Regulation

Our weekly roundup of news from East Asia curates the industry’s most important developments. Largest money laundering scandal in Australia unravels Changjiang Currency Exchange, a money transmitter business based in Australia, has beenbustedin a $145 million ($230 million Aussie dollar) money laundering scandal. On October 26 a 300-strong police operation spanning Melbourne, Sydney, Brisbane, Adelaide,

Attorneys representing the United States Justice Department rested their case against Sam “SBF” Bankman-Fried after more than three weeks of expert witnesses and testimonies from former FTX and Alameda employees.  According to reports from the courtroom on Oct. 26, the U.S. government’s last witness before resting was FBI agent Mark Troiano, who primarily testified on

Pro-Ripple lawyer John Deaton said he expects a lengthy legal process in the United States Securities Exchange Commission (SEC) vs. Ripple case — possibly lasting a year. Deaton suggested that a settlement may only be considered if Coinbase’s motion to dismiss the SEC’s case against it is successful.  In a detailed post on X (formerly known as Twitter), Deaton

GTA and CoD veterans’ new studio collabs with Immutable Web3 gaming ecosystem Immutable is helping Random Games join the blockchain gaming world. The studio was founded by veteran developers and storytellers from famous franchises including Grand Theft Auto, Call of Duty, Fortnite, Batman, Star Trek, The Walking Dead, Star Wars and South Park. The collaboration

Former FTX CEO Sam “SBF” Bankman-Fried will testify as part of his defense case, said his attorney Mark Cohen. In an Oct. 25 telephone conference between SBF’s lawyers, prosecutors, and Judge Lewis Kaplan, Cohen said following the prosecution completing the presentation of its case on Oct. 26, his team planned to call three witnesses as

The Securities and Exchange Commission overstepped its authority when it classified Coinbase-listed cryptocurrencies as securities, the exchange has argued in its final bid to dismiss a lawsuit by the securities regulator. In an Oct. 24 filing in a New York District Court, Coinbase chastised the SEC claiming its definition for what qualifies as a security

Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren is at it again. With mainstream press outlets including Germany’s Deutsche Welle running sensationalist headlines — “How cryptocurrency fueled Hamas’ terrorist attack” — Warren is using Hamas’ attack on Israel to fuel her own war on cryptocurrency. Crypto’s role in the conflict came into focus on Oct. 10, when Israeli police

Lawyers representing Binance and CEO Changpeng “CZ” Zhao have filed statements in support of a motion to dismiss a lawsuit filed by the United States Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) in March. In an Oct. 23 filing in U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois, CZ’s and Binance’s attorneys made several legal claims

The United States government may be losing regulatory oversight of the stablecoin market, according to a new report by blockchain research firm Chainalysis. Stablecoin activity has been increasingly occurring through entities that aren’t licensed in the United States, Chainalysis stated in its latest North America cryptocurrency report released on Oct. 23. According to Chainalysis’ findings,

Adelle Nazarian is the top staffer at the American Blockchain PAC, where she serves as its CEO. But she has a long story to tell about her life prior to her time in the crypto industry — from her Persian roots to her career in journalism. Nazarian, who worked as a freelance journalist after serving

California legislators have proposed a new bill titled “Digital financial asset transaction kiosks,” calling for a cap on crypto ATM withdrawals of $1,000 per day in light of growing scams. Additionally, starting in 2025, the law would limit operators’ fees to $5 or 15% (whichever is higher). The bill, if approved, would come into effect on

The market for FTX creditor claims has been heating up, with some claims now reportedly selling for more than 50 cents on the dollar, according to Thomas Braziel, partner at 117 Partners — a firm specializing in crypto bankruptcy claims.  Braziel told Cointelegraph that a claim worth more than $20 million recently sold for between

Tether Holdings, the issuer of the world’s largest stablecoin by market capitalization, Tether (USDT), is reportedly preparing to update the frequency of releasing its reserve data reports. Paolo Ardoino, Tether’s chief technology officer and incoming CEO, disclosed that the firm plans to publish reserve data in real-time in 2024, Bloomberg reported on Oct. 20. Tether

The Securities and Futures Commission (SFC) of Hong Kong announced it will update its policies on virtual currency sales and requirements “in light of the latest market developments and enquiries from the industry”. In an Oct. 20 notice, the SFC said under the updated guidelines, certain virtual currency products will only be available to professional

Cryptocurrency advocacy group DeFi Education Fund (DEF) has urged a United States court to consider the unique aspects of blockchain technology when evaluating the privacy rights of cryptocurrency users under the Fourth Amendment. DEF filed an amicus brief to the U.S. Court of Appeals (First Circuit) on Oct. 20, supporting James Harper’s appeal against the

The United States Treasury Department’s Financial Crimes Enforcement Network, or FinCEN, issued an alert for financial institutions as part of efforts to identify “suspicious activity” related to funding terrorist groups. In an Oct. 20 notice, FinCEN said that the militant group Hamas — behind the Oct. 7 attack on Israel — employed “fundraising campaigns involving

Greek Prime Minister Kryiakos Mitsotakis announced the establishment of an advisory committee to create a national strategy for artificial intelligence (AI) in Greece on Oct. 19. The Greek government said the “exponential pace” of AI development has created the necessity for an advisory committee under the country’s prime minister. The object of the committee is

Crypto-friendly Republican Congressman Tom Emmer is pursuing a nomination to become House speaker, with the 62-year-old receiving endorsement from multiple lawmakers. Congressman Patrick McHenry continues to oversee the position on an interim basis, following a first round of voting on Oct. 17 in which the Republican Party’s nominee for Speaker, Jim Jordan, failed to secure

The Singapore High Court has allowed financial investigation firm Intelligent Sanctuary (iSanctuary) to attach nonfungible tokens (NFTs) containing a legal document to cold wallets associated with a hack, according to United Kingdom-based iSanctuary and local press accounts. A court-issued worldwide freeze order was tokenized as soulbound NFTs and attached to the wallets in question. The

A self-proclaimed jack of all trades and master of none, OSF has become a prolific figure in the nonfungible token world in just over two years, trading his former life at Barclay’s to focus full-time on Web3, his digital art pursuits, his PFP project Rekt Guy and living the life of a degen collector.  The