Regulation

Following its invasion of Ukraine, sanctions on Russia are becoming more and more devastating. Recently, payment providers decided to block money from coming in and out of the country.  The pressure is mounting on crypto companies as well. Last weekend, payment processing giants Visa and MasterCard joined PayPal in suspending cross-border payments for their Russian clients. The decisions are set to comply with sanctions of NATO and other western countries, where these companies have their headquarters in. The largest credit-card…

Some of the largest crypto exchanges in South Korea have barred Russian users from accessing their services. These bans extend beyond sanctioned individuals and blacklists all Russian IP addresses as well.  IPs Blocked Amid Evasion Concerns According to a local report, most South Korean major exchanges have blacklisted their Russian customers from using their services. This comes after Ukrainian Vice Prime Minister Mykhailo Fedorov called on all cryptocurrency exchanges to block Russian users from accessing their platforms. And of course,…

Brian Armstrong – CEO of Coinbase – refused to freeze Russian users’ assets at his exchange despite officials’ calls to help financially cripple Russia. Damage From Russian Sanctions Similar to the CEOs of Kraken and Binance, Armstrong cited financial sovereignty and crypto-centric values as reasons to continue protecting Russian accounts. “We believe everyone deserves access to basic financial services unless the law says otherwise.” said Armstrong in a Twitter thread discussing the matter on Friday. [caption id="" align="aligncenter" width="1200"] Brian…

In a move that highlights the importance of digital currencies going forward, Venezuela pegged its minimum wage to its own state crypto. On Friday, Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro announced pegging the value of minimum wage to half a Petro, its state-sanctioned digital currency. Although authorities modeled it on the Bitcoin fork Dash, Petro (PTR) is centralized around government issuance. That makes it more like a Central Bank Digital Currency (CBDC) than crypto. Half a petro worth roughly 126 bolivars or…

The United States Department of Justice (DOJ) has recently launched the KleptoCapture task force. The task force's aim is to enforce sanctions imposed on Russia for its invasion of neighboring country Ukraine. Of late, there have been talks that Russia might turn to crypto to circumvent its sanctions. The DOJ’s establishment of KleptoKapture is a move to nip this in the bud. Efforts to Mitigate Attack on Ukraine In a press statement released on Tuesday, 2nd March, Deputy Attorney General…

As part of an ongoing campaign against terrorism funding, Israeli officials have confiscated 30 crypto wallets from the Gaza-based exchange Al-Mutahadun. Wallets Seized from 12 Accounts The head of Israel’s Ministry of Defense, Beni Gantz, gave the green light for the seizure on Monday, February 28. Following this, officials from the Ministry, the Police, and the Military pooled resources for the operation. Together, the joint force took possession of 30 wallets suspected to be affiliated with the Hamas terrorists. Alongside…

As the war in Ukraine rages on, Russia is facing crippling sanctions. The Ukrainian government wants these sanctions to extend to crypto. Ukraine is calling the largest crypto exchange to block all crypto addresses in Russia and Belarus. Moreover, they want to freeze the assets of both politicians and citizens. Ukraine's Vice Prime Minister and Minister of Digital Transformation Mykhailo Fedorov called for the unprecedented move. It's crucial to freeze not only the addresses linked to Russian and Belarusian politicians,…

BitConnect founder Satish Kumbhani has been officially charged with defrauding investors on the crypto platform of about $2.4 billion, via an elaborate Ponzi scheme. Kumbhani’s Charges The US Department of Justice shared the details of his charges after a federal grand jury indicted Kumbhani. According to the official documents, Kumbhani’s allegations include working with co-conspirators to commit wire fraud.  Additionally, the authorities charged him with conspiracy to commit market manipulation and for providing unlicensed money transfer services. The grand jury’s…

Brazil’s Senate’s Economic Affairs Committee (CAE) has released an official report stating that it has approved a bill endorsing the regulation of BTC and crypto markets across the South American nation. What does the Bill Entail? With this move, Brazil is steadily on the road to adopting cryptocurrency on a wider scale. The bill paves the way for residents of Brazil to invest in Bitcoin and other digital assets. It also facilitates their use in everyday transactions.  Effective regulation is…