Tag Archives: Regulations

South Korea’s crypto framework, the Virtual Assets User Protection Act, came into force on July 19. This regulation offers guidance to the crypto exchanges operating in the country. Many have stated these laws, formulated by the country’s Financial Services Committee (FSC), are on the stricter side. A press release issued by the FSC read, “The Financial Services Commission announced that the Act on the Protection of Virtual Asset Users, which intends to establish a sound order in the virtual...

The Security and Exchange Commission’s accounting bulletin 121 (SAB 121) requires companies, including banks, to hold crypto assets for clients as a liability on their balance sheets. This makes it inefficient for large banks to offer crypto custody services. Both the House and Senate passed a bipartisan Congressional Review Act (CRA) resolution to nullify this guidance, which the Biden Administration vetoed in May. However, a House vote to overturn the veto failed to reach...

US House and Senate will be tasked with voting on Biden vetoing legislators choosing to repeal the SEC’s Staff Accounting Bulletin (SAB 121) in May. This guidance received a bipartisan vote to stop it from going through, as it needed financial institutions to record their digital asset holdings on their balance sheets. Doing that would make it harder for institutions to integrate crypto-related products, stifling the mainstream adoption of the asset class. While the bipartisan vote to stop...

It looks like stablecoins and their issues cannot stay outside the news cycle, with MiCA issuing its stablecoin guidelines and Circle making huge moves in the EU. It is Paxos’ turn now, as it has secured full regulatory approval from Singapore’s Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS). In a press release, it said, “Paxos, the leading regulated blockchain & tokenization infrastructure platform, received full approval from the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) for its Singapore entity,...

The US Internal Revenue Service (IRS) has issued its final draft of rules for crypto brokers to report income, offering clarifications on the scope of industry participants required to follow the regulations. Decentralized protocols and self-managed crypto wallets are not included. However, stablecoins and real-world assets (RWAs) will fall under the reporting standards. IRS commissioner Danny Werfel stated, “We reviewed thousands of public comments and believe this new guidance addresses...

The US Securities and Exchanges Commission (SEC) has brought a lawsuit against Consensys, the parent company of MetaMask, for providing staking and brokerage services around unregistered securities contracts. This suit was filed on 28 June, stating, “Consensys violated the federal securities laws by failing to register as a broker and failing to register the offer and sale of certain securities, thereby depriving investors of crucial protections that those laws afford.” It also mentions how...

The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) can no longer rely on in-house judges to settle suits, ruled the US Supreme Court last week. Going forward, the SEC must take all its cases to federal court and fight them through trials with neutral juries and judges present while enforcing securities laws and penalizing perpetrators. As per the Supreme Court verdict, in-house tribunals violate the Seventh Amendment, which offers the constitutional right to a jury trial, thereby giving the SEC...

The Australian Tax Office (ATO) has implemented a new tracking program that will allow it to identify cheaters every tax season starting this year. As 30 June marks the last day to file taxes in the country down under, those cashing out on their crypto and not reporting the gains will receive responses from the ATO, at best. Repeated failures to report gains will attract enforcement action. Crypto users must start reporting and paying their taxes despite the exchange they use to sell their...

The free reign stablecoin issuers had in the European markets is ending on June 30 as the EU’s MiCA (Markets in Crypto Assets) regulations will enforce caps on transaction volumes and value. That means asset-referenced stablecoins not pegged to the Euro, witnessing over a million transactions or facilitating the movement of value over $215 million will need to be discontinued in the bloc. Transactions considered for the caps will include those conducted for payments of goods and services...

The Nigerian Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has released new guidelines geared to Virtual Asset Service Providers (VASPs). An amendment of the Rules on Digital Assets Issuance, Offering Platforms, Exchange, and Custody, issued in May 2022, the SEC has now introduced the Accelerated Regulatory Incubation Program (ARIP). It comes with the appointment of the SEC’s new Director-General, Emomotimi Agama. VAPS must comply with the framework by 21 July 2024. The SEC issued a press release...