A global standard for banks' exposure to crypto assets has been endorsed by the Group of Central Bank Governors and Heads of Supervision (GHOS) of the Bank for International Settlements (BIS). The standard, which sets a limit of 2% on crypto reserves among banks, must be implemented on January 1, 2025, according to an official announcement on Dec. 16. The report, dubbed "Prudential treatment of cryptoasset exposures", introduces the final standard structure for banks regarding exposure to digital assets, including tonenized traditional assets, stablecoins and unbacked cryptocurrencies, as well as feedback from stakeholders collected in a consultation launched in June. …

The economy is facing an outlook bleaker than a Welsh weather forecast, and few are rushing to buy risk assets. Here are a few tips for weathering unfavorable market conditions. Option #1: Save cash There’s no shame in sitting on the sidelines and saving cash or stablecoins. When bullish momentum returns, you will have plenty of dry powder to make big allocations. In the meantime, there are still lots of opportunities to earn yield across crypto markets as long as you trust the protocol you’re using. But isn’t this timing the market, which is impossible? Possibly. But this is more …

Yuga Labs, creators of Bored Ape Yacht Club (BAYC) and crypto fintech Moonpay are facing a class-action lawsuit for allegedly using celebrities to misleadingly promote and sell nonfungible tokens (NFTs). Over 40 people and companies are named as defendants in the lawsuit, including Paris Hilton, Snoop Dog, Jimmy Fallon, Justin Bieber, Madonna, Serena Williams, Post Malone, and Diplo. The class-action was filed on Dec. 8 by John T. Jasnoch of Scott+Scott Attorneys at Law LLP in the Central District of California and claims the crypto companies used its Hollywood network to promote the digital assets without complying with disclosure requirements. …

A United States banking industry regulator warned banks of the “emerging risks” of cryptocurrencies saying the sector should take a “cautious approach” and seek permission in some cases when engaging with crypto or crypto firms. Citing “dislocations” in the crypto market over 2022 the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) highlighted what it said were “several key risks” of crypto in its Dec. 8 Semiannual Risk Perspective for Fall 2022 report. Its three main concerns are that “stablecoins may be unstable,” the crypto industry lacks mature risk management practices and has a high risk of contagion due to …

A Chinese court in the city of Hangzhou has said nonfungible token (NFT) collections are online virtual property that should be protected under Chinese law. A Nov. 29 article posted by the Hangzhou Internet Court — a specialist internet court — shared by crypto blogger Wu Blockchain on Dec. 5 reveals the favorable language for NFTs after the country began to crack down on cryptocurrencies in 2021, leaving NFTs in a legal grey area. Translated, the article says NFTs “have the object characteristics of property rights such as value, scarcity, controllability, and tradability” and “belong to network virtual property” that …

On Nov. 18, Grayscale, the asset manager running the world’s largest Bitcoin (BTC) fund, released a statement detailing the security of its digital assets products and affirming that it won’t share its proof of reserves with customers. “Due to recent events, investors are understandably inquiring deeper into their crypto investments,” the statement begins, which is quite the understatement following the implosion of FTX and the inquiry into Sam Bankman-Fried’s questionable leadership. In no time, the question on everyone’s lips became clear. Will Grayscale be next? The answer is that it’s unlikely. And that’s largely because the people at the top, …

The leading institutional Web3 summit will kick off in Miami soon — and has attracted high-profile speakers from across TradFi and Web3. MiamiWeb3 — which is being held at the InterContinental Hotel from Nov. 28 to 30 — will provide a platform to discuss key trends in this fast-moving sector, as well as policy and where the industry is heading next. The city's mayor, Francis Suarez, will be among the attendees — alongside Senator Cynthia Lummis, who has made a name for herself as one of the staunchest cryptocurrency supporters in Congress. She has also played an instrumental role in …

The University of Edinburgh and Input Output Global (IOG), the builder of the Cardano network, have teamed up to create a blockchain decentralization index, IOG announced on its blog. The new service is the first of its kind and will use a “research-based” methodology developed at the university. The Edinburgh Decentralization Index (EDI) has been in development for several months and was introduced in Edinburgh on Nov. 18, but it is not yet operational, according to IOG: “The first step for the tracker is the creation of research papers detailing decentralization metrics and a considered methodology for compiling them into …

Cryptocurrency investment product provider Grayscale Investments has refused to provide on-chain proof of reserves or wallet addresses to show the underlying assets of its digital currency products citing “security concerns.” In a Nov. 18 Twitter thread addressing investor concerns, Grayscale laid out information regarding the security and storage of its crypto holdings and said all crypto underlying its investment products are stored with Coinbase’s custody service, stopping short of revealing the wallet addresses. 6) Coinbase frequently performs on-chain validation. Due to security concerns, we do not make such on-chain wallet information and confirmation information publicly available through a cryptographic Proof-of-Reserve, …

A bill was introduced into the Russian State Duma, the lower house of parliament, on Nov. 17 that would legalize cryptocurrency mining and the sale of the cryptocurrency mined. Cryptocurrency cannot currently be used for settlements in Russia. The proposed law reads, “Digital currency obtained as a result of mining can be disposed of by the person who carried out the mining of this digital currency on the condition that Russian information infrastructure is not used in conducting transactions with it, with the exception of cases of transactions carried out in accordance with the established experimental legal regime," as quoted …

The gap between traditional finance and the cryptocurrency world is still vast. However, up-and-coming solutions like Source of Funds checks can change that. Blockchain analytics and compliance companies are already looking into ways to legitimize users’ cryptocurrency assets and their origins for traditional financial institutions. In January 2022, the European Parliament adopted a legislative measure to start tracing the source of digital assets in an effort to limit illicit funding entering the EU. This was a big step toward merging crypto and traditional finance. But what can individual traders and investors do to legitimize their crypto wealth? The answer lies …

United States payment systems operator The Clearing House has released its response to a Treasury Department request for comment on “digital-asset-related illicit finance and national security risks as well as the publicly released action plan to mitigate the risks.” The Clearing House found significant security serious risks associated with digital assets, but was concerned that banks should have the same opportunities to participate in the market as nonbanks. The Treasury Department issued its request for comments Sept. 20 as part of its ongoing response to President Joe Biden’s Executive Order 14067 of March 9, 2022, “Ensuring Responsible Development of Digital …