Regulation

On Tuesday (July 27), crypto exchange Binance announced a number of steps it is taking to improve the company’s regulatory compliance. It should be noted that this is just the start and that Binance plans to do even more in the future to make financial regulators around the world happy. Here are the measures that […]

Jeremy Hogan, a partner at the American law firm Hogan & Hogan, says a recent public statement by two “brave” members of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) could help Ripple win the lawsuit filed against them by the SEC in December 2020. On 22 December 2020, the SEC announced that it had “filed an action […]

On Wednesday (July 7), Timothy Massad, who served as the Chairman of the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) under President Obma, said that granting conditional approval to a Bitcoin exchange-traded fund (ETF) would help both investors and the crypto industry. Here is what Massad wrote in an op-ed piece (published yesterday) for Bloomberg about the […]

On Tuesday (June 29), Matt Hougan, CIO at Bitwise Asset Management, the world’s largest crypto index fund manager, talked about the present and the future of the crypto markets. His comments about crypto were made during an interview on “Bloomberg Technology“, a daily news program on Bloomberg Television hosted by Emily Chang. Below are a […]

On Friday (June 25), Paraguayan congressman Carlos Rejala, who on June 17 got the crypto community excited when he tweeted about upcoming Bitcoin-related legislation, now says that he was not talking about making Bitcoin legal tender in his country. According to a report by Reuters, El Salvador President Nayib Bukele announced during a national address on Thursday (June 24) […]

On Thursday (June 24), FinTech group Mode Global Holdings (“Mode”) announced that it had become the only company listed in the London Stock Exchange (LSE) to receive from the UK’s financial regulator an Electronic Money Institution (EMI) licence and an AMLD5 registration. This article explains why this is important for both Mode and its customers. […]

According to a report by Reuters, El Salvador President Nayib Bukele announced during a national address on Thursday (June 24) that the bill to make Bitcoin legal tender will become effective on September 7. As you may remember, the “Bitcoin Law” got passed by the Legislative Assembly on June 9. Here are a few highlights from President […]

On Tuesday (June 22), the day that the Bitcoin price briefly fell below the psychologically-important $30K level, billionaire investor Mike Novogratz explained why his long-term bullishness on Bitcoin is justified. Former hedge fund manager Novogratz is the Founder and CEO of Galaxy Digital, “a diversified financial services and investment management innovator in the digital asset, cryptocurrency, and […]

On Tuesday (June 22), Jan F. van Eck, the President and CEO of global investment manager Van Eck Associates Corporation (“VanEck” for short), explained why it is important for the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) to “approve a Bitcoin ETF.” His comments came just six days after the SEC delayed for the second time […]

On Friday (June 18), Copenhagen-headquartered Danske Bank A/S published an article to clarify its position on “trading and investing in cryptocurrencies”. The bank started this article by acknowledging the value in blockchain technology and cryptocurrencies: “Cryptocurrencies represent a significant digital innovation in financial services and we recognise that there is a significant global market for crypto […]

According to a report by Reuters, the World Bank says it cannot help El Salvador with the implementation of Bitcoin as legal tender. On June 9, the proposed bill to make Bitcoin legal tender in the small Central American nation got passed by the Legislative Assembly (with 62 out 84 voting in favor of it). […]

Last week, Dr. Pieter Hasekamp, the Director of the CPB Netherlands Bureau for Economic Policy Analysis (“CPB” for short) called for a complete ban on crypto; however, finance minister Wopke Hoekstra does not agree. Here is a little information about the CPB and its goals: “Literally translated, CPB stands for ‘Central Planning Bureau’. This has […]

During a speech on Tuesday (June 8), Dan M. Berkovitz, one of the five commissioners of the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC), shared his concerns about Decentralized Finance (DeFi). The CFTC is “an independent agency of the US government created in 1974, that regulates the U.S. derivatives markets, which includes futures, swaps, and certain kinds of […]

On Monday (June 7), former U.S. President Donald Trump called Bitcoin a “currency” during an interview with Stuart Varney on Fox Business show “Varney & Co.“. Near the end of the interview, this is what Trump had to say about investing in the stock market and in Bitcoin: “I have not invested in the stock […]

The chief investment officer (CIO) of Amundi, which claims to be Europe’s largest asset manage (with 1.755 trillion euros in assets under management as of 31 March 2021, talked about Bitcoin during a recent press conference. According to a article by Newsweek (which used a report by Reuters as the source) published on Thursday (June […]

On Sunday (May 30), Jeremy Hogan, a partner at the law firm Hogan & Hogan, talked about Magistrate Judge Sarah Netburn’s latest ruling in the lawsuit brought by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) against Ripple Labs. On 22 December 2020, the SEC announced that it had “filed an action against Ripple Labs Inc. and two of its […]

This article takes a closer look at recent reports coming out of China about potential upcoming regulations that could result in a a partial or total ban on Bitcoin mining in that country. Tuesday’s Announcement by Three Chinese Self-Regulatory Organizations Last Tuesday (May 18), Shanghai Securities News (SSN), “China’s leading financial newspaper and the China […]

On Thursday (May 13), Coinbase Global, Inc. (NASDAQ: COIN) released its Q1 2021 Shareholder Letter and had its Q1 2021 Earnings Call and Q1 2021 Analyst Q&A Call. In this article, we highlight some of the more interesting comments made by CEO Brian Armstrong and CFO Alesia Haas. Support for Dogecoin CEO: “We plan to […]

Last Friday (May 7), Gary Gensler, the recently appointed Chair of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), talked during an interview with CNBC about the need for “greater investor protection” in the crypto markets. According to a press release by the U.S. SEC, Gensler was “nominated to Chair the SEC by President Joseph R. […]

Ripple CEO Brad Garlinghouse says the ongoing lawsuit involving XRP is a threat to the innovation being generated by cryptocurrency. Last week, during an interview with Fox Business, the Ripple CEO talked about the lawsuit brought against his firm last December by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). He said:  “It’s so important for […]

Li Bo, deputy governor of the People’s Bank of China (usually abbreviated to “PBoC” or “PBC”) recently called Bitcoin ($BTC) an “investment alternative.” According to a report by The Block, when asked last Sunday — during a panel hosted by CNBC at the Boao Forum for Asia — if China intended to maintain its stance […]

On Monday (April 19), Charles Hoskinson, Co-Founder and CEO of IOHK, the company responsible for building Cardano, explained why he believes that the Biden-Harris administration could introduce cryptocurrency-related legislation in the coming months. Hoskinson made these comments during a video he released on his popular YouTube channel yesterday. Hoskinson started by mentioning that according to a breaking […]

Many cryptocurrency fans were dismayed to discover on Friday (April 16) that Turkey’s central bank has banned the use of cryptoassets for payments. However, the author of The Bitcoin Standard says that this might be a blessing in disguise. According to a press release by the Central Bank of the Republic of Turkey that came […]

On Monday (April 5), on crypto exchange Bitstamp, the XRP price reached an intraday high of $0.72557 at 04:50 UTC. This is the highest price XRP has seen since February 1. According to data by TradingView, currently (as of 08:15 UTC on April 5), XRP is trading around $0.68584, which means that in the past […]

Earlier this week, Kevin Chen, an attorney at Homiak Law LLC, took a closer look at the “fair notice” defense used by Ripple Labs in the lawsuit (over the sale of XRP tokens) brought against it by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). Homiak Law is “a full-service boutique law firm that specializes in […]

The legal team for Ripple co-founders Brad Garlinghouse and Chris Larsen have argued investigations into personal finances are irrelevant to the SEC’s ongoing lawsuit.

The SEC says Ripple has acted “legally improper” in its fair notice defense against its pending lawsuit, while arguing against the blockchain company’s motion to dismiss the case.

The San Francisco-based FinTech firm Ripple has issued an official response to the allegations of U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) allegations over the illegal sale of XRP.  According to court documents filed on March 4 in the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York, Ripple has adamantly refuted allegations put forth by […]

Former London Stock Exchange CEO Xavier Rolet called upon the UK government to leverage its independence from Brexit in order to create progressive policies on crypto-asset adoption.

On Monday (February 22), MoneyGram International, Inc. (NASDAQ: MGI), made an important announcement regarding its partnership with Ripple Labs. Californian FinTech company Ripple announced on 17 June 2019 that it entered into a strategic partnership with MoneyGram, one of the world’s largest money transfer companies. Here is how Ripple’s blog post explained the deal: “Through this partnership, which will […]

In a recent interview, Mary Jo White, a former Chair of the United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York talked about the SEC’s lawsuit against Ripple Labs. Ms. White is currently a litigation partner in the New York office of Debevoise & Plimpton, and […]

In a recent interview, Joseph A. Hall, a former executive at the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), explained why “there’s a good chance” his former employer loses its lawsuit against Ripple Labs. Hall has been partner in U.S. law firm Davis Polk since September 2005. Before that, between October 2003 and June 2005, he was […]

Blockchain payments firm Ripple responded to allegations by the SEC regarding the illegal sale of XRP, inquiring why ethereum did not constitute a breach in securities law.

Galaxy Digital CEO Mike Novogratz said the SEC has been historically backwards on crypto regulation, which has hurt retail investors.

Former Federal Reserve Chair Dr. Janet Yellen, the person widely expected to be the next U.S. Treasury Secretary, acknowledged the benefits of cryptoassets in her written response to one of the questions from Tuesday’s U.S. Senate confirmation hearing. Yellen “served as the Chair of the Federal Reserve from 2014 to 2018, and as Vice Chair from 2010 to […]

On Thursday (January 21), Tom Jessop, President of Fidelity Digital Assets, talked during an interview about potentially upcoming regulations that the crypto community could expect to see under the Biden administration. On 15 October 2018, Boston-headquartered American multinational financial services company Fidelity Investments announced via a press release the launch of a new company, Fidelity Digital Asset Services, […]

A bitcoin whale transferred 12,598 BTC, worth roughly $500 million, in three anonymous transactions as the coin’s price surged above $40k.

On Thursday (January 7), Ripple CEO Brad Garlinghouse, answered five of the most frequently asked questions about the action filed last month by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) against Ripple, himself, and Chris Larsen. As every XRP HODLer must know by know, on 22 December 2020, one day before former SEC Chairman Jay […]

A White House petition has generated more than 36,000 signatures asking the federal government to consider XRP as a currency.

On Friday (December 4), during an interview on CNBC’s “Squawk Box“, Brian P. Brooks, Acting Comptroller (since May) at the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC), said that “nobody is going to ban Bitcoin.” Brooks is currently also a member of the Board of Directors of Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC). Between September 2018 and […]

This article looks at what Former Federal Reserve Chair Dr. Janet Yellen, the person who is expected to be the next U.S. Treasury Secretary, has said in the past about Bitcoin and blockchain technology. On November 23, the Wall Street Journal (WSJ) reported that President-elect Joe Biden will nominate Yellen to become his secretary of […]

Cryptocurrency exchange Binance has begun clamping down on US-based clients, giving them fourteen days to transfer their funds away from the platform.

On Friday (November 13), Cynthia Lummis, the newly-elected U.S. senator for the state of Wyoming, spoke about Bitcoin on live TV during an interview with ABC News. The 66-year conservative Republican, who was endorsed byPresident Donald Trump, was declared the winner of the U.S. Senate race in Wyoming on November 3, thereby becoming Wyoming’s first […]

Angel investor and former Coinbase CTO Balaji Srinivasan thinks the U.S. government will be forced to take action against bitcoin if the price continues to gain against the dollar.

U.S. stocks did well on Wednesday (November 4), with the Nasdaq Composite closing 3.85% higher. However, Bitcoin seems to be rallying even harder. This article tries to explain why both U.S. stocks and Bitcoin are going up. Although the election results in the U.S. are not quite clear yet and it might be some time […]

The European Central Bank (ECB) has asked the public to comment on the development of a digital euro, including the use of decentralization.  According to a series of tweets published by ECB President Christine Lagarde, the E.U.’s central bank is looking for feedback on a digital euro. Lagarde said the bank was exploring the possibility […]

The former head of the People’s Bank of China said the digital yuan would combat “dollarization” of the country’s economy.

Privacy-focused cryptocurrency Monero is up 200 percent year-to-date after reaching a 2-year price high on October 26.

During a recent interview at the (virtual) four-day DC Fintech Week 2020 conference (October 19-22, 2020), Brad Garlinghouse, the CEO of FinTech firm Ripple talked about Bitcoin, XRP, and how the current regulatory climate in the U.S. affects cryptoassets. The interview with the Ripple CEO was on day one of the conference. (In the video […]

CFTC Commissioner Dan Berkovitz explained his background working with private clients interested in digital currencies and provided a take on the BitMEX complaint.

Earlier this week, Hester Peirce, whose renomination as Commissioner at the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) was confirmed by the U.S. Senate on August 6, spoke about regulatory challenges facing decentralized finance (DeFi). Commissioner Peirce’s remarks about DeFi while she was speaking with journalist Laura Shin on day one of the two-day (virtual) LA Blockchain […]

The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA), UK’s markets watchdog, banned the sale of crypto derivatives and exchange-traded notes (ETNs) for retail investors earlier this week, but a public consultation process saw 97% of participants oppose the ban. In a 55-page report by the FCA, responses from companies that sell derivatives, cryptocurrency exchanges, trade bodies, individuals, and […]

The UK’s markets watchdog, the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) has banned the sale of cryptocurrency derivatives and exchange-traded notes (ETNs) to retail investors. In an announcement, the FCA reveals it considers crypto derivatives and ETNs to be “ill-suited for retail consumers due to the harm they pose.” The regulator added that these products “cannot be […]

According to the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ), the indictment that was unveiled yesterday (following McAfee’s arrest) charges him with “tax evasion and willful failure to file tax returns.” The DOJ’s press release says that this indictment (dated 15 June 2020) alleges that for the 2014-2018 period John David McAfee “failed to file tax return” […]

European Central Bank executive board member Fabio Panetta says the EU must begin preparing for the development of a digital Euro to compliment physical cash.

On Thursday (October 1), “Joe007”, a former well-known pseudonymous trader on Bitfinex, warned traders that following the recent action by CFTC against BitMEX, it might not be long before the SEC decides to take a closer look at Uniswap. On Thursday, the U.S Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) announced that it had brought charges against […]

Venezuela president Nicolas Maduro has introduced a new bill that will explore crypto-assets as an avenue for avoiding economic sanctions.

On Thursday (October 1), The U.S Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) announced that it had brought charges against “five entities and three individuals” that own and operate the crypto derivatives exchange BitMEX. CFTC’s press release (“Release Number 8270-20”) said that the agency had filed “a civil enforcement action in the U.S. District Court for the Southern […]

Bank of New York Mellon has been accused of playing a role in the $4 billion Ponzi Scheme OneCoin, according to an updated court filing.

Cryptocurrency pioneer Chandler Guo says “one day everyone in the world” will use China’s state-backed digital yuan.