Regulation

Japan plans to amend its Foreign Exchange and Foreign Trade Act to bring crypto exchanges under the purview of laws that govern banks, a government official revealed on Monday. The proposed amendment is being carried out to prevent sanctioned countries from taking evasive actions using digital assets. Chief Cabinet Secretary Hirokazu Matsuno in a press

Russian Deputy Minister of Energy Evgeny Grabchak proposed eliminating the legal vacuum around crypto mining in the country and introducing clear regulation. This statement continues the recent streak of support for the crypto industry among the officials.  Speaking at the first national conference of legal crypto miners in Irkutsk on Saturday, Grabchak called for introducing

The Electronic Currency and Secure Hardware Act (ECASH Act), introduced today in the United States House of Representatives, could herald a new direction in government-sponsored digital currencies. The legislation calls for the U.S. Secretary of the Treasury to develop and pilot an electronic version of the U.S. dollar that is easy to use for the

Recent weeks saw a massive surge of the so-called privacy coins’ prices — namely Monero (XMR), Dash (DASH), Zcash (ZEC) and Haven Protocol (XHV). As many other cryptocurrencies and the industry at large faced immense regulatory pressure amid the war in Ukraine, one narrative that began taking hold in the crypto space was the potential

Janet Yellen, the 78th United States Secretary of the Treasury, spoke Friday morning on CNBC’s flagship business and politics show Squawk Box, on an array of topics from the growth of the renewable energy sector amid Russia’s economic isolation, the rising levels of inflation and Federal Reserve responsibility, as well as her current perspective on

Last month, cultural critic Alison P. Davis published an article in The Cut titled “A Vibe Shift is Coming. Will Any of Us Survive It?” The “vibe shift” Davis was referring to had nothing to do with crypto. She was referring to a sea change in pop culture and social trends, particularly in view of

Gold has served as a store of value for thousands of years. Due to this, investors have widely used it as a hedging tool against the effects of recessions and inflation often caused by geopolitical tensions. In light of recent events such as the COVID-19 pandemic and, more recently, the military crisis between Russia and

A tax framework on cryptocurrencies introduced by India’s Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman will become law in the country after being passed as an amendment to the Finance Bill. On Friday, India’s lower house of parliament, the Lok Sabha, passed the 2022 Finance Bill, which included 39 amendments proposed by Sitharaman. The amendment on crypto established

Leumi Bank, one of the largest lenders in Israel, reportedly started to accept Bitcoin (BTC) and Ether (ETH) trading. According to a Thursday report by Reuters, Pepper Invest, Leumi’s digital platform, partnered with blockchain infrastructure provider Paxos to launch crypto trading. Pepper Invest clients can now buy, sell and hold cryptocurrencies using the new service. The

The Bank of England Financial Policy Committee and other U.K. regulators are assessing crypto regulation after publishing reports on financial stability relating to cryptoassets and decentralized finance. The BoE report was released on Thursday, and the Financial Conduct Authority, or FCA, along with the Bank’s Prudential Regulation Authority, or PRA, also released documents simultaneously that

Ether (ETH) bulls have a few good reasons to celebrate the 20% gain between March 14 and March 24. The price increase surprised many and led to the first daily close above $3,000 in 34 days.  Even with this move, Friday’s $2.4 billion Ether options expiry is somewhat uncertain because bears can easily profit by

In an effort to embrace virtual money, the city of Portsmouth, New Hampshire, will allow residents to pay their bills in Bitcoin (BTC) and other cryptocurrencies. Deaglan McEachern, the city’s mayor, proposed the idea to city officials, who feel it will provide residents with more payment choices. As per a local news report from Seacoastonline on

The richest country in Europe is coming round to crypto. That’s according to a report by KuCoin which shared some flattering statistics towards the future of crypto in Deutschland.  Notably, 44% of Germans are “motivated to invest in cryptocurrencies to be a part of ‘the future of finance’”; while over a third, “37% of German

In his monthly crypto tech column, Israeli serial entrepreneur Ariel Shapira covers emerging technologies within the crypto, decentralized finance and blockchain space, as well as their roles in shaping the economy of the 21st century. The White House came out with an executive order on regulating crypto recently. Across the sea, European legislators defeated a

In an ongoing effort to carve out a regulated crypto market for the general public, the Thailand Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) announced a ban on the use of cryptocurrencies for payments. Parallelly, the Commission proposed a new rule that demands disclosure of service quality and IT usage information from crypto businesses including brokers, exchanges

The Central Bank of Ireland issued a warning to consumers about the risks around crypto investments in addition to “misleading” advertisements, including those pushed by influencers on social media. In a Tuesday notice, Ireland’s central bank said the warning was part of a campaign organized by the European Supervisory Authorities, made up of the European

Abu Dhabi Global Market (ADGM), the emirate’s free zone, published a consultation paper on March 21 titled “Proposals for enhancements to capital markets and virtual assets in ADGM.” The document contains draft guidelines that, among other asset classes, cover nonfungible token (NFT) trading. The paper proposes that companies with a license from the free zone’s

Cryptocurrency exchange Gemini has received an electronic money license from the Central Bank of Ireland. It was the 18th organization to receive the license, and the first since October 2020. Gemini joined such license holders as Coinbase, Stripe, Square and Meta.  The e-money license, which Gemini applied for in early 2020 and received March 14,

The United States Securities and Exchange Commission has extended its window to approve or disapprove spot Bitcoin (BTC) exchange-traded fund (ETF) applications from asset managers WisdomTree and One River. According to separate Friday filings, the SEC will push the deadline for approving or disapproving a rule change allowing shares of the WisdomTree Bitcoin Trust and One

China’s leading social media platforms and internet giants have updated their policy to restrict or remove nonfungible token (NFT) platforms, citing a lack of regulatory clarity and fearing government crackdown. Chinese social media giant WeChat reportedly removed several digital collectible platform accounts for violations of the rules. Digital collection platform Xihu No.1, one of the