Regulation

Cryptocurrency advocacy group DeFi Education Fund (DEF) has urged a United States court to consider the unique aspects of blockchain technology when evaluating the privacy rights of cryptocurrency users under the Fourth Amendment. DEF filed an amicus brief to the U.S. Court of Appeals (First Circuit) on Oct. 20, supporting James Harper’s appeal against the

The United States Treasury Department’s Financial Crimes Enforcement Network, or FinCEN, issued an alert for financial institutions as part of efforts to identify “suspicious activity” related to funding terrorist groups. In an Oct. 20 notice, FinCEN said that the militant group Hamas — behind the Oct. 7 attack on Israel — employed “fundraising campaigns involving

Greek Prime Minister Kryiakos Mitsotakis announced the establishment of an advisory committee to create a national strategy for artificial intelligence (AI) in Greece on Oct. 19. The Greek government said the “exponential pace” of AI development has created the necessity for an advisory committee under the country’s prime minister. The object of the committee is

Crypto-friendly Republican Congressman Tom Emmer is pursuing a nomination to become House speaker, with the 62-year-old receiving endorsement from multiple lawmakers. Congressman Patrick McHenry continues to oversee the position on an interim basis, following a first round of voting on Oct. 17 in which the Republican Party’s nominee for Speaker, Jim Jordan, failed to secure

The Singapore High Court has allowed financial investigation firm Intelligent Sanctuary (iSanctuary) to attach nonfungible tokens (NFTs) containing a legal document to cold wallets associated with a hack, according to United Kingdom-based iSanctuary and local press accounts. A court-issued worldwide freeze order was tokenized as soulbound NFTs and attached to the wallets in question. The

Tether Holdings, the issuer of the world’s largest stablecoin by market capitalization, Tether (USDT), is reportedly preparing to update the frequency of releasing its reserve data reports. Paolo Ardoino, Tether’s chief technology officer and incoming CEO, disclosed that the firm plans to publish reserve data in real-time in 2024, Bloomberg reported on Oct. 20. Tether

Crypto exchange Binance has announced it has onboarded new partners to handle euro deposits and withdrawals, months after losing its previous fiat partner PaySafe in September.  In an Oct. 19 statement, Binance announced that it had signed agreements with new fiat partners for euro payments, deposits, and withdrawals. The move follows regulatory and debanking woes

Lawyers representing the United States Securities and Exchange Commission announced they will seek to dismiss all claims against Ripple CEO Brad Garlinghouse and co-founder Chris Larsen. In an Oct. 19 filing in U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York, the SEC notified the court that the parties involved in its case against

One of the largest European crypto exchanges, Vienna-based Bitpanda has become one of the first foreign entities to receive a virtual assert service provider license in Norway. The announcement came on the company’s official X (former Twitter) account on Oct. 19. Bitpanda holds a license in a number of European jurisdictions, such as Austria, Germany,

Stéphanie Cabossioras has stepped down from her role as the executive director of Binance France, becoming at least the 10th senior executive to leave Binance this year. In an Oct. 19 post on X (formerly known as Twitter), Binance France President David Prinçay confirmed Cabossioras’ departure and expressed his gratitude for her work at the

The governing council of the European Central Bank (ECB) has announced it will begin the ”preparation phase” for the digital euro project following a two-year investigation. In an Oct. 18 notice, the ECB said it plans to “start laying the foundation for the possible issuance of a digital euro” beginning on Nov. 1, adding the

Ethereum restaking — proposed by middleware protocol EigenLayer — is a controversial innovation over the past year that has some of the brightest minds worried about the potential ramifications. Restaking involves reusing staked or locked-up Ether tokens to earn fees and rewards. The restaked tokens can then help secure and validate other protocols.  Proponents believe

The use of cryptocurrency by Hamas militants to fund recent attacks on Israel may have set back Coinbase’s crypto lobbying efforts in the United States, says a new investment report from Berenberg Capital Markets.  In an Oct. 18 research note, Berenberg lead analyst Mark Palmer said the primary driver of his “cautious stance” towards Coinbase

North Carolina Representative Patrick McHenry, chair of the United States House Financial Services Committee and crypto proponent in Congress, is still temporarily in the third most powerful role in government after one of his Republican colleagues failed to secure enough votes. In a vote conducted with members of the U.S. House of Representatives on Oct.

British citizens that hope to access legal assistance through the proposed ‘Help with Fees’ (HwF) scheme will not have cryptocurrency holdings classified as disposable income. The Ministry of Justice published its response following public consultation over its proposed legal aid scheme aimed at providing equal access to the justice system. HwF is aimed at providing

Customers of bankrupt crypto exchange FTX and FTX US could see over 90% of assets returned to them by the end of the second quarter of 2024 after a proposed settlement was reached between FTX creditors and debtors. On Oct. 17, FTX debtors said they reached a “major milestone” in their Chapter 11 case after