Binance’s highly-anticipated cryptocurrency debit card, Binance Card, is officially debuting in countries of the European Economic Area, or EEA. Binance told Cointelegraph on July 14 that EEA-based users will be able to apply for a Binance Card starting in August. While the United Kingdom will follow in the near future, users in other regions are invited to “register their interest” via the Binance Card website, the firm said. As previously reported, Swipe is currently available in 31 countries within the EEA, including countries like France, Germany, Italy, and Spain, among others. Swipe is not yet available in the United States, …

The Bank of England is considering the issuance of a central bank digital currency — or CBDC — according to its governor, Andrew Bailey. Bloomberg reports that during a student webinar, the head of the Bank of England acknowledged that they are looking into the possibility of issuing a digital currency: “We are looking at the question of, should we create a Bank of England digital currency. We’ll go on looking at it, as it does have huge implications on the nature of payments and society. I think in a few years time, we will be heading toward some sort …

Encrypted messaging services have always presented a tough challenge for government agencies all over the world. On one hand, they allow for freedom of speech, but on the other, they enable miscreants and bad actors to facilitate nefarious deeds. In this regard, on July 2, European law enforcement authorities arrested over 800 individuals that were allegedly partaking in shady activities through the use of an encrypted chat service called EncroChat. The messaging platform has servers based out of France and claims to provide users with “worry-free secure communications.” According to the BBC, EncroChat has a customer base of more than …

The popular ‘.io’ domain name has become part of a complaint against the United Kingdom for alleged human rights violations tied to its continuing administration of territories in the Indian Ocean. Sales of the ‘.io’ domain name are being contested as a part of a complaint filed by former islanders of the Chagos Archipelago, which has been at the center of a territorial dispute between Mauritius, a former British colony, and the U.K. since the 1980s. Now highly popular with numerous crypto, blockchain and other tech companies — not to mention various scams — ‘.io’ was formally the country code …

The world’s largest cryptocurrency exchange, Binance, has completed its second acquisition in 2020. Both acquisitions appear to further indicate Binance’s interest in crypto debit card issuance. After acquiring the industry’s most popular website, CoinMarketCap, in April 2020, Binance has now acquired Swipe, a Philippines-headquartered firm focused on crypto-to-fiat Visa debit cards. Binance and Swipe officially announced the acquisition on July 6, claiming that the new collaboration will push “further mainstream adoption of cryptocurrencies” by bringing the gap between fiat and digital assets. Binance and Swipe “will be working closely together to launch crypto debit cards” While the official announcements do …

A hacker gang known as “Keeper” established an interconnected network to steal credit card data from over 570 e-commerce sites. Since 2017, they have profited around $7 million in crypto by selling card information through the dark web. According to a July 7 study by threat intelligence firm, Gemini Advisory, the hacker group managed to create 64 attacker domains and 73 exfiltration domains. These domains were used to retrieve user credit card data from numerous e-commerce sites located across 55 countries. The malicious domains hosted an identical login panel from each e-commerce website. They inserted a malware payload to get …

The UK High Court has appointed the Official Receiver as liquidator of the cryptocurrency trading platform, GPay Ltd. According to an announcement published by the UK Insolvency Service on June 30, the crypto exchange showed signs of being "nothing but a scam”. Fake statements abound The firm, also known previously as XtraderFX and Cryptopoint, advertised its services online and through social media channels. The Insolvency Service claims that the ads falsely alleged the service was endorsed by entrepreneurs who appeared in an unnamed UK primetime TV show and a high-profile money saving website. After complaints received by the local authorities, …

The United Kingdom’s Financial Conduct Authority estimates that roughly 2.6 million U.K. consumers have bought cryptocurrency “at some point.” On June 30, the FCA published the results of its latest research into how consumers interact with crypto markets in the U.K. It found that 1.9 million people — 3.86% of the general adult population (18+) — currently own cryptocurrency. This presents what the FCA considers to be a “statistically significant increase,” up from 3% in the last FCA consumer research report in 2019. The increase brings the total number of U.K. consumers who have ever held cryptocurrencies at any point …

Recently, the United Kingdom’s Financial Conduct Authority released a detailed statement urging all local crypto business operators to register with the government watchdog by June 30. As part of the document, the regulator has made it absolutely clear that applications will need to have been processed, at the latest, by the end of the official grace period, which ends on Jan. 10, 2021, and failing to meet the requirement will result in a default. From a more technical standpoint, the FCA’s latest registration guidelines come laden with a number of specific compliance quotas, primarily in relation to crypto-related activities like …

Wirecard’s subsidiary responsible for issuing debit cards, Wirecard Card Solutions Ltd., has been suspended by the United Kingdom’s Financial Conduct Authority, or FCA. According to a statement issued on June 26 by the regulator, Wirecard’s subsidiary is required to not dispose of any of its funds, stop conducting any of its regulated activity, and it must communicate on its website and to its customers that it is no longer permitted to conduct regulated activity. As of press time, however, such statements are not present on any of Wirecard’s websites, including the subsidiary’s dedicated domain. The FCA explained that following the …

The United Kingdom's Financial Conduct Authority, or FCA, on Monday urged all national cryptocurrency businesses to submit their registration with the regulatory watchdog. According to the FCA’s statement, firms must submit completed applications by June 30. The regulator says that the anticipated deadline is necessary to ensure that all applications are processed by the end of the grace period on Jan. 10, 2021. As Cointelegraph reported at the time, this follows the FCA’s appointment as a direct regulator of U.K. cryptocurrency businesses, announced on Jan. 10, 2020. The regulator set forth compliance requirements for certain types of crypto-related activity, which …

Leading cryptocurrency exchange Binance will be expanding to the United Kingdom with a regulated crypto trading platform for both institutional and retail investors. With this platform, Binance aims to tap the institutional investment market and meet the rising demand for digital asset investments in this sphere. Binance is reportedly reviewing 65 digital assets that it plans to list on the exchange at launch. Investors will be able to trade these assets directly against pounds and euros, Reuters reported. Being a regulated exchange, Binance’s trading platform will function under the supervision of the U.K. Financial Conduct Authority. The platform will allow …