Tag Archives: United States

Conversations about launching spot Bitcoin exchange-traded funds (ETFs) in the United States have moved to advanced stages, Reuters reported Thursday, citing unnamed sources. According to the report, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has begun to ask potential spot Bitcoin ETF issuers detailed and technical questions about the products, a move the sources said indicated that the regulator might soon approve their pending applications. U.S. Spot Bitcoin ETF...

Bitcoin has gained recognition in the financial sector within two decades after its launch. This is evident in the increasing number of times the leading digital asset has been mentioned in official filings over the past years. According to recent research, the world’s largest cryptocurrency was mentioned in more than a thousand filings with the United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) in November, recording a new high and indicating rising adoption of the...

A circuit court in Estonia overturned a previous ruling allowing the extradition of two Estonian citizens charged with cryptocurrency fraud and money laundering to the United States. According to the court, the Estonian government did not consider certain circumstances before agreeing to extradite the individuals involved in the case. New Court Ruling Cancels Extradition Approval Ivan Turogin and Sergei Potapenko, who ran a virtual currency mining business called HashFlare,...

The Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) of the United States Department of the Treasury has placed sanctions on cryptocurrency mixing service Sinbad, alleging that the mixer served as a money laundering channel for the notorious North Korean hackers Lazarus Group. According to the enforcement agency, Sinbad has been used to launder millions of dollars worth of stolen crypto assets from high-profile hacks. Lazarus Group Preferred Sinbad to Launder Stolen Crypto Funds In a...

The largest US-based crypto exchange experienced a threefold increase in law enforcement requests in the current year compared to 2020, as revealed in its latest transparency report. The total number of requests during the reporting period amounted to 13,079, marking approximately a 6% rise from the previous year. Notably, the United States maintained its position as the leading country in both 2022 and 2023, with a slight uptick in the number of requests in 2023. Coinbase...

United States prosecutors arrested three people for allegedly stealing $10 million from financial institutions and laundering the stolen funds using cryptocurrency exchanges. The individuals could each get up to over 80 years in prison if found guilty of the allegations. Defrauding Banks and Channeling Proceeds to Crypto Exchanges A press release by the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York announced the arrest of Zhong Shi Gao, Naifeng Xu, and Feo...

The United States has persistently stumbled in delivering clear regulatory guidance for digital assets. The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) presides over instruments and assets deemed as securities, while the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) regulates the trading of derivatives on commodities. This landscape leaves a regulatory gap for digital assets that defy the categorization of securities or commodity-based derivatives. Amid this regulatory chaos,...

Research conducted by TRM Labs reveals that the growth rate of crypto-denominated fentanyl sales has slowed down in 2023. The first three quarters of the year saw an increase of just under 60% in these sales, a sharp decline from the 155% average growth rate recorded since 2019. TRM Labs Study Shows Slowdown in Crypto Fentanyl Sales According to a study by TRM Labs, the growth of fentanyl sales denominated in cryptocurrency has slowed significantly in 2023. The research,...

The New York State Department of Financial Services (NYDFS) has published a set of new rules guiding the listing and delisting of digital assets to ensure the activities of crypto firms protect investors from financial harm. According to an official post from the department, the new guidance is effective immediately and will replace older standards issued in 2020. All virtual asset firms are expected to incorporate the latest standards into their coin listing and delisting...

New Jersey’s U.S. Attorney’s Office has filed a civil forfeiture action against Christopher Castelluzzo and two other members of an unnamed drug trafficking group based in New Jersey. According to the filing, the other two members of the group are Luke Atwell – a friend and business partner of Castelluzzo’s who is currently serving a similar sentence – and Brian Krewson, another friend of the two who reportedly manages their estate for the time being. Attempts to Move Crypto...