Regulation

Hong Kong’s push to become a crypto hub has opened an opportunity for not just crypto companies but many state-affiliated banks in China as well. The Chinese banks have shown interest in building partnerships and onboarding regulated crypto companies in Hong Kong, despite a blanket bank on crypto-related activities in mainland China. The Hong Kong

The United States-based cryptocurrency exchange Bittrex is reportedly facing potential action from the U.S. securities regulators despite preparing to shut down local operations. The enforcement division of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) is inclined to recommend the agency sue Bittrex over alleged violations related to investor protection, The Wall Street Journal reported on

More Freedom of Information Act requests seeking information on recently closed crypto-friendly banks have been submitted by cryptocurrency advocacy group the Blockchain Association to two regulators. On April 14, the association said that it had filed Freedom of Information Law requests to the Federal Housing Finance Agency and the New York Department of Financial Services,

Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) chair Gary Gensler could be facing unemployment after United States Representative Warren Davidson declared he would introduce legislation to fire the SEC boss. In an April 15 tweet responding to Coinbase’s legal chief, Paul Grewal, the crypto-friendly Representative announced his intention to have Gensler removed from his role after the

Recent turmoil in the banking sector has shown that Bitcoin (BTC) and Ether (ETH) can withstand a shaky economy, outperform other asset classes and function like gold, says ARK Invest chief executive Cathie Wood — though one long-time investor still isn’t sold. Wood explained in an April 15 interview that Bitcoin’s resilience throughout the most

The United States House Committee on Financial Services a.k.a the Financial Services Committee will hold a hearing on April 19 to discuss stablecoins’ position as a means of payment and whether or not the ecosystem needs supporting legislation. The Financial Services Committee issued a memorandum to announce an upcoming hearing titled “Understanding Stablecoins’ Role in

The law firm representing victims affected by the FTX collapse have publicly appealed to NBA superstar Shaquille O’Neal to show “courtesy and honor” by actually accepting their legal complaint after several unsuccessful attempts. In an April 14 tweet, The Moskowitz Law Firm revealed its team have been standing outside O’Neal’s TNT studios in Atlanta “all

A new draft bill providing a framework for stablecoins in the United States was published on the House of Representatives’ document repository, a few days before a hearing on the topic on April 19. The draft puts the Federal Reserve in charge of non-bank stablecoin issuers, such as crypto firms Tether and Circle, respectively issuers

Despite the unprecedented regulatory pressure that crypto has been facing recently in the United States, the fight between the American government and the crypto industry has just started, believes ShapeShift CEO Erik Voorhees.  According to the entrepreneur, U.S. authorities still don’t see crypto as an existential threat to the fiat system, and their recent crackdown

South Korean prosecutors confirmed that Terraform Labs CEO Do Kwon sent 9 billion won ($7 billion) to Kim & Chang — a top South Korean law firm — right before the spectacular collapse of the Terra ecosystem.  Kwon’s decision to send millions to the law firm was flagged by prosecutors as a deliberate move, which allegedly

The United States Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York has announced the sentencing for an individual who pleaded guilty to wire fraud charges connected to “unlawfully obtained” Bitcoin from the Silk Road marketplace in 2012. In an April 14 announcement, the U.S. Justice Department said James Zhong was sentenced to one year

The United States Securities and Exchange Commission has announced it will be revisiting the proposed redefinition of an “exchange” under the agency’s rules — a move that could include crypto market participants in decentralized finance, or DeFi. In an April 14 open meeting with SEC commissioners and staff, SEC Chair Gary Gensler said the proposed

Rostin Behnam, Chairman of the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC), recently spoke out about the allegations levied against Binance, claiming that the beleaguered cryptocurrency exchange’s leadership knowingly operated outside of U.S. laws governing the exchange of commodities and futures.  Speaking at a fireside chat that took place at the DeCenter Spring Conference at Princeton University

In October 2022, the European Union finalized the text of its regulatory framework called Markets in Crypto-Assets or MiCA. The final vote on the new regulation is scheduled for April 19, 2023, meaning the days of an unregulated crypto market in the EU may soon be over. The MiCA regulations introduce clear guidelines for handling

Advocacy organizations and safety groups have urged Mark Zuckerberg’s social media giant Meta to halt plans to allow minors into the metaverse. Online safety groups and experts sent a letter to the Meta CEO on April 14, calling out the firm to scrap its plans to invite teenagers and young adults to join its metaverse

Hong Kong-based digital asset firm HashKey Group has launched a new wealth management platform geared toward professional and institutional investors. In an April 14 announcement, HashKey cited “significant demand from investors to access virtual assets” as the reason for its move into the wealth management space. Deng Chao, the CEO of the group’s venture capital

Asia is “crucial” to the Web3 gaming industry as it already boasts the majority share of gamers, gaming revenue and has a high interest in blockchain technology a new report suggests. An April 13 report from analytics platform DappRadar emphasized the Asian market has over 1.7 billion video game players accounting for 55% of the

Katie Hobbs, the governor of the state of Arizona, has vetoed legislation that would have largely stopped local authorities from imposing taxes on individuals and businesses running blockchain nodes.  In an April 12 decision, Governor Hobbs issued a veto to Arizona Bill 1236, first introduced in January. The legislation aimed to revise sections of statutes

Leadership in the United States House of Representatives Financial Services Committee was not satisfied with Securities and Exchange Commission head Gary Gensler’s response to their request for documents. They have reached out to the SEC chairman again in a sharply worded letter.  Committee chair Patrick McHenry and chair of the Oversight and Investigations Subcommittee Rep.

The San Francisco Police Department has arrested a tech executive named Nima Momeni in connection with the April 4 stabbing of Cash App creator Bob Lee. In an April 13 press conference, the SFPD announced Momeni was in custody following the execution search and arrest warrants in San Francisco and Emeryville, a city across the