Earlier this week, Lithuania's tax service, the Lithuanian State Tax Inspectorate, added $7.6 million dollars to the state budget through the sale of cryptocurrencies seized in criminal investigations. The occasion marked the first time that the Lithuanian government liquidated confiscated cryptocurrencies. In doing so, the country joined the growing number of jurisdictions worldwide that have auctioned off or sold cryptos obtained by the long arm of the law. However, unlike the United States Federal Marshals, which netted $37 million at auction from confiscated crypto last February, the STI opted to sell the crypto through an exchange. According to Linas Rajackas, …

Pascal Saint-Amans, the director of the OECD’s Centre for Tax Policy and Administration, has asserted that the 37-nation organization will introduce a common reporting standard, or CRS, for crypto assets in 2021. According to Law360, Amans stated that the crypto tax standard “would be roughly equivalent to the CRS” developed by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development to combat tax evasion. The director attributed the likely development of the crypto tax CRS to a desire to introduce stronger standards surrounding crypto regulations among its member-countries: “The timeline to deliver is probably ’21, sometime in ’21, because there is an …

Mainstream interest for cryptocurrency is becoming ever-apparent as major online payment systems such as PayPal begin to offer support for digital currencies. While a revolutionary step for both the crypto and traditional finance spaces, meeting regulatory requirements is crucial in order for such companies to support cryptocurrencies. This year, PayPal secured the first conditional cryptocurrency license from the New York State Department of Financial Services, allowing for the purchase of Bitcoin (BTC), Ether (ETH), Bitcoin Cash (BCH) and Litecoin (LTC). On the surface, it would appear that PayPal has undergone the basic requirements to support digital currencies. However, what’s really …

Ukraine is ranked as the world’s leader in the Global Crypto Adoption Index 2020, according to a research published by Chainalysis earlier this fall. Despite this, cryptocurrencies still remain a gray area in the economy. Since 2014, Ukrainian authorities have been trying to implement crypto legislation that would transform the country into a competitive jurisdiction for running crypto-related businesses, but the efforts did not yield any results. Finally, just a few months ago, the Ukranian government presented a new bill on digital assets to legitimize the sector — and this time, the attempt may well be successful. The fintech strategy …

There are hundreds of crypto exchanges in existence — but often, they all offer the exact same products. All of this can be nothing short of frustrating for traders as their needs don’t end up being met. But now, one platform is shaking things up by becoming one of the few exchanges worldwide to offer a margin trading terminal. WhiteBIT also says its top priority is catering to underserved markets in the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) and Europe. WhiteBIT’s terminal is initially offering up to 5x leverage, meaning traders can borrow funds and potentially amplify returns if their strategies …

In a Twitter thread on Sunday, Christine Lagarde, former Managing Director of the IMF and current President of the European Central Bank, invited public commentary on a potential eurozone central bank digital currency (CBDC). “We are still in the review and considerations stage, but we’ve just launched a public consultation so that consumers and Europeans can actually express their preference and tell us whether they would be happy to use a digital Euro just in the way they use a Euro coin or a Euro banknote knowing that it is central bank money that is available and that they can …

From what started as something of a “technological experiment” with Bitcoin (BTC) over a decade ago, the crypto asset industry has become a significant driver for change in global financial markets. Cryptocurrency exchanges started as a means to enable crypto enthusiasts to trade digital coins outside the traditional financial system on a decentralized and largely autonomous basis. It is likely that combined with regulatory recognition and development of digital market infrastructures, acceptance of essential Anti-Money Laundering practices, investment in security protection systems, and recognition of investor protection measures will see these businesses continue to expand and potentially merge or compete …

Ethereum software firm ConsenSys has just sealed its sixth central bank digital currency project. On Oct. 28, the blockchain organization announced that it will be collaborating with Société Générale Forge on experiments for a digital euro. Société Générale Forge is the digital capital markets platform of major financial services group, Société Générale Group. SG Forge was involved in the issuance of a 100 million euro bond as a security token on the Ethereum blockchain back in spring 2019. It specializes in building institutional-grade models for regulated security token operations registered on the blockchain. Alongside Accenture, Euroclear, HSBC and others, SG …

To gain a deeper understanding of how professional investors feel about digital assets, Cointelegraph Consulting has published a 70+ page research report written by eight authors and supported by SIX Digital Exchange, BlockFi, Bitmain, Blocksize Capital, and Nexo. The Discovering Institutional Demand for Digital Assets report highlights which coins wealthy investors already own and which ones they plan to buy in the coming months. The report also covers the most popular regulated funds and structured products that are designed for investors from the traditional finance realm. The total assets under management of the 55 portfolio allocators that participated in the …

Crypto broker Voyager has teamed up with LGO, a European digital asset exchange focused on institutions. "LGO and Voyager will merge their services and offering under the Voyager brand, to offer a premium experience to retail cryptocurrency investors, in the US and in Europe," LGO CEO Hugo Renaudin told Cointelegraph. "European clients will be able to access the Voyager app using the LGO regulatory setup in Europe, and both LGO and VGX tokens will be merged into a new token." As a crypto broker, Voyager facilitates trades for customers through its platform. Using a single exchange, such as Coinbase, means …

In cryptoland, the fall tends to be regulators’ open season. As unprecedented as it’s been, 2020 is no exception to this trend. Tensions are high on both sides of the Atlantic: As markets were still processing the news of the United States Commodity Futures Trading Commission cracking down on derivatives exchange platform BitMEX, the Financial Conduct Authority, the British financial watchdog, moved to ban retail investors from using cryptocurrency derivatives altogether. The densely packed news cycle has somewhat muffled the impact of another regulatory bomb that dropped a week earlier and is bound to have major lasting effects on the …

The Algorand Foundation, the governance and research organization behind major blockchain platform Algorand, is launching a new accelerator program in Europe. Known as “Algorand Europe Accelerator,” the new program intends to support European developers and entrepreneurs looking to build applications on the Algorand platform. Announcing the news on Oct. 15, the Algorand Foundation told Cointelegraph that the new program will launch in collaboration with established Algorand’s investors, Eterna Capital and Borderless Capital. As part of the program, Borderless Capital will distribute $15,000 in upfront seed funding to ten selected projects. Successful initiatives will be eligible for up to $500,000 in …