government
Bank of Russia wants to ban miners from selling crypto to Russians
The Russian central bank continues to maintain an extremely negative stance on cryptocurrencies, proposing to ban local miners from selling coins to local people. The Bank of Russia has supported the idea of legalizing cryptocurrency mining in Russia as part of a draft bill introduced in mid-November 2022. However, the Russian central bank wants to allow miners to sell their crypto only on foreign exchanges and to non-residents of Russia, the local news agency Interfax reported on Dec. 7. “We believe that cryptocurrency obtained as a result of mining can be sold exclusively using foreign infrastructure and only to non-residents,” the Bank of Russia’s press office reportedly said, adding: “In general, we adhere to the position on the inadmissibility of the circulation of digital currency on...
Brazilian crypto industry gets regulatory clarity amid global uncertainty
As the global crypto community is still licking its wounds from the FTX collapse, a liquidity crisis continues to spread around centralized exchanges and decentralized finance (DeFi) alike. It is soon to be decided whether the coming regulation triggered by FTX’s bankruptcy will bring a silver lining to crypto. The Chamber of Deputies of Brazil, the lower house of the country’s federal legislative body, has passed a regulatory framework that legalizes the use of cryptocurrencies as a payment method within the country. It is estimated that 10 million Brazilians, or about 5% of the population, trade crypto assets. The largest centralized exchange in Brazil is a local business called Mercado Bitcoin, with roughly three million users. International players like Coinbase or Gemini do not ...
Malta prepares to revise regulatory treatment of NFTs
The Malta Financial Services Authority (MFSA) is currently reviewing requests to revise the “regulatory treatment” of Non-Fungible Tokens (NFTs) within its Virtual Financial Assets Framework. Under the current regulatory framework, NFTs are included within the scope of the Virtual Financial Assets Act, which also includes virtual tokens, virtual financial assets, electronic money, and all financial instruments built, or dependent on, Distributed Ledger Technology (DLT). However, the MFSA is proposing to have NFTs removed from the Virtual Financial Assets framework since they’re unique and nonfungible and therefore incapable of being used as payments for goods and services, or for investment purposes. According to the MFSA, “the inclusion of such assets within the scope of the V...
Canada crypto regulation: Bitcoin ETFs, strict licensing and a digital dollar
In October, Toronto-based Coinsquare became the first crypto trading business to get dealer registration from the Investment Industry Regulatory Organization of Canada (IIROC). That means a lot as now Coinsquare investors’ funds enjoy the security of the Canadian Investment Protection Fund in the event of insolvency, while the exchange is required to report its financial standing regularly. This news reminds us about the peculiarities of Canadian regulation of crypto. While the country still holds a rather tight process of licensing the virtual asset providers, it outpaces the neighboring United States in its experiments with crypto exchange-traded funds (ETFs), pension funds’ investments and central bank digital currency (CBDC) efforts. An era of restricted dealers Coinsquare, which...
Trouble in the Bahamas following FTX collapse: Report
Following the collapse of crypto exchange FTX, which was headquartered in the island country of Bahamas, Bahamians are reportedly still trying to find a way to make sense of everything, while remaining optimistic about the future. According to a report by the Wall Street Journal, the island country — which had encouraged cryptocurrency companies to feel at home with their “copacetic regulatory touch” — has been rocked by the implosion of FTX. The Bahamas was hard hit by Hurricane Dorian in 2019 and the pandemic shortly afterward in 2020 and was already struggling to find ways to strengthen its economy, which relies heavily on tourism and offshore banking for a bulk of its gross domestic product. It appeared that the prime minister of the Bahamas, Philip Davis, and his gover...
Uzbekistan issues first crypto licenses to two local ‘crypto stores’
As Uzbekistan prepares to adopt a new cryptocurrency framework in 2023, Uzbek regulators have started issuing regulatory approvals to local crypto service providers. The National Agency for Perspective Projects (NAPP), Uzbekistan’s major cryptocurrency market watchdog, has issued the nation’s first crypto licenses, according to an official announcement released on Nov. 17. The licenses officially authorize the offering of cryptocurrency-related services by two “cryptocurrency stores,” including Crypto Trade NET LLC and Crypto Market LLC. According to the information from the NAPP’s electronic license register, both Crypto Trade NET and Crypto Market are based in Tashkent. The data also refers to Kamolitdin Nuritdinov as Crypto Market’s single founder and shareholder. Behzod Achilov is...
Uzbekistan issues first crypto licenses to two local ‘crypto stores’
As Uzbekistan prepares to adopt a new cryptocurrency framework in 2023, Uzbek regulators have started issuing regulatory approvals to local crypto service providers. The National Agency for Perspective Projects (NAPP), Uzbekistan’s major cryptocurrency market watchdog, has issued the nation’s first crypto licenses, according to an official announcement released on Nov. 17. The licenses officially authorize the offering of cryptocurrency-related services by two “cryptocurrency stores,” including Crypto Trade NET LLC and Crypto Market LLC. According to the information from the NAPP’s electronic license register, both Crypto Trade NET and Crypto Market are based in Tashkent. The data also refers to Kamolitdin Nuritdinov as Crypto Market’s single founder and shareholder. Behzod Achilov is...
Celsius bankruptcy victims get proof-of-claim deadline from US court
The ongoing case of the Celsius bankruptcy continues as the United States Bankruptcy Court in the southern district of New York State approved a new filing deadline. According to an official document, a deadline has been set for those filing any claims against the former digital assets lender. Any person or entity – which covers individuals, partnerships, corporations, joint ventures and trusts – who wishes to do so must submit a proof of claim by Jan. 3, 2023, 5:00 pm Eastern Time. Celsius itself made a thread on Twitter, informing its former users of the recent court deadline approval, along with step-by-step information as to how claims are filed: We created this video to help explain the claims process: https://t.co/jXmL1VQNxg — Celsius (@CelsiusNetwork) November 20, 2022 T...
FDIC acting chair says no crypto firms or tokens are backed by agency
Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation acting chair Martin Gruenberg said the agency does not back any crypto firms in the United States, nor does its insurance cover losses from tokens. In a Nov. 15 hearing of the Senate Banking Committee on the oversight of financial regulators, New Jersey Senator Bob Menendez said lawmakers needed to “take a serious look at crypto exchanges and lending platforms” over risky behavior. Gruenberg responded to Menendez’s questions confirming there were “no cryptocurrency firms backed by the FDIC” and “FDIC insurance does not cover cryptocurrency of any kind.” FDIC acting chair Martin Gruenberg addressing the Senate Banking Committee on Nov. 15 FDIC insurance normally protects deposits at financial institutions in the United States in the event of bank failur...
OCC makes its staff available for fintech-related discussions
The United States Office of the Comptroller of the Currency, or OCC, has announced its representatives will be available on a one-to-one basis to discuss financial technology. In a Nov. 3 announcement, the OCC said entities considering fintech products and services, partnerships with banks, or concerns “related to responsible innovation in financial services” have the opportunity for one-hour meetings with its staff between Dec. 14-15. The government office said it will screen requests and proposed topics of discussions and announce virtual meeting times. The OCC announcement followed the department saying it planned to establish an Office of Financial Technology starting in 2023 in an effort to gain a “deep understanding of financial technology and the financial technology landscape.” The...
UK lawmakers open inquiry into NFT regulation — ‘there are fears that the bubble may burst’
Members of the United Kingdom’s Digital, Culture, Media and Sport Committee have opened an inquiry to hear from the public on the potential benefits and risks of nonfungible tokens, or NFTs, and blockchain on the country’s economy. In a Nov. 4 announcement, the DCMS committee said its inquiry was related to the sudden growth of the NFT market, responding to fears the assets may be overvalued and at risk of the bubble bursting. According to the committee, NFT regulation in the U.K. is “largely non-existent,” with the DCMS planning to assess the assets ahead of a review by the treasury department. What are the risks, and benefits of NFTs and the wider blockchain? We want to consider whether NFT investors, especially vulnerable speculators, are put at risk by the market and whether there is a...
Japan’s Digital Agency launches DAO to explore DAOs and Web3
The Digital Agency of Japan, aimed at harmonizing nationwide initiatives related to digital transformation, has launched a research decentralized autonomous organization, or DAO, targeting Web3. In a Nov. 2 meeting, the Digital Agency said it had established a DAO in an effort to explore the “functions and roles” of DAOs. The group added it would consider the benefits and challenges of granting the DAO legal status in Japan, citing the U.S. state of Wyoming approving similar legislation in July 2021. According to the Digital Agency, it planned to investigate aspects of digital assets and DAOs which could potentially be used for “cross-border crimes that exploit blockchain technology” and threaten user protection. The announcement suggested the agency could conduct a blockchain analysis of ...
