BNY Mellon has launched a digital custody platform to safeguards select clients' Ether and Bitcoin holdings on Oct. 11, making the America's oldest bank the first large bank in the country to offer custody of digital assets and traditional investments on the same platform. According to a statement, the bank will store private keys to access the funds and provide the same bookkeeping services offered to fund managers in other assets, such as stocks and bonds. "With Digital Asset Custody, we continue our journey of trust and innovation into the evolving digital assets space, while embracing leading technology and collaborating …

The United States Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control and Financial Crimes Enforcement Network took enforcement actions against crypto exchange Bittex for allegedly violating sanctions programs as well as reporting requirements under the Bank Secrecy Act, or BSA. In an Oct. 11 announcement, the U.S. Treasury said Bittrex had agreed to a more than $24-million settlement with OFAC for violations of “multiple sanctions programs” by failing to prevent individuals based in the Crimea region, Cuba, Iran, Sudan, and Syria from conducting roughly $263 million in crypto transactions between 2014 and 2017. According to the Treasury Department, Bittrex …

In her Expert Take column, Selva Ozelli, an international tax attorney and CPA, covers the intersection between emerging technologies and sustainability, and provides the latest developments around taxes, AML/CFT regulations and legal issues affecting digital assets and blockchain. It’s fair to say that the United States is one of the most crypto-friendly countries in the world. It ranks No. 1 in the quantity of Bitcoin and Ethereum nodes, and regulators have taken a particular interest in the subject. In September, the administration of President Joe Biden released a series of federal reports addressing how crypto might be regulated in the …

Publicly available court documents related to Celsius’ bankruptcy proceedings has revealed data concerning thousands of its customers in a financial disclosure form filed on Oct 5. The document contains over 14,500 pages and while addresses of customers have been redacted, it includes customer names, amounts, types, description and timing of transactions on the platform, along with the U.S. dollar amounts and cryptocurrency type used among other details. There has been a general unease in the crypto community over the publicly available information included in the court documents. Henry de Valence founder of Web3 startup Penumbra Labs told his 9,000 Twitter …

Anchorage Digital co-founder and president Diogo Mónica has called for regulatory clarity in the United States, which he said remains muddy due to the politicization of Web3 technology and a lack of coordinated effort from the industry. Speaking to Cointelegraph ahead of the company’s push into the Asian market, Mónica said there was a night-and-day difference between the regulatory experience in Singapore compared to the U.S. “Singapore, it really is a breath of fresh air […] It's very different to have one regulator,” Mónica said, adding regardless of the asset type it’s the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS), the country’s …

Republican members of the House Financial Services Committee have requested the Department of Justice provide its assessment and legislative proposals around a digital dollar within ten days. In an Oct. 5 letter addressed to U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland, 11 Republican lawmakers asked the Justice Department for a copy of its “assessment of whether legislative changes would be necessary to issue a CBDC,” as required by President Joe Biden’s executive order on digital assets from March. The House members claimed the “appropriate place for the discussion” on legislation concerning a central bank digital currency would be in the U.S. legislative …

Curtis Loftis, the treasurer for the U.S. state of South Carolina, spent five days in El Salvador as part of an “exploratory trip” on cryptocurrencies. According to an Oct. 5 announcement, Loftis was part of a delegation including South Carolina business leaders, rural health officials, and individuals “interested in the expansion of cryptocurrency and blockchain technologies” who met with officials from El Salvador’s government in an effort to understand the country’s efforts to adopt Bitcoin (BTC). The cryptocurrency has been legal tender alongside the U.S. dollar in the Central American nation since El Salvador’s Bitcoin Law went into effect in …

Are regulators with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission gearing up to take down Ethereum? Given the saber-rattling by officials — including SEC Chairman Gary Gensler — it certainly seems possible. The agency went on a crypto-regulatory spree in September. First, at its annual The SEC Speaks conference, officials promised to continue bringing enforcement actions and urged market participants to come in and register their products and services. Gensler even suggested crypto intermediaries should break up into separate legal entities and register each of their functions — exchange, broker-dealer, custodial functions, etc. — to mitigate conflicts of interest and enhance …

The legal team behind nonfungible token firm DataVault Holdings has requested an advisory opinion from the United States Federal Election Commission on using NFTs for fundraising efforts. In a Sept. 21 letter to FEC acting general counsel Lisa Stevenson, DataVault’s lawyers proposed sending NFTs as “souvenirs” to individuals who contributed to political committees, as well as giving the token holder the option to use it for promoting a campaign “strictly on a volunteer basis and without any compensation.” The NFT firm requested the FEC provide guidance on how it may operate as a commercial vendor — issuing the tokens to …

The United States Commodities Futures Trading Commission can serve members of the Ooki decentralized autonomous organization, or DAO, with summons through online communications, according to a federal judge. In an Oct. 3 order granting a CFTC motion, U.S. district judge William Orrick said the commission could provide a copy of its summons and complaint through Ooki DAO’s help chat box as well as a notice on its online forum. The judge said the court’s decision was based on the CFTC effectively serving the Ooki DAO by providing the necessary documents. The CFTC filed a lawsuit against the Ooki DAO on …

Stablecoin issuer Tether (USDT) has nearly completely slashed its commercial paper holdings, with less than $50 million worth of commercial paper units as of Sept. 30, 2022. Tether CTO Paolo Ardoino made the announcement in an Oct. 3 tweet, adding also that Tether’s United States Treasury bills increased to 58.1% of its total portfolio, up 25.1% from its Jun. 30 figure of 43.5%. #tether portfolio update. Tether as of 30 September 2022 holds ~58.1% of its assets in US t-bills. Up from 43.5% on June 30 2022. CP exposure is < 50M now.@Tether_to — Paolo Ardoino (@paoloardoino) October 3, 2022 …

The crypto community reacted with a mix of disbelief and amusement after reality star Kim Kardashian was fined for promoting the cryptocurrency EthereumMax (EMAX). The United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) fined Kardashian $1.26 million on Oct. 3, for “touting on social media” about the EMAX without disclosing she was paid $250,000 to post about it. Kardashian has neither admitted to nor denied the SEC’s allegations, but settled the charges and agreed to not promote any cryptocurrency assets until 2025. SEC chairman Gary Gensler tweeted the fine was a reminder that celebrity endorsement of investment opportunities doesn't “mean those …