For the entirety of cryptocurrency’s short history, Venezuela has been seen to be among the most striking example of the need for the utility. The South American country has hosted escalating political tension for years, as skyrocketing hyperinflation, electricity blackouts and shortages of vital food and medicine intensified popular discontent. Venezuelan trade volume dominates P2P markets Venezuelan peer-to-peer (P2P) markets have long been a leader in terms of volume, in part owing to widespread geo-blocking that targets Venezuelan citizens on the part of cryptocurrency exchanges. Recently, Binance announced that as of July 1, 2019, the residents of Venezuela and 28 …

If there's one thing the United States has had a history of, it's imposing sanctions on its enemies. Venezuela, Cuba, North Korea, Russia and numerous other nations have been subject to restrictions and penalties over the years, with the U.S. harnessing its economic muscle in order to punish pretty much any country that doesn't play by the international rulebook. One of the most notable of these countries is Iran — which, since the Iran hostage crisis of 1979, has been on the receiving end of a long series of prohibitions, blocks and sanctions. Some of these sanctions were lifted in …

When people outside of crypto think of John McAfee, they think computers, cybersecurity, anti-virus software. But in the world of crypto and blockchain, you think of a yacht in tropical waters, passionate — and sometimes, admittedly, inebriated — tweets on tech and crypto... and an enviable amount of partying. When I called McAfee to talk on record, he was sitting at a table outside a cafe in Cuba with palm trees and patches of blue sky behind him. We talked about McAfee’s presidential campaign in the United States, his relationship with the U.S. government, cryptocurrency mass adoption and why he’s …

Saeed Zarandi, Iranian Assistant Minister of Industry, Trade, and Supply, said that the United States Congress is working to stop Iran’s access to cryptocurrencies and bitcoin (BTC) mining, as reported by local news service Al-Fars on July 6. According to Zarandi, Congress considers cryptocurrency a tool for evading sanctions and money laundering, and is therefore trying to legislate against Iran’s access to it, complicating Iran’s legislation. Commenting that the issue of cryptocurrencies remained unsettled in Iran, Zarandi reportedly said that Iranian ministries are working with the Central Bank of Iran to settle the subject of cryptocurrencies and their usage within …

Venezuela’s President Nicolas Maduro ordered the country’s leading bank, Banco de Venezuela, to accept the nation’s cryptocurrency, the Petro (PTR) at all of its branches, the country’s Finance Ministry tweeted on July 4. According to the tweet, Maduro gave “the express order to open Petro desks in all the branches of the Bank of Venezuela.” The announcement apparently came during an event celebrating the tenth anniversary of the nationalization of the bank in question. On June 19, Maduro announced that 924 million bolivars (over $92.5 million) were allocated to the Digital Bank of Youth and Students to open one million …

Cuba is the latest country to consider using cryptocurrency to skirt U.S. sanctions, Reuters reported quoting a government source on July 3. In a public address on local television, the country’s president, Migual Diaz-Canel, said the plan would raise capital for around one quarter of the population, helping to pay for reforms. Cuba has felt a severe knock-on effect from the crisis in Venezuela, which was previously a major source of aid. “We are studying the potential use of cryptocurrency... in our national and international commercial transactions, and we are working on that together with academics,” Reuters quoted economy minister …

United States sanctions incentivized North Korea to launch cyberattacks involving cryptocurrency, a senior FBI official told a conference. The comments were quoted by South Korean English-language news outlet Korea Herald on May 30. Speaking at an event organized by U.S. thinktank The Aspen Institute, Tonya Ugoretz, deputy assistant director of the FBI’s cyber division, said financial strain had driven North Korean state actors to cybercrime. As Cointelegraph reported, Pyongyang is suspected to be behind several major campaigns involving cryptocurrency ransomware and theft in recent years. These have ranged from global attacks, such as 2017’s WannaCry, to targeted moves against exchanges …

The Central Bank of Iran (CBI), via its Informatics and Services Corporation (ISC) and in conjunction with Areatak — a Tehran-based blockchain solutions provider — is developing a national blockchain project for its banking and financial sector. Called the Borna platform, Iran hopes to use the project to revamp its banking ecosystem, creating a digital financial economy that will replace the current legacy system. There are also future plans to open up the platform to local private establishments, creating a unitary monetary and banking system for the country. Given the country’s current standoff with the United States and the renewal …

The United States Treasury Department has added Moscow-based bank Evrofinance Mosnarbank to its sanctions list, alleging it was the “primary international financial institution willing to finance” Venezuela’s controversial national oil-backed cryptocurrency, Petro (PTR). The news was announced in an official Treasury press release published on March 11. In its statement, the Treasury accused Evrofinance — which is reportedly jointly owned by Russian and Venezuelan state-owned companies — of materially assisting efforts to launch the cryptocurrency, which it characterized as a “failed” project: “When the failed Venezuelan cryptocurrency, called the Petro, launched in 2018, Evrofinance emerged as the primary international financial …

Foreign investors are interested in the Crimean blockchain cluster, local official Georgy Muradov told Russian major news agency RIA Novosti on Jan. 2. Muradov, who serves as the permanent representative of the Republic of Crimea under the president of the Russian Federation, revealed that the project is mainly of interest to Chinese investors, as the country houses many crypto startups. The authorities of the heavily sanctioned peninsula have plans to create a crypto investment fund and cryptocurrency exchange, as soon as relevant crypto regulation is provided by the Russian government, Muradov continued. The official believes the initiatives will facilitate implementing …

United States lawmakers have introduced a bill to levy further sanctions on Iranian financial institutions and the development and use of the national digital currency. HR 7321 was introduced in the House of Representatives by Rep. Mike Gallagher on Dec. 17. In a bid to combat money laundering and terrorism-related activities, the “Blocking Iran Illicit Finance Act” calls for sanctions on the Iranian financial sector and on the development and use of the national cryptocurrency. The act specifically prohibits transactions, financing or other dealings related to an Iranian digital currency, and would also introduce sanctions on foreign individuals engaged in …

Russia's Ministry of Finance (MinFin) believes that the creation of a Eurasian Economic Union (EAEU)-backed digital currency is inevitable due to the United States’ sanctions. Major Russian media agency Rambler reported MinFin’s comments on Friday, Dec. 21. MinFin reportedly sees an opportunity for launching a digital currency backed by countries in the EAEU by 2020 or 2021, as deputy finance minister Alexei Moiseev revealed. The Eurasian Union was established in 2014 and includes five member countries: Belarus, Kazakhstan, Russia, Armenia and Kyrgyzstan. The announced digital currency project will be most likely implemented without using blockchain technology, Moiseev stated, as reported …