Until a few years ago, cryptocurrency was mostly unknown among the Washington crowd. Those policymakers and lawmakers who knew about this emerging technology were few, and because of its lack of tangibility, many thought of it as a plaything for nerds or a tool for bad actors. In short, crypto was taken seriously by only a select few in Washington. [Read more]
On August 15, 2022, the federal court in the Central District of California authorized the IRS to serve a John Doe summons on SFOX, a cryptocurrency prime dealer headquartered in California. A John Doe summons is a device (e.g., a subpoena) to gather information from a third party, where the IRS does not know the identity of the person about whom they are seeking the information. This is not the first time the IRS has issued a John Doe summons on a crypto-entity, but this is the first time the IRS has specifically investigated and sought out taxpayers with high-value cryptocurrency transactions. [Read more]
Brookings’s Center on Regulation and Markets and the Hutchins Center on Fiscal and Monetary Policy recently hosted “The future of crypto regulation,” keynoted by Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) Chairman Rostin Behnam. Benham’s keynote was followed by a discussion with experts representing an array of perspectives, including that of regulatory agencies, academia, and industry. Here are five takeaways from the event, which you can watch in its entirety. [Read more]
Crypto exchange Coinbase is expected to report an adjusted loss in the second quarter, while Jack Dorsey-led payments company Block is likely to post a 70% drop in adjusted profit. Wall Street has lowered earnings expectations for once high-flying fintechs Coinbase and Block, as a chill in the cryptocurrency market adds more pain to the companies already grappling with surging costs and rapidly rising rates. [Read more]
Harmony, a crypto firm in the United States, said on Friday it was robbed of approximately $100 million in digital coins, the latest in a string of cyber heists, Reuters reported. [Read more]
Ever since the Silk Road, Bitcoin’s power to fuel anonymous transactions (and, more specifically, money laundering) has been a prime concern for lawmakers and law enforcement agencies. A new provision passed as part of the infrastructure package tried to tackle that issue, but it’s running into stiff opposition from cryptocurrency groups — and a legal challenge that could have huge implications for financial transparency across the country. [Read more]
The U.S. Treasury has sanctioned a cryptocurrency swap service fro the first time as it looks to stop hackers from laundering stolen funds. [Read more]
lowly but surely, governments worldwide are beginning to wake up to the schemes, scams, and criminal activity in the digital assets industry. This week, the U.S. Department of Treasury issued a warning that Non-Fungible Tokens (NFTs) could be used in money laundering. [Read more]
U.S. regulation of crypto assets is an ongoing issue for current politicians. This month, Capitol Hill played host to a watershed moment for crypto adoption in the U.S. Six executives from prominent crypto firms set out to demystify various aspects of their industry. Here’s the round up. [Read more]
According to the US Department of Treasury, sanctions will be imposed on the cryptocurrency exchange Chatex as well as its support network for enabling ransomware actors to transact. [Read more]
