’s President Laurentino Cortizo sent on Jan. 26 the Bill No. 697, dubbed the “crypto bill,” to the high court for review and approval, after objecting to the legislation, claiming it violated the

The Ministry of Justice in South Korea announced plans to introduce a crypto-tracking system to counter money laundering initiatives and recover funds linked to criminal activities. The “Virtual Currency Tracking System” will be used to monitor transaction history, extract information related to transactions and check the source of funds before and after remittance, according to

Top Stories This Week FTX creditor list shows airlines, charities and tech firms caught in collapse The complete list of creditors owed money by the bankrupt cryptocurrency exchange FTX has been released, revealing a wide range of global companies. Among the potential creditors are airlines, hotels, charities, banks, venture capital companies, media outlets and crypto

The White House released a statement on Jan. 27 that provided United States President Joe Biden’s administration a roadmap for mitigating risks associated with cryptocurrencies. The administration’s legislative guidance addressed much of the document to the U.S. Congress. The authors of the statement outlined a two-pronged path forward. They wrote: “We have spent the past

The United States Federal Reserve Board announced Jan. 27 that it was issuing a policy statement on limitations on banks. The policy seeks to create a level playing field and limit regulatory arbitrage for state banks with deposit insurance, state banks without deposit insurance and national banks, which are overseen by the Office of the

Wendy Rogers, an Arizona state senator in the United States, has launched bills concerning cryptocurrency, including one that aims to make Bitcoin (BTC) legal tender in Arizona.  In a recent tweet, Rogers cited data from investment firm Goldman Sachs that BTC is the best-performing asset in the world and announced that she launched a set

The International Swaps and Derivatives Association (ISDA) is working on two papers to address fundamental legal risks in the crypto markets, such as the insolvency of crypto exchange firms, according to a statement released on Jan. 26.  The initiative was motivated by the collapse of crypto exchange FTX and previous bankruptcy cases that “prompted a