Law
Sweden’s central bank completes second phase of e-krona testing
The Swedish central bank’s digital currency project, a proposed CBDC, known as the e-krona has successfully finished its second phase of trials. According to Riksbank, the nation’s central bank, the asset is now technically ready to be integrated into banking networks and facilitate transactions. During the second phase of the e-krona pilot project — which began in February 2021 — the CBDC was investigated on the matter of its technical ability to function within the country’s existing digital banking infrastructure. Participating banks included Handelsbanken and Tietoevry. The report indicated that the e-krona could indeed be successfully exchanged for fiat money and used in transactions, both online and offline. This phase of testing also brought legal clarity to the project ...
Celebrity tokens: Signs of rising crypto adoption in Indonesia
Cryptocurrency investments in Indonesia have seen considerable growth between 2020-2022, with 4% of the country’s population having invested in crypto. In 2021, crypto transaction volumes surpassed $34 billion, according to Indonesia’s Commodity Futures Trading Regulatory Agency. This growth has formed a new mindset toward crypto investment, especially in the mainstream media. One example of cryptocurrencies’ growing appeal in the mainstream is the participation of Indonesian celebrities and influencers. Crypto adoption among celebrities Celebrities and influencers in Indonesia seem to have become much more involved in Indonesia’s crypto investment industry since 2021. Many have become brand ambassadors for exchanges and crypto projects to help promote them and essentially raise the tradin...
‘The cryptocurrency world will help in this war’: Kuna CLO breaks down Ukraine’s digital asset law
While many parts of Ukraine are still facing threats from Russia’s military, some residents, industry leaders and government officials are turning to digital assets for help in relocating people, funding humanitarian aid projects and getting supplies to its own soldiers. On Feb. 17, exactly one week before Russian forces began their attack on Ukraine, the country’s legislature adopted the “On Virtual Assets” bill. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy later signed the bill into law, establishing a legal framework for Ukraine to operate a regulated crypto market. Ganna Voievodina, chief legal officer of Ukraine-based crypto exchange Kuna and one of the bill’s authors, told Cointelegraph that the ramifications of the legislation came at a critical time when the country needed legal a...
Is China’s apprehension to ban NFTs a hopeful sign for investors?
It’s no secret that China has a clear disdain for all things crypto, as was highlighted last year when the country decided to ban its digital asset industry in its entirety. That said, one niche related to the crypto industry that has continued to thrive in the region despite the ban is its nonfungible token (NFT) market. However, with certain negative developments coming to the forefront recently, this may not be the case much longer. In this regard, many local social media platforms and internet firms have continued to update their policies so as to restrict and, in some cases, remove NFT platforms altogether from their networks, claiming a lack of regulatory clarity but, more importantly, fearing a government clampdown on their day-to-day operations. For example, WeChat, a Chinese insta...
UK financial watchdog extends registration deadline for some crypto firms
The Financial Conduct Authority, the United Kingdom’s financial regulator, has extended the temporary registration status of some firms offering crypto services beyond its Friday deadline. In a Tuesday statement, the FCA said “a small number of firms” in the crypto space will continue to have temporary registration status in the United Kingdom “where it is strictly necessary.” The financial regulator reiterated that temporarily exempting the crypto firms from its previously announced Friday deadline “does not mean that the FCA has assessed them as fit and proper” but included situations in which a company “may be pursuing an appeal” or was still in the process of winding down operations. “Only firms that are registered with us or on our list of firms with temporary registration can continu...
CTFC looks at expanded authority to regulate crypto, for less than a 10% budget increase
The U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission, or CFTC, has released its Fiscal Year 2023 (FY2023) budget request, seeking $365 million. This marks a 9.9% increase over the previous year and 20% over FY2021. The commission regulates the country’s derivatives market and has been increasingly active in recent years in policing financial products that incorporate cryptocurrencies. According to the agency’s request document, the CTFC focuses on digital asset custodian risk, ensuring secure storage, as well as on accounting. The agency has its own staff of certified public accountants due to the lack of guidance on digital asset accounting from sectoral oversight bodies. In addition, the agency ensures derivative clearing organizations “employ strong segregation of duty processes and proc...
Law Decoded: Crypto taxes and taxes on crypto, March 21–28.
It was relatively quiet in the digital asset policy department last week, as regulators and lawmakers in most key jurisdictions retreated to their offices to do the necessary homework. In the U.S., federal agencies got on with the various reports that President Joe Biden’s recent executive orders directed them to produce. Over in the United Kingdom, both the central bank and the Financial Conduct Authority also dropped position papers on crypto-related issues. After thorough deliberation, Thailand’s financial authorities spoke out against using crypto as a means of payment, while rumors of potential legal tender adoption of crypto emerged and died in Honduras. One theme that has been conspicuous throughout the week is the relationship between digital assets and taxation. Few would argue th...
From taxes to electricity, blockchain adoption is growing in Austria
Austria has been actively transforming into an attractive location for providers of blockchain-based products, with the government itself experimenting with the technology and trying to create a legal basis upon which companies can use it. With regard to blockchain-based applications in the economy, however, Austria is still in the experimental phase, with most firms still running pilot projects. Still, politicians and economists alike see potential for select industries. Public administration reform via blockchain The Austrian government is quite open to blockchain innovations, cryptocurrencies aside, and has supported various projects in the public and private sectors. In 2019, a consortium of public administration institutions founded the Austrian Public Service Blockchain (APSB)....
‘Satoshi Island’ crypto utopia receives 50K citizenship NFT applications
Step aside, El Salvador, there’s a new Bitcoin-centric destination on the map. As a 32-million-square-foot private island sanctuary in the remote South Pacific, Satoshi Island is a “place for the crypto community to call home.” A combination of honeymoon getaway, Bond-villain hideout and naturalist paradise, there’s one enigmatic exception to Satoshi Island: it’s 100% crypto. Talking to Cointelegraph, the Satoshi Island team of Denys Troyak, James Law, Taras Filatov and Benjamin Nero mentioned that it is: “A true crypto-economy where everything will be paid for in crypto and all ownership on the island is represented with NFTs.” With its name inspired by the creator of Bitcoin (BTC), Satoshi Nakamoto, the team added that “the island intends to host events all year round, house and headquar...
Old but gold: Can digital assets become part of Americans’ retirement plans?
On March 11, the United States Department of Labor warned employers that sponsor 401(k) retirement plans to “exercise extreme care” when dealing with cryptocurrencies and other digital assets, even threatening to pay extra legal attention to retirement plans with significant crypto investments. Its rationale is familiar to any crypto investor: The risk of fraud aside, digital assets are prone to volatility and, thus, may pose risks to the retirement savings of America’s workers. On the other hand, we are seeing established players in the retirement market taking steps toward crypto. For one, retirement investment platform ForUsAll decided last year to implement crypto as an investment option for 401(k) fixed retirement accounts in partnership with Coinbase. Is this the beginning of a large...
Binance tells regulators it will cease operations in Ontario… for real this time
Binance confirmed in an undertaking to the Ontario Securities Commission, or OSC, in Canada dated Wednesday that the crypto exchange will cease activities involving Ontario residents. Binance will also stop opening new Ontario accounts, and provide fee waivers and reimbursements to certain Ontario users under the administration of a third party, the company said. The undertaking appears to mark the end of a disagreement that started in June when Binance announced that it would no longer service Ontario accounts and customers were advised to close out active positions by the end of the year. The month prior to Binance’s announcement, the OSC introduced a new prospectus and registration requirements for cryptocurrency exchanges. In December, Binance told investors that it was allowed t...
Stranded no more? Bitcoin miners could help solve Big Oil’s gas problem
The energy usage and environmental impact of Bitcoin (BTC) mining have been frowned upon and been under the scanner by various international financial institutions. The International Monetary Fund (IMF) mentions how Bitcoin mining consumes “vast amounts of computing power and electricity.” Bitcoin mining is an energy-consuming process, as it is a proof-of-work (PoW) blockchain network that involves providing cryptographic proof to the network that a quantified amount of a specific computational effort has been used. The information used to verify this is stored in a block to be accepted into the network by other participants. Elon Musk, one of the richest men in the world and the co-founder and CEO of Tesla, in February 2021 announced that the car manufacturing company will accept Bi...
