South Africa Unveils New Crypto Rules as Usage Soars Exponentially

The South African financial regulator has published a draft declaration of crypto assets as financial products. The regulator says South Africa has experienced “an exponential increase in the provision and use of crypto assets.” South Africa’s Crypto Regulation South Africa’s Financial Sector Conduct Authority (FSCA) announced Friday that it has published “a draft declaration of … Read more

Ripple CEO Threatens to Relocate Company Overseas Due to Unfavorable US Regulation

Ripple chief executive officer Brad Garlinghouse has threatened to move the company’s headquarters overseas should the U.S. fail to level the playing field with an unambiguous regulatory framework. In a series of tweets on Oct.12, Garlinghouse said: “The lack of a single national regulatory framework is putting U.S. innovation and U.S. companies at a significant … Read more

Abkhazia Lifts Two-Year Ban on Bitcoin Mining, Moves to Regulate the Sector

Abkhazia, the self-governing but disputed territory of just 245,000 people sandwiched between Russia and Georgia, has lifted its two-year ban on cryptocurrency mining. The ban came into effect in December 2018 after a surge in mining activity left the region facing an energy crisis. Now, the government is moving to regulate the industry in an … Read more

Russia Proposes Harsh Penalties for Unreported Cryptocurrency Holdings

Russia’s Ministry of Finance has drafted a bill with harsh penalties for anyone who does not report their cryptocurrency holdings above a certain level. Penalties include jail terms and fines. New Russian Crypto Bill The Russian Ministry of Finance has sent out a new draft bill addressing the circulation of cryptocurrency in Russia to interested … Read more

Crypto Exchange Binance Blacklisted by Russia’s Telecom Censorship Agency

Russia’s telecom regulator Roskomnadzor has added Binance, the world’s largest crypto exchange, to the list of blacklisted websites in the country. The exchange was blacklisted on June 2, 2020, but Binance became aware of this only on September 24th, after receiving communication from Roskomnadzor. In an announcement on its Russian Telegram channel, Binance said it … Read more

Brazen Nigerian Crypto Scam Inksnation Still Operational Three Months After Regulator Warning

One of Nigeria’s most brazen crypto scams, Inksnation remains operational and still invites new investors some three months after the country’s Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) deemed its activities illegal. The SEC has previously warned Nigerians against investing with the scam saying doing so would be at own risk as there is no legal recourse … Read more

European Union Seeks Strict Regulation of Crypto and Stablecoins in New Draft Law

The European Commission, the executive arm of the E.U., has drawn up regulation to tightly monitor cryptocurrencies it considers “significant”, including asset-backed stablecoins like Facebook’s libra. Euractiv, a European news outlet, first reported the news on Sept.10, citing a leaked 167-page draft crypto proposal. According to the report, the regulation will seek to tackle bitcoin’s … Read more

New Russian Law Bans Bitcoin Payments for Goods and Services

Russian lawmakers have passed a bill that gives legal status to cryptocurrencies such as bitcoin – but bans them from being used to pay for goods and services. Legislators approved the Digital Financial Assets (DFA) bill on July 22 after its third and final reading. It had already won backing from senior lawmkers like Anatoly … Read more

CFTC Chairman: US Must Lead the World in Crypto With Less Restrictive Rules

The chairman of the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) has called on other regulators to establish a framework for sound crypto regulation. He believes that the U.S. must lead in the crypto field and “applying overly prescriptive rules could stunt the development of this important market.” CFTC Chairman Heath P. Tarbert has called on other … Read more

10 Countries Actively Regulating Cryptocurrency Despite Global Crisis

Despite the coronavirus pandemic and the resulting financial crisis, at least 10 countries have made announcements regarding cryptocurrency regulation since our last regulatory roundup. They include Japan, Malaysia, Singapore, China, Spain, Germany, India, the Philippines, the U.S., and South Korea. Also read: IMF Declares Global Recession, 80 Countries Request Help, Trillions of Dollars Needed Regulations … Read more