Regulation

A number of United States’ lawmakers have urged the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) and the Treasury to speed up the closure of tax loopholes being exploited by “crypto tax evaders.” In an Aug. 1 letter, Democratic Senators Elizabeth Warren, Bernie Sanders, Bob Casey and Richard Blumenthal warned the top officials of both agencies that they

The United States Department of Justice is reportedly considering charging cryptocurrency exchange Binance with fraud, but hesitating based on costs to consumers. According to an Aug. 2 Semafor report citing people familiar with the matter, Justice Department officials are concerned about an indictment against Binance causing a run on the exchange similar to what happened

Binance has reportedly continued operations in China, despite the country’s ban on cryptocurrencies, even conducting billions of dollars worth of transactions monthly, according to a Wall Street Journal investigation.  The WSJ report says its reporters, along with current and former employees of Binance, viewed “internal figures” that revealed users traded $90 billion in cryptocurrency-related assets

Lawyers for Sam Bankman-Fried have denied that he attempted to intimidate witnesses in his criminal trial by talking to New York Times reporters and argued there is no reason to jail him. In an Aug. 1 letter to Judge Lewis Kaplan, Bankman-Fried’s lawyers claimed the prosecution’s attempt to revoke his bail and have him detained

Kyle Davies, the co-founder of bankrupt crypto hedge fund Three Arrows Capital (3AC), has submitted documentation to court claiming he is fully a citizen of Singapore and not the United States. In an Aug. 1 filing with U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of New York, Davies provided notarized and Apostilled copies of the

The Securities and Exchange Commission of Nigeria (SEC) issued a warning for local investors against using one of the world’s largest crypto exchanges, Binance. It refers to the previous circular, issued against the fraudulent company, which had been illegally using Binance brand.  On July 28, the SEC issued a warning against investing with Binance. The

United States crypto investors must report crypto staking rewards as gross income in the year it was received, according to a new ruling from the country’s top tax authority. On July 31, the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) issued Revenue Ruling 2023-14, giving clarification about how income earned from staking digital assets should be treated for taxation

Last week, the United States took a step closer to regulatory clarity for its crypto industry. In a 35–15 vote, the House Financial Services Committee (FSC) approved the Financial Innovation and Technology for the 21st Century Act. The bill is intended to establish rules for crypto firms on when to register with either the Commodity

Major cryptocurrency exchange Binance has reached another milestone in relationships with regulators in the United Arab Emirates by winning a new license in Dubai. Binance’s Dubai-based subsidiary, Binance FZE, has obtained the Operational Minimum Viable Product (MVP) license from Dubai’s Virtual Asset Regulatory Authority (VARA), the firm announced on July 31. The new license officially

United States Representatives Gus Bilirakis and Jan Schakowsky penned a formal letter to Apple CEO Tim Cook about concerns related to the California-based company’s App Store, and the potential effect of its guidelines on emerging technologies like blockchain and nonfungible tokens (NFTs). The letter requests information about whether the App Store’s guidelines might inadvertently hinder

In a letter to Judge Lewis Kaplan, the United States Department of Justice (DOJ) sought the revocation of Sam Bankman-Fried’s (SBF) bail, accusing him of attempting to tamper with witnesses, including leaking his ex-girlfriend’s diary entries to the New York Times (NYT). These actions, connected to the FTX case, have raised concerns about witness interference.

Pro-XRP lawyer, John E. Deaton, has said that the actions taken by the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) against the crypto industry are driven by a broader motive to safeguard corporate capitalism rather than prioritizing the protection of investors. Deaton highlighted what he views as an assault on cryptocurrencies, particularly in relation to the SEC’s

The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) suffered another setback on July 28 as the D.C. Circuit overturned a ruling by the regulator ordering that SPIKES Index securities should be treated as ‘futures’ rather than as ‘securities futures’. The judge panel called the SEC order “arbitrary and capricious.” The decision relates to an order from

An open letter from GitHub, Hugging Face, Creative Commons and other tech firms are calling the European Union to ease upcoming rules for open-source artificial intelligence models. The letter urges policymakers to review some of the provisions of the EU’s Artificial Intelligence Act, claiming that regulating upstream open-source projects as if they are commercial products

The German Federal Financial Supervisory Authority, or BaFin, reportedly advised crypto exchange Binance to withdraw its licensing application based on concerns with CEO Changpeng Zhao and the firm’s structuring. According to a July 28 report from The Wall Street Journal, BaFin advised Binance that Zhao, also known as “CZ,” may not have passed a “fit

Hester Pierce, commissioner of the United States Securities and Exchange (SEC), has raised concerns about the watchdog’s recent statement advising accounting firms against taking on non-audit work for crypto firms. In a July 28 tweet, Pierce challenged the recent statement made by the SEC’s chief accountant Paul Munter, proposing that accounting firms adopt an all-or-nothing approach

Lawyers representing former FTX CEO Sam Bankman-Fried, also known as ‘SBF’, have requested the court seal documents related to his interviews with a New York Times reporter revealing details about his relationship with Caroline Ellison.  In a July 27 filing in United States District Court for the Southern District of New York, Bankman-Fried’s legal team

Crypto.com is the latest cryptocurrency firm to receive a green light from the Netherlands Central Bank to offer its services in the country. The platform announced that it had registered as a cryptocurrency service provider with De Nederlandsche Bank (DNB), following a comprehensive review of Crypto.com’s business and compliance with the country’s AML and terror financing

Paul Munter, chief accountant of the United States Securities Exchange Commission (SEC), has released a statement warning accounting firms of their obligations to the agency when working with crypto firms. Allowing their finding to be misrepresented could have serious consequences, he said.    Crypto firms may engage accountants to “perform some sort of review of

Tact was pervasive in the United States House of Representatives Agricultural Committee’s consideration of the Financial Innovation and Technology for the 21st Century Act on July 27. With many references to bipartisanship and self-congratulatory mentions of the members’ cooperation and hard work, the committee plowed through a series of amendments calmly and quickly.  The bill,