Regulation

In a wide-ranging discussion, a panel of blockchain industry personalities at the World Economic Forum (WEF) concluded that the economy will become increasingly tokenized in the future. Carbon credits, housing, electricity, government bonds, foreign exchange and other real-world assets will be traded on the blockchain, according to the panel’s participants. The event, titled “Tokenized Economies,

2022 was the year the wheels fell off the metaverse bandwagon, which had been the most hyped narrative as the year began. By far the worst-performing sector in blockchain, the average drawdown was 89%. Even Facebook’s grand plans to dominate the metaverse are in disarray; it’s losing more than $1 billion a month, while the

Andrew Bailey, the Bank of England (BoE) governor, expressed skepticism on the need for a digital pound shortly after finance ministers from eurozone countries backed further work on a digital euro.  The BoE governor recently questioned the need for a wholesale central bank digital currency (CBDC), citing that there already is a “wholesale central bank

The finance ministers from the eurozone countries have released a statement on the introduction of the digital euro after a meeting in Brussels. The Eurogroup meets regularly to discuss political dimensions of the potential digital currency, it said. The Jan. 16 statement coincides with the release of a European Central Bank (ECB) “stock taking” document

Central banks worldwide are pushing forward with digital asset projects despite the various crypto industry implosions of the past 12 months. China has rolled out its central bank digital currency (CBDC) to several cities and made it available for use at the Winter Olympics. Many other central banks, including the Bank of England, are considering how

Siika Mileva, a spokesperson for Bulgaria’s chief prosecutors, has denied political motivations behind the probe against the crypto lending firm Nexo, according to local reports. The comments were made in response to claims that the investigation had a connection to the company’s political donations. Almost all cases where a prosecution launches an investigation that affects

Bank of Thailand has disclosed plans to allow virtual banks to operate in the country for the first time. Financial firms will be able to provide services by 2025, a Bloomberg report shows.  The “Consultation Paper on Virtual Bank Licensing Framework” published by the central bank says that applications will be available later in 2023

The case of LBRY highlights a wave of renewed regulatory pressure that could affect both blockchain token-issuing companies and their investors. In November, an over year-long court battle between the United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and blockchain development company LBRY and its LBRY Credits (LBC) token culminated in the ruling of the token

Former FTX US President Brett Harrison has lashed out at Sam Bankman-Fried for manipulating and threatening colleagues who proposed solutions to reorganize FTX US’ management structure.  Harrison shared his experiences with Bankman-Fried and FTX US on Dec. 14, explaining how he was hired “casually over text” in Mar. 2021 after working together at New York-based

Top Stories This Week Sam Bankman-Fried: ‘I didn’t steal funds, and I certainly didn’t stash billions away.’ In a “pre-mortem overview” of FTX’s bankruptcy, Sam Bankman-Fried denied allegations of improper use of customer funds stored with the crypto exchange, attributing responsibility for the company’s dramatic fall to the market crash of 2022 and Binance CEO

Canada has remained a peculiar regulatory alternative to the neighboring United States in regard to cryptocurrency. While its licensing process has become more stringent than in some countries, Canada was the first to approve direct crypto exchange-traded funds. State pension funds have invested in digital assets, and crypto mining firms have moved to the country

Less than 48 hours after a raid on cryptocurrency lender Nexo’s offices in the Bulgarian capital of Sofia, prosecutors have reportedly charged four people. According to a Jan. 13 report by Bloomberg, authorities charged four Bulgarian nationals with forming an organized crime group, which may have included activities related to money laundering and unlicensed banking.

Grayscale filed a reply brief in its appeal of the United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) denial of its application to convert its $12-billion Grayscale Bitcoin Trust (GBTC) into a spot-based Bitcoin (BTC) exchange-traded fund (ETF). The brief, filed in the District of Columbia Circuit Court, addressed points made in the SEC reply brief

The United Arab Emirates (UAE) has passed a new law that governs virtual assets, setting up the country’s initial regulatory regime for the cryptocurrency space at the federal level.  Before the federal-level regulation, the UAE already introduced several supervisory initiatives for digital assets in economic free zones like the Abu Dhabi Global Market (ADGM). Last

A group of crypto fraud victims of the BitConnect investment scheme will see some respite from the multi-billion dollar fraud scheme after a court ordered they receive a share in a $17 million restitution. The United States District Court for the Southern District of California ordered the restitution for the “massive” scheme on Jan. 12

Joseph Bankman, the father of former FTX chief executive officer Sam Bankman-Fried, has reportedly hired an attorney as the criminal case against his son moves forward. According to a Jan. 12 report from Reuters, Bankman retained Sean Hecker of New York-based law firm Kaplan Hecker & Fink LLP. Bankman-Fried’s father reportedly advised and assisted his