The operator of crypto derivatives exchange BitMEX has announced a sweep of its top leadership, after United States authorities charged its founders with failing to prevent money laundering and operating an unregistered trading platform illegally. On Oct. 8, BitMEX's operator, 100x Group, announced that the exchange's three co-founders, all of whom were charged in the case, will no longer hold executive roles at 100x: Arthur Hayes, Samuel Reed and Ben Delo. Greg Dwyer, the fourth executive to be charged, will take a leave of absence from his role as head of business development. To replace Hayes, 100x Group has announced …

The EU decided to remove Cayman Islands from its blacklist of tax heavens on Tuesday. The Cayman Islands is a popular jurisdiction for crypto businesses. It was added to the EU's blacklist in February of this year, so it has spent fewer than six months on the list. In 2019, the six exchanges domiciled there were responsible for over $1.5 billion in international Bitcoin (BTC) transactions. Though these numbers pale in comparison to the global leader — the Seychelles, whose 12 exchanges were responsible for $36 billion, the Seychelles remain on the blacklist and are categorized as a nation that …

Blockchain analytics company Coinfirm recently unveiled a new anti-money laundering tool for the decentralized finance, or DeFi, niche of the crypto space — a sector facing regulatory crackdown on the horizon, according to Jakub Fijolek, Coinfirm's chief technology officer. "DeFi might soon have some regulatory issues," Fijolek told Cointelegraph in an interview. "The amount of funds that are flowing through DeFi is growing significantly." The DeFi niche of crypto has ballooned in 2020. In February, the total value locked in the sector reached $1 billion. Amid significant growth and interest, the niche went as high as $10 billion at one …

Recent years have seen the crypto industry mature across the global economic landscape, but it still runs into high-profile snags. On Oct. 1, the United States Department of Justice filed criminal charges against four executives of the BitMEX trading platform — including its founder, Arthur Hayes — for violating the Bank Secrecy Act. One of the executives in question has been arrested, according to a DOJ statement. Furthermore, the Commodity Futures Trading Commission also filed a civil enforcement action against BitMEX and three of its executives for violating Anti-Money Laundering regulations. The regulatory body claimed that BitMEX and its top …

A crypto compliance software company says it is constantly unveiling new AML and KYT features — and now offers coverage across 70 countries for more than 2,500 service providers. Crystal Blockchain was publicly launched in 2018 with the ambition of building a better, safer cryptocurrency industry. The brainchild of Bitfury Group’s software team, the company brings together experienced blockchain analysts, award-winning mathematicians and professional software developers. The platform currently supports Bitcoin, Ethereum, Bitcoin Cash, Tether, XRP and Litecoin blockchains. As well as serving cryptocurrency exchanges, the Crystal Blockchain analytics platform counts banks and financial institutions among its clients. According to …

Mauricio Toro, Colombian congressman of the Alianza Verde party, has authored a draft bill meant to regulate the crypto industry within his country. During a recent interview with Confidential Colombia, Toro outlined some of the hurdles his proposed legislation may face. Toro, who believes Colombia is lagging behind other nations in terms of crypto regulation, said that one of the main challenges is to make certain that the crypto industry is compliant with AML procedures. His hope is that this will bypass negative perceptions of the technology as it relates to crypto-crime. The congressman additionally clarified that “any scenario in …

Every Friday, Law Decoded delivers analysis on the week’s critical stories in the realms of policy, regulation and law. Editor's note In a tweet late last night, President Trump said that he and Melania had tested positive for COVID-19. If you weren’t already aware of that, you may want to catch up on a deluge of wishes for life and death, alongside speculation as to Trump’s announcement being a hoax, before sitting down to this week’s Law Decoded. Or possibly not. Every week leading up to the presidential election features more amplified headlines. Law Decoded is likely not the ideal …

In a blog post published Thursday afternoon, Bitmex lashed out at charges that the Commodity Futures Trading Commission and Department of Justice filed against the exchange and its management earlier today. Bitmex's statement claimed that "From our early days as a start-up, we have always sought to comply with applicable U.S. laws, as those laws were understood at the time and based on available guidance." What exactly "applicable U.S. laws" are will likely be central to the case. Bitmex has long maintained that it does not serve customers in the U.S., though others before the CFTC and DOJ have argued …

The U.S. Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) director Kenneth Blanco has warned banks to think seriously about their cryptocurrency risk exposure. During the virtual 2020 ACAMS anti-money laundering Conference in Las Vegas this week, Blanco discussed the obligations of banks in implementing effective anti-money laundering (AML) policies. Current FinCEN regulations (FIN-2019-A003) state that it is the responsibility of all financial institutions to identify and report suspicious activity concerning how criminals and other bad actors exploit card verification checks for money laundering, sanctions evasion, and other illicit financing purposes. For many banks, it is still unclear how virtual currencies affect their …

Rossen Iossifov, a 53-year-old Bulgarian national and owner of the ‘RG Coins’ cryptocurrency exchange, has been convicted of operating a multi-million dollar money laundering ring as part of a transnational auction fraud scheme. Following a two-week trial Iossifov was found guilty by a federal jury in Frankfort, Kentucky, of conspiracy to commit money laundering and conspiracy to commit racketeering. The Kentucky resident will face sentencing on Jan. 12, 2021. The jury found that at least 900 U.S. citizens were conned in a scheme that saw Iossifov’s Romania-based accomplices post advertisements on popular auction platforms like eBay and Craigslist for high-value …

The modern world has become too small for comfort. The truth is that technological advancement is a double-edged sword, which has the potential to enhance human lives drastically at many levels and disrupt them in the blink of an eye, shaping things on a global level to an extent yet not seen. Even though we enjoy fast progress in crypto services and digital asset fields, constant security breaches and hacks pose a severe threat to market participants. The very essence of safety in the modern world is questioned. Therefore, it’s about time we clarify the complex topic of fungibility in …

Nexo co-founder Antoni Trenchev told Cointelegraph that he believes the information revealed during the recent FinCen leak vindicates the crypto industry. According to the leak, the world’s leading financial institutions cleared over $2 trillion “suspicious” transactions — and Deutsche Bank alone cleared over $1.3 trillion of that amount. Trenchev said: “The first thing I'm feeling is vindication because like everyone has been saying for years, all that Bitcoin and money laundering in the same breath. We've been hearing that from regulators, from politicians, from bankers, from just about anyone. And it turns out that the number one choice for money …