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Monetary Authority of Singapore introduces New Crypto Regulations Requiring Firms  To Submit Data About Their Activities  

By
Adam Barry
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0

Certain cryptocurrency companies have been ordered by the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) to submit information about their commercial activity.

MAS introduces new crypto regulations to protect  citizens 

Following the collapse of cryptocurrency hedge fund Three Arrows Capital, Vauld, and Terraform Labs, the Central Bank is allegedly making some changes to the current crypto regulating laws. This adjustment in cryptocurrency regulation will mostly address the ongoing liquidity issue and withdrawal problems.

According to sources, the Monetary Authority of Singapore, which is the central bank of Singapore, has just sent a thorough questionnaire to some candidates and licensees for the MAS’ Digital Payment Token Program.

The questionnaires, which were delivered to applicants last month, state that they requested very detailed data regarding the operations and ownership of the under investigation crypto businesses.

The business-related information comprised of the cryptocurrencies held by the corporation, the main borrowing and lending partners, the amount borrowed, and the top cryptocurrencies staked using DeFi protocols.

In order to safeguard retail clients, the Singapore Central Bank has stated that it wants to build greater protections. MAS has also consulted the people regarding stablecoin legislation. According to sources with knowledge of the situation, MAS has stated that the enterprises must respond to the provided questionnaire immediately.

Ten businesses have already issued licenses 

Currently, it has granted close to ten licenses to businesses in Singapore. Crypto.com and DBS Vickers, the brokerage division of DBS Bank, are on the list of authorized exchanges. This is a very modest number compared to the 200 stated firms who have sought the permit.

This shift in policy oversight in Singapore is primarily intended to increase the monitoring of the companies that deal in digital assets as the industry implements new regulations.

According to the MAS managing director, the financial regulator has been developing a set of regulations for cryptocurrencies. Over the coming months, this regulatory framework will aid in addressing consumer rights, market behavior, and reserve security for stablecoins.

The U.S Federal Reserve Bank Gives Guidelines to Banks Involved in Digital Assets

By
Adam Barry
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0

The U.S Federal Reserve Bank Board of Governors has given guidelines to banks that plan to or already offer digital asset services. Michael Gibson, the director of the Division of Supervision and Regulation and Eric Belsky, the Director of the Division of Consumer and community affairs, has signed the guidance letter. 

The Fed requires banks to reach their point of contact

The guidance letter indicates that Fed-regulated institutions that plan to engage or engage in digital currency will be required to notify the regulator of their plans. Such institutions must report to their point of contact in the Federal Reserve.

 The letter also asks banks to look into the legal requirement. To determine which conditions they will need to fulfil in their activities. They should also manage risks to ensure their actions are safe and compliant with regulations.

 The Fed has stated that it implemented these systems to simplify evaluating digital asset risks. Despite the increasing popularity of digital assets, the regulator points out that it is a new technology with numerous risks. The risks digital assets pose include losses for consumers, money laundering, and economic instability.

According to the guidance letter, the Federal Reserve is closely evaluating institutions that deal with digital assets to lessen the negative impact of cryptocurrency. The letter does not come as a surprise as the regulator had previously promised to provide guidelines to banks and other traditional financial institutions on their roles in the digital asset space in 2021.

 The guidance helps address recent uncertainty around crypto

The Federal Reserve worked with the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation and the Office of the Comptroller of Currency (OCC) to identify and create banking regulations that would address concerns held by traditional financial institutions.

Concerns held by banks were worsened when the crash of TerraUSD led to the collapse of the virtual asset market. Afterwards, the U.S central bank warned about stablecoins and their risks.

The U.S has now joined other countries in the quest to create a central bank digital currency. The Fed has released reports of its progress. While it has stated that there is no rush to make the CBDC, it acknowledges that the move could strengthen the dollar globally.

The Financial Intelligence Unit Finds 16 Illegal Virtual Asset Providers

By
Adam Barry
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0

The Financial Services Commission in South Korea announced that it had received notification from the Financial Intelligence Unit (KoFIU) of illegal activities that 16 unregistered virtual asset service providers were conducting.

KoFIU lists the 16 illegal businesses

 The regulator has stated that the 16 companies include Kucoin, AAX, MEXC, Zoomex, Phemex, Coinex, XT.com, Poloniex, Bitrue, BTCC, ZB.com, BTCEX, Bitglobal, Pionex, Coinw, and Digifinex. It dates that these virtual asset providers are based outside the country and have no formal presence in South Korea. Despite this, some of their services were targeting domestic consumers.

 The companies did this by opening websites that advertised in the Korean language. They also had promotional events that would target South Koreans and give payment options allowing consumers to buy digital assets through credit cards from South Korea.

The regulator has penalties for illegal businesses

Since July 2021, KoFIU has required foreign cryptocurrency exchanges to register with them. Despite this, these businesses have continually operated in the country without authorisation.

 The authority has emphasised that operating illegally in the country comes with a penalty of up to five years or a $38,000 fine. The regulator will inform relevant authorities in areas where these businesses operate. These authorities will, in turn, stop credit card payments.

Furthermore, the regulator had made it impossible to trade assets with illegal businesses. KoFIU has stated that it will make the relevant moves to prevent illegal virtual asset providers from operating in the country.

Virtual asset users are now urged to ensure that the virtual asset providers comply with the Act. The reason is that unregistered providers don’t have vital qualifications, including the certification for information security management systems. As a result, users are exposed to vulnerabilities such as hacking and the breaching of personal information.

Moreover, unlisted companies cannot be supervised and thus are more likely to be used for money laundering. Registering the companies also prevents the spread of misinformation which they could use to entice consumers into buying digital assets 

KoFIU has stated that it will continue to track illegal businesses to protect its consumers. Meanwhile, it has asked citizens to report any business that might be illegal.

Revolut Receives Authorization From the Cyprus Security and Exchange Commission 

By
Adam Barry
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0

The Cyprus Security and Exchange Commission (CySEC) has authorised Revolut to give digital assets and cryptocurrency services. Revolut has stated that CySEC approval would allow it to become a European crypto hub and provide its 17 million cryptocurrency clients with digital asset services.

Revolut has received authorisation from other regions

Revolut has also assured its UK customers, who form its majority client base, that it would keep serving them via the UK-registered entity. Besides the European market, the company has already received approval in Spain and Singapore. These authentications will allow Revolut to expand its reach and service more customers worldwide.

Revolut is not the first company in the digital asset or fintech space to get approval from CySEC. The regulator has also authorised Bitpanda, CMC Markets, eToro, and Crypto.com. Revolut states that it chose Cyprus because of its robust and sophisticated regulatory regime. It also considered the strength of Cyprus’ cryptocurrency industry.

The European Parliament came up with crypto regulations 

This comes after the European Parliament agreed on a cryptocurrency regulation framework, dubbed Markets in Crypto Assets, on June 30, 2022. The parliament stated that the regulations provided one framework for cryptocurrency assets, service providers and asset issuers. It also aims to protect consumers by ensuring financial stability while promoting innovation in the digital asset space. 

The EU states that current changes in the cryptocurrency market have created the need for regulations to govern its use among E.U members. Since Revolut announced the crypto project, it has been trying to comply with the guidelines the EU is set to begin enforcing.

A company representative has stated that Revolut is accepting of rules drafted by the EU. Revolut has also indicated that it supports the EU solutions to protect consumers from market abuse while promoting innovation in the crypto space.

According to Kyriacos Kokkinos, the Deputy Minister in Research, Innovation, and Digital Policy, they recognise that Cyprus embraces using cryptocurrency and digital assets. However, it should still be mindful of the regulation in place and those that aren’t. Cyprus had to pay attention to any rules set by the E.U. Moreover, Nicosia’s government has drafted a bill on blockchain technology and cryptocurrency.

Colombia Announces Plans to Launch a Central Bank Digital Currency

By
Adam Barry
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0

Luis Carlos Reyes, the Director of the Colombian National Directorate of Taxes and Customs, has announced that it could launch a Central Bank Digital Currency (CBDC). The country is among many to make this decision as the interest in digital assets has increased worldwide.

A CBDC would help fight cryptocurrency tax evasion

The director discussed the country’s plans for a CBDC in an interview with Semana Magazine. He stated that the purpose of the CBDC would be to simplify consumers’ transactions. It would also help in the fight against tax evasion.

According to Reyes, the move would make it easier to trace the money. He stated that it is easier to make people pay VAT and other taxes on purchases by making unrecorded sales in a world where payments are also unrecorded.

Semana Magazine states that Reyes is the first official since the new government administration under President Gustavo Petro recently came into power to speak about the CBDC. The President was vocal about cryptocurrency while campaigning and said he would mine Bitcoin with renewable energy if he won the election.

Colombia is among the first South American country to discuss the launching of a CBDC. The others include Venezuela, Mexico, and Brazil. These countries hope to launch their currencies in a few years.

Colombia’s tax agency has taken a stance against people who use digital assets to evade taxes. This is despite the country not having clear guidelines in dealing with cryptocurrency. At the beginning of the year, the agency began to take action against people who had incorrectly filed or omitted income and complementary taxes from their earnings.

Colombia has become a leader in crypto

Despite the tax agency’s stance, Colombia has become a global leader in adopting cryptocurrency. The increased popularity of digital assets in the country has led the Financial Superintendence of Colombia to propose guidelines that would allow easier cooperation between banks and providers of digital assets.

The proposed guidelines state that banks should only give their services to virtual asset providers if they are registered in the inline reporting system and can report transactions to the bank.

Meta Platforms Inc (NASDAQ: META) Announces that Cardano Will Release Avatars

By
Adam Barry
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0

Meta Platforms Inc (NASDAQ: META) has announced that its project Cardalonia will release playable avatars on Cardano. The company is undertaking this project alongside Ready Player Me. It will allow holders of the Cardalonia token, LODIA, to use avatars while in the Cardalonia Metaverse.

Meta designed Cardalonia as a virtual reality space on Cardano. The Metaverse allows users to build and own virtual properties. It also allows them to have unique experiences. Moreover, users in the virtual reality space can compete with each other and earn rewards in the form of LODIA tokens.

Users can purchase lands on Cardalonia

Developers could also create compatible assets on Cardalonia and trade them with others in the marketplace. The virtual space also lets users trade Cardalonia land. However, only token holders can purchase such property. Meta has stated that only users with about 7000 LODIA in their non-custodial staking vault will be allowed to purchase virtual land.

Another requirement for the purchase of virtual land is owning 250 ADA coins

 The company has announced that interested buyers will only have until October 1, 2022, to make the purchase. On this date, it will take a snapshot of their wallets.

LODIA, the governance token of Cardalonia, has about 100 million tokens, 50 million of which are in circulation. As the virtual land sale nears, potential buyers are advised to buy the tokens in the Initial Exchange Offering.

Cardalonia is also running a flash sale where people can buy the tokens. A recent tweet by the virtual world indicates that about 2 million LODIA was recently sold. Meta requires buyers to obtain the tokens through trading in their ADA token at a ratio of 1:10.

Cardalonia could be better than other virtual reality spaces 

Cardalonia is a 3D virtual reality world that allows users to join a clan by purchasing or renting virtual land in the clan they want to belong. Meta has stated that building on your land will be much easier than other virtual reality spaces and will give players more flexibility. 

Cardalonia will also provide more budding potential than other Metaverse as it will allow the player to utilise its play mechanics, making any experience possible entirely.

Chinese NFT Marketplace iBox Stops Its Operations Outside The Country 

By
Adam Barry
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0

IBox, a Chinese NFT marketplace, is ending its international activities. The business, which had been offering NFTs in USDT, did not explain why it was ceasing operations outside. However, there are plans to reimburse subscribers starting in September.

China prohibited the trading of crypto in September 2021

Since September last year, all crypto trading has been prohibited in China, forcing all crypto exchanges, mining companies, and other supporters to move to more hospitable regions.

The multinational cryptocurrency exchange Huobi’s incubator program has provided iBox with a lot of support. After that, however, Huobi disassociated itself from the NFT marketplace, saying in a statement that it left china in May last year and that its relationship with the iBox ended in January 2022.

Huobi asserted the statement indicating, “Huobi Global has already terminated all its operations in Mainland China. We would like to remind our users to abide by local laws and regulations and remain vigilant against fraud. ”

In the meantime, iBox is conducting routine business in mainland China. The company’s activities are denominated using fiat currency instead of cryptocurrency. The platform claimed daily sales of more than 100 million yuan at its height of operations.

Unlike virtual currencies, NFTs are still permitted in China; however, they are described as “digital collectibles,” but the public has been warned to avoid trading them to make quick money.

Beijing and Shanghai incorporating NFTs in economic development strategy 

The authorities in Beijing and Shanghai insist on incorporating NFTs in their regional economic development strategy despite the murky regulatory landscape surrounding NFTs in order to support the region’s weak economic status. The two cities are the main players in maintaining China’s economic strategy

WeChat, the most widely used social media network in China, amended its rules in H1 2022 to forbid accounts from offering access to products linked to cryptocurrencies or non-fungible tokens (NFT).

Accounts involved in the trading, issuing and financing cryptocurrencies and NFTs would be subject to restrictions or outright bans under the new regulations and be classified as “illegal businesses.”

UNCTAD Seeks To Address Cryptocurrencies in Developing Nations By Issuing Various Policy Briefs

By
Adam Barry
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0

The United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) published another policy brief on cryptocurrencies on Wednesday focused on the regulation of cryptos. Together, they provide a thorough analysis of the hazards that cryptocurrency poses for developing countries and possible solutions to those risks.

UNCTAD policy indicates that cryptos hinder domestic mobilization of resources 

The July-dated but recently published UNCTAD Policy Brief No. 102 makes the case that while cryptocurrencies can help with remittances and promote financial inclusion, they can also hinder the mobilization of domestic resources in developing countries by facilitating tax evasion by masking the ownership of capital inflows and sending them abroad.

The brief’s authors stated, “Cryptocurrencies share all the characteristics of traditional tax havens — the pseudonymity of accounts, and insufficient fiscal oversight or weak enforcement.”

The majority of developing nations do not have tax laws that apply to cryptocurrencies, and the absence of a third-party reporting mechanism makes it simple to conceal cryptocurrency holdings, according to the brief.

The brief stated that Contrary to the commonly held view that cryptos do not require any intermediaries and instead operate through automated guidelines, there are a wide variety of service providers, such as crypto exchanges, digital wallets, and decentralized finance (DeFi) platforms, that permit the use and holding of cryptocurrencies. Such service providers may help with better tax reporting once they are regulated.

Emerging economies should introduce regulations enhancing reporting. 

 The brief urges emerging nations to specify cryptocurrency’s legal standing and impose reporting obligations on cryptocurrency service providers. A “global tax cryptocurrency regulation” and a mechanism for exchanging information about bitcoin holdings and trading are also suggested. The brief emphasized that higher taxation on cryptocurrencies in comparison to conventional assets will deter owning them and utilizing them for transactions.

The UNCTAD Policy Brief 100 acknowledged that crypto regulation is fundamentally necessary for developing nations where service providers are concentrated, but it also suggested a number of stringent policies in developing nations to address “considerable costs and risks related to national monetary sovereignty, policy space, and macroeconomic stability.

India’s Directorate of Enforcement (ED) Freezes Yellow Tune’s Accounts As Part of Money Laundering Probe

By
Adam Barry
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0

India’s Directorate of Enforcement (ED) has frozen the accounts of Bengaluru-based financial services firm Yellow Tune Technologies, including those held by Flipvot cryptocurrency exchange, which is the Indian branch of Singaporean Vauld. 

The ED continues its onslaught on money laundering allegations 

The move is part of the ongoing probe into money laundering by China-connected instant loan firms. This will be the second time in a week that the agency has been taking action in the cryptocurrency sector in connection with the money laundering allegations. 

After establishing that Yellow Tune was a shell firm formed by two Chinese citizens using aliases, the financial watchdog declared it was freezing the firm’s account balances, payment gateway accounts, and balances in the Flipvolt crypto for a combined amount of 3.7 billion rupees, or $46.4 million. Newspaper reports claim that the ED spent three days searching locations connected to Yellow Tunes.

The ED discovered 23 organizations that had put money into Yellow Tune’s Flipvolt wallets before sending it elsewhere. The ED gave Flipvolt harsh criticism for how the company handled the money.

The agency said, “Lax KYC [Know Your Customer] norms, loose regulatory control of allowing transfers to foreign wallets without asking any reason/declaration/KYC, non-recording of transactions on Blockchains to save costs etc, has ensured that Flipvolt is not able to give any account for the missing crypto assets. It has made no sincere efforts to trace these crypto assets.”

The ED froze money it moved from Yellow Tune’s overseas accounts 

The ED froze money in Flipvolt’s accounts equal to the amounts it moved from Yellow Tune’s accounts to overseas wallets, citing India’s Prevention of Money Laundering Act of 2002, until the entire fund trail was supplied by the crypto-exchange. These monies were described as nothing but criminal proceeds resulting from exploitative lending practices.

The most recent piece of bad information for Vauld is the seizure of the Flipvolt funds. The Singaporean exchange reduced its workforce by 30% in June and stopped account withdrawals at the start of July. Late last month, it turned to Singapore for defense against its creditors.

Uzbekistan Bans Access To International Crypto Exchanges Over Unlicensed Trading

By
Adam Barry
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0

Uzbekistan’s administration, which has already taken substantial strides towards a moderate stance on cryptocurrencies, declared on Wednesday that access to several major international cryptocurrency exchanges had been prohibited due to claims of unauthorized activities.

NAPP announced a ban on access to crypto services from unlicensed exchanges

The National Agency of Perspective Projects (NAPP) announced in a statement dated August 10 that access to “different electronic platforms” that offer services for the exchange and trading of crypto-assets without acquiring the necessary license in breach of the law was banned.

The tone of the message, however, indicated that there shouldn’t be any further barriers to foreign exchanges offering their services once they have obtained a license and fulfilled the legal requirements to set up servers on Republic of Uzbekistan soil. 

For now, they cannot ensure the legitimacy of payments or the appropriate retention and security of personal information of the Republic of Uzbekistan’s citizens because they have no legal obligation for transactions involving crypto-assets.

 The current legislation being discussed is July 3, 2018, presidential decree titled, “On measures to develop the digital economy and the sphere of crypto-assets turnover in the Republic of Uzbekistan.”

The president signed a decree to govern the crypto sector in April 2022

President Shavkat Mirziyoyev signed a directive on managing the sector at the end of April 2022, assigning the newly constituted agency the task of establishing a “unique crypto regulatory regime” in Uzbekistan. As a result, the NAPP now holds the title of the primary cryptocurrency regulator in the nation.

The NAPP announced in June that it would only permit businesses to mine Bitcoin (BTC) and other coins in the nation if they used solar power. A certificate and registration in the national database of cryptocurrency mining enterprises were also requirements of the presidential order for any mining operator.

The international exchanges that Uzbek cryptocurrency investors have been using include FTX, Binance, and Huobi. 

The country also introduced new tax rates for cryptocurrency mining operators reflecting Uzbekistan’s frustration with the non-transparent and undertaxed usage of the national energy grid for domestic and international operators.

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