Dan Berkovitz, one of three commissioners currently serving at the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission, or CFTC, said while the agency is suited to futures contracts, swaps, and options trading, it would need additional resources to handle the cash market for crypto assets. Speaking at the Managed Funds Association Digital Assets Conference on Tuesday, Berkovitz said the Commodity Futures Trading Commission enforcement actions in the crypto space have been “aggressive,” citing a $100 million civil monetary penalty against derivatives exchange BitMEX. Though he said the agency had the “capability and the expertise” to further regulate crypto assets, it was currently …

Riccardo Spagni, the former lead maintainer of the privacy coin Monero, has reported that United States officials have released him after more than a month in custody. In a Tuesday tweet, Spagni said he was working with his legal team to return to South Africa to address the allegations against him. Authorities in the U.S. arrested Spagni in August on fraud charges tied to alleged crimes that occurred in South Africa between 2009 and 2011 at a company called Cape Cookies. “I am actively working with my attorneys on a way to return to South Africa as soon as possible …

A new poll from Newsweek suggests that as many as 10.8 million Texans may support legislation that makes cryptocurrency legal in the next election. According to a Sept. 20 report, a Newsweek poll that surveyed more than 9,700 eligible voters across ten U.S. states suggested that 37% of Texas residents would vote in favor of a ballot measure to make crypto legal, while 42% said they would support crypto-friendly legislation similar to that in Wyoming. With a population of roughly 29 million people as of 2021, Texas could have more than 10 million residents supporting the adoption of cryptocurrencies. The …

The Boston Blockchain Association, or BBA, together with Boston-based media house Media Shower and the Chamber of Digital Commerce, are working to lobby for favorable crypto regulations in Massachusetts. According to a release issued on Monday, the BBA in collaboration with Media Shower and the Chamber of Digital Commerce has released a crypto regulatory toolkit for lawmakers in the state. Dubbed the Massachusetts Edition of the Legislator’s Toolkit for Blockchain Technology, the document reportedly aims to guide the state's policymakers toward enacting laws that will benefit the cryptocurrency industry within the Commonwealth. The policy document reportedly covers five core recommendations …

Noh Woong-rae, a member of South Korea’s National Assembly and a representative of the country’s ruling party, reportedly plans to postpone a bill clarifying the taxation of crypto until 2023. According to a Thursday report from Naver News, Noh said the Democratic Party of Korea plans to push back against the intention of South Korea’s Ministry of Finance to tax virtual assets starting in 2022. According to the South Korean lawmaker, it’s currently too difficult to secure data to be used for taxes on crypto exchanges and through P2P transactions. “In a situation where the relevant taxation infrastructure is not …

Resolution 215 of 2021 issued by the Banco Central de Cuba (BCC) — the country’s central bank — recognizing cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin (BTC) is now in effect. According to Cuba’s official state news agency Prensa Latina, the order became official on Wednesday. With crypto legally recognized by the BCC, Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies can now be used for commercial transactions and investments in Cuba. As previously reported by Cointelegraph, the central bank first announced plans to recognize and regulate crypto back in late August. Indeed, Resolution 215 of 2021 contains provisions for a licensing regime for crypto exchanges and other …

On Wednesday, speaking at a meeting of the Exchequer Club — which is a group of senior economic and financial policy professionals headquartered in Washington, D.C. — Acting Comptroller of the Currency Michael Hsu delivered remarks on the topic of safeguarding trust in banking. In the speech, Hsu named reducing inequality, adapting to digitalization, acting on climate change and guarding against complacency as the main priorities of his office. Speaking on the regulatory challenges emerging as a result of digitization of the financial system, the head of the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) listed rising cryptocurrency-related and …

BitRiver, the largest cryptocurrency mining colocation services provider in Russia, is unlikely to be affected by a new crypto crackdown from the Bank of Russia, according to the firm’s CEO. On Wednesday, the Russian central bank announced that the authority has started working with local banks in order to slow down payments to cryptocurrency exchanges. Sergey Shvetsov, the first deputy governor at the Bank of Russia, reportedly said that the regulator is now considering amending the law to “more clearly prohibit the use of cryptocurrency” and introduce additional administrative and criminal liabilities. While Shvetsov did not clarify what kind of …

The United States Securities and Exchange Commission has charged three of Chinese billionaire Guo Wengui’s companies over an initial coin offering (ICO) and initial public offering (IPO) that fetched around $487 million combined. The infamous Guo, also known as Miles Kwok or Miles Guo, is an exiled Chinese businessman who currently resides in New York. Wengui is known for his controversial political takes and his ties to Donald Trump confidant Steve Bannon. The SEC submitted a cease and desist order on Monday, with the documents showing that Guo’s companies have agreed to pay a settlement with the SEC within 14 …

Democrats in the United States House of Representatives have proposed tax initiatives that could affect crypto users to fund a $3.5 trillion spending package. According to a document released by the House Committee on Ways and Means on Monday, the proposal would increase the tax rate on long-term capital gains from the existing 20% to 25% for “certain high-income individuals.” A surtax of 3.8% on net investment income would seemingly apply to the proposed changes, bringing the U.S. capital gains and dividends tax rate to 28.8% for wealthy crypto users. In addition, the tax plan would add digital assets to …

Gary Gensler, chair of the United States Securities and Exchange Commission, is once again urging crypto projects with securities to register with the regulatory body to ensure that investors are protected. In a prepared statement for his testimony at the Senate Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs scheduled for Sept. 14, Gensler said the Securities and Exchange Commission, or SEC, was working with the Commodities Futures Trading Commission for investor protection in crypto markets. In addition, he hopes to develop a policy framework by working with the Federal Reserve, Department of Treasury, Office of the Comptroller of the Currency, …

Too much is happening in the realm of crypto policy and regulation to leave the biggest developments of each week without a roundup and at least some conceptual reflection. Starting today, we are getting back to decoding crypto law and everything around it that is worth decoding. Who’s next to follow El Salvador? Eyeballs galore will be pinned to the great Salvadoran experiment from now on. People with PhDs in economics and applied statistics within central banks and research institutes will chase every accessible data point that could be remotely helpful in making sense of the effects of Bitcoin’s adoption …