Politics
Hong Kong Proposes New Crypto Licensing Regime
- Hong Kong’s SFC has called for public feedback on its newly proposed licensing regime for cryptocurrency exchanges, which is set to take effect in June 2023.
- A key point of the public consultation is whether to allow licensed crypto exchanges to offers services to retail investors, and what protection measures should be put in place.
February 20, 2023, 2:14 PM
Hong Kong national flag. Neerav Bhatt/Flickr
Russia to Launch Real Consumer CBDC Trials in April
- Planned for 1 April, the CBDC trial will involve real consumers and real transactions, though they will be limited to a certain number of customers and transfers.
- The pilot, however, will not be opened to the general public in its first phase, and will only be opened to customers chosen by the 13 participating local banks.
February 17, 2023, 4:50 PM
Central Bank of Russia building in Moscow. Mistervlad/Shutterstock
SEC to Make it Harder for Crypto Firms to be Qualified Custodians
- Sources have said that the U.S. SEC was about to propose a rule change that would make it harder for crypto firms to become “qualified custodians”.
- If finalized, the rule change will affect many hedge funds, private equity firms, and pension funds that work with crypto firms, as most are required to use qualified custodians.
February 14, 2023, 4:12 PM
United States Securities and Exchange Commission building in Washington DC on January 13, 2018. Kristi Blokhin/Shutterstock
South Korea Releases Guidelines on Security Tokens
- South Korea’s FSC clarified that crypto assets will be treated as security tokens if they have the same characteristics as securities as laid out in the Capital Markets Act.
- The FSC noted that stablecoins and crypto assets that do not have an issuer will likely not fall under the definition of securities.
February 6, 2023, 1:33 PM
Shutterstock
Jan 4, 2023
Israel’s Securities Regulator Proposes Crypto Legal Framework
- ISA is looking to squeeze digital assets into already existing securities laws, which would allow it to treat them as financial investments.
- Another proposal will define crypto as “digital representations” of value that are used for financial investment that can be transferred using a distributed ledger.
Dec 19, 2022
Nigeria Proposes Bill to Recognize Crypto as Investment Capital
- Nigeria’s Investments and Securities Act 2007 (Amendment) Bill is looking to recognize the usage of Bitcoin and crypto in the country.
- The bill was proposed almost two years after the Central Bank of Nigeria abandoned its plans to regulate digital assets, and banned institutions from facilitating crypto transactions.
Dec 19, 2022
U.S. Prosecutors Request More Information on SBF’s Political Donations
- New York Times sources have noted that federal prosecutors are digging deeper into the political donations made by Sam Bankman-Fried and his colleagues.
- While the former FTX CEO had donated around $40 million to Democrats in the last election cycle, Democratic groups have so far vowed to return only around $2 million.
Dec 17, 2022
Democrats to Reportedly Return Over $2M in SBF Donations
- Three major Democratic committees have reportedly vowed to return a little more than $1 million in political donations received from Sam Bankman-Fried.
- A super PAC supporting Senate Democrats, that received $1 million in donations from SBF, is also waiting on “proper direction from federal law enforcement” on how to return the funds.
Dec 16, 2022
Trump’s NFT Collection Sells Out in Hours
- The 45,000 NFT trading card collection created by Donald Trump, which had an initial price of $99 per token, was sold out within hours of its release on 15 December.
- Data from popular NFT marketplace OpenSea shows the collection has already surpassed 1,200 ETH in trading volume, with the token’s floor price hovering around 0.15 ETH.
Dec 14, 2022
U.S. Senators Propose Stricter AML Rules for Crypto
- U.S. Senators Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass) and Roger Marshall (R-Ken) have proposed a bill that will extend KYC rules to wallet providers, miners, and validators.
- The legislation will also require banks and money service businesses to report and keep record of certain transactions that involve self-custody wallets.