A year after Russia’s invasion, Ukraine continues working on cryptocurrency legislation, but the war has not changed its regulatory stance, according to a Kyiv official. Ukraine has continued to follow in the footsteps of the European Union in regard to adopting digital asset laws, Ukraine’s securities commissioner Yurii Boiko told Cointelegraph in an interview. Boiko said that the Ukrainian lawmakers have been working to implement major European crypto regulations, known as the Markets in Crypto Assets regulation, or MiCA. “The approach to the regulation of the virtual asset market has not changed during the war,” Boiko stated, adding: “We clearly …

The Bank of Italy is looking for new ways to apply distributed ledger technology (DLT) and is preparing for the advent of Markets in Crypto-Assets (MiCA) regulation, bank governor Ignazio Visco told a congress of Assiom Forex, the Italian financial markets association, on Feb. 4. DLT may offer benefits such as cheaper cross-border transactions and increased financial system efficiency, Visco said. The Italian central bank “is focused on the need to identify areas” where DLT can contribute to financial stability and consumer protection. Visco expressed the desire to see regulations that sorted out the crypto-asset market to separate “highly risky …

The final vote on European Union’s much-awaited crypto regulations called Markets in Crypto Assets regulation (MiCA) was deferred to April 2023. This marks the second delay in the final vote, earlier deferred from November 2022 to February. The latest delay is attributed to a technical issue where the official 400-page document couldn’t be translated into the 24 official languages of the EU, reported The Block. Legal documents like the MiCA, which were drafted in English, must comply with EU regulations and be published in all 24 official languages of the union. The first delay in November that deferred the final …

At the end of January 2022, member of the Belgian parliament Christophe De Beukelaer became the first European politician to convert his salary to Bitcoin (BTC). Celebrating the anniversary of this experiment, Cointelegraph reached out to a lawmaker to know more about his experience. Back in 2022, Beukelaer, who represents Humanist Democratic Centre (CDH) party, cited the example of New York City Mayor Eric Adams and how American politicians are working to make their native states or cities Bitcoin hubs to justify his decision. The Brussels MP’s monthly salary of EUR 5,500 ($6,140) was to be converted to Bitcoin using …

European Central Bank (ECB) executive board member Fabio Panetta has been a vocal supporter of central bank digital currency (CBDC) and cryptocurrency sceptic, and he presented his latest argument for CBDC on Jan. 5. Writing on the official ECB blog, he said that, by developing CBDCs, central banks “will safeguard the trust on which private forms of money ultimately depend.” Panetta began his argument with a harsh appraisal of cryptocurrency in 2022. “Last year marked the unravelling of the crypto market as investors moved from the fear of missing out to the fear of not getting out,” he said. That …

Crypto exchange Coinbase was granted permission by the Central Bank of Ireland to act as a Virtual Asset Service Provider (VASP), according to an announcement on Dec. 21. The company's operations in the country will be overseen by Cormac Dinan, a former employee of Crypto.com, Deloitte and Citigroup. Under the VASP registration, Coinbase Ireland will be subject to the Criminal Justice (Money Laundering and Terrorist Financing) Act 2010. Two Coinbase entities are covered by the VASP registration: Coinbase Europe Limited and Coinbase Custody International Limited. The first provides crypto trading services to European customers, while Coinbase Custody International provides crypto …

Following the global trend of tightening the crypto regulation in the aftermath of recent market failures, France may reassess its eased regime of licensing for digital asset providers. That would challenge the nation’s efforts to present itself as one of the most pro-crypto countries in Europe. According to the Financial Times, Hervé Maurey, a member of the French Senate’s finance commission, proposed an amendment to eliminate a clause enabling crypto companies to operate without a full license until 2026. The current regime preserves this possibility even after the Markets in-Crypto Assets (MiCA) coming into law in 2024. Maurey’s amendment will …

The European Parliament Economic and Monetary Affairs Committee held a hearing on "FTX cryptocurrency exchange collapse and implications for the EU" Nov. 30. Three European monetary officials testified, talking about FTX, blockchain technology and crypto regulation in a “preliminary assessment of the events.” European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA) Risk Analysis & Economics Department head Steffen Kern told the committee that ESMA “has neither regulated nor supervised FTX” and has no “information on the company beyond what is in the public domain.” The ESMA does not see significant risks to the broader financial sector from the collapse of FTX given …

Christine Lagarde, president of the European Central Bank, or ECB, has once again called regulation and supervision of crypto an “absolute necessity” for the EU in the wake of the collapse of crypto exchange FTX. At a Nov. 28 hearing of the Committee on Economic and Monetary Affairs of the European Parliament, Lagarde cited Facebook’s Libra as an example of the ECB’s involvement which was “helpful to stop some of the players” from engaging with crypto firms. However, she said the situation with FTX — involved with crypto assets as opposed to stablecoins — was more about the “stability and …

However, the crypto space is notoriously fickle, and the collapse of once-established companies such as Celsius and FTX are stark examples of how people can lose billions of dollars in crypto assets almost overnight. For this reason, celebrity influencers should be thoroughly educated on a crypto product before promoting it. With so much at stake, this is a point that shouldn’t be overlooked by anyone in the industry. Because of these huge risks, regulators are now asking questions regarding the ethics of celebrities using their considerable pull to draw people into crypto. And they’re not stopping at that; more jurisdictions …

European Parliament economics committee member Stefan Berger has compared the current situation with FTX to the 2008 financial crisis, using “such Lehman Brothers moments” in justifying the need for regulating crypto. In a Nov. 9 tweet, Berger said proper regulation was needed to avoid issues which “cost enormous trust” in the crypto space, amid FTX reporting financial difficulties. The parliamentary committee member pointed to the Markets in Crypto-Assets, or MiCA, framework currently moving through the European Council as a way to require crypto firms to “ensure internal risk management mechanisms.” Shame! The #FTX/#Alameda case has cost enormous trust. Such Lehman …

As the Plenary vote for the landmark Pan-European crypto legislation, Markets in Crypto Assets (MiCA), has been rescheduled from the end of 2022 to February 2023, Stefan Berger believes that to be a matter of technical necessity. Responding to Cointelegraph's request for more info, Berger, a member of the European Parliament responsible for procedural handling of MiCa, explained that the delay has nothing to do with the legislation’s content: “I view this as a purely technical necessity and not as a political move. I have no reason to believe that the support for the MiCA has changed in the European …