Tag Archives: AA News

Hong Kong’s legislative council has added a new amendment to the Anti-Money Laundering and Counter-Terrorist Financing (Amendment) Bill 2022 to accommodate the cryptocurrency industry. The legislation will essentially introduce a licensing regime for virtual asset service providers (VASPs). Hong Kong’s Licensing For VASPs Under the new additions, VASPs seeking to start operations in the region will have to undergo a licensing procedure complying with AML guidelines and...

Financial service behemoth PayPal has announced expanding its crypto service to Luxembourg soon in its first foray into the European Union (EU). According to an update shared by the company, the service will be made available in the “coming days,” following which eligible customers will be able to buy, sell and hold crypto-assets in their PayPal accounts via the website or the mobile app. Initially, support will be rolled out for Bitcoin (BTC), Ethereum (ETH), Litecoin (LTC),...

The FTX meltdown may have laid the groundwork for an unprecedented shift in user activity from centralized finance (CeFi) to decentralized finance (DeFi), but the total value locked in the services provided by the latter has taken a serious hit. A new report by Dapp Radar suggested that the non-fungible token (NFT) market has not been spared by the downtrend either. DeFi, and NFT Winter Typically considered a potential antidote to the collapse, the total value locked across...

Yet another US politician at the center of crypto industry regulation has changed stances on Ether’s legal classification. Senator Cynthia Lummis (R-WY) revealed Wednesday that she now views the second largest cryptocurrency as a security – not a commodity.  Bitcoin is the Only Crypto Commodity: Lummis Lummis expressed her changed view on the asset with CoinDesk on Tuesday while discussing the measures that may have prevented FTX’s collapse last month. She suggested that her...

A federal bankruptcy judge has approved the issuance of subpoenas to the co-founders of the collapsed hedge fund – Three Arrows Capital (3AC) – Su Zhu and Kyle Davies. In a document published on Tuesday, United States Bankruptcy Judge Martin Glenn for the Southern District of New York stated, “The foreign representatives and their agents are authorized to serve subpoenas for the production of documents and testimony upon the founders, the investment managers, and anyone else...

A letter from Genesis Interim CEO Derar Islim to customers on Wednesday suggested that the firm’s withdrawal freeze likely won’t be resolved for “weeks” to come.  The letter, first viewed by CoinDesk, stated that Genesis is committed to being as “transparent as possible” with its customers throughout the process.  The CEO also said that Genesis is in close consultation with experienced advisers and its owner, Digital Currency Group (DCG).  Genesis froze withdrawals shortly...

An independent global auditor has confirmed that all Bitcoin circulating on Binance – the world’s largest crypto exchange – is fully accounted for. The audit allows any user of the exchange to confirm the safety of their Bitcoin balance using on-chain data.  As verified by the Mazars Veriitas auditing service, Binance’s Bitcoin was 101% collateralized as of November 22nd. That means it holds Bitcoin slightly in excess of its liabilities/customer assets, which amount to...

Dave Ripley – the incoming CEO of crypto exchange Kraken – said he has inside information that FTX scammed its users.  He expects more contagion from the crisis, assuring that his entity would not be affected. More Pain Coming In a recent interview for Bloomberg, Ripley described Sam Bankman-Fried (former CEO of the bankrupt platform FTX) as a “fraudster.” He also thinks it will take time for relevant watchdogs and the government to discover the reasons for the catastrophe...

Binance US – the American branch of the world’s largest crypto exchange – has eliminated all Ether (ETH) spot trading fees just six months after doing the same for Bitcoin (BTC) pairs on the platform.  The zero-fee model will expand free trading to the platform’s ETH/USD, ETH/USDT, ETH/USDC, and ETH/BUSD pairs. In a press release shared with CryptoPotato, Binance US revealed that it will be consolidating its pricing tiers into a single tier in January 2023. Tier I assets will...

The United States Federal Trade Commission (FTC) is targeting certain crypto companies over deceptive or misleading advertising. With the latest move, the FTC appears to follow in the footsteps of the SEC as the crackdown on the ecosystem broadens. According to a Bloomberg report, FTC spokeswoman Juliana Gruenwald Henderson said: “We are investigating several firms for possible misconduct concerning digital assets.” Henderson, however, declined to provide further details...