Nayib Bukele, the president of El Salvador and the principal figure behind the country’s adoption of Bitcoin (BTC), said residents will have the opportunity to convert their crypto to fiat immediately after Bitcoin is recognized as legal tender. In a Sunday announcement on Twitter, Bukele said 4.5 million adults in El Salvador would have the option of
Regulation
Dawn Stump, one of four commissioners currently serving at the Commodity Futures Trading Commission, or CFTC, has released a statement clarifying the agency’s authority with respect to digital assets. In a Monday statement, Stump said the CFTC is empowered with both regulatory and enforcement authority for commodities. She did not specifically say that digital assets were
Major South Korean cryptocurrency company Upbit has reportedly submitted a business report with the Korean Financial Intelligence Unit (FIU). Upbit reported its virtual asset business to the FIU, which operates under South Korea’s top financial regulator, the Financial Services Commission (FSC). Upbit’s operator Dunamu announced the news on Friday, The Korea Economic Daily reported. Upbit
The United States Congress appears to be pushing for greater regulatory clarity regarding crypto assets, having proposed18 bills concerning blockchain and cryptocurrency during 2021 so far. According to analysis published by former Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation regulator, Jason Brett, on August 22, the current 117th Congress has broken from its predecessor in focusing on regulating
Today’s consumers are willing to trade their data for personalization but have fast-growing concerns about data privacy. In a survey from a digital security and credential issuance company Entrust, only 21% of the respondents trust established global brands to keep their personal information secure. As data privacy pressure on Big Tech increases, these companies are
Cryptocurrency brought us peer-to-peer payments that continue to elevate participation in the global economy for millions of people without access to traditional banking services. The rise of decentralized finance (DeFi) promises to further expand access to financial services, including savings, lending, derivatives, asset management and insurance products. This innovation, which empowers financial inclusion, should be
Binance has been at the regulatory cross-hair of jurisdictions across the globe, amid claims of it operating unlicensed businesses. As remediation to the ongoing scrutiny, the crypto exchange has publicly announced new know your customer (KYC) requirements for all users on the platform. “Effective immediately, all new users are required to complete Intermediate Verification to
While the value of cryptocurrencies has varied wildly in the last year, this has not diminished crypto’s attractiveness to criminals. Many of them are moving their illegal activities underground and outside the view of law enforcement. Because of the public nature of most blockchains, however, this rapid movement shouldn’t be a major concern to law
In a business school lecture hall at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), a senior executive for Safaricom gave a prediction of decentralized finance and the future of commerce to a room of keen but confused MBA students. “You will be able to buy your first home on WhatsApp! Smart contracts on the Ethereum blockchain
The mayor of Cool Valley, Missouri said he was exploring giving more than $1 million in Bitcoin to the city’s 1,500 residents. In a Thursday interview with St. Louis news outlet KSDK, Mayor Jayson Stewart said he wanted to see “every single household in my city receive some level of Bitcoin.” Stewart said the funds
Less than two days after submitting separate applications to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, asset managers VanEck and ProShares have seemingly decided not to pursue exchange-traded funds with exposure to Ether. In individual Aug. 20 filings with the SEC, legal representatives of VanEck and ProShares both said the firms had elected not to proceed
Speaking at an online event organized by Council of the Americas, Brazil’s central bank president, Roberto Campos Neto, shared his views on transparent payment networks, the country’s central bank digital currency (CBDC) project and crypto regulation. Campos Neto has been a staunch advocate of the cryptocurrency space since taking office in 2019. His progressive policy-making
Regulatory concerns surrounding Binance.us and its owner, Changpeng Zhou (CZ), have reportedly culminated in investors backing out of a $100 million funding round. The failed funding round also prompted Binance.us CEO Brian Brooks’ surprise decision to step down after serving as its executive for just three months. Brooks, the former Acting Comptroller of the Currency and former
Brian Quintenz, who has served as one of the commissioners with the Commodity Futures Trading Commission, or CFTC, reportedly plans to leave the agency on Aug. 31. According to a Thursday report from the Wall Street Journal, Quintenz is expected to announce his move into the private sector after leaving the CFTC later this month.
Outages in crypto exchanges have resulted in losses for investors trying to get out in time. While Binance has been proactive in neutralizing such situations, numerous investors are reportedly seeking damages due to the exchange’s inoperability. Speaking to CNBC, a Binance spokesperson highlighted the company’s policy that promises to compensate actual trading losses due to
In a newly published Medium piece titled “Good stablecoins, a protocol for money, and digital wallets: the formula to fix our broken payment system”, Facebook’s crypto pioneer David Marcus shared his views on topics of economic inequality, regulatory challenges and Novi’s proposed stablecoin solution. Marcus has spent the last couple of years building Diem’s crypto