Lawmakers in Panama have passed a bill that will regulate cryptocurrencies, including Bitcoin, in the Latin American country. In a Thursday tweet, Panamanian pro-crypto congressperson Gabriel Silva said lawmakers had approved the “Panama Crypto Law” following a third debate. According to Silva, the law will “help Panama become a hub of innovation and technology in…
Read more
Him Das, the acting director of the United States Financial Crimes Enforcement Network, or FinCEN, said some of the government bureau’s tools to fight money laundering and terrorism financing may be ill suited for crypto. In a Thursday hearing of the House Financial Services Committee on “Oversight of the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network,” Das addressed…
Read more
Michael Hsu, the acting head at the United States Office of the Comptroller of the Currency, said stablecoins need standards comparable to the early internet. In a written statement following his appearance at the Artificial Intelligence and the Economy event in Washington D.C. on Wednesday, Hsu said stablecoins lacked “shared standards,” were “interoperable,” and needed…
Read more
The roughly five million residents of the Central African Republic, or CAR, will now reportedly be able to use Bitcoin in addition to the country’s franc as legal tender. According to a Wednesday report from news outlet Agence France-Presse, Central African Republic President Faustin-Archange Touadéra has signed a bill into law establishing a regulatory framework…
Read more
After weeks of delays in part due to partisan obstructionism, the United States Senate has confirmed the nomination of Federal Reserve board of governors member Lael Brainard to be the next vice chair of the central bank. In a 52-43 vote on the Senate floor on Tuesday, U.S. lawmakers confirmed Brainard to be vice chair…
Read more
Fort Worth, Texas has launched a pilot program to mine Bitcoin in partnership with the Texas Blockchain Council. In a Tuesday city council meeting, Fort Worth approved a resolution to start running three Antminer S9 Bitcoin (BTC) miners donated by the Texas Blockchain Council in the city hall building. The pilot program was aimed at recognizing “the…
Read more
European Central Bank executive board member Fabio Panetta said lawmakers across the world must decide how to regulate cryptocurrencies based on potential risks. In a written statement for a speech to Columbia University on Monday, Panetta said global policymakers had made some progress in addressing regulatory frameworks on digital assets, but “not swiftly enough to…
Read more
The United States Treasury Department has added three Ethereum wallet addresses to sanctions allegedly linked to the hacker group responsible for the theft of more than $600 million in crypto from nonfungible token game Axie Infinity’s Ronin sidechain. In a Friday update, the Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control, or OFAC, listed three Ethereum…
Read more
Major crypto exchange Binance challenged the accuracy of a report that one of its regional heads agreed to supply Russia’s financial intelligence unit with customer data potentially related to donations for anti-corruption and anti-Putin activist Alexei Navalny. Reuters reported on Friday that Binance’s head of Eastern Europe and Russia Gleb Kostarev met with officials from…
Read more
The United States Office of the Comptroller of the Currency, or OCC, has said it intends to pursue cease and desist proceedings against cryptocurrency custody bank Anchorage Digital for violating certain anti-money laundering requirements. In a Thursday announcement, the OCC said it issued a consent order against Anchorage Digital based on its “failure to adopt…
Read more