Regulation

A United States federal court has ordered Digitex CEO Adam Todd to pay roughly $16 million in disgorgement and penalties related to a Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) case. In a June 12 announcement, the CFTC said a judge in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida issued a default judgment against

The European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA), the European Union’s markets regulator, released a consultative paper on Markets in Crypto-Assets (MiCA) mandates on July 12. It was the first of three consultative packages the agency expects to publish and concerns technical specifications for crypto asset service providers (CASPs). Entities that are already licensed are presumed under

The United States-based crypto advocacy group Blockchain Association has submitted a letter to the Securities and Exchange Commission’s (SEC) Office of Inspector General calling for an investigation into crypto firm Prometheum. In a July 12 letter, the Blockchain Association requested SEC inspector general Deborah Jeffrey look into the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority’s approval of Prometheum’s

Cryptocurrency scams have fallen a massive 77% from $3.3 billion to $1.1 billion over the first six months of 2023, according to a recent report by blockchain intelligence firm Chainalysis. The catch, though, is that ransom attacks are back in trend, with perpetrators pocketing 62.4% more revenue than the first six months of 2022. On

In advance of required regulations that are expected in a year, the banking watchdog for the European Union asked stablecoin issuers to voluntarily follow certain “guiding principles” on risk management and consumer protection. The European Banking Authority (EBA) released its first set of measures on Wednesday, July 12, for public comment in an effort to

Google is now facing a lawsuit in the follow-up to its recent privacy policy update that accuses the tech giant of misusing large amounts of data, including copyrighted material in artificial intelligence (AI) training.  The lawsuit was filed on July 11 by eight individuals who claim to represent “millions of class members” – internet users

Bankrupt crypto lender Celsius Network has filed a lawsuit against liquid staking platform StakeHound after the company allegedly failed to return $150 million worth of tokens owned by Celsius.  According to a court document filed by Celsius, the company placed 40 million Polygon (MATIC), 66,000 Polkadot (DOT), 25,000 staked native Ether and 35,000 Ether (ETH).

Ripple may be holding its breath a bit longer after a United States District Judge refused to rule on if the secondary sale of LBRY Credits (LBC) constitutes a security. On July 11, New Hampshire District Court Judge Paul Barbadoro made the ruling in the case the United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) brought

The European Commission has tipped “extended reality” — technology that enables people to interact with virtual worlds — will create as many as 860,000 jobs in Europe by 2025.  Extended reality or XR is an umbrella term for immersive technologies including virtual reality, augmented reality and mixed reality, and is a “major technology enabler” for

Exchange operator Cboe Global Markets has amended five spot Bitcoin (BTC) Exchange-Traded Fund (ETF) applications to include a surveillance-sharing agreement (SSA) with Coinbase. On July 11, Cboe amended filings with the United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) for the ETFs from Invesco, VanEck, WisdomTree, Fidelity and the joint fund by ARK Invest and 21Shares.

United States Senate Financial Services Committee Chair Ron Wyden and ranking member Mike Crapo released an open letter to the digital asset community on July 11 asking for input on the taxation of digital assets. The senators are looking for solutions to highly complex taxation issues, so much so that they offered background reading from the

Grayscale Investments has reached an agreement with New York-based investment firm Fir Tree Capital Management over its Bitcoin Trust. According to a July 11 announcement from Fir Tree, Grayscale agreed to provide additional documentation related to its Bitcoin Trust (GBTC) after Fir Tree filed a lawsuit in December 2022. The complaint against Grayscale aimed at

The treasury department of the United Kingdom has proposed excluding unbacked cryptoassets and derivatives from its plans for a Digital Securities Sandbox. In a consultation paper released on July 11, HM Treasury said the regulatory sandboxes which will be established under the country’s Financial Services and Markets Act will provide the U.K. government the time

Prosecutors in New York are reportedly looking into former FTX Digital Markets co-CEO Ryan Salame for potential violations of campaign finance law in the United States. According to a July 11 report from The New York Times, Salame and his girlfriend Michelle Bond — a Republican candidate who ran to represent New York’s 1st congressional

$30 trillion worth of capital could suddenly unlock for the Bitcoin market if a Bitcoin spot ETF is approved by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, according to Bloomberg ETF analyst Eric Balchunas.  That is the estimated amount of assets controlled by financial advisors in the U.S., who would be willing to get exposure to

Senators in the United States will be briefed by the White House regarding artificial intelligence (AI) as lawmakers continue to mull over regulations for the technology.  In a letter sent to fellow senators by Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer on July 9, he announced the “first-ever” classified Senate briefing on AI with the Department of

China has long since closed its doors to decentralized cryptocurrencies, but Circle CEO Jeremy Allaire believes that stablecoins could play a role in the proliferation of China’s digital yuan. Allaire, who heads up the issuer of dollar-backed stablecoin USD Coin (USDC), suggested that a renminbi (RMB) based stablecoin might be China’s best bet of driving adoption

The digital asset industry reached over $3 trillion at its peak in November 2021. However, the custodial part of the market remained at the more modest mark of $447.9 billion in 2022.  These numbers are cited from a joint report on the state of digital asset custody conducted by the consulting firm PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) and

The Chinese government is now considering additional regulations on artificial intelligence (AI) development that emphasize content control and licensing.  A July 11 report from the Financial Times revealed that China’s Cyberspace Administration (CAC) wants to impose a system that would require local companies to obtain a license prior to releasing generative AI systems, according to

The United Kingdom’s financial regulator, the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA), “disrupted” 26 of the 34 cryptocurrency ATMs it visited and inspected since the start of 2023. On Feb. 14, the FCA gave an ultimatum to all crypto ATM operators in the U.K. — comply with regulations or wind down illegal operations. Following the warning, the