As Russia’s self-styled “special operation” against Ukraine continues, crippling economic sanctions remain the Western powers’ primary weapon to counter Russia’s military actions without triggering an even more dramatic escalation. As NATO and allies’ financial offensive unfolds, ensuring that the collective West presents a united front remains political leaders’ chief concern. The global crypto industry keeps getting suspicious looks as some agents of state power are seemingly entrenched in their beliefs that digital assets could be the weak spot undermining the efficiency of the sanctions push. Despite ample evidence to the contrary — including the FBI director’s Congress testimony — there …

It has been two weeks since Russia kicked off the first large-scale military action in Europe in the 21st century — a so-called “special operation” in Ukraine. The military conflict immediately triggered devastating sanctions against the Russian economy from the United States, the European Union and their allies and has put the crypto industry in a position that is both highly vulnerable and demanding. As the world watches closely, the crypto space must prove its own standing as a mature and financially and politically responsible community, and it must defy the allegations of being a safe haven for war criminals, …

Lobbying by the cryptocurrency industry and crypto proponents is booming in the U.S. Congress. According to a report released Tuesday by Public Citizen, the number of lobbyists for cryptocurrency-related issues rose from 115 in 2018 to 320 in 2021, with the number of representatives of the cryptocurrency industry itself jumping from 47 to 157 in that time. In February, that chorus was joined by the somewhat unorthodox Lobby3, “a project to fund effective policy advocacy and educate lawmakers about the positive potential of Web3” that is the brainchild of former U.S. presidential and New York City mayoral candidate Andrew Yang. …

Later today, U.S. president Joe Biden will sign a long-anticipated executive order on digital assets. Despite fears that the order may resound a regulatory clampdown on the industry, the language of the document is fairly favorable, the key focus being coordination and consolidation of various agencies’ efforts within a unified national policy. The order designates six key areas of the federal government’s involvement with the digital asset ecosystem — consumer and investor protection, financial stability, financial inclusion, responsible innovation, United States’ global financial leadership, and combatting illicit financial activity — and directs specific agencies to lead in designated policy and …

Democratic Senator Elizabeth Warren is preparing a bill to crack down on the use of crypto as a way to avoid economic sanctions. Warren’s latest anti-crypto move comes alongside a push from the U.S. government to stamp out the possibility of Russia using crypto to skirt a host of economic sanctions placed on the nation. According to a March. 8 report from NBC News, one of the provisions of Warren’s new crypto bill — which is still in draft form — will require local crypto exchanges to submit “detailed records” to the Treasury Department of customers' identities and transfers to …

A war rages on Europe’s eastern rim, having already left thousands of people dead and injured and millions more displaced. Digital assets have become so woven into the global financial system that a major political and economic crisis like the one unfolding right now has crypto inevitably involved on all levels: individual, institutional and national. From Russian nationals turning their burning passports into nonfungible tokens (NFTs) to refugees using crypto as a last financial resort, millions of dollars worth of crypto donations flowing to Ukraine, and both digital asset platforms and the United States government weighing crypto sanctions against Russia, …

Interaction between the cryptocurrency industry and Capitol Hill is becoming ever more intensive as efforts to regulate crypto grow in tandem with its popularity. The surge in crypto industry lobbying last year was given some concrete parameters in February by crypto analytics startup Crypto Head. It released a report showing that the crypto companies that spent the most money on lobbying in 2021 were Robinhood, Ripple Labs, Coinbase and the Blockchain Association. These organizations were the lobbying leaders during the past five years as well, although with different rankings. Here is what the United States crypto-lobbying landscape looks like today. …

U.S.-based NFT marketplace OpenSea has reportedly begun barring Iranian users from its platform, sparking outrage from NFT collectors and raising fresh debate about decentralization in the crypto space. On Thursday morning, Iranian OpenSea users started posting on Twitter that their accounts were being deactivated or deleted with no prior warning. Iranian NFT artist “Bornosor” vented frustrations to their 4,700 followers, in a tweet that quickly gained traction, garnering 342 retweets and over a thousand likes within a few hours. Bornosor stated, “NOT A gm AT ALL. Woke up to my @opensea trading account being deactivated/deleted without notice or any explanation.” …

On Feb. 17, United States Deputy Attorney General Lisa Monaco announced at the Munich Cyber Security Conference the formation of the new task force “dedicated to cryptocurrency” within the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI). Coming four months after the launch of the Justice Department’s National Cryptocurrency Enforcement Team (NCET), this marks another major step in the U.S. government’s crusade against criminal abuse of cryptocurrencies. What the task force will look like The name of the new task force that Monaco revealed is the Virtual Asset Exploitation Unit (VAXU). It will bring together the personnel from the various units of the …

As public understanding of how digital assets work becomes more nuanced along with the mainstreaming of crypto, the language of Bitcoin’s (BTC) “anonymity” gradually becomes a thing of the past. High-profile law enforcement operations such as the one that recently led to the U.S. government seizing some $3.6 billion worth of crypto are particularly instrumental in driving home the idea that assets whose transaction history is recorded on an open, distributed ledger are better described as “pseudonymous,” and that such a design is not particularly favorable for those wishing to get away with stolen funds. No matter how hard criminals …

Republican Senator Ted Cruz during his Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) speech on Friday advocated for Bitcoin (BTC) again while lauding its decentralization. Cruz said he is very bullish on Bitcoin because it is highly decentralized and cannot be controlled by any government or entity. He went on to cite the example of an ongoing issue in Canada, where the government enforced emergency laws as a retaliation to the Freedom Convoy trucker’s protest against COVID-19 mandates. The Canadian government asked financial institutions and banks to freeze accounts of protesters followed by an order to crypto exchanges and crypto wallet service …

Findings from an online survey of 1,500 United States-based consumers reveal people’s deep concerns over privacy and tech platforms’ outsize power while suggesting that Web3 is yet to become a household term. The study was fielded by global insights and strategy firm National Research Group (NRG) in January 2022. 54% of respondents said they were worried about their rights and freedoms are being threatened by technology, with 44% citing online privacy concerns, 38% being unhappy about online ads, and 35% reporting feeling a lack of control over their data. Almost half believe that tech companies have accrued too much power …