Governments all around the globe are looking into methods to regulate cryptocurrencies as a result of their transformation from a speculative investment to a new asset class.
SEC Charges Bittrex, Former CEO
Bittrex was charged by the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), which said the Seattle-based exchange had broken various securities laws by not registering with the financial watchdog.
According to the criminal complaint filed by the SEC, the exchange earned at least $1.3 billion in illegal profits between 2017 and 2022 while failing to register as a broker-dealer, exchange, and clearing agency.
The defendants in the complaint include Bittrex, Bittrex Global, and Bill Shihara, the former CEO and co-founder of Bittrex.
CEO of Coinbase: Crypto firms would expand “offshore”
The U.S. and Britain should make their laws for the cryptocurrency sector far more explicit, according to Brian Armstrong, CEO of American cryptocurrency exchange Coinbase Worldwide Inc., to prevent enterprises from expanding in “offshore havens.”
The collapse of the Bahamas-based FTX exchange last year, according to Armstrong, has highlighted the need for major economies to have clear cryptocurrency regulation, he said at a conference hosted by the industry organization Innovate Finance.
Armstrong continued, “We need clarification on local legislation and regulation because else these firms will be set up in offshore havens” like the UK and the US.
UK may introduce cryptocurrency law
According to Andrew Griffith, finance secretary for the UK Treasury, who recently talked with CNBC, cryptocurrency law will soon be enacted. Griffith said, “The window is over the next 12 months or so.”
He said that with Brexit, “We’ve won control back of the rules, not something that the UK has enjoyed for decades.” As a result, we can move swiftly and proportionately, and I’m quite determined that we make use of that opportunity.
The U.S. has lately cracked down on cryptocurrency firms, but the U.K. has taken a different approach, with government officials there portraying the country as a hub for the digital asset market.
Republicans criticize the SEC chairman over the crypto lawsuits
On Tuesday, Gary Gensler, the chairman of the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), gave testimony before the House Financial Services Committee and addressed questions about a variety of topics, including the agency’s recent crackdown on cryptocurrency firms.
Beginning with a reiteration of his belief that “the vast majority of crypto tokens are securities,” SEC Chairman began his prepared remarks.
In a letter to the committee, the Republicans asserted that the standards of the national securities market are unsuitable for digital assets.
Firms seeking to provide crypto services may apply for a license in UAE
The Securities and Commodities Authority (SCA) of the United Arab Emirates said on Monday, April 17, that it will accept applications from companies wishing to offer cryptocurrency services in the country, except virtual asset enterprises already operating in financial-free zones.
The SCA board of directors gave the go-ahead for this initiative as part of a strategy to turn the UAE into a Middle Eastern blockchain powerhouse.
The UAE Council of Ministers designated the SCA as the entity in charge of making decisions on the regulation of virtual asset transactions and licensing for service providers and their “work mechanism” in Decision No. 111, which was published at the end of 2022.
Fed approves Binance US and Voyager’s $1 billion deal
An agreement between the US government and the bankrupt cryptocurrency lender Voyager Digital Holdings advances a $1 billion plan that would allow Voyager to transfer its assets to Binance’s US business.
According to a document filed on April 19 in a New York federal court, the US government, the committee of the insolvent lender’s creditors, and the lender itself reached an agreement for the deal with Binance to go forward as planned.
The government may continue to seek an appeal against the so-called exculpation standards, which are described in the brief as the conditions for safeguarding Voyager from certain legal repercussions, according to the brief.
Holder of PEPE Earns $1M from $250
Pepe, a brand-new coin, has experienced astonishing 7500x growth in just a few days, leading to a sharp rise in popularity in the cryptocurrency market.
Fans of meme coins took notice of a new cryptocurrency after it quickly and astonishingly gained money. Early PEPE cryptocurrency investors who put $250 into the project, which is based on the well-known online meme Pepe the Frog, made over $1.1 million in less than a week.
It can be challenging for the PEPE holder to realize that benefit due to token liquidity issues. Even if the investor in the meme currency now holds $1.02 million in PEPE tokens, a closer check indicates that there are differences between the value of assets “on paper” and the actual cash possessed.
For international trade, Russia wants to mine cryptocurrencies
International sanctions imposed on the country will stop it from using the system of global payments that use US dollars.
The Russian Central Bank will legalize the use of cryptocurrencies in the cross-border settlement, but only during the pilot phase, according to Elvira Nabiullina, the head of the central bank, who recently made this announcement during a meeting in the State Duma.
One of the largest countries in the world, Russia, still uses and partially regulates cryptocurrencies. On January 1, 2021, a framework for regulating cryptocurrencies was introduced, although Russia retained a major chunk of the industry unregulated. In Q3 2021, the Russian central bank proposed a framework for a complete ban on the cryptocurrency sector, but after the conflict between Russia and Ukraine in Q1 2022, things have altered.
EU Parliament’s first cryptocurrency regulations
The EU Parliament has approved the Markets in Crypto Act (MiCA), sometimes known as the “world’s most comprehensive cryptocurrency rules.”
The bill would allegedly impose a range of requirements on cryptocurrency platforms, token issuers, and dealers with an emphasis on reducing risks for consumers, including transparency, disclosure, authorization, and supervision of transactions.
The rules will apply to digital assets including tradeable tokens like NFTs and digital currencies like Bitcoin and Ethereum, whose values are guaranteed by blockchain technology.
Ukraine plans to implement the new cryptocurrency legislation of the EU
Following the recent adoption of the Markets in Crypto-Assets (MiCA) legislation by the European Parliament, Ukrainian authorities said publicly that they will follow suit and apply the same set of rules locally.
The deputy head of the Ukrainian Tax Committee, Yaroslav Zheleznyak, announced on his Telegram channel on 20 April that “we, along with colleagues from the NKCPFR [National Commission on Securities and the Stock Market] and other regulators, are already working on implementing some provisions of MiCA to make crypto assets legal in Ukraine.”
Yuriy Boyko, a member of the NKCPFR, said: “I am sure Ukraine will be one of the first countries to implement this regulation into national legislation.”
Gemini will launch crypto derivatives outside of the US
As the regulatory crackdown on cryptocurrency exchanges in the US grows more intense, Gemini, a well-known cryptocurrency exchange, has announced the forthcoming launch of Gemini Foundation, a non-US crypto derivatives platform.
The choice was taken in response to heightened scrutiny from American regulators like the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), who have been paying close attention to exchanges like Binance, Kraken, and Coinbase.
The Gemini Foundation will first provide a perpetual bitcoin (BTC) contract with a GUSD (Gemini Dollars) value; a subsequent perpetual ETH/GUSD contract will be made available. In 30 countries, including Singapore, Hong Kong, Brazil, and South Korea, qualifying customers will be able to trade in spot and derivative items using the platform. Customers can use their crypto holdings as leverage to manage risk, generate returns, obtain directional exposure, and obtain long or short exposure to the cryptocurrency market.
Founder of Dogecoin: Cryptocurrency speculators are mentally ill
One of the Dogecoin developers, Billy Markus, is well known for his misgivings about investing in cryptocurrencies. This time, he said something about it and compared it to “investing in mental illness.” Furthermore, he noted that crypto investment is rising.
Markus is well-known on the cryptocurrency Twitter as “Shibetoshi Nakamoto,” a parody moniker for the secretive Bitcoin creator Satoshi Nakamoto. Markus invented Dogecoin as a satire on Bitcoin based on the BTC code.
CEO of Metallicus compares Dogecoin with Bitcoin
In a recent interview with Fox Business reporter Eleanor Terrett, Marshall Hayner, CEO of the financial services firm Metallicus and Board Member of the Dogecoin Foundation, argued against the US SEC’s classification of the cryptocurrency Dogecoin as a security.
In a fascinating example, Hayner demonstrated that Dogecoin wasn’t made to make a tonne of money. Jackson Palmer and Billy Markus, the coin’s inventors, utilize Dogecoin for smaller-scale tasks like purchasing old cars and organizing parties. Furthermore, he said that in contrast to other cryptocurrencies, the meme-coin lacked a Genesis wallet and a huge central money pool.
He said that dogecoin is similar to bitcoin (BTC) and has a lively community when asked why the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) did not look into the meme coin.
Regulation of cryptocurrency won’t work: FM Sitharaman
Nirmala Sitharaman, the Union Finance Minister, said on Sunday that there must be an international agreement to regulate cryptocurrencies before India takes any action.
To successfully govern it, according to Sitharaman, a global template may need to be created, and everyone involved would need to work together on it, according to PTI.
The Union Minister stressed that even while “distributed ledger technology” has potential and worth, this does not imply that it should be regulated. I’m happy to see that the G20 has kept it on the agenda for this year. A report on cryptocurrencies and how they can impact macroeconomic stability has been published by the IMF. The plan was approved by the G20, whose presidency is now held by India. The Financial Stability Board (FSB), which the G20 founded, has committed to deliver a report that also emphasizes financial stability, according to Sitharaman.
