Regulation

A joint statement on the use of digital assets and specific laws operators must abide by, has been released. On Friday the 11th, three of the most binding regulatory authorities in the financial space, released the statement, stating specifics about the crypto sector and reminding all participants that certain already laid down laws regarding financial services in the U.S., must be strictly adhered to.The regulatory bodies including the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC),...

On Saturday we reported how, after PayPal Holdings Inc. abandoned Facebook’s association Libra, the other big payment giants followed its example.Mastercard, Visa, eBay, Stripe and Mercado Pago have also pulled out and it seems this could become pretty large obstacle to the development of this cryptocurrency.Director at VanEck Gabor Gurbacs said the companies that abandoned Libra Association were actually pressured into leaving.As per Gurbacs, there is growing concern for Facebook’s ability...

In an unfortunate turn of events, messaging giant Telegram is facing major resistance from the U.S. SEC for token-sale of its native Gram (GRM) tokens. This has further resulted in the delay of the launch of the Telegram Open Network (TON) blockchain.Last Friday, the SEC issued an order calling Telegram’s token sale as “unlawful” under the agency’s securities laws. As a result, Telegram has push-ahead its plans of TON blockchain launch and GRM token issuance.Appraising the investors of this...

News broke out yesterday that the Securities and Exchange Commission of the US has temporarily halted the token sale of Telegram’s TON cryptocurrency. According to the documents, the reasoning behind the SEC’s actions is that the alleged token sale is unregistered and fails to comply with the existing regulations. Let’s examine the difference between the current actions and what happened with EOS a while ago. Telegram’s Token Sale HaltedBack in January 2018, Telegram raised a substantial...

The United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has put a spanner-in-the-wheel of Telegram‘s $1.7 billion Gram (GRM) token offering. The securities regulator has asked the messaging giant to halt the sale of its digital currency calling its “unlawful”.As per the SEC press release on Friday, October 11, Telegram failed to register its token-sale offering with the regulator, in due time. The Telegram Group has been working on its blockchain project – Telegram Open Network (TON) –...

According to the latest report from Yahoo Finance, the chairman of the United States Commodities and Futures Trading Commission called Ethereum (ETH) a commodity.Speaking at the Yahoo Finance Summit, CFTC chairperson Heath Tarbet said that the ETH token falls under the regulatory oversight of CFTC. He further added that in the near future, one cannot rule out the possibility of having Ethereum futures in the market. Tarbet said:“We’ve been very clear on bitcoin: bitcoin is a commodity. We...

In a not-too-surprising turn off events, the SEC has rejected the Bitcoin ETF application filed by Bitwise Asset Management and NYSE Arca and stated that there were still too many unresolved issues regarding improper activity such as market manipulation, that could easily take place in the sector.The SEC’s publication is a 112-page document, which goes into specific details of the ETF and why it had chosen not to approve at this time. According to the Commission, the Bitwise and NYSE Arca...

Things do not seem to be going as planned for Facebook’s Libra as Mark Zuckerberg is set to testify before the US Congress later in the month. This was revealed by the Chairwoman of the United States House Committee on Financial Services Maxine Waters (D) in a press statement yesterday. The Chairwoman indicated that a letter had been sent to the Social media giant in July “requesting an immediate moratorium on the implementation of Facebook’s proposed cryptocurrency, Libra, and digital...

In a surprise move that will spur further adoption of cryptocurrencies in Asia and globally, the Japanese can now donate unlimited amounts of cryptocurrencies to politicians and need not disclose this to the authorities. This was made known by Sanae Takaichi in a press conference two days ago. Sources indicate that she said that cryptocurrency donations don’t fall under the purview of the Political Funds Control Law and as such don’t need to be disclosed and can be donated without limit to...

In a clear example of tech evolving faster than the law can adapt, a Japanese minster has confirmed that crypto donations are now legal due to a classification loophole. According to Reuters, on Tuesday, Sanae Takaichi, the internal affairs and communications minister of Japan, noted the newfound ‘legality’ of crypto donations. She specifically highlighted their use within elections, remarking that cryptocurrencies were not subject to the stringent political fund’s control law; a statute...