Major Bitcoin (BTC) ATM operators in the United States are joining forces to fight illicit activity related to Bitcoin ATMs. Bitcoin ATM operators DigitalMint and Coinsource have launched the Cryptocurrency Compliance Cooperative (CCC), a new association that aims to establish compliance standards for the Bitcoin ATM industry. The new compliance effort has launched with support from major blockchain analytics firms, such as Chainalysis and Elliptic, among its 15 initial members. The CCC is now encouraging participation from cash-based crypto money services businesses, regulators, financial institutions, as well as non-state and law enforcement agencies. The association specifically targets Bitcoin ATMs to …

The government of Kyrgyzstan is moving forward with cryptocurrency adoption by introducing a national regulatory framework for crypto trading platforms. Kyrgyzstan’s State Service for Regulation and Supervision of Financial Markets (Gosfinnadzor), a regulatory agency operating under the Ministry of Economy and Finance, has developed a draft provision for regulating crypto exchanges, local news agency 24.kg reported on Wednesday. The newly proposed regulations reportedly aim to establish the legal status of crypto exchanges operating in Kyrgyzstan, functions, responsibilities and compliance requirements, including the necessary registration with the unified state register. The rules also require crypto exchange service providers to ensure measures …

The controversial $1 trillion infrastructure bill will see a vote in the U.S. House of Representatives without any amendments to the crypto tax provisions by Sept. 27. The vote was agreed to after the House narrowly approved the Democrats’ $3.5 trillion budget blueprint in a vote of 220 to 212. Despite some initial pushback from moderate Democrats, the dissident voters were swayed after House Speaker Nancy Pelosi committed to pass the bill before Sept. 27. Pelosi stated: “I am committing to pass the bipartisan infrastructure bill by September 27. I do so with a commitment to rally House Democratic support …

Powers On... is a monthly opinion column from Marc Powers, who spent much of his 40-year legal career working with complex securities-related cases in the United States after a stint with the SEC. He is now an adjunct professor at Florida International University College of Law, where he teaches the course “Blockchain, Crypto and Regulatory Considerations.” More and more, governments are fearing that they will lose control over aspects of their respective legitimate financial systems, including capital raising and trading, to the hundreds of unlicensed, unregulated centralized and decentralized crypto exchanges worldwide. There is a clear rising chorus of alarm …

Major cryptocurrency exchange Binance is pushing back against allegations of market manipulation and working against the interest of its users. In a Monday Twitter thread, Binance seemingly laid the blame for any claims of manipulating the crypto market on publications spreading fear, uncertainty and doubt, as well as certain individuals impersonating employees at the exchange. The firm said it “reserves the right to take legal action to protect its interests,” but was not opposed to “responsible whistle-blowing that protects the trust of our community.” “Binance has never traded against our users nor manipulated the market, and we never will,” said …

Dawn Stump, one of four commissioners currently serving at the Commodity Futures Trading Commission, or CFTC, has released a statement clarifying the agency's authority with respect to digital assets. In a Monday statement, Stump said the CFTC is empowered with both regulatory and enforcement authority for commodities. She did not specifically say that digital assets were cash-like commodities in the eyes of the regulatory body, but “even if a digital asset is a commodity, it is not regulated by the CFTC.” According to the commissioner, however, the agency is within its power to regulate derivatives on digital assets, “such as …

Iran will once again allow Bitcoin and crypto miners to operate in the country from the last week of September. According to a report by Iran’s Financial Tribune, Tavanir, the country’s power generation organization, made the decision known earlier in August. As previously reported by Cointelegraph, Iran’s government banned Bitcoin (BTC) and crypto mining operations back in May. At the time, the decision was reportedly made to prevent miners from overburdening the grid during the hot summer months. Indeed, Bitcoin miners have been blamed for incessant blackouts and power shortages in Iran. Such has been the extent of the problem …

Yet another blow has been dealt to China’s cryptocurrency community, with news of a new high court ruling in the Shandong province that has drawn out the consequences of crypto’s lack of legal status in the country. As the South China Morning Post (SCMP) reported, the case in question was an appeal against a ruling this January by an intermediate court in the city of Jinan. The plaintiff in the case had lost 70,000 yuan (roughly $10,750) by investing in unnamed crypto tokens back in 2017, which friends of his had reportedly endorsed. Following the People’s Bank of China’s doubling …

Speaking at an online event organized by the Council of the Americas, Roberto Campos Neto, president of the Central Bank of Brazil, shared his views on transparent payments networks, the country’s central bank digital currency project and crypto regulation. Campos Neto has been a staunch advocate of the cryptocurrency space since taking office in 2019. His progressive policy-making has been an encouragement to investors and organizations alike, ambitious to modernize the Brazilian financial infrastructure. During the event, Campos Neto mentioned several ongoing discussions with Brazil’s Securities and Exchange Commission on how to welcome cryptocurrencies into the regulatory landscape: “The financial …

The Swedish government has found itself in the unforeseen situation of paying out around $1.5 million worth of Bitcoin (BTC) to a convicted — and then jailed — drug dealer. Two years ago, the man was convicted in a Swedish court for having illegally earned 36 Bitcoin through online drug sales. Yet, Tove Kullberg, his prosecutor at the time, had used the Bitcoin’s equivalent value in fiat to make her case. The court, therefore, judged that the man should be stripped of his illicitly earned Bitcoin at its then-value of 1.3 million Swedish kronor ($100,000). In the period following the …

The Ontario Securities Commission claimed Aux Cayes FinTech Company Limited, a legal entity in the Republic of Seychelles that operates crypto exchange OKEx, has failed to comply with the province’s law governing securities. In Wednesday's notice, the Ontario Securities Commission, or OSC, alleged that Aux Cayes may have engaged in illegal activity and could face regulatory action if it fails to cooperate with authorities. According to the OSC, the crypto asset products offered through OKEx are considered securities and derivatives, and subject to the Ontario securities law. The regulator claims Aux Cayes has failed to comply with the region’s registration …

Zachary Kelman, general counsel of Cointelegraph, said that the political fight over the tax implications for crypto in the United States infrastructure bill is nothing new, as it’s likely about how lawmakers plan to pay for everything. In an interview with Cointelegraph's Jackson DuMont, Kelman claimed that senators pushing the crypto language in the infrastructure bill — which ultimately passed in the U.S. Senate after one senator objected to a clarifying amendment — may have been more influenced by political concerns than ones potentially affecting the crypto space. Namely, the general counsel claimed that lawmakers know that crypto firms “can't …