Regulation

The Inflation Reduction Act, signed into law this month by President Joe Biden, empowers the IRS with nearly $80 billion in new funds. The world’s most powerful tax collection agency is using the money to go on a hiring spree to fuel much tougher enforcement efforts. It is widely assumed that the audits will be

The Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) has issued cease and desist letters to five companies for allegedly making false representations about deposit insurance related to cryptocurrencies. FDIC issued a Friday press release disclosing cease and desist letters for cryptocurrency exchange FTX US and websites SmartAssets, FDICCrypto, Cryptonews and Cryptosec. In the letters, which were issued

FTX has reportedly begun blocking accounts that have sent coins through zk.money, a private layer-2 chain provided by the Aztec Network on Ethereum. According to Twitter users, FTX has identified the DApp as a mixer — a service it deems a “high-risk activity” prohibited by the exchange. Reports of blocked transactions on FTX began appearing

Many see implementing Know Your Customer (KYC) tools in crypto as a deterrent to the Bitcoin (BTC) Standard, which has predominantly promoted anonymized peer-to-peer transactions. However, regulators stay put on promoting KYC and anti-money laundering (AML) implementations as a means to ensure investors’ safety and protection against financial fraud.  While most crypto exchanges have begun

The CEO of crypto exchange Binance, Changpeng ‘CZ’ Zhao, raised concern for traders after learning about the infamous phenomenon of trade jitters on other crypto exchanges.  Jitters in crypto trading relate to a trade event wherein an investor’s buy or sell order gets stuck and moves down in the list, allowing newer trade orders to

Scott Beck, chief executive officer of United Texas Bank, called on members of the state’s blockchain working group to recommend policy for leaving stablecoins to banks rather than crypto firms. Speaking before the Texas Work Group on Blockchain Matters in Austin on Friday, Beck suggested limiting the issuance of U.S. dollar-backed stablecoins to licensed banks

After recovering the HUSD stablecoin’s dollar peg, crypto exchange Huobi explained what had caused the short-term liquidity problem and assured users that it had been resolved.  On Thursday, HUSD started to fall from its dollar value, trading at $0.92 at the start of the day and falling as low as $0.82 a few hours later.

Cryptocurrency lending firm Hodlnaut has cut most of its workforce and has applied to be placed under judicial management due to bleak financial circumstances. Hodlnaut, which offers interest-bearing cryptocurrency investment options in vetted institutions, confirmed the dire state of affairs on Aug. 19. The company’s poor financial position has been put down to losses suffered

Four members of the United States House of Representatives from the Energy and Commerce Committee have demanded answers from four major crypto mining firms in regards to the potential effects of their energy consumption on the environment. In letters dated Wednesday to Core Scientific, Marathon Digital Holdings, Riot Blockchain, and Stronghold Digital Mining, U.S. lawmakers

The Prudential Authority of the Reserve Bank of South Africa sent out guidelines to its subsidiaries in an effort to prevent illicit activities, encouraging banks not to cut all ties with cryptocurrency.  It suggested that such an act could cause greater risk in the long run. The official notice was signed by Prudential Authority CEO

While some think the Tornado Cash ban may negatively impact other projects focusing on privacy, others believe that these projects will keep pushing forward and keeping their commitments to anti-censorship and decentralization.  In an interview with Cointelegraph, Ahmed Ghappour, the general counsel at the privacy-focused project Nym Technologies, shared insights on the importance of privacy

Pennsylvania Senator Pat Toomey, ranking member of the United States Senate Banking Committee, has sent a letter to Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) director and acting chairman Martin Gruenberg informing him of allegations made by a whistleblower concerning FDIC activities. The senator suspects the FDIC “may be improperly taking action to deter banks from doing

Fewer people have fallen victim to cryptocurrency scams in 2022 so far due to falling asset prices and the exit of inexperienced crypto users from the market, a new crypto crime report reveals.  According to a Tuesday report by Chainalysis, total crypto scam revenue year-to-date is currently sitting at $1.6 billion, equating to a 65%

There are mounting concerns that recent United States government sanctions against Tornado Cash will become a “slippery slope” for Web3 privacy that could eventually make the entire space “meaningless.” Speaking to Cointelegraph, Shumo Chu, co-founder of privacy protocol Manta Network expressed worry that the strict sanctions against Tornado Cash could have a knock-on effect on

The Central District of California federal court entered an order Monday to authorize the United States Internal Revenue Service (IRS) to serve a John Doe summons on SFOX, a Los Angeles-based cryptocurrency prime dealer. The IRS filed suit to receive the order, which directs SFOX to reveal the identities of customers who are U.S. taxpayers

Crypto exchange Huobi Global announced the suspension of derivatives trading in New Zealand. The statement from Huobi said the new restrictions against derivative offers are in light of compliance with local regulations.  Users in New Zealand will no longer have access to derivative trading services, which include coin-margined futures and swaps, USDT-margined contracts, options and

South Korean banks are being investigated for their role in facilitating $6.5 billion in suspicious overseas remittances which have been tied to companies arbitraging cryptocurrency.  According to an Aug. 15 report from Asia Times, the Financial Supervisory Service (FSS) ordered an investigation into South Korean banks last month after identifying a significant amount of overseas

United States-based crypto policy advocacy group Coin Center said it intended to “pursue administrative relief” for individuals affected by Tornado Cash sanctions imposed by the Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Asset Control, or OFAC. In a Monday blog post, Coin Center executive director Jerry Brito and director of research Peter Van Valkenburgh alleged OFAC “overstepped

After more than a year of efforts to acquire the digital asset custodian BitGo, Mike Novogratz’s cryptocurrency investment firm Galaxy Digital has decided to drop the acquisition. Galaxy has terminated the BitGo acquisition, citing a breach of contract, the firm officially announced on Monday. According to the statement, Galaxy exercised its right to terminate the

There’s a ferment brewing with regard to central bank digital currencies (CBDCs), and most people really don’t know what to expect. Varied effects seem to be bubbling up in different parts of the world.  Consider this: China’s e-CNY, or digital yuan, has already been used by 200 million-plus of its citizens, and a full rollout