Singapore government-owned investment firm Temasek has suffered a lot more than just financial losses due to investing in FTX, according to Deputy Prime Minister Lawrence Wong. Wong, who is also the finance minister, believes that Temasek’s $275 million investment in FTX has caused significant damage to the company’s reputation. The official addressed the growing criticism over Temasek’s FTX exposure at a parliament meeting on Nov. 27, according to a report by the South China Morning Post. The prime minister emphasized that the collapse of FTX was a result of a “very badly managed company” as well as possible fraud and …

In light of the recent FTX collapse and liquidity scandal, regulators in the European Union have joined other global lawmakers in a push for more clear guidelines and regulations on cryptos. The European Central Bank (ECB) released a blog post titled “Bitcoin’s last stand” on Nov. 30, which summarized the financial career of Bitcoin (BTC) amid current price fluctuations. However, instead of outlining the entire picture, which would include both up and downs of the cryptocurrency’s lifespan thus far, it only portrayed its shortcomings. Written by Ulrich Bindseil and Jürgen Schaaf, the director general and advisor of the ECB, the …

The National Bank of Ukraine (NBU) has introduced a draft concept for its central bank digital currency (CBDC) candidate digital hryvnia, or e-hryvnia. Ukraine’s central bank on Nov. 28 released a statement on the concept of e-hryvnia, which aims to perform all the functions of money by supplementing cash and non-cash forms of the hryvnia as its key purpose. The NBU said it has presented the e-hryvnia concept and continues developing the CBDC project with participants of the virtual assets market, payment firms and state bodies. According to the announcement, the central bank is currently considering and developing three possible …

Crypto executives and politicians are becoming louder in their calls for crypto regulation as the aftermath of the FTX collapse continues to reverberate through the industry. In just the last 24 hours, the European Central Bank (ECB) president Christine Lagarde called regulation and supervision of crypto an “absolute necessity” for the European Union, while United States House Financial Services Committee Chair Maxine Waters announced that lawmakers will explore the collapse of FTX in a Dec. 13 inquiry. On Nov. 28, United States Senator and crypto supporter Cynthia Lummis described the collapse of FTX as a wake-up call for congress, according …

A handful of government-backed financial institutions have been exploring tokenization use cases to revolutionize traditional financial systems. For instance, El Salvador’s Bitcoin Volcanic bond project has been in the works for over a year and aims to raise $1 billion from investors with tokenized bonds to build a Bitcoin city. The Central Bank of Russia has also expressed interest in tokenized off-chain assets. In addition, the Israeli Ministry of Finance, together with the Tel Aviv Stock Exchange (TASE), recently announced the testing of a blockchain-backed platform for digital bond trading. Cointelegraph Research’s 2021 Security Token Report found that most securities …

In October, Toronto-based Coinsquare became the first crypto trading business to get dealer registration from the Investment Industry Regulatory Organization of Canada (IIROC). That means a lot as now Coinsquare investors’ funds enjoy the security of the Canadian Investment Protection Fund in the event of insolvency, while the exchange is required to report its financial standing regularly. This news reminds us about the peculiarities of Canadian regulation of crypto. While the country still holds a rather tight process of licensing the virtual asset providers, it outpaces the neighboring United States in its experiments with crypto exchange-traded funds (ETFs), pension funds’ …

Following the collapse of crypto exchange FTX, which was headquartered in the island nation of Bahamas, Bahamians are reportedly still trying to find a way to make sense of everything, while remaining optimistic about the future. According to a report by the WSJ, the island nation — which encouraged cryptocurrency companies to feel at home with their “copacetic regulatory touch” — has been rocked by the implosion of FTX. The Bahamas, which was also hard hit by hurricane Dorian in 2019 and the pandemic shortly afterward in 2020, was already struggling to find ways to strengthen its economy which relies …

As Uzbekistan prepares to adopt a new cryptocurrency framework in 2023, the Uzbek regulators have started issuing regulatory approvals to local crypto service providers. The National Agency for Perspective Projects (NAPP), Uzbekistan’s major cryptocurrency market watchdog, has issued the nation’s first crypto licenses, according to an official announcement released on Nov. 17. The licenses officially authorize the offering of cryptocurrency-related services by two “cryptocurrency stores,” including Crypto Trade NET LLC and Crypto Market LLC. According to the information from the NAPP’s electronic license register, both Crypto Trade NET and Crypto Market are based in Tashkent. The data also refers to …

Russian lawmakers are working on amendments to launch a national crypto exchange. This effort is reportedly supported both by the Ministry of Finance and the Central Bank of Russia which have a long history of disagreement over crypto regulation in the country. As local media reported on Nov. 23, members of the lower chamber of the Russian parliament, the Duma, have been in discussions regarding amendments to the country's existing cryptocurrency legislation “On digital financial assets” with market stakeholders. The amendments, which would lay down a legal framework for a national exchange, will first be presented to the central bank. …

In October, Greenland was reported to be exploring the feasibility of an online voting platform for its national elections. Among the options being considered is a blockchain-based system. That isn’t entirely surprising. Electronic voting, or e-voting, has long been viewed as a promising use case for blockchain technology. “It’s time for online voting,” wrote Alex Tapscott in a New York Times opinion piece in 2018. “Using blockchain technology, online voting could boost voter participation and help restore the public’s trust in the electoral process and democracy.” It seems especially timely now as large swaths of the world’s population are raising …

The ongoing case of the Celsius bankruptcy continues as the United States Bankruptcy Court in the southern district of New York State approved a new filing deadline. According to an official document, a deadline has been set for those filing any claims against the former digital assets lender. Any person or entity - which covers individuals, partnerships, corporations, joint ventures and trusts - who wishes to do so must submit a proof of claim by Jan. 3, 2023, 5:00 pm Eastern Time. Celsius itself made a thread on Twitter, informing its former users of the recent court deadline approval, along …

The Securities Commission of The Bahamas (SCB) said it had ordered the transfer of all digital assets of FTX Digital Markets (FDM) to a digital wallet owned by the commission on Nov. 12. In a Nov. 17 statement, the SCB said it exercised its power as a regulator acting under the authority of a Supreme Court order — moving the assets to a “digital wallet controlled by the Commission, for safekeeping.” Securities Commission of The Bahamas Assumes Control of Assets of FTX Digital Markets Ltd. pic.twitter.com/IzW4PGZSJm — Securities Commission of The Bahamas (@SCBgov_bs) November 18, 2022 SCB justified last week’s …