Regulation

Crypto exchange Binance US and its founder Changpeng Zhao (CZ) are reportedly looking for ways to reduce his stake in the firm, amid harsh scrutiny from United States federal regulators over the past year.  The crypto executive — Binance US’ majority owner — has reportedly been trying to reduce his stake in the U.S.-based exchange

The United States Chamber of Commerce has blasted the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) for its “haphazard, enforcement-based approach” to regulating the cryptocurrency industry on American soil.  In an amicus brief filed to the U.S. Court of Appeals on May 9, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce threw its full weight behind Coinbase, accusing the SEC of

Paradigm, the crypto investment firm led by Coinbase co-founder Fred Ehrsam, has petitioned to file an amicus brief in support of Coinbase’s case against the United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). In March, Coinbase received a Wells notice from the SEC, potentially leading to the financial regulator taking enforcement action against the U.S.-based crypto

The Federal Reserve’s forthcoming instant payment service FedNow will be integrated with Metal Blockchain, according to a May 11 announcement from the Metal Blockchain team. The announcement said that the integration will allow Metal users to instantly convert funds to stablecoin and back again using FedNow’s “send/receive” function. FedNow is an instant payment system developed

The chair of the United States House of Representatives Financial Services Committee and six subcommittee chairs have sent a letter to U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) Secretary Vanessa Countryman voicing their concerns over the agency’s proposed advisory clients custody rule. They join a string of crypto industry figures in expressing their objections. Financial Services

The National Bank of Ethiopia (NBE) has issued a mobile money-service license to Safaricom M-Pesa Mobile Financial Service, it announced May 11. Previously, only Telebirr, part of the state-owned Ethio Telecom network, operated in that market. Kenya-based Safaricom was also the first company to break Ethio Telecom’s monopoly on Ethiopian mobile phone service in October,

Watchdog group Empower Oversight Whistleblowers & Research (EMPOWR) has filed suit against the United States Securities and Exchange Commission to force the agency to comply with a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request for access to communications between former SEC officials and their former and future employers.  EMPOWR claimed in its suit that the former

The United States Government Accountability Office, or GAO, has released its preliminary review of the failures of Silicon Valley Bank and Signature Bank — and included exposure to deposits from the cryptocurrency industry. In a report released on May 11, the GAO said “poor governance and unsatisfactory risk-management practices” led to the collapse of Signature

Authorities in Montenegro are moving forward with charges against Do Kwon and his former aide Han Chang-joon as lawyers for the Terra co-founder requested conditions for bail. According to a May 11 notice from Montenegro’s court system, lawyers representing Kwon and Chang-joon proposed they be confined to home arrest after providing 400,000 euros — roughly

The Bank for International Settlements (BIS) is actively exploring opportunities for offline payments involving a central bank digital currency, or CBDC. On May 11, the BIS Innovation Hub Nordic Centre published a comprehensive handbook exploring how CBDCs could work for offline payments. The guide is written in collaboration with technical consultancy Consult Hyperion, addressing objectives

Lawmakers in the European Union have forwarded legislation concerning artificial intelligence (AI) to the next phase after concluding a vote from two lawmakers’ committees. In a vote on May 11, Members of the European Parliament (MEPs) agreed to include banning the use of facial recognition in public spaces and predictive policing tools in the highly anticipated

A crypto user who purchased a luxury car with Bitcoin (BTC) faces 18 months in prison and a $3.7 million fine in Morocco, which still considers the use of crypto as an illegal act. A recent report by Euronews stated the Casablanca Court of Appeal had upheld the conviction of Thomas Clausi, a 21-year-old French

Crypto exchange Binance has acknowledged that a crackdown on cryptocurrencies has made it challenging to conduct business in the United States, and it is now looking to be regulated in the United Kingdom. During the Financial Times’ Crypto and Digital Assets Summit, Patrick Hillmann, the company’s chief strategy officer, expressed that the past six months

A New York lawmaker has introduced a new bill that would see dollar-pegged stablecoins accepted as a legal form of payment for bail bonds.  The partisan bill, introduced on May 10 by New York State Democrat Latrice Walker, details the pre-existing methods of paying bail bonds, including cash, insurance bonds, and credit cards and seeks

Bitcoin (BTC) miner Marathon Digital has disclosed that it received another subpoena from the United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) relating to its 100-megawatt data center in Hardin, Montana. According to Marathon’s quarterly report filed May 10, it received the subpoena on April 10 “relating to, among other things, transactions with related parties” that

The European Union has become the first major jurisdiction to pass a comprehensive crypto law, the Markets in Crypto-Assets (MiCA) regulation, which aims to provide legal certainty for the crypto industry and investors by establishing standard regulations and harmonized rules at the EU level.  MiCA may ultimately stifle innovation, impose a one-size-fits-all approach to regulation

OpenAI CEO Sam Altman will make his first appearance before Congress on May 16 to discuss artificial intelligence (AI) regulation in the United States during a hearing on oversight. Also testifying will be IBM’s VP of trust and privacy, Christina Montgomery, and NYU emeritus professor Gary Marcus. US Senate hearing on #AI Oversight, with @OpenAI

Some members of the United States House of Representatives’ Financial Services and Agriculture Committees pointed to crypto asset frameworks being employed outside the country when discussing regulatory gaps at home. In a May 10 joint hearing on the future of digital asset regulation, some lawmakers pointed to the European Union’s Markets in Crypto Assets framework

United States President Joe Biden recently shared an infographic on Twitter, calling to end “tax loopholes” that allegedly help wealthy crypto investors. Community members responded to the tweet, questioning the figures shared by the president and if the said loopholes exist.  Cutting such loopholes would save about $18 billion, according to Biden. However, the president

The extended crypto winter has pushed crypto event organizers to tone down on the lavishness, allowing attendees to focus on asking more “intelligent questions” about regulation and tax. Crypto conferences attract all sorts from the crypto space, from founders and high-level executives to crypto influencers and everyday users. Tiffany Fong, a crypto vlogger who gained