Bitcoin (BTC) and crypto are only used by 13.7% of Americans, but they generate more exchange volume than anyone else. The latest data compiled by exchange Huobi confirms that in 2022, the United States is the most “mature” crypto market. U.S., Vietnam lead the way on crypto Despite the heavy drawdowns in price for Bitcoin and altcoins this year, interest throughout the world remains “extremely active,” and the leaders may come as a surprise. In its latest annual report, Huobi Research, an affiliate of Huobi Global, revealed that the U.S. accounts for 9.2% of global centralized exchange (CEX) volume. When …

Hong Kong’s legislative council has passed a new amendment to its anti-money laundering (AML) and terrorist financing system to include virtual asset service providers. The latest legislation will establish a new licensing regime for virtual asset service providers, set to come into effect from June 1, 2023. The new amendment will subject crypto exchange service providers to the same legislation as followed by traditional financial institutions. It means virtual exchanges looking to open a business in Hong Kong will have to go through rigorous AML guidelines and investor protection laws before being granted a license of operation. Unlike most other …

Australian financial regulators are “working on options” for incorporating payment stablecoins into the regulatory framework for stored-value facilities. Such incorporation would be a part of broader reforms to the payments regulatory framework in the country. On Dec.8 the official site of the Reserve Bank of Australia published a report on stablecoins, assessing their recent developments, risks and regulatory prospects. Despite the high attention given to risks, in particular, the report is quite optimistic in acknowledging that “stablecoins have the potential to enhance the efficiency and functionality of a range of payment and other financial services.” According to the report, the …

United States federal prosecutors have reportedly begun investigating whether the collapse of the Terra ecosystem was in fact triggered by market manipulation tactics by former FTX CEO Sam Bankman-Fried. According to a Dec. 7 report from The New York Times (NYT), the prosecutors — as part of a broader inquiry into FTX’s own collapse — are investigating whether Bankman-Fried’s empire intentionally caused a flood of “sell” orders on Terra’s algorithmic stablecoin TerraClassicUSD, USTC (formerly UST). The sudden increase in UST sell orders were said to make it difficult to match them with corresponding “buy” orders, which in turn forced more …

A United States financial regulator is looking to gain feedback from the banking industry about how decentralized finance (DeFi) may affect the bureau's efforts to stop financial crime. The Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) said it is “looking carefully” at DeFi, while the agency’s acting director, Himamauli Das, said the digital asset ecosystem and virtual currencies are a “key priority area” for the agency. Das gave prepared remarks on Dec. 6 at the American Bankers Association’s Financial Crimes Enforcement Conference. The acting director added the agency is “taking a close look” at its Anti-Money Laundering (AML) and Combating the Financing …

Crypto lending platform Genesis has informed its customers that its withdrawal freeze is likely to last “additional weeks” amid efforts to stave off a potential bankruptcy filing. In a Dec. 7 letter to its customers shared by Genesis to Cointelegraph, interim CEO Derar Islim — who took the temporary helm of the company in August — said it will be weeks for them to formulate a recovery plan that could see withdrawals reopened, stating: “At this point, we anticipate that it will take additional weeks rather than days for us to arrive at a path forward.” The letter also stated …

A federal judge in California has dismissed a class action lawsuit against reality TV star Kim Kardashian, boxing champ Floyd Mayweather and the founders of EthereumMax, explaining that the submissions failed to meet the “heightened pleading standards” for fraud claims. The judge has, however, left room for the plaintiffs to refile the proposed class action lawsuit if certain provisions are amended. In the original Jan. 7 court filing submitted by Scott + Scott Attorneys At Law, the plaintiffs argued that Kardashian, Mayweather, and also former NBA superstar Paul Pierce didn’t disclose they were being paid to promote EthereumMax (EMAX). The …

The United States House Financial Services Committee Chair Maxine Waters said a subpoena is "definitely on the table" for former FTX CEO Sam Bankman-Fried, who has been requested to testify at a Dec. 13 hearing looking into the collapse of FTX. In a Dec. 8 tweet Waters said that "lies are circulating" after a report from CNBC suggested she doesn’t plan to subpoena Bankman-Fried to testify on Dec. 13. Lies are circulating @CNBC that I am not willing to subpoena @SBF_FTX. He has been requested to testify at the December 13th hearing. A subpoena is definitely on the table. Stay …

United States Congressman Ritchie Torres has introduced bills in the House of Representatives to prohibit misuse of customer funds by cryptocurrency exchanges and to require exchanges disclose proof of reserves to the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The short bills are intended to supplement other legislation that is passed on cryptocurrency, Torres said. Torres introduced the bills, which have the titles of “Crypto Consumer Investor Protection Act’’ and “Crypto Exchange Disclosure Act,’’ on Dec. 1. The bills are very short. In copies obtained from Torres’ office, the body of the first bill, introduced as H.R. 9241, reads: “A cryptocurrency exchange …

Fabio Panetta, an executive board member of the European Central Bank (ECB), proposed banning crypto assets with a significant environmental impact as part of efforts to address risks. In written remarks for the Insight Summit at the London Business School on Dec. 7, Panetta said harmonizing taxation around crypto between global jurisdictions could address some of the energy and environment costs around mining and validation. He added that tokens “deemed to have an excessive ecological footprint should also be banned,” referring to proof-of-work assets in a citation. Panetta added crypto markets were often at risk due to their “incredibly high …

An American legislator has asked the United States Government Accountability Office (GAO) to look into the performance of the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) regarding the recently failed crypto exchange FTX. Rep. Ritchie Torres wrote to U.S. Comptroller General Gene Dodaro on Dec. 6 requesting that the GAO, the federal legislative watchdog, conduct a review of the SEC’s failure to protect the public from “the egregious mismanagement and malfeasance of FTX.” The strongly worded letter also criticized chairman Gary Gensler’s leadership in general. Torres wrote: “If the SEC had done the due diligence of thoroughly investigating the financials of FTX, …

Cryptocurrency mixing services are a divisive subject in the industry. Some advocate for the privacy-enabling features of these protocols while others maintain that they are mainly used for illicit means. For platforms like Tornado Cash, the mainstream verdict is “guilty as charged.” The infamous decentralized mixing protocol was sanctioned by the United States Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) in August 2022, essentially making it illegal for anyone to make use of the service. Tornado Cash continues to be a contentious topic and one of its developers, Alexey Pertsev, controversially remains in detention in the Netherlands while investigators look to …