Regulation

United States Securities and Exchange (SEC) commissioner Hester Peirce said the newly released SEC Agency Rule List is full of “hot-button” topics implemented in an unreasonable hurry, while crypto was ignored. Commissioner Peirce, who is sometimes referred to as Crypto Mom for her strong positive views on cryptocurrency, released a statement concerning the SEC Spring

It was first reported before Christmas that Wyoming Senator Cynthia Lummis planned to introduce a comprehensive crypto regulation bill. The Republican Lummis was already known for her pro-crypto stance and announced right away that she was looking for a Democratic co-sponsor. New York Senator Kirsten Gillibrand, who had not previously been known to have a

Major stablecoin company Tether is expanding its stablecoin offering with a new cryptocurrency pegged to the British pound sterling (GBP). Tether officially announced on June 22 that its upcoming GBP-pegged stablecoin, GBPT, will launch in early July and will initially support the Ethereum blockchain. GBPT will be a stable digital currency pegged on the 1:1

The Bank of International Settlements (BIS) Innovation Hub released a report Tuesday looking at four projects that examined wholesale central bank digital currency (CBDC) transfers across borders. The projects demonstrated the technical feasibility of the transfers, the BIS found, but practical and policy issues remain outstanding.  The report considered the Jura project involving the central

Major cryptocurrency trading platform Huobi continues expanding its global presence by securing new licenses in New Zealand and the United Arab Emirates. Huobi Group on June 17 obtained the Innovation License under the Dubai International Financial Centre (DIFC), securing the company’s first-ever license there. The DIFC license is not a trading license but rather authorizes

Last week, the Celsius Network wrote its name in the alarming recent history of the crypto market failures alongside Terra. The American platform has unstaked $247 million worth of Wrapped Bitcoin (wBTC) from the Aave protocol and sent it to crypto exchange FTX while putting the withdrawal option for users on a stop.  Immediately after

Last week, a WeChat post published by the Shanghai Fengxian Court began circulating in crypto circles with regards to its recent ruling on a car sale in May 2019 made using digital currency. At the time, the buyer, identified only as Mr. Huang, signed a sales contract to purchase a 2019 Audi AL6 for CNY

Terra (LUNA) employees are reportedly unable to leave South Korea as the country’s prosecutors imposed a departure ban on key developers of the project. Korean media outlet JTBC reported on Monday that an investigation team from Seoul Southern District Prosecutor’s Office has imposed a travel ban on key team members of Terraform Labs. The prosecutors

El Salvador introduced BTC as legal tender on September 7, 2021, when its market price was around $50,000. Ever since, Bukele’s government made significant returns on their initial BTC investments as Bitcoin rallied to its all-time high of $69,000, which was redirected to the country’s various infrastructure development initiatives. However, as tensions rise amid falling

The Russian government continues establishing links with major players in the cryptocurrency mining industry despite staying skeptical about legalizing cryptocurrency trading and payments. Russia’s state-owned gas giant Gazprom Neft has entered into a partnership with BitRiver, the largest crypto mining colocation services supplier in Russia providing hosting services for major crypto mining operations. Gazprom will provide

United States Senator Bill Hagerty has sent a letter, cosigned by four other Republican senators, to Securities and Exchange (SEC) Commission chair Gary Gensler urging the withdrawal of a staff accounting bulletin, referred to as SAB 121, issued by the agency March 31. According to the senators, the bulletin amounts to “regulation disguised as staff

After Norway and Liechtenstein, Ukraine became the third country outside the European Union (EU) to join the European Blockchain Partnership (EBP), an initiative derived by 27 member states to deliver cross-border public services. The Ministry of Digital Transformation of Ukraine announced the country’s move to join the EBP as an observer on June 17. With

The Federal Reserve’s board of governors pointed to stablecoins as a potential risk to financial stability amid a volatile crypto market. In its Monetary Policy Report released on Friday, the board of governors of the Federal Reserve System said “the collapse in the value of certain stablecoins” — likely referring to TerraUSD (UST) becoming unpegged

A class-action suit was filed against Coinbase on Thursday claiming the trading platform was negligent in its listing of the TerraUSD stablecoin and alleging that it failed to disclose its financial relationship with Terraform Labs. This is the second class-action suit outstanding against Coinbase. A suit was filed last month in connection with the depegging

Crypto exchange Binance has courted controversy almost from its 2017 beginnings, and five years later, the dustups continue. On June 6, the United States Securities and Exchange Commission was reported to be investigating whether Binance Holdings broke U.S. securities rules in launching its digital tokens. Meanwhile, on the same day, Reuters published a scathing 4,700-word

Panama’s President Laurentino Cortizo has partially vetoed Bill No. 697 dubbed the “crypto bill” saying it requires more work to better fit Panama’s financial regulations. President Cortizo previously warned in May he wouldn’t sign the bill unless it included additional Anti-Money Laundering rules after Panama’s National Assembly passed the crypto bill in late April 2022.