Turkey made itself a name as a crypto-friendly country with a "wait and see" approach to digital assets, but that could be about to change, as the government is now ready to take things in hand. The Turkish Ministry of Treasury and Finance went to Twitter to express concerns about cryptocurrencies and to announce collaborative work on the topic with several local regulators on Monday. According to the announcement, the ministry is working with the central bank alongside two financial regulatory agencies: "We share the rising concerns about crypto with the rest of the world. The developments (on crypto around …

Thailand’s Securities and Exchange Commission has walked back previous plans to enact a 1 million baht (about $33,000) minimum annual income requirement for crypto investment in the country. According to a report by the Bangkok Post on Tuesday, the commission has clarified that the previous draft document was published to gauge investor sentiment. The Thai SEC's backtracking comes amid outrage from crypto stakeholders in the country who bemoaned the proposed rule, saying that it would exclude low- and middle-income earners from the cryptocurrency market. Clarifying the commission’s position on the matter, Ruenvadee Suwanmongkol, secretary-general of the Thai SEC, stated: “I …

Authorities of the Chinese autonomous region of Inner Mongolia have proposed closing down all local cryptocurrency mining facilities to reduce energy consumption in the region. The Inner Mongolia National Development and Reform Commission, or NDRC, released an official proposal to shut down local crypto mining operations in line with its energy-saving rules. Published Thursday of last week, the draft proposal suggests to “comprehensively clean up and shut down virtual currency mining projects” by the end of April. The authority also proposed a strict ban on new cryptocurrency mining projects in the region. The NDRC will collect public feedback on the …

Everyone knows the story. When the first block of Bitcoin (BTC) was mined, the protocol itself entered a world of grave economic uncertainty. Not long before the market would hit its lowest point of the 2009 recession, Bitcoin was quietly created, dropped like a life raft alongside a then-sinking economy. The now infamous phrase “Chancellor on brink of second bailout for banks” was cribbed from the headlines, immortalized in code in the origin story of one of the most compelling, innovative, best-performing assets of the last decade. But Bitcoin did not immediately take root beyond a small community of true …

The last few months’ frenzy of institutional money flowing into Bitcoin (BTC) has seen crypto hitting the headlines — at the least as a novelty asset, at the most as a must-have. There is undoubtedly a trend in the market toward greater awareness and acceptance of digital assets as a new investable asset class. A June 2020 report by Fidelity Digital Assets found that 80% of institutions in the United States and Europe have at least an interest in investing in crypto, while more than a third have already invested in some form of digital asset, with Bitcoin being the …

Hindsight is 20/20, but when money is on the line, being prepared can give investors better foresight. Just over a year and a half ago, Investopedia reported on the panic among many crypto investors who’d found themselves on the wrong side of the taxman. The article read, “Online forums like Reddit are abuzz with posts citing possible scenarios by worried investors about pending tax liabilities for their past dealings in cryptocoins, which may now leave them poorer.” As Bitcoin’s (BTC) price soars and investors flock to crypto to cash in, legislators and regulators around the world are taking notice. Most …

Nigeria’s vice president, Yemi Osinbajo, delivered a speech at an economic summit on Friday in which he spoke positively of crypto and blockchain. “There is no question that blockchain technology generally, and cryptocurrencies in particular, will in the coming years, challenge traditional banking, including reserve banking, in ways that we cannot yet imagine,” Osinbajo said on Friday during the Central Bank of Nigeria, or CBN, Bankers’ Committee Economic Summit. "We need to be prepared for that seismic shift, and it may come sooner than later," he said. The Nigerian vice president also noted the broadness of the crypto industry, mentioning …

For the past several years, the trade war between China and the U.S. has been at the center of international relations, with technology playing an outsized role. Within crypto, advancing interest in central bank digital currencies has become part of that narrative of geopolitical competition. Many have framed the development of CBDCs in China and the U.S. as a race — in which case, China is clearly closer to launch and, hence, the “winner.” But a race to the finish is a flawed paradigm, and one to which Cointelegraph has contributed its fair share. For the moment, China is actively …

Belarus is studying the cryptocurrency industry for a potential move into mining digital coins like Bitcoin (BTC). The Ministry of Energy of the Republic of Belarus officially announced Friday that it is actively exploring the pros and cons of cryptocurrency mining. Minister Viktor Karankevich said that the crypto mining industry is rapidly growing all over the world in countries like China, the United States, Canada and Russia. The minister went on to say that the government is considering tapping into the mining industry following an investigation of the potential risks and other factors: “This is a new direction for us …

A senior analyst at asset management firm Bridgewater believes that regulation could potentially make Bitcoin (BTC) a good asset for institutional investors. Bridgewater director of investment research Rebecca Patterson claimed that regulatory certainty around Bitcoin would solve some of the cryptocurrency’s biggest problems associated with high volatility and low liquidity. In a Feb. 24 interview with Bloomberg, Patterson said that issues like volatility and liquidity remain the main hurdles for Bridgewater’s potential move into Bitcoin. “Right now Bitcoin can move 10% on a tweet, that’s not exactly a store of wealth for most institutional investors. So the volatility of Bitcoin …

Alexei Navalny is a noted leader of the Russian opposition. His “Anti-Corruption Foundation” (FBK) has been a thorn in President Vladimir Putin’s side for many years. Though the FBK has been locked out of mainstream politics — much as Navalny has been blocked from running in recent elections — its investigations have managed to garner an audience that Putin has found stubbornly difficult to disperse. That audience has transformed into protests across the country. On top of it all, Navalny’s story highlights an important use case for Bitcoin in a country that effectively sanctions media that don't toe the official …

The Securities and Exchange Commission of Thailand has launched a public consultation on proposed cryptocurrency investor qualification rules. According to an official announcement Thursday, the Thai SEC is now seeking public comments on proposed qualifications for crypto investors including certain income and trading experience requirements. As part of the initiative, the Thai SEC is planning to hold a live hearing through its Facebook page on March 24. The public consultation will continue until March 27, the authority said. According to a proposed consultation paper, the regulator is planning to set solid limits on cryptocurrency trading in Thailand, including requiring local …