With the rise of the Taliban last year in August, Afghanistan faced global sanctions that led to many international organizations and money transaction services halting operations in the country. This made room for digital currencies and stablecoins to be widely used, at least to send or receive remittances. However, the Taliban government has recently banned cryptocurrencies and arrested 16 local exchangers in the Northwestern city of Herat in the past week, according to the provincial news website ATN-News. According to the report, the exchanges were initially given a grace period to comply with the government’s regulations but were ultimately shut …

The managing director of the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS), Ravi Menon, addressed the agency’s mixed signals on crypto in the public sphere at a seminar on Aug. 29. The public claimed that local regulators were spreading crypto-positive sentiments while simultaneously threatening more regulations. According to the new statement from Menon, the observation is not entirely wrong. He says the agency needs to do “a better job explaining” the situation. Overall, MAS is pro-digital assets, as directly stated by Menon, "yes to digital asset innovation, no to cryptocurrency speculation." Regulators want the island country to become a hub for fintech …

In a cease-and-desist letter to fast-growing crypto exchange FTX, the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) shed light on a now-deleted tweet from the exchange’s president, Brett Harrison, and issued a stark warning over the company’s messaging. Harrison’s original tweet said, “Direct deposits from employers to FTX US are stored in individually FDIC-insured bank accounts in the users’ names.” He added, “Stocks are held in FDIC-insured and SIPC [Security Investor Protection Corporation]-insured brokerage accounts.” Although Harrison stewarded FTX to its best-ever year in 2021, increasing revenue by 1,000%, the firm now faces the unenviable prospect of running afoul of a powerful …

The Celsius Network is one of many crypto lending firms that has been swept up in the wake of the so-called “crypto contagion.” Rumors of Celsius’ insolvency began circulating in June after the crypto lender was forced to halt withdrawals due to “extreme market conditions” on June 13 and eventually filed for chapter 11 bankruptcy a month later on July 13. The crypto lending firm showed a balance gap of $1.2 billion in its bankruptcy filing, with most liabilities owed to its users. User deposits made up the majority of liabilities at $4.72 billion, while Celsius’ assets include CEL tokens …

Australia’s financial regulator, Australia's Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) has pledged to put crypto assets and decentralized finance (DeFi) firmly in its sights over the next four years. According to ASIC’s newly released “Corporate Plan” released on Aug. 22, the financial regulator said it will be focusing on “digitally enabled misconducts” as “emerging technologies and products change our financial ecosystem” as part of its four-year strategic plan which stretches to 2026. Joe Longo, chair of ASIC said the regulator would be focusing in particular on scams and crypto-assets. “Our regulatory environment is changing and evolving — climate risk, our aging …

The Securities Commission (SC) of Malaysia issued a statement on Aug. 22 regarding Huobi operations in the country. According to the statement, the crypto exchange is now on the SC’s Investor Alert List. Malaysian financial regulators say Huobi has been operating a digital asset exchange in the country without official registration with the SC. Huobi Global [https://t.co/la9Y3ntGuq] has been added to the SC’s Investor Alert List for operating a digital asset exchange (DAX) in Malaysia without being registered with the SC. pic.twitter.com/z3IGgnCa0t — SC Malaysia (@SecComMY) August 22, 2022 In a follow-up tweet, the SC said that any operations which …

The Ethereum (ETH) community has been divided over how to best respond to the threat of protocol-level transaction censorship in the wake of the United States government sanctions on Tornado Cash-linked addresses. Over the last week, Ethereum community members have proposed social slashing or even a user-activated soft fork (UASF) as possible responses to transaction-level censorship on Ethereum, with some calling it a “trap” that will do more harm than good and others stating its necessary to provide “credible neutrality and censorship resistance properties” on Ethereum. The heated debate comes after Ethereum miner Ethermine elected not to process transactions from …

Three months after being elected into power, the Australian Labor party has finally broken its silence on how it's planning to approach crypto regulation. Treasurer Jim Chalmers announced a “token mapping” exercise, which was one of the 12 recommendations in a senate inquiry report last year on “Australia as a Technology and Financial Center.” The report was warmly welcomed by the industry which has been anxiously waiting to see if the ALP government would embrace it. Aimed at being conducted before the end of the year, the token mapping exercise is expected to help “identify how crypto assets and related …

The Inflation Reduction Act, signed into law this month by President Joe Biden, empowers the IRS with nearly $80 billion in new funds. The world’s most powerful tax collection agency is using the money to go on a hiring spree to fuel much tougher enforcement efforts. It is widely assumed that the audits will be brutal and widespread. Taxes start with tax returns, which must be signed under penalties of perjury. The Biden administration has said that the audits on steroids are for fat cats who have escaped having to pay their fair share for too long. The administration has …

Government controlled “programmable money should terrify you”, says social media influencer and TV Host Layah Heilpern, who sees central bank digital currencies (CBDCs) as a way for banks and governments to reign control over their people. In an interview on Aug. 19 with British news outlet GB News, Heilpern, who also released Undressing Bitcoin: A Revealing Guide To The World's Most Revolutionary Asset in September 2021, said the widespread rollout of a central bank digital currency (CBDC) from nation states is on its way, and that it could lead to the financial censorship of citizens in the future. Heilpern stated …

Ksenia Malik, the wife of Tornado Cash creator Alexey Pertsev Wife has lashed out at Dutch authorities for treating her husband like a "dangerous criminal" following his arrest last week. The Dutch Fiscal Information and Investigation Service (FIOD) arrested Pertsev on Aug. 12 over an alleged use of the Ethereum-based privacy tool to launder money and conceal criminal financial flows. Speaking to Cointelegraph, Malik confirmed that Pertsev remains in the hands of Dutch authorities and has not had the chance to contact him since he was put behind bars. “He’s kept in prison as if he were a dangerous criminal,” …

Four members of the United States House of Representatives from the Energy and Commerce Committee have demanded answers from four major crypto mining firms in regards to the potential effects of their energy consumption on the environment. In letters dated Wednesday to Core Scientific, Marathon Digital Holdings, Riot Blockchain, and Stronghold Digital Mining, U.S. lawmakers Frank Pallone, Bobby Rush, Diana DeGette, and Paul Tonko requested the companies provide information from 2021 including the energy consumption of their mining facilities, the source of that energy, what percentage came from renewable energy sources, and how often the firms curtailed operations. The four …