Brian Brooks, Acting Comptroller of the Currency said the future of cryptocurrency regulations is in the hands of the people, and not the government. He told Cointelegraph's Alex Cohen at the LA Blockchain Summit that he believes that change tends to happen slowly. While the Internet 1.0 didn’t seem revolutionary, look where we’re at now. “In the end, it’s the market and consumers that will decide the fate of crypto regulation, not the government,” said Brooks, formerly the Chief Legal Officer at Coinbase. He explained that the role of the government is to set up a regulatory framework to prevent …

Among the leadership of the Commodity Futures Trading Commission, Brian Quintenz is known as one of the leading voices in favor of crypto. His announcement in April that he would only stay “until the earlier of the confirmation of my successor or October 31, 2020,” caused quite a stir among the crypto community. But now Quintenz says that he is staying on past that October 31 end date. Quintenz told Cointelegraph: Given the time in between that announcement and when someone was actually nominated, it seemed to me like there was a chance if I were to step down in …

Ukraine-based crypto exchange Kuna.io is refusing to provide personal information about individuals who could potentially be labeled as dissidents by the government of Belarus. According to an Oct. 5 Facebook post from Belarus Solidary Foundation, or BYSOL, founder Andrej Stryzhak, Kuna has stated it will not comply with an official request sent on Sept. 30 by Belarus’ Department of Financial Investigations, or FDI, under the country’s Committee of State Control. The department requested personal information on Belarusians who had received funds through BYSOL, insinuating that they may have been involved in the country-wide protests sometime in the last two months. …

Update: The Justice Department reports John McAfee has been arrested in Spain for tax evasion and is awaiting extradition to the United States. On Monday, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission filed suit against John McAfee for allegedly promoting initial coin offerings (ICOs) without disclosing that the ICO issuers were paying him, a violation of U.S. securities law. Per the complaint: "From at least November 2017 through February 2018, McAfee leveraged his fame to make more than $23.1 million U.S. Dollars ('USD') in undisclosed compensation by recommending at least seven “initial coin offerings” or ICOs to his Twitter followers." The …

The Bank of Thailand launched the world’s first blockchain-based government savings bond issuance platform using IBM’s blockchain technology. Within two weeks of the launch, the central bank sold more than $1.6 billion worth of savings bonds, as per IBM’s official announcement on Oct. 5, 2020. The use of blockchain technology is said to have reduced the bond issuance time from 15 days to just two days. The increased efficiency of the process has also reduced operational cost and redundant validation of documents involved in bond issuance. IBM along with the central bank collaborated with seven other institutions including Public Debt …

This year has been a strong one for digital asset markets, highlighted by growing institutional inflows and a propitious shift in the regulatory environment. Witness the U.S. Securities Exchange Commission’s September letter that says crypto exchanges that comply with SEC Rule 15c3-3 (the Customer Protection Rule) are free to trade digital asset securities. With more than 50 million people around the world investing and trading in crypto in meaningful volumes, Goldman Sachs has recently appointed a new global head of digital assets, as did JPMorgan in February. Goldman’s move was a noted reversal following a May earnings call in which …

As the cryptocurrency world matures with more and more jurisdictions legalizing it and ensuring crypto becomes an industry standard, cryptocurrency receives a quality mark that proves that it can earn users’ trust. Over the next four years, the European Union will introduce new rules that will allow the introduction of blockchain technologies and crypto assets into the traditional financial sector. For now, however, the need to obtain regulatory approval for financial activities remains the main obstacle to entering the market, which is also associated with a large waste of time and money for startups — although this is not always …

On the morning of Oct. 1, the United States government authorities in New York issued indictments for four of the senior team of BitMEX, the famed “wild card” exchange based in Hong Kong. Despite that, the crypto exchange still continues to operate its services. BitMEX is one of the world’s largest crypto exchanges and has a reputation for being notoriously “relaxed” on Know Your Customer and ID procedures for its users — at least until mid-August of this year. Additionally, users are allowed a high withdrawal limit with little to no KYC. After doing some research, it is clear that …

Thanks to regulatory uncertainty from the United States Securities and Exchange Commission and a hodgepodge of state licensing requirements, the development of crypto trading in the U.S. remains stuck in the backwaters of trading reserved for Over-the-Counter Bulletin Board issues. In order to ensure the continued and healthy growth of digital asset markets, it is critical to expand the market share of institutional crypto trading. That’s a better business model for digital asset markets, and it will force U.S. regulators to act quicker. Digital asset markets embracing this will realize that better controls will attract more institutional liquidity, and organizing …

On Friday, the Commodity Futures Trading Commission made a fraudster pay back $7.4 million to investors while vowing to protect the Bitcoin market. Per the CFTC's announcement, James McDonald, Director of the commission's enforcement division, said The CFTC will continue working to protect our markets, including the burgeoning markets for digital assets such as Bitcoin, from fraudulent schemes, and will work in parallel with our criminal law enforcement colleagues where appropriate. Today's announcement concerns Jon Barry Thomson, who pleaded guilty to commodities fraud for convincing two investors to send him over $7 million for a Bitcoin investment scheme that never …

Over the years, technology has improved by leaps and bounds, therefore making life more cost-effective and efficient. Such technological improvements, however, may not save citizens money as intended, due to inflationary efforts, according to Diginex CEO Richard Byworth. "Technology is just so deflationary on many of our goods and services," Byworth told Cointelegraph in an interview. Diginex stands as a company helping produce framework for blockchain and crypto solutions. Byworth remembers buying music albums on CDs decades ago, which sold for 16 pounds each, valued at approximately $25 in U.S. dollar terms at the time. Fast-forward to present day. Customers …

The Romanian authorities are set to host their first-ever auction of cryptocurrency, seized from a fraud case. On Oct. 2, the National Agency for the Management of Seized Assets (ANABI) announced its forthcoming auction of the confiscated Bitcoin (BTC) and Ether (ETH), as required by a ruling from the Prosecutor's Office in Ploiesti Court. The specific quantities of cryptocurrency up for auction have not been reported. In a press release, ANABI stated: Taking into account the nature of the moveable property put up for auction, the successful tenderer will have to inform the Agency, to proceed with the transfer, about …