Almost two-thirds of those taking Malta’s cryptocurrency agent certification have failed, despite examiners’ last-minute changes to ease the marking scheme, English-language daily Times of Malta reports Oct. 18. Since the Virtual Financial Assets Act (VFA) came into effect last November, the exam, as well as a training course, has been mandatory for all those looking to work as “agents” in the crypto sector. “Agents” here refers to practitioners such as lawyers, accountants, and auditors who may want to liaise between Initial Coin Offering (ICO) operators, or other cryptocurrency vendors, and the island’s watchdog, the Malta Financial Services Authority (MFSA). According …

China’s first Bitcoin (BTC) exchange BTCC, formerly known as BTC China, is set to launch trading services in South Korea, Korean business outlet The Investor reported yesterday, October 16. BTCC, which presently has headquarters in Hong Kong, will reportedly start beta services for trading in South Korea later this month and make its official debut in the market in November. According to the BTCC website, the Korean service — headed by Lee Jae-beom — will span a trading platform, wallet service, mining pool, and a service to enable consumer payments: “BTCC is establishing an on/offline payment system using cryptocurrency… [and …

Disclaimer: This article does not contain investment advice or recommendations. Every investment and trading move involves risk, you should conduct your own research when making a decision. The ICOmeter aims to provide the accurate and concise information about the development of the ICO market in the previous month, and its relation to the all-time statistics. The ICO market data is provided by ICObench, based upon the projects’ announcements recorded in ICObench database, which includes over 4600 ICOs since August 2015. In the last 12 months, the ICO market has shown a fluctuating trend, reaching two peaks, both for the number …

Former chairman of the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC), Gary Gensler said that most tokens sold through Initial Coin Offerings (ICOs) should be classified as securities, Bloomberg reported Oct. 15. Should cryptocurrencies be considered securities, they would fall under the regulatory purview of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). Issuers of coins would have to comply with certain laws, register with the SEC, and disclose specific information like a description of the organization’s properties or financial statements. When asked whether blockchain technology should be regulated, Gensler asserted that “we should be technology-neutral.” He continued, stressing the necessity to …

The team behind a new cryptocurrency platform designed to transfer the way consumers and businesses are paid, says it is putting its money where its mouth is – and has managed to launch without the need for an initial coin offering (ICO). BLOC argues that too many ICOs have been popping up in the crypto world – disappointing users by failing to offer real products at their conclusion. By contrast, the startup says its platform already boasts “an exclusive set of mining tools, world-first features, and an unrivaled ecosystem to connect buyers and sellers.” The upbeat company has a “strong …

Payment giants MasterCard and VISA will soon group cryptocurrency and Initial Coin Offering (ICO) jurisdictions in a new “high risk” category, financial trading news site Finance Magnates reported Friday, October 12. According to the Broker Complaint Registry, some details of the shortly upcoming classification by MasterCard had already become public in May of this year. The registry notes that binary options, CFDs, forex, cryptocurrency options, and ICOs will fall under a new category of “High-Risk Securities Merchants” starting on Oct. 12, 2018, and will be subject to additional monitoring. According to Finance Magnates, the grouping means that chargebacks could now …

Normally, there is very limited room for drawing legitimate comparisons between a Senate hearing and an Mixed Martial Arts (MMA) fight. Yet the hearing entitled “Exploring the Cryptocurrency and Blockchain Ecosystem,” which took place on October 11, 2018 on the US Senate’s Committee on Banking, Housing & Urban Affairs’ floor, definitely bore quite a few similarities to a hyped sporting event that had made big waves just a few days ago. Two witnesses who were brought to testify on issues and promises of crypto stood by polarising views on the subject matter, albeit they expressed these views with varying intensity. …

The chairman of Korea’s Financial Services Commission Choi Jong-koo has reaffirmed his negative position on digital currencies and Initial Coin Offerings (ICOs), Business Korea reported Oct. 11. Choi spoke at a parliamentary audit session of the commission held at the National Assembly. South Korea prohibited ICOs in September last year, stating that such a type of fundraising is “almost a gamble.” This August, Korean lawmakers, including participants from government ministries, returned to the cryptocurrency issue, focusing on repealing the country's ICO ban. Lawmakers agreed on the need to develop a related policy before carrying a resolution on ICO reallowance. At …

North Dakota Securities Commissioner Karen Tyler has issued cease and desist orders against three firms for allegedly offering unregistered and fraudulent securities in the form of Initial Coin Offerings (ICOs), according to an announcement published Oct. 11. The companies at the center of the orders are Crystal Token, Advertiza Holdings (Pty) Ltd., and Life Cross Coin a/k/a LifecrosscoinGmbH. Per the statement, Crystal Token (CYL) is an “evolutionary multi-utility” ERC-20 token, that promises earnings up to two percent per day. The token’s website allegedly contains fraudulent claims of “excessive unsubstantiated” rates of return on investment. CYL is not authorized to sell …

The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has expanded its crackdown on Initial Coin Offerings (ICOs), putting “hundreds” of projects at risk, according to a recent joint investigation by Yahoo Finance and Decrypt Media published, Oct. 10. The authors of the report stressed that hundreds of crypto and blockchain startups that conducted token sales have eventually found that they had violated securities laws despite their endeavors to comply with regulations. In response to SEC pressure, dozens of firms have reportedly “quietly agreed” to refund investors’ money and pay fines, rather than attempt to reach a legal compliance. According to Yahoo …

The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has halted a planned Initial Coin Offering (ICO) that falsely claimed have SEC approval, the agency reported in an official press release Thursday, Oct. 11. The SEC suspended the ICO project with an emergency court order, and also halted pre-ICO sales by the company Blockvest LLC, and its founder Reginald Buddy Ringgold III. The complaint by the SEC alleges that Blockvest falsely claimed that their ICO and affiliates had acquired approval from major financial regulators, including the SEC itself. Blockvest and Ringgold — who also goes by the name Rasool Abdul Rahim El …

South Korean government is “likely” to announce its official position on Initial Coin Offerings (ICOs) in November. A local business newspaper The Investor reported this on Thursday, Oct. 11, citing a “top official,” Hong Nam-ki. As per the chief of the office for Government Policy Coordination Hong Nam-ki, South Korean officials have already held several discussions on ICOs. As soon as the results are in, the government will finalize and reveal its official stance, he said. South Korea first banned ICOs back in September 2017, saying that the practice of raising funds via the issuance of cryptocurrency tokens was almost …