Regulation

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,

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

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 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

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

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

Our weekly roundup of news from East Asia curates the industry’s most important developments. Bitcoin’s day of glory on Chinese TikTok On Apr. 10, Douyin, the version of Tiktok exclusive to Chinese users, began publishing price quotes related to Bitcoin (BTC) and other cryptocurrencies such as Ethereum (ETH), Dogecoin (DOGE), and Ripple (XRP). The move

A United States court has issued a summons to Tron founder Justin Sun’s Singapore address in connection to a Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) civil case. In an April 12 filing, the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York ordered Sun to respond to the summons within 21 days by contacting attorney

The bill, seeking to enshrine crypto miners’ rights in Montana, United States, successfully passed the third reading in the state’s House of Representatives. Now, the only thing that is required for it to become law is the Governor’s signature.  Bill number 178, prohibiting local authorities from obstructing the crypto mining operations, was voted in during

Crypto advocacy groups Blockchain Association and DeFi Education Fund filed a brief in United States District Court in Austin in the case brought by six individuals against the United States Treasury Department over the sanctioning of Tornado Cash. The amicus (friend of the court) brief supports the plaintiff’s motion for a partial summary judgment. The

Cryptocurrency exchange FTX may be considering restarting in the future, according to the legal team behind the debtors. In an April 12 hearing in United States Bankruptcy Court for the District of Delaware, lawyers with Sullivan & Cromwell representing FTX said the crypto firm had recovered roughly $7.3 billion in liquid assets. A March filing

The securities regulator of Argentina has approved a Bitcoin-based futures index set to debut on the Matba Rofex exchange. The Bitcoin (BTC) futures contract will start trading in May, with the exchange claiming it would be the first regulated Bitcoin futures index in Latin America. The National Commission of Value (CNV), the country’s securities regulator, approved the

The brother of a former Coinbase employee has agreed to pay the cryptocurrency exchange nearly $470,000 for his role in an insider trading scheme. According to a New York District Court filing signed on April 6 and made public on April 10, Nikhil Wahi — brother of former Coinbase product manager Ishan Wahi — will

Beijing-based cryptocurrency mining firm Bitmain has reportedly violated tax regulations in China, with local authorities imposing major fines. Bitmain Technologies has been slapped with a tax penalty from the Beijing Municipal Office of the State Administration of Taxation, the local news agency Sina Finance reported on April 11. The authority fined Bitmain about 25 million

New York Times’s latest report on Bitcoin (BTC) mining, titled “The Real-World Costs of the Digital Race for Bitcoin,” has irked many BTC proponents. A number of Bitcoin proponents took to Twitter to call out certain aspects of the report calling it “cheery picking data.” The NYT article calls Bitcoin mining a “voracious” appetite and claims

FTX was run by three inexperienced people “not long out of college,” who relied on “a hodgepodge” of online shared documents and communications across a series of different apps to manage the multi-billion dollar empire according to FTX CEO John Ray III. In an April 9 court filing in a Delaware Bankruptcy Court, John J

Two Texas lawmakers have introduced identical bills for creating a state-based digital currency backed by gold, a move that comes despite objections from several United States lawmakers against introducing a central bank digital currency (CBDC). Senator Bryan Hughes introduced Senate Bill 2334 on March 10, with Representative Mark Dorazio introducing House Bill 4903 on the same day,

Top Stories This Week Bitcoin white paper is apparently hiding in Apple’s modern macOS Satoshi Nakamoto’s original white paper laying out the thesis for the Bitcoin network is seemingly hiding within every modern version of the operating system for Apple’s Mac computers. An April 5 blog post from technologist Andy Baio revealed that a PDF

The German government is pushing for more welcoming regulations for startups working with financial innovation in the country, according to the newly drafted legislation of the “Future Finance Act” introduced by the finance ministry on April 5.  Key goals of the legislation include capital markets digitalization through the issuance of electronic securities on a blockchain