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Featured Virtual Currency And Blockchain

Fed and Treasury asks public for comment on new travel rule for crypto

The Federal Reserve, along with the Financial Crimes Enforcement Agency (FinCEN), an agency of the U.S. Treasury, have invited comment on a proposed rule that lowers the threshold on reporting under the Bank Secrecy Act (BSA) from $3,000 to $250 for transactions outside of the United States in what is… Read More

US PayPal users can soon use crypto in lieu of fiat currency

PayPal has announced its foray into the crypto market, launching a new service that will allow users to buy, hold, and sell digital currency. After receiving a conditional Bitlicence from the New York State Department of Financial Services (NYDFS), through a partnership with Paxos Trust Company, PayPal users in the… Read More

Mysterious ‘Robin Hood’ hackers donating stolen money

Darkside hackers claim to have extorted millions of dollars from companies, but say they now want to “make the world a better place”. In a post on the dark web, the gang posted receipts for $10,000 in Bitcoin donations to two charities. One of them, Children International, says it will… Read More

20th October 2020

The AML System: A Failure of Statecraft?

Consider the current state of anti-money laundering efforts across the globe. Around 2% of global GDP is laundered annually, amounting to between $800B – $2T. Banks spend around $8B annually fighting it but affect only 0.1% of criminal finance. What we know then is that the ROI of the… Read More

20th October 2020

How ING bank in Poland helped Russians launder money

The Polish unit of the Dutch bank ING, ING Bank Slaski, for years allegedly helped Russian and Ukrainian oligarchs move huge sums of money out of ex-Soviet Union countries, according to the US Treasury’s fraud investigation department, FinCen. FinCen files were leaked to and published by the International Consortium… Read More

20th October 2020

U.S. Treasury’s FinCEN Issues $60 Million Penalty Against Operator of Bitcoin ‘Mixers’

A bureau of the U.S. Treasury Department Monday imposed a $60 million penalty on Larry Dean Harmon, operator of the bitcoin “mixers” Helix and Coin Ninja, for allegedly violating anti-money-laundering laws, the agency said. The civil penalty against Mr. Harmon, who already faces charges from the U.S. Justice Department, is… Read More

19th October 2020

The day the international tax authorities came knocking

On a sunny Friday in late January, investigators from the Australian Tax Office issued subpoenas and fired off letters as part of an unprecedented probe that reached around the world. It was a similar scene in Amsterdam, where investigators from the Dutch tax agency set about a similar task. So,… Read More

13th October 2020

Global watchdogs agree rules for stablecoins like Facebook’s Libra

Central banks set out to regulate cross-border stablecoins like Facebook’s planned Libra with a common approach on Tuesday, saying more rules may later be needed to ensure stability. The prospect of a currency-backed stablecoin being used by billions of people on Facebook has galvanised central banks into putting together rules… Read More

8th October 2020

This regulator wants to help banks embrace cryptocurrency

The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency is hoping more regulatory guidance will help traditional banks warm up to cryptocurrency. The Treasury Department unit, which supervises national banks and federal savings associations, has issued interpretive letters in recent months to spell out its view of how traditional financial institutions… Read More

8th October 2020

Spanish Prosecution Office investigating alleged Bitcoin pyramid scheme: $1 billion in investor funds reportedly missing

The Spanish Prosecution office says it is investigating Arbistar for allegedly running a bitcoin trading scam with preliminary findings suggesting $1 billion in investors’ funds cannot be accounted for. The disappearance of investor funds has affected 32,000 families that are failing to access their savings that are invested with Arbistar,… Read More

8th October 2020

UK watchdog bans Bitcoin-based products for retail investors

Britain’s financial watchdog said on Tuesday it will ban the sale to retail investors of products that track the price of cryptoassets like Bitcoin, saying most people lose money on them. The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) said there is no reliable basis for valuing cryptoassets that underpin derivatives and exchange-traded… Read More

2nd October 2020

BitMEX Founders Charged With Failing to Prevent Laundering

Founders of the pioneering crypto-derivatives exchange BitMEX were charged with skirting U.S. laws preventing money laundering and hit with civil sanctions as well, abruptly sending the price of Bitcoin down. Arthur Hayes, Benjamin Delo and Samuel Reed were indicted in New York, where federal prosecutors claim the digital-asset exchange… Read More

2nd October 2020

Booming Decentralized Finance a Potential Haven for Money Laundering

The booming world of decentralized finance, which has collected more than $11 billion in cryptocurrencies in a matter of months, is a potential haven for money laundering, according to new research. Globally, 56% of digital currency services have weak or porous “know your customer” controls, blockchain security firm CipherTrace said… Read More

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