Regulation

On May 4, Argentina’s central bank banned payment providers from offering crypto transactions, alleging it intends to reduce the country’s payment-system exposure to digital assets.  According to a statement from the monetary authority, payment providers may not offer or facilitate crypto services through their applications. The move brings payment fintechs and financial institutions under the

The United Kingdom’s Financial Conduct Authority, or FCA, has announced the inspection of sites across the country “suspected of hosting illegally operated crypto ATMs.” In a May 5 announcement, the FCA said it had coordinated with local authorities in the cities of Exeter, Nottingham and Sheffield to raid facilities suspected of operating unregistered cryptocurrency ATMs.

In the United States, the White House released the national standards strategy for key and emerging technologies on May 4, identifying eight technology sectors that will have a significant economic impact in the near future. Among the eight technologies are artificial intelligence, communication and network technologies, biotechnology and semiconductors, with the inclusion of distributed ledger

Kenya’s lawmakers are considering the introduction of a 3% tax on cryptocurrency and nonfungible tokens (NFTs) transfers and a 15% tax on monetized online content, according to a newly introduced bill. Introduced to the Kenyan parliament on May 4, The Finance Bill, 2023 would enact a digital asset tax on “income derived from the transfer

The House of Representatives for North Carolina has unanimously passed legislation aimed at prohibiting payments to the U.S. state using a central bank digital currency, or CBDC. In a May 3 vote, 118 members of the state’s legislative body agreed to pass House Bill 690, with only two representatives absent and none voting against the

Nigeria, known to be one of the world’s most curious nations about cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin (BTC), has approved the National Blockchain Policy for Nigeria during its meeting on May 3, 2023. The approval was in response to a memo presented by Professor Isa Ali Ibrahim (Pantami), the Honourable Minister of Communications and Digital Economy.  The

The former OpenSea manager who was accused of insider trading of NFTs has been convicted on May 3 of wire fraud and money laundering in a New York federal court, according to a report from Reuters. According to prosecutors, Nathaniel Chastain, a former Product Manager at OpenSea, was in charge of choosing which NFTs would

Lawmakers from both sides of the aisle in the United States House of Representatives have backed a bill prohibiting members of Congress and their spouses and dependents from trading or owning certain financial instruments — which could extend to investments in digital assets. In a May 2 announcement, Democratic Representatives Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (AOC) and Raja

The United Kingdom is set to ban cold calls that sell financial products, including insurance and cryptocurrencies, in an attempt to crack down on fraud. It is estimated that fraud costs the country approximately £7 billion ($8.7 billion) annually.  The U.K. government reportedly announced its new fraud strategy, pledging 400 new jobs to update its approach

United States Congressmen Warren Davidson and Mike Flood have written a letter to the chair of the Council of Economic Advisers (CEA) demanding an explanation for a chapter the agency prepared for the Economic Report of the President that expressed “a hostile view towards the digital asset ecosystem.”  The report, presented to Congress is March,

The majority of people will have their wealth progressively eaten away by the devaluation of money, according to Arthur Hayes, the co-founder and former CEO of crypto derivatives exchange BitMEX.  According to Hayes, due to the huge amount of public debt accumulated by the world’s largest economies, governments will have no choice but “inflating it

Legislators in the European Union have pushed forward with a draft of a new bill designed to keep artificial intelligence technology in check. According to the bill, the high-risk tools will not be banned entirely, though they will be subjected to stricter transparency procedures. In particular, generative AI tools, including ChatGPT and Midjourney, will be

The deadline has come for comments on a consultation paper and call for evidence released by the United Kingdom’s HM Treasury on a proposed crypto asset regulatory framework. The long-awaited paper, published in February, drew detailed responses from a variety of cryptocurrency industry players. Blockchain provider Polygon Labs, venture capitalists Andreessen Horowitz (a16z), the Association for

Gary Gensler, the United States Securities Exchange Commission (SEC) chair, recently appeared before the U.S. House of Representatives Financial Services Committee for a hearing regarding his leadership of the regulatory agency.  The hearing, with Gensler as the only witness, promised to be unpleasant for the SEC chair, with the federal agency’s actions during Gensler’s leadership

The American banking giant JP Morgan Ch is set to acquire all the assets of First Republic Bank (FRC) after early efforts to rescue it failed. JPMorgan, along with multiple other banks, submitted a bid to acquire the assets of troubled FRC on April 29. The California Department of Financial Protection and Innovation closed FRC

The Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) has requested Cross River Bank – known for its services to fintech and crypto firms like Visa and Coinbase – to “self-correct” and “appropriately address” weaknesses in its lending activities. On April 28, the FDIC made public a consent order executed with Cross River Bank on March 8, alleging that

The United States Federal Deposit Insurance Corp’s (FDIC) post-mortem assessment of Signature Bank of New York (SBNY) revealed poor management and inadequate risk management practices as the root cause for its collapse. Signature Bank was shut down by federal regulators on March 12 in a bid to protect the U.S. economy and strengthen public confidence

An executive at JPMorgan Asset Management is unsure how United States regional banks are “going to operate” when the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) and Federal Home Loan Bank (FHLB) emergency lending programs expire – warning that the possible collapse of First Republic Bank may cause a domino effect. In an April 27 Bloomberg television

Researchers at Indiana University and the University of Maine recently published a study examining the current state of cryptocurrency tax law in the United States. The research concludes with recommendations for the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) that, if adopted, would prevent taxpayers from weighing crypto losses against other capital gains. The paper, dubbed simply “Crypto

At the intersection of tech and cryptocurrency news, the Google for Startups Cloud Program has expanded to include 11 blockchain firms. Together, the entities will provide grants, expertise and services to emerging Web3 entrepreneurs. Meanwhile, the United Kingdom government has allocated $125 million in funding for a task force aimed at accelerating the country’s artificial intelligence