The last 13 years have seen blockchain technology evolve into numerous use cases — finance, data, logistics and security, among others. However, the idea of using blockchain’s immutable capabilities to ID humans got new life when Changpeng “CZ” Zhao visited the island country of Palau to kick off its digital residency program. The blockchain identity management market is estimated to grow by $3.58 billion in the span of five years from 2021 to 2025. Key factors include the rising demand for digitalization and privacy-respecting identity solutions. As a result, a myriad of solutions breached the market serving this need in …

The provision in the U.S. infrastructure bill signed into law in November, which will require financial institutions and crypto brokers to report additional information, could reportedly be delayed. According to a Wednesday report from Bloomberg, the United States Department of the Treasury and Internal Revenue Service may not be willing to enforce crypto brokers collecting information on certain transactions starting in January 2023, citing people familiar with the matter. The potential delay could reportedly affect billions of dollars related to capital gains taxes — the Biden administration’s budget for the government for the 2023 fiscal year previously estimated modifying the …

In his monthly crypto tech column, Israeli serial entrepreneur Ariel Shapira covers emerging technologies within the crypto, decentralized finance (DeFi) and blockchain space, as well as their roles in shaping the economy of the 21st century. The crypto market, just as any other market, runs in cycles. Even though digital assets are known, if not infamous, for being more volatile than many other asset types, their price action still follows a familiar pattern of ups and downs. Some of this, such as Bitcoin’s (BTC) four-year cycle, largely comes down to the algorithm’s intrinsic rules — more specifically, the halving of …

Connecticut House of Representatives member Jim Himes has released a proposal aiming to start a dialogue on the United States potentially launching a central bank digital currency, or CBDC. In a white paper released on Wednesday, Himes urged Congress to begin exploring the rollout of a digital dollar issued by the Federal Reserve to prevent the government from falling behind in innovations in financial technology. According to the U.S. lawmaker, a CBDC “should not be thought of as replacing legacy payment systems and currencies but as an additional alternative for consumers and businesses.” The white paper laid out a proposal …

The government of the United Kingdom said it intends to modify a proposal that would have required crypto firms to collect personal data from individuals holding unhosted wallets that were the recipients of digital asset transfers. In its Amendments to the Money Laundering, Terrorist Financing and Transfer of Funds updated on Wene, HM Treasury said it will be scaling back its requirements for gathering data from both the senders and recipients of crypto sent to unhosted wallets, unless the transaction poses “an elevated risk of illicit finance.” The U.K. government added that unhosted wallets could be used for a variety …

Crypto exchange Binance has courted controversy almost since its 2017 beginnings, and five years later, the dustups continue. On June 6, the United States Securities and Exchange Commission was reported to be investigating whether Binance Holdings broke United States securities rules in launching its digital tokens. Meanwhile, on the same day, Reuters published a scathing 4,700-word “special report” titled “How crypto giant Binance became a hub for hackers, fraudsters and drug traffickers.” Binance almost immediately retorted to Reuters with a blog post of its own, warning about “authors and pundits who cherry pick data, rely on conveniently unverifiable ‘leaks’ from …

The crypto sector may be maturing, but regulatory clarity around the treatment of digital assets continues to remain cumbersome. This was recently highlighted by Commissioner Hester Peirce — also known as the United States Securities and Exchange Commission’s (SEC) “crypto mom” — in remarks she made at “The Regulatory Transparency Project Conference on Regulating the New Crypto Ecosystem: Necessary Regulation or Crippling Future Innovation?” Peirce began her speech by emphasizing the importance of “regulating the new crypto ecosystem.” While this may be, Peirce also noted that the crypto industry is still in search of an actual regulator. She said: “A …

For many years, the United States Military has been experimenting with blockchain in a number of settings to enhance its operations. Now, the U.S. Air Force (USAF) is adopting blockchain into its budgeting and accounting processes. According to a Thursday press release, the USAF has enlisted SIMBA Chain, a blockchain-as-a-service platform, to develop a blockchain-based system for tracking and monitoring the military's cash flow and supply chain quality and management. The goal of the project, dubbed Digital Blockchain Budgeting Accountability and Tracking (DiBaT), is to tokenize all dollars within the USAF supply chain budget, as well as track fund movement …

The core principles of cryptocurrency were based on financial independence, decentralization and anonymity. With regulations being the key to mass adoption, however, the privacy aspect of the crypto market seems to be in jeopardy. In 2022, even though no particular country has come up with a universal regulatory outline that governs the whole crypto market, most countries have introduced some form of legislation to govern a few aspects of the crypto market such as trading and financial services. While different countries have set different rules and regulations in accordance with their existing financial laws, a common theme has been the …

Despite the cryptocurrency market's prolonged bearish trend, some of its most ardent supporters have not been discouraged. This includes the president of the Central African Republic (CAR), who remains bullish on Bitcoin (BTC) and crypto. Understanding #Bitcoin is crucial to acknowledge its disruptive power to bring long term prosperity. Mathematics don't account for human emotions.Future generations will look behind at these very moments to our strength & unity in choosing the right path during hard times #BTC — Faustin-Archange Touadéra (@FA_Touadera) June 14, 2022 In a tweet shared on Tuesda, President Faustin-Archange Touadéra reaffirmed his country's decision to make Bitcoin …

“I like to call myself a future, or aspiring, cult leader,” Meltem Demirors, chief strategy officer of CoinShares — a publicly listed investment firm managing around $5 billion in assets — told Cointelegraph. Demirors, who first entered the Bitcoin (BTC) space in late 2012, further mentioned that it has been “fun to see how big the crypto sector has become,” noting that people from all walks of life are now interested in the cryptocurrency space. As such, Demirors explained that “crypto cults” are bringing people together in a positive manner, especially since it gives people a sense of purpose and …

“Everything is bigger in Texas” proved to be true during Consensus 2022. The crypto conference took place June 9–12 in Austin, Texas, this year, attracting over 20,000 people from across the globe, despite the 100-degree plus weather. According to the event sponsors, Consensus 2018, which was held at the Hilton Hotel in New York, had previously drawn in almost 9,000 attendees. Caitlin Long, CEO of Custodia — the Wyoming-based digital asset bank — told Cointelegraph that the event this year speaks volumes. “New York has sent a lot of this industry fleeing to places like Austin, Wyoming and Miami. It …