In the world of digital finance, where the weapon of choice for a heist is a computer rather than a semi-automatic firearm, tracking down scams and frauds from across the world becomes a near-impossible feat for centralized police forces. However, in an interview with Cointelegraph, an anonymous cyber vigilante shares insights into how he went about tracking down a group of decentralized finance (DeFi) scammers responsible for the $25 million StableMagnet rug pull, coordinating with police authorities and eventually having the stolen money returned back to the investors. The StableMagnet platform lured unwary investors under the pretext of high returns …

Over the last week, regulators in three major jurisdictions across two continents introduced new rules governing cryptocurrency-related promotions and advertisements. Citing consumer risks associated with digital asset investments, authorities in the United Kingdom, Singapore and Spain tightened the requirements around crypto firms’ marketing messaging and customer recruitment practices. While some experts view this emerging trend as a sign of a new global phase of cryptocurrency regulation, questions about the efficiency and universal applicability of this approach persist. New measures In the United Kingdom, Her Majesty’s Treasury issued a report summarizing the results of a public consultation on crypto-asset promotions, published …

The former Secretary of State for Health and Social Care and current U.K. Member of Parliament (MP) Matt Hancock urged the House of Commons to make England the “home” of crypto. Hancock has served as an MP for West Suffolk since 2010 but stood down from his role as the Health Secretary in mid-2021 following controversy surrounding COVID breaches tied to an alleged extramarital affair. Which is to say his endorsement, while welcomed by the industry, may not hold as much cachet as it once did. Following up from his speech at the House of Commons on Jan. 27, Hancock …

John Lennon’s eldest son Julian is selling some of the rarest pieces of music history from his private collection. John Lennon’s coat from the “Magical Mystery Tour” film, his cape from “Help!,” three guitars and Paul McCartney’s handwritten arrangement notes for “Hey Jude” are some of the most sought after memorabilia from music history up for nonfungible token (NFT) auction. The NFT series, called "Lennon Connection: The NFT Collection," has opened up for bidding on Monday and will commence on February 7 in collaboration with NFT marketplace YellowHeart and Julien's Auctions. A portion of the sale from the NFT auction …

The United Kingdom is actively looking to regulate the crypto market and has proposed many new policies to bring various crypto markets under the rule of law. However, among the various newly proposed suggestions, what turned many heads is the request to remove blockchain and Distributed Ledger Technology (DLT) references from the definition of crypto assets. BRITAIN SETS OUT PLANS FOR REGULATING CRYPTO ASSETS, PROPOSES TO REMOVE REFERENCE TO BLOCKCHAIN FROM THE DEFINITION OF CRYPTO ASSETS — *Walter Bloomberg (@DeItaone) January 18, 2022 A new crypto report titled “Cryptoasset promotions: Consultation response” from the Her Majesty’s (HM) Treasury noted that, …

The House of Lords Economic Affairs Committee — an investigative governing body representing the economic interests of the United Kingdom — has released an official report assessing the pertinence of a government-issued central bank digital currency (CDBC). Titled “Central bank digital currencies: a solution in search of a problem?,” the 52-page publication covers a litany of areas in relation to domestic CBDC endeavours, and regularly cites the preliminary research taskforce established by Bank of England and HM Treasury in April 2020. Over 50 individuals, including financial experts, university professors from elite institutions, managing directors of large corporations, as well as …

The FTC published an alert of a new version of a scam involving cryptocurrencies. The scam has three key components, an impersonator, a QR code and a crypto ATM where the victims will be directed to send money. According to the FTC, fraudsters pretend to be public officials, law enforcement agents or employees of local utility companies. The imposters also utilize dating apps and pretend to be potential romantic partners or call victims to announce that you’ve won a prize. No matter how it starts, it always ends up with the scammer asking for money. If the user falls for …

Lisa Cameron, a member of parliament for the United Kingdom’s House of Commons, is reportedly chairing a lobbying group aimed at promoting crypto-related legislation in government. According to a Friday report from the Financial Times, members of parliament as well as members of the House of Lords in the United Kingdom launched the Crypto and Digital Assets Group to ensure rules for the crypto industry in the U.K. “support innovation” as of last week. The cross-party group aims to protect investors from financial crimes, including token scams or offerings from regulated companies. “We are at a crucial time for the …

The United Kingdom’s Advertising Standards Authority, or ASA, has ruled to place an official ban on two mobile application advertisements from popular trading platform Crypto.com which promoted the ease of purchasing cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin, as well as earning yield rewards on digital assets. Gaining notoriety within the industry for their strict legislation on the proposed implications of a cryptocurrency advert, the ASA flagged the marketing material for breach a number of financial watchdog rules, including not effectively stating the risk potential of the investment, abusing consumer’s lack of market understanding, as well as not specifying the limitations of purchasing …

The Advertising Standards Authority, or ASA, the United Kingdom’s independent advertising regulator, has taken down another batch of cryptocurrency-related ad campaigns promoting several major industry firms. On Dec. 15, the advertising watchdog issued several rulings on ad violations involving six crypto-related firms including Coinbase, Kraken, eToro, Exmo, crypto broker Coinburp and Luno crypto exchange. The ASA also issued a similar ruling for pizza chain Papa John’s. All seven ads or promotions were banned for “irresponsibly taking advantage of consumers inexperience and for failing to illustrate the risk of the investment,” the rulings said. The ASA argued that Coinbase’s European branch …

The first Bitcoin (BTC) futures exchange-traded fund (ETF) was launched in the United States back on October 19, 2021. Since then, a number of other cryptocurrency investment products have been launched in various markets. That first ETF, the ProShares Bitcoin Strategy ETF, quickly became one of the top ETFs of all time by trading volume on its debut, and soon after, several other Bitcoin futures ETFs were launched in the United States, providing investors with different investment options. To Martha Reyes, head of research at cryptocurrency trading platform Bequant, these options are important. Speaking to Cointelegraph, Reyes pointed out that …

Members of Parliament (MPs) in the United Kingdom have called upon the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) to limit the use of the word “invest” and “investment” by cryptocurrency firms for promotional purposes. According to a Dec. 9 report in The Times, MPs at the treasury select committee told FCA chief Nikhil Rathi that the use of the word “your investment” often portrays that these are on par with an FTSE 100 company or a unit trust, thus giving the wrong impression about the type of investment. Harriett Baldwin, Conservative MP for West Worcestershire took special exception to FCA’s supposed inability …