Regulation

The Bank of England and the U.K. finance ministry are planning to launch a consultation on the possible rollout of a central bank digital currency starting in 2022. In a Nov. 9 statement, the Bank of England said the digital pound consultation with HM Treasury would consider design features, benefits and implications for users and

On Tuesday, the governor of Russia’s Central Bank, Elvira Nabiullina, said that the country will have a prototype of its digital rouble platform ready by early 2022 and will roll it out for trial use next year before making a final decision on whether or not to release its own digital currency, according to a

The United States Department of the Treasury has announced it will impose sanctions on the cryptocurrency exchange Chatex and its support network for allegedly facilitating transactions for ransomware actors. In an advisory update issued on Nov. 8, the Treasury Department Office of Foreign Assets Control, or OFAC, added Chatex as well as IZIBITS OU, Chatextech

Huobi Group, a Bitcoin (BTC) technology firm established in 2013, is relocating its spot-trading business to Gibraltar as a precautionary measure following China’s cryptocurrency clampdown. According to a report by Bloomberg, the Gibraltar Financial Services Commission has authorized Huobi to begin moving its spot-trading operations to affiliate Huobi Technology (Gibraltar) Co. As a result, Huobi

Zimbabwe has been paying attention to the increasing demand for crypto among its people, which it views as a possible avenue for growth. The country has also been receptive to regulating the entire sector. Zimbabwe’s government is considering utilizing Bitcoin as a legal payment option to meet this growing demand and harness the technology, according

The word “stablecoin” may have a pleasant ring to it — isn’t it nice to have something stable in the volatile cryptoverse? — but for critics, they are nothing short of a ticking time bomb. Whether that’s true or not, the push for regulating stablecoins is gaining momentum. The United States and the European Union

Legal experts have warned that a section of the Infrastructure Bill, which is due for a vote today, amends a part of the tax code and makes a failure by businesses and individuals to report digital asset transactions a criminal offense. University of Virginia School of Law lecturer Abraham Sutherland said it is a separate

European central banks ramp up their efforts to utilize distributed ledger technology (DLT), the foundation of blockchain, in central bank money settlements. Banca d’Italia and Deutsche Bundesbank, central banks of Italy and Germany, respectively, joined forces to work on settlements in central bank money of DLT-based asset exchanges. The official announcement stressed that the primary

The stablecoin market has been growing exponentially — from only $21.5 billion in mid-October of last year to $130 billion at the start of November; a six-fold increase — so it was only reasonable to expect that the United States government would have to come to grips with these digital assets that are designed to

In remarks given at the American Fintech Council’s 2021 Policy Summit, acting Comptroller of the Currency Michael J Hsu called for greater regulation of universal crypto firms. “Large, universal crypto firms—especially issuers of highly-circulated stablecoins—should embrace comprehensive, consolidated supervision. At the same time, federal and state bank regulators should prioritize the development of policies, staff,

Lawyers for major fast food chain Jack in the Box have filed a lawsuit against crypto exchange FTX US for copyright and trademark infringement of its “Jack” mascot. According to federal court documents filed in the Southern District of California on Nov. 3, Jack in the Box’s legal team is requesting a jury trial, claiming FTX

The Financial Services Commission (FSC) in South Korea reaffirmed in a public statement today that nonfungible tokens (NFT) are not virtual assets, and will not be regulated. The confirmation of the decision to keep NFTs unregulated came after a review of the Financial Action Task Force’s (FATF) updated guidelines. The October 28 guidance report from

This weekly roundup of news from Mainland China, Taiwan, and Hong Kong attempts to curate the industry’s most important news, including influential projects, changes in the regulatory landscape, and enterprise blockchain integrations.   It was a quiet week in the mainland as much of the Chinese crypto community was either lying low, off in Lisbon, or

Paytm, India’s leading digital payments company, has said Thursday that it would consider Bitcoin services if the country’s regulatory framework for cryptocurrencies was more definite. Speaking to Haslinda Amin and Rishaad Salamat during an interview on Bloomberg TV, Paytm’s Chief Financial Officer Madhur Deora stated that the rules surrounding Bitcoin (BTC) remain in a “grey

Global payment giant PayPal is going after cryptocurrency wallet TokenPocket over an alleged trademark infringement. Apple temporarily removed the TokenPocket wallet from the App Store, the company announced Nov. 4. According to the firm, the reason for removal was a complaint from PayPal concerning an alleged trademark issue. TokenPocket said that they received communications from

Congressmen Todd Emmer and Darren Soto sent a bipartisan letter to Securities & Exchange Commission Chair Gary Gensler on Wednesday, strongly questioning why the agency has denied approval for the creation of a Bitcoin spot ETF while allowing Bitcoin Futures ETFs to begin trading. In a spot ETF, the fund holds the actual commodity (in