Tag Archives: Regulations

The United States Department of Justice (DOJ) has sued Larry Dean Harmon, the founder of defunct cryptocurrency mixer Helix, for failing to pay a civil penalty of $60 million since his indictment in 2020.  The lawsuit was filed in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia on Wednesday. According to the filing, the $60 million fine was imposed on Harmon after he pled guilty to charges against him in 2020. Helix Laundered Over $300M In December 2019, the Financial...

On October 20, the International Criminal Police Organization (Interpol) announced the launch of the first metaverse. The organization unveiled the news during the 90th anniversary of its General Assembly in India. According to the release, the Interpol metaverse allows users worldwide to access Interpol’s headquarters in Lyon, France. Visitors to the metaverse will be able to explore and interact with other officers through their own avatars, taking classes or private police...

FTX CEO Sam Bankman-Fried (SBF) posted a draft of a set of standards to create clarity and protect customers as the US awaits full federal regulatory regimes. While highlighting the significance of regulatory oversight and customer protection, SBF said there needs to be an open economy where peer-to-peer transfers, code, validators, etc., are presumptively free. He believes establishing standards is necessary until regulation hit the scene to help inform and protect...

On October 19, the United States Department of Justice (DOJ) accused two Venezuelan citizens and five Russians of using cryptocurrencies to launder money for Russian oligarchs by selling oil barrels from sanctions-hit Venezuela. According to the press release, the defendants smuggled millions of barrels of oil to Russia and China, laundering “tens of millions of dollars.” They used crypto to launder part of the funds . Among the Russian defendants are Yury Orekhov, Artem Uss...

A day after Indian Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman spoke about her plans to work towards a tech-driven regulatory framework for cryptocurrencies under the aegis of G20, industry leaders offered mixed reactions to her statements.     Sitharaman spoke about crypto regulations to reporters on the sidelines of the fall meetings at IMF, World Bank, and G20 Finance Ministers and Central Bank Governor (FMCBG) in Washington last week, media reports said.  Positive but...

The Texas State Securities Board – the region’s securities regulators – is investigating FTX and its boss, Sam Bankman-Fried (SBF), over whether some of its crypto offerings violate state law.  As reported by Bloomberg on Monday, the regulator has taken specific issue with the company’s yield-bearing crypto accounts, which may constitute unregistered securities offerings.  As its source, Bloomberg cited an October 14th court filing in the bankruptcy of Voyager Digital – a...

Changpeng Zhao (CZ) – CEO of Binance – called out a Reuters journalist on Monday over a handful of “accusations” they’ve made against the exchange over the past several months.  The executive said the reporter has written several articles about Binance based on anonymous sources, and that they recently crossed into “indefensible territory” with their line of questioning.  Binance and Binance U.S. The most recent article that Binance took issue with, titled “How Binance CEO...

The lower house of Kazakhstan’s parliament – Mazhilis – reportedly greenlighted new bills that aim to establish appropriate rules in the local crypto sector. They will require miners to create authorized entities, register with the regulators, and continue being subject to taxation. Solving the Problem With ‘Gray Miners’ Despite being a global leader in cryptocurrency mining, Kazakhstan has certain issues with the so-called “gray miners” who conduct their operations without...

The Bitcoin-loving billionaire Michael Saylor has spent months pushing for rule changes surrounding cryptocurrencies and their accounting procedures. On Wednesday, was finally granted his wish.The Financial Accounting Services Board (FASB) has agreed to adopt fair value accounting procedures for digital assets. This will theoretically make assets like Bitcoin more attractive for companies to hold on their balance sheets.  The New Accounting Model As reported by the Wall...

Cryptocurrencies are supposed to be censorship resistant… Cryptocurrency exchanges, not so much. Bittrex found this out the hard way after a record fine imposed by the U.S. regulators. On October 11, the U.S. Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) and the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) announced that Bittrex, a Washington-based cryptocurrency exchange, will be fined $53 million for violating multiple securities laws. According to...