Regulation news-Page 61
ECB president reiterates calls for 'MiCA II' in response to FTX collapse
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 …
Regulation / Nov. 28, 2022
US House committee sets Dec. 13 date for FTX hearing
The United States House Financial Services Committee has announced it will be holding a hearing to investigate the events around the collapse of crypto exchange FTX. In a Nov. 28 announcement, House Financial Services Committee chair Maxine Waters said lawmakers had scheduled a hearing aimed at exploring the collapse of FTX for Dec. 13. The hearing, expected to be “Part I” in perhaps a series of hearings around the impact of a major crypto exchange declaring bankruptcy, was first announced on Nov. 16 but not scheduled. Following the fall of FTX, the urgent need for legislation has never been greater. …
Regulation / Nov. 28, 2022
Kraken settles with US Treasury's OFAC for violating US sanctions
The United States Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control, or OFAC, has announced a settlement with crypto exchange Kraken for “apparent violations of sanctions against Iran.” In a Nov. 28 announcement, OFAC said Kraken had agreed to pay more than $362,000 as part of a deal “to settle its potential civil liability” related to violating the United States’ sanctions against Iran. The U.S.-based crypto exchange will also be investing $100,000 into sanctions compliance controls as part of the agreement with Treasury. “Due to Kraken’s failure to timely implement appropriate geolocation tools, including an automated internet protocol (IP) address blocking …
Regulation / Nov. 28, 2022
FTX collapse put the Singapore government in a parliamentary hot seat
The collapse of now-bankrupt cryptocurrency exchange FTX has put the Singapore prime minister and the ruling government in a hot seat. Prime minister Lee Hsien Loong and deputy prime minister Lawrence Wong are set to face grilling questions for their failure to protect retail investors. The Members of Parliament (MP) from the opposition Workers’ party raised 15 questions about Temasek’s investment and FTX collapse. The MPs questioned the government’s credibility in tracking the extent of investments by Temasek and Singapore’s sovereign wealth fund GIC. The discussions around the government policies while investing in digital assets will be scrutinized further in …
Blockchain / Nov. 28, 2022
FTX fall was ‘incredibly damaging,’ crypto must foster real utility: Ripple policy lead
Ripple’s APAC Policy Director has described the fall of FTX as “incredibly damaging” for the crypto space, but says the industry should stand the test of time if its focus shifts towards building “real utility.” In a statement sent to Cointelegraph, Ripple’s APAC policy lead Rahul Advani said he expects the FTX saga to lead to greater scrutiny on crypto regulations, while governments will re-evaluate “their stance towards crypto and blockchain technology,” adding: “The collapse of FTX is incredibly damaging for the crypto space and once again underscores the need for greater regulatory clarity.” Advani argued that the industry will …
Regulation / Nov. 28, 2022
More laws are the solution for taking down crypto influencers
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 …
Regulation / Nov. 27, 2022
New York's mayor seeks balance with regulators after PoW mining moratorium
New York City mayor Eric Adams is still focused on making New York a crypto hub, but he believes that goal can be combined with statewide efforts to curb environmental costs related to crypto mining, according to reports on Nov 25. The comments follow the new law signed by New York governor Kathy Hochul, banning proof-of-work (PoW) mining activities for two years in the state. The mayor, known as a crypto proponent, said in June he would ask the governor to veto the bill. The city will work with legislators to find a balance between the crypto industry development and …
Regulation / Nov. 26, 2022
Canada crypto regulation: Bitcoin ETFs, strict licensing and a digital dollar
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’ …
Etf / Nov. 26, 2022
SEC chair's crypto oversight strategy in question as ecosystems collapse
While regulations are often aimed at protecting citizens from bad actors, the effectiveness of crypto regulations in the United States is in question owing to the colossal fall of major exchanges and ecosystems over the past year — FTX, Celsius, Voyager, and Terra (LUNA). Congressman Tom Emmer showed concerns about the oversight strategy implemented by Gary Gensler, the chair of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) for the crypto ecosystem. Emmer has been vocal against Gensler's “indiscriminate and inconsistent approach” toward crypto oversight. On March 16, the Congressman revealed being approached by numerous crypto and blockchain firms that believed …
Adoption / Nov. 26, 2022
DeFi sparks new investments despite turbulent market: Finance Redefined
Welcome to Finance Redefined, your weekly dose of essential decentralized finance (DeFi) insights — a newsletter crafted to bring you significant developments over the last week. The prolonged crypto winter aided by the collapse of FTX has kept investors from backing a new protocol that merges DeFi and the foreign exchange market. A new Cosmos blockchain-based DeFi protocol has caught the eyes of investors who have put $10 million behind the project. Cardano-based leading stablecoin ecosystem Ardana abruptly stopped its development after several launch delays. However, the project remains open-source for others to add to it until they restart the …
Regulation / Nov. 25, 2022
FTX’s collapse could change crypto industry governance standards for good
The crypto market is often referred to as the Wild West of the finance world. However, the events that have unfolded within this space recently would put to shame even the hardiest of cowboys from the day of yore. As a quick refresher, on Nov. 8, FTX, the second-largest cryptocurrency exchange in the world till about a month ago, faced an unprecedented liquidity crunch after it came to light that the firm had been facilitating shady deals with its related firm Alameda Research. In this regard, as 2022 continues to be rough on the global economy, the crypto sector, in …
Regulation / Nov. 25, 2022
Turkey seizes FTX assets in the country amid the ongoing investigation
Assets belonging to former FTX CEO Sam Bankman-Fried have been seized by the country’s Financial Crimes Investigation Board, locally known as MASAK, following the collapse of his main business. An official announcement from Turkey’s MASAK outlined preliminary findings and actions taken against Bankman-Fried following bankruptcy proceedings of its core business. MASAK began investigations on Nov. 14. Cointelegraph translated the latest announcement from MASAK, which highlighted three key points from the investigation. The Turkish investigatory body found that FTX failed to safely store user funds, embezzled customer funds through shady transactions and manipulated supply and demand in the market by having …
Regulation / Nov. 25, 2022