The Dubai Financial Services Authority, the financial regulatory agency for the special economic zone, the Dubai International Financial Centre, is looking to enhance local cryptocurrency-related regulations. The DFSA is planning to introduce a regulatory framework for diverse digital assets as part of its 2021–2022 business plan released on Jan. 18. According to the DFSA, the upcoming crypto framework will further expand the DFSA’s regulation of digital asset issuers and associated trading platforms. The framework will include a number of digital asset types like tokenized securities and cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin (BTC): “We will build upon recent achievements in this space over …

Huobi Korea, the South Korean arm of the world’s second-largest cryptocurrency exchange by trading volume, has been certified by a major regulator. According to an announcement on Jan. 18, the Korea Internet and Security Agency, or KISA, has granted Huobi Korea an information security management system, or ISMS, certification. The ISMS certification will provide Huobi Korea with a comprehensive management system to ensure security and compliance with the Special Payment Act — new legislation requiring local crypto businesses to report transactions in line with revised Know Your Customer and Anti-Money Laundering policies. Specifically, exchanges must report the real names of …

Neil Liversidge, a veteran financial advisor, has called on the government of the United Kingdom to ban transactions in cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin (BTC). Liversidge, the owner of the independent financial advisory firm West Riding Personal Financial Solutions, started a petition urging local financial authorities to stop crypto transactions in the U.K. The petition reads: “Legislate to prohibit the payment by or acceptance of cryptocurrencies by UK resident businesses or individuals, and require UK regulators (the FCA and PRA) to prohibit transactions by UK financial institutions in cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin.” Liversidge cited a common anti-crypto narrative, arguing that cryptos like …

The Chinese national blockchain project, the Blockchain Service Network, is planning to pilot integration with global central bank digital currencies. According to a Jan. 15 blog post, the BSN is looking to build a universal digital payment network, or UDPN, based on CBDCs of various countries as part of its 2021 roadmap. Currently at the design stage, the beta version of UDPN is expected to launch in the second half of 2021. The BSN plans to complete the UDPN development in five years. With the UDPN, BSN aims to enable a standardized digital currency transfer method and payment procedure. The …

Anatoly Aksakov, a member of the Russian State Duma, has reiterated his negative stance on Bitcoin (BTC) shortly after the cryptocurrency briefly retouched $40,000 on Jan. 14. In an interview with local news agency TASS, Aksakov argued that Bitcoin is not backed by anything and thus the Bitcoin bubble is poised to burst sooner or later: “Bitcoin is not backed by anything as a cryptocurrency. This is a private currency, and its value is based on trust of the related data system. In this context Bitcoin provides a basis for a bubble on the crypto market, and I think this …

In response to a deluge of comments, the United States Treasury Department's Anti-Money Laundering office is slowing its roll on a rushed proposal to monitor a whole new range of cryptocurrency transactions. On Thursday, the Treasury's Financial Crimes Enforcement Network, or FinCEN, announced that it was extending the window on comments in response to a rule originally announced two days before Christmas and less than a month before a new administration takes over. The rule as originally proposed sought to add new thresholds for registered money services business — i.e., crypto exchanges — transacting with self-hosted wallets, which are only …

Jeju Island, a major tourist destination in South Korea, is introducing a government-backed, system for tracking COVID-19 contacts based on blockchain technology. On Jan. 14, the Jeju Special Self-Governing Province and blockchain technology firm Iconloop announced that the blockchain-based contact tracing system is now fully operational. Called “Jeju Safety Code,” the project was initiated in August 2020 to enable COVID-19 contact tracing for Jeju Island’s 15 million annual visitors. The project has been developed jointly by Iconloop and Jeju Island through a public-private partnership agreement. Since August, the local government and Iconloop have been implementing the system at public institutions …

The head of the U.S. Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) Brian P. Brooks has officially announced that he is stepping down on January 14, 2021. In a statement dated January 13, the organization said that Chief Operating Officer Blake Paulson will become Acting Comptroller of the Currency, replacing Brooks who has served for eight months. Brian P. Brooks to Step Down, Blake Paulson to Become Acting Comptroller of the Currency on January 14, 2021 https://t.co/bGpnNapT1F — OCC (@USOCC) January 13, 2021 The outgoing chief Brooks, formerly head of legal at Coinbase, has been a breath of fresh …

Russia’s central bank digital currency, or CBDC, could contain a number of risks related to cybersecurity and fraud, according to several local financial institutions. The Association of Russian Banks, or ARB, has released its official feedback on Russia’s digital ruble project on Jan. 13. The study included 17 ABR credit institutions in Russia accounting for 58% of the total assets of the domestic banking system. According to the report, the majority of ARB members believe that risks associated with the digital ruble are similar to those of cashless transactions powered by banking accounts and cards, as well as cryptocurrencies. The …

SIMBA Chain, a cloud-based smart contract platform, has been tasked with revamping the supply chain of the United States military after it received a $1.5 million grant from the U.S. Office of Navy Research. The project will be responsible for developing a blockchain-based solution to enable demand sensing for critical military weaponry parts. Demand sensing is a forecasting technique used in supply chain logistics that processes information in real-time to accurately predict demand ahead of time. Work will reportedly focus on constructing a use case centered on the Boeing F/A-18 Hornet — a combat jet which had its first variant …

President-elect Biden has finally decided on his nominee to head the Securities and Exchange Commission. At least according to Reuters' anonymous sourcing in a Tuesday report, Gary Gensler will be Biden's nominee as SEC Chair. During the Obama administration, Gensler was the chairman of the Commodity Futures Trading Commission, in which capacity he was in charge of enforcing the many new provisions of the Dodd-Frank Act that followed the 2008 financial crisis. Gensler has spent most of the Trump years at MIT, teaching courses on digital assets and blockchain. If nominated, there is little doubt that a now-Democrat-controlled Senate would …

In an opinion piece published in the Financial Times on Tuesday, Acting Comptroller of the Currency Brian Brooks put forward the need to reconfigure banking regulations for an age of algorithms. Brooks, who currently leads the Treasury's Office of the Comptroller of the Currency, compared existing banking regulations to traffic laws. He further used the analogy of self-driving cars for new steps in decentralized finance. "Just as the original rules of the road protected us from other drivers, so our current bank regulations exist mainly to prevent human failings," wrote Brooks. The overall tone of Brook's letter is confident that …