Regulators

Questions Remain Around The OCC Decision To Allow Banks To Custody Crypto

The recent Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) ruling that national banks and savings associations can provide cryptocurrency custody services to clients is one of the biggest milestones in the short but spectacular lifetime of digital currencies. Now that U.S. banks have the green light to begin custodying crypto, everybody knows that the rules have changed — we just don’t yet know exactly how.  As the dust begins to settle, there are a number of important questions we need to ask. What is the thinking behind the OCC’s letter? Why now? And

Key Timing for Adoption? Crypto Goes Mainstream With TV, Newspaper Ads

Amid turbulent times for the world at large, the cryptocurrency space seems to be cruising on its own steam in 2020. The coronavirus pandemic has put a major strain on economies around the world, and countries such as the United States have seen their central banks resort to extended quantitative easing in order to stimulate their financial ecosystems.Some analysts believe that this continual fiscal stimulus is part of the reason that the cryptocurrency market is enjoying relative success compared with its traditional financial counterparts.The likes of Anthony Pompliano, co-founder of

Token Launches From Ethereum to Telegram: Where Do We Go From Here?

In February, United States Securities and Exchange Commission Commissioner Hester Peirce was asked to give her opinion on the SEC’s case against Telegram. She declined to comment at the time, as SEC officials do not speak publicly about ongoing enforcement actions. In late July, however, with the Telegram case settled, Commissioner Peirce gave a speech titled “Not Braking and Breaking” that pointedly questioned the approach taken by the SEC in the Telegram case. Concluding her remarks, Commissioner Peirce asked:“Who did we protect by bringing this action? The initial purchasers, who

Slow But Steady: FATF Review Highlights Crypto Exchanges’ Struggle to Meet AML Standards

In June 2019, the intergovernmental Financial Action Task Force (FATF) introduced its revised set of standards for virtual asset service providers. The document establishes the anti-money laundering and counter-terrorism (AML/CFT) requirements that regulated VASPs —  the term mainly referring to cryptocurrency trading platforms — must eventually implement in their day-to-day operations. The guidelines are framed as recommendations, and the FATF leaves it to the participating nations’ governments to develop their own regulations in accordance with suggested principles.The watchdog has also set a 12-month review timeframe to monitor the public and

Why Klaytn and Link Will Catalyze Blockchain Adoption in Asia

In the last two years, popular messaging giants in Asia and Europe have announced plans to launch a blockchain-powered cryptocurrency. In Asia, Kakao’s Klaytn and Line’s Link platform have launched and are quickly gaining momentum, but Facebook and Telegram’s cryptocurrencies have not fared so well. Messaging Giants Pushing Blockchain Adoption As it stands, Kakao is by far the most dominant mobile platform in Korea with a market share of 97% in the country. Kakao subsidiary Ground X began development of Klaytn back in 2019, after raising $90 million in both