On Feb. 6, the United States Department of the Treasury released a report under the headline “Study of the facilitation of money laundering and terror finance through the trade in works of art.” In fact, only a tiny fraction of the 40-page document is dedicated to the “Emerging Digital Art Market,” by which the department
Regulation
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. At the end of 2021 — a year in which Bitcoin (BTC) and Ether (ETH) rose 100%
Analysts and pundits will scramble to find some angle to explain intra-day price action whenever important economic numbers are published and this practice is commonplace in the crypto sector. When the United States Bureau of Labor Statistics reported a 7.5% increase in the Consumer Price Index (CPI) on Feb. 10, traders rushed to find some
Norway is a bastion for renewable energy management in Europe. As much as 99% of Norway’s energy derives from hydropower while the grid often enjoys a green energy surplus. But for Norway’s largest data center and Bitcoin (BTC) miner, Kryptovault, using regenerative hydropower to attempt to solve valid Bitcoin blocks was not enough. At the Hønefoss
The European Commission has announced that a bill for a digital euro will be proposed in 2023. As first reported by Politico, EC finance chief Mairead McGuinness officially disclosed the EU’s formal consideration of digital euro legislation at a fintech conference on Wednesday. “Our goal is to table legislation in early 2023,” the Commissioner for
Chris Sununu, who has served as the Governor of New Hampshire since 2017, has established a commission aimed at investigating the technology and laws around digital assets in addition to recommending new legislation. On Wednesday, the New Hampshire Governor’s office announced it would be issuing Executive Order 2022-1 to create the Governor’s Commission on Cryptocurrencies
The Central Bank of Kenya (CBK) has published a discussion paper on its central bank digital currency (CBDC), seeking public input on the potential benefits and risks and regulatory issues of introducing a CBDC in Kenya. In a statement, the CBK has highlighted that using a CBDC might improve cross-border payments by making them more
The Central Bank of Ireland has stated that it is unlikely to approve investment funds for retail crypto investors because they lack the know-how to navigate the high-risk asset class. The February 2022 report Securities Markets Risk Outlook Report: A Changing Landscape described crypto assets as a new product offering in securities markets that is
Crypto exchange Coinbase has filed for a political action committee reportedly to support “crypto-forward lawmakers” ahead of the 2022 midterm elections in the United States. According to a Feb. 7 filing with the Federal Election Commission, Coinbase’s chief financial officer Alesia Haas and head of U.S. policy Kara Calvert registered the Coinbase Innovation PAC. The
The government and central bank in Russia have reached an agreement on how to regulate cryptocurrencies, according to a Tuesday announcement. Russia’s government and central bank are now working on a draft law that will define crypto as an “analogue of currencies” rather than digital financial assets, set to be launched on Feb. 18. Cryptocurrencies
New York resident Heather Morgan, 31, claims to be many things: “a serial entrepreneur, prolific writer, irreverent comedic rapper, and investor in B2B software companies with high growth potential.” But her LinkedIn bio doesn’t mention anything about her alleged capability to help launder hacked cryptocurrency. Yesterday morning, FBI agents arrested Morgan — or was it
Authorities in the United States have made arrests and announced the seizure of $3.6 billion in cryptocurrency more than five years after hackers stole 119,756 Bitcoin (BTC) from the Bitfinex exchange. In a Tuesday announcement, the U.S. Department of Justice said it had ordered the arrest of Ilya Lichtenstein and his wife Heather Morgan for
Cryptocurrency advocates in the United States have been increasingly putting efforts to support the industry, with crypto lobbying spending growing significantly in recent years. Crypto-related lobbying expenditure in the U.S. totaled at $4.9 million in 2021, more than doubling from $2.3 million in the previous year, according to a new study by the crypto analytics
The Kazakh government is considering a three-pronged proposal designed to make crypto miners pay much more for operating in the country, which could make Kazakhstan less attractive to the industry. On Feb. 4, Kazakhstan’s First Vice Minister of Finance, Marat Sultangaziyev, proposed a price increase from $0.0023 per Kwh to $0.01 (around a 335% increase)
Several cryptocurrency exchanges and advocacy groups across different countries have banded together to form a coalition intended to fight market manipulation. In a Monday announcement, market surveillance firm Solidus Labs and exchanges including Bitstamp, Coinbase, BitMEX, and CrossTower said they would be launching the Crypto Market Integrity Coalition, or CMIC, asking all other companies involved
The Venezuelan government has approved a new tax bill aiming to collect up to 20% in taxes from cryptocurrency transactions, according to local reports. Venezuela’s National Assembly held the second discussion session on Thursday for a new draft bill targeting taxes on “large financial transactions” in cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin (BTC). The Venezuelan government reportedly approved