A U.S. federal court has granted authorization to the Internal Revenue Service, or IRS, to serve a John Doe summons to fintech firm Circle seeking all information on U.S. taxpayers who traded at least $20,000 worth of crypto assets on its platforms between 2016 and 2020. The summons will apply to Circle Internet Financial Inc.
Regulation
The current acting director of the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network, or FinCEN, will bid farewell to the governing body in April. His replacement: Michael Mosier, Chainalysis’ former chief technical counsel. “Director Kenneth A. Blanco today announced several leadership changes impacting the bureau,” said a public statement from FinCEN on Friday, adding: “Director Blanco announced he
The cryptocurrency space may be helping to spawn its own competitors after a representative of the People’s Bank of China said Bitcoin’s (BTC) recent surge had caused renewed interest in the nation’s digital yuan project. The digital yuan is China’s central bank digital currency, and like all CBDCs its foundational principles are completely antithetical to
Thailand’s Securities and Exchange Commission has clarified its guidelines to stipulate that those trading cryptocurrencies in the country should have some foundational knowledge. In a Facebook Live video from the Thai SEC today, secretary-general Ruenvadee Suwanmongkol said the regulatory body’s proposed guidelines now say that people interested in investing in digital assets must have previous
The United Kingdom’s Financial Conduct Authority has included cryptoasset businesses under the financial crimes reporting umbrella eight months after initially announcing plans to do so. The FCA made this known via a policy statement issued on its website on Wednesday. This move comes as the country’s financial regulator has increased the number of firms required
Japan has made another step toward adopting cryptocurrency Anti-Money Laundering regulations developed by the Financial Action Task Force, Cointelegraph Japan reports. The Japanese Financial Services Agency announced Wednesday that it will adopt the FATF’s travel rule — a set of regulations requiring virtual asset service providers to share transaction data for senders and recipients — by April
Cryptocurrency wallet and trading platform Uphold has received regulatory approval to purchase JNK Securities, a U.S. broker-dealer. In an announcement from Uphold today, the U.S. Financial Industry Regulatory Authority, or FINRA, gave the firm the green light to acquire JNK Securities. Uphold said the acquisition is aimed at allowing the platform to launch fractional equities
The rise of nonfungible tokens, or NFTs, has been nothing short of astounding this year. Google searches for “NFT” are up over 600% since mid-February, hitting initial coin offering mania levels, and the top NFT platforms are turning over millions of dollars each day. In a single 24-hour period earlier in March, sport collectibles platform
Blockchain company LBRY, Inc. has hit back at the Securities and Exchange Commission, saying a complaint filed against it threatens much of the crypto industry because it would define most tokens as securities. The SEC has been looking into the blockchain-based publishing platform LBRY, Inc. as part of a three-year investigation that started in May
Major U.S.-based mining firm Marathon Digital Holdings has announced the launch of what it describes as the first North American Bitcoin mining pool that is “fully compliant with U.S. regulations.” According to a March 30 announcement, the pool adheres to U.S. anti-money laundering guidelines and rules set out by the Office of Foreign Asset Control,
Powers On… is a new monthly opinion column from Marc Powers, who spent much of his 40-year legal career working with complex securities-related cases in the United States after a stint with the SEC. He is now an Adjunct Professor at Florida International University School of Law, where he teaches a course on ‘Blockchain, Crypto
The Dubai Financial Services Authority, or DFSA, is continuing its efforts to create a standardized framework for cryptocurrency regulations in the megacity. According to a DFSA press release issued on Monday, Dubai’s financial regulator has called on members of the public to submit comments on its proposed regulations for cryptos deemed to be security tokens.
Nischal Shetty, CEO of Indian crypto exchange WazirX, and other stakeholders in the industry are reportedly working toward convincing the government to adopt more nuanced cryptocurrency regulations. According to a report by The Economic Times, the country’s Blockchain and Crypto Council has drafted a presentation note highlighting recommendations for cryptocurrency regulations in India. The regulatory
The Central Bank of the Bahamas has announced that its central bank digital currency, the Sand Dollar, is expected to achieve full interoperability between its various wallet providers within the week. A recent statement released by the CBoB revealed that Authorised Financial Institutions such as payments service providers are expected to be finalized within the
The European Central Bank, or ECB, has been investigating the possibility of launching a digital euro project within five years to complement existing central bank money. But whereas high-profile leaders such as ECB president Christine Lagarde have been largely positive about the prospect, officials from Germany’s Bundesbank have remained unconvinced. In a new op-ed for
Speaking at Draper Goren Holm’s Security Token Summit on March 25, SEC commissioner Hester Peirce, also known as “Crypto Mom” warned the issuers of fractionalized non-fungible tokens and NFT index baskets that they could inadvertently be distributing investment products. While Peirce stated that “the whole concept of an NFT is supposed to be non-fungible” —