Despite the turbulence that broke out in the crypto market this summer, there is an important long-term marker that should be considered in any complex assessment — the combination of adoption and regulation. The latest report by EUBlockchain Observatory, named “EU Blockchain Ecosystem Developments,” tries to measure this combination within the European Union, combining the data on each and every member country from Portugal to Slovakia. As the original report counts more than 200 pages, Cointelegraph prepared a summary with the intent to capture the most vital information about the state of crypto and blockchain in Europe. Cointelegraph started from …

A Latvian artist going only by the name of Kiwie has announced their intention to release more than a thousand nonfungible tokens that represent real-world street art. According to a statement from Kiwie, the NFT pieces will allow art connoisseurs to physically own street art without removing the brick wall, sidewalk or other infrastructure to which it was applied. The NFTs feature 3D renderings of the artist’s “Fat Monster” character spray painted in 1,001 real-world locations with corresponding geotags. “Using NFTs to represent ownership allows to maintain the beauty of the art intact,” said Kiwie. “Blockchain is not just a …

Passengers flying with Latvian airline airBaltic now have more cryptocurrency payment options. According to an announcement on the airline’s website on Monday, passengers can now pay for flight tickets using Ether (ETH) and Dogecoin (DOGE). Other accepted digital currencies include Bitcoin Cash (BCH) and four U.S. dollar-pegged stablecoins: USD Coin (USDC), Binance USD (BUSD), Gemini Dollar (GUSD) and Paxos Standard (PAX). The airline began accepting Bitcoin (BTC) payments back in July 2014. Indeed, the Latvian national carrier is touted as being the first airline in the world to offer cryptocurrency payment options. As part of its announcement, airBaltic clarified that …

Latvia's Financial and Capital Market Commission has identified suspect transactions and attempted fraud in the domestic cryptocurrency space. In an official warning published on Monday, the FCMC urged investors to "be particularly vigilant, as cryptocurrencies operate in an infrastructure that is currently characterized by lower regulation than in the financial and capital markets." Within Latvia, the issuance and circulation of cryptocurrencies are mostly unregulated, with exceptions for certain types of investment services and contracts involving crypto that require a license from the FCMC. The regulator has shared several details of the "signs of fraud" it has identified within the domestic …

Law enforcement officials from around the world hav taken action against a major transnational money laundering operation involving cryptocurrency. On Oct. 15, Europol announced a successful operation across 16 countries that resulted in the arrest of 20 individuals suspected of working for the QQAAZZ criminal network. The organization is accused of laundering tens of millions of euros for top cybercriminals since 2016. The funds are allegedly transferred through international bank accounts, shell companies based in Poland and Bulgaria, and via cryptocurrency mixing services. Around 40 homes were searched across the United Kingdom, Spain, Italy, Latvia, and Bulgaria as part of …