The ability to verify documents and comply with anti-money laundering (AML) and know-your-customer (KYC) requirements is now a differentiator for crypto firms, said identity verification provider Trulioo. Anatoly Kvitnitsky, Trulioo’s vice president for growth, told Cointelegraph that as crypto crosses many borders, those who want to stand out and maybe attract those looking to exchange crypto to fiat or vice-versa compliance with regulatory requirements. “It is a good idea to improve the crypto world’s approach to compliance, especially as exchanges become more and more common,” Kvitnitsky said. “Definitely something like document verification is very much a differentiator and that’s something …

BitGo, one of the world’s largest Bitcoin (BTC) transaction processors, is integrating a new API into its crypto wallet service to support the Financial Action Task Force’s travel rule. BitGo told Cointelegraph on July 14 that the company is the first wallet service to provide an in-house API solution for the FATF’s Anti-Money Laundering (AML) regulations, known as the "travel rule." Specifically, BitGo is now extending its API endpoints to enable its clients to transfer additional transaction-related data required under the new rule. Intended to provide more transparency, the new tool is expected to enable the exchange of data about …

Coinbase defended the licensing of its analytics software saying if people really wanted privacy, privacy coins were around. Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong took to Twitter to talk about Coinbase Analytics and the company’s practice of licensing out the platform, explaining why crypto exchanges must have some sort of analytics software to comply with banking regulations. “Exchanges that maintain connections into the existing financial system (i.e. ability to connect your bank account, do wires, etc so you can convert fiat to crypto) need to follow AML laws, and this often includes utilizing blockchain analytics software for transaction monitoring,” Armstrong tweeted. “There …

Running a cryptocurrency exchange comes with a lot of considerations. What are the regulations in the country you operate in? Do you have sufficient liquidity? How will you handle security? Adhering to all of these requirements leads to excessive costs involved with setting up and operating these platforms, which means that a high price is often required to get a coin listed on them. This only makes it that much harder for new assets to find a market. Regulations still uncertain and vary by location Depending on where you are in the world, the regulations concerning cryptocurrency can be anywhere …

Deutsche Bank was recently ordered to pay a $150 million fine for “significant compliance failures” in its relationship with alleged child sex trafficker, Jeffrey Epstein. The Bitcoin community on Reddit is highlighting this latest case of misconduct from major financial institutions. According to CNBC reporting on Tuesday, New York state financial regulators issued a $150 million penalty to the bank for offering banking services to Epstein despite being aware of his previous indictments. In the consent order under which Deutsche agreed to pay reparations, regulators show that the bank’s executives were aware of a memorandum that detailed Epstein’s long history …

A former key executive at the United States Department of the Treasury has joined a major cryptocurrency investigation firm, Chainalysis. Sigal Mandelker, a former Treasury Under Secretary for terrorism and financial intelligence, has reportedly joined Chainalysis’ board of advisors. As officially announced on July 7, the new position on the startup’s board comes alongside Mandelker’s participation in a Chainalysis’ extended $49 million Series B funding round. Mandelker to share blockchain investigation experience with Chainalysis As reported by Forbes, the new position on the board marks Mandelker’s first public work since she left Trump’s White House for the private sector in …

Cross-chain interoperability is a domain that has piqued the interest of many financial institutions over the years, as it stands to produce a technology that can potentially mitigate a whole host of their recurring operational issues — such as data leakages, loss of customer funds during international transactions and poor accountability — in a totally automated fashion. In this regard, European payments provider SIA recently revealed that it has partnered with United Kingdom-based tech firm Quant Network after having successfully concluded a series of cross-blockchain interoperability tests designed to facilitate data transfers between different protocols. Through the deployment of such …

Sri Lanka’s central bank has selected a shortlist of three firms to develop a proof-of-concept (PoC) for a shared Know Your Customer (KYC) facility using blockchain. The project was initiated in fall 2019, according to a report from Sri Lanka’s Daily Mirror on July 2. The central bank is looking to establish a blockchain-based facility that would enable the government and the banking sector to securely share and update customer data nationwide. Speaking at an event in Colombo on June 30, D. Kumaratunge — the central bank’s director of payments and settlements — told attendees, “We invited software companies to …

The COVID-19 pandemic has crushed businesses, crippling life all across the world. It is costing darknet drug traffickers millions as well because their methods of moving drugs and funds have been compromised during the lockdown, according to a blog post by Chainalysis. “Darknet market revenue has fallen much more than we’d expect following Bitcoin’s recent major price drop,” Chainalysis reported, noting that supply problems for Mexican drug cartels and dealers in China’s Hubei province could be “hampering darknet market vendors’ ability to do business.” “Perhaps darknet market customers aren’t buying as many drugs given the public health crisis,” Chainalysis wrote, …

Contrary to popular belief, privacy is not for those with something to hide but with everything to lose. Authoritarian governments across the globe are increasingly using surveillance to control their citizens at the expense of personal freedoms and civil liberties. The privacy of one’s financial transactions is intricately linked to one’s personal liberty. Without privacy (and financial means), true freedom is at risk. We are rendered powerless to resist oppression. The promise of cryptocurrency is that it is uncensorable and unseizable money for the people. But Bitcoin (BTC), which was supposed to be like peer-to-peer digital cash, lacks privacy, which …

Like every maturing industry, the cryptocurrency market is experiencing extensive developments on many fronts. The potential continues growing every year — from the emergence of initial coin offerings, the first blockchain-based projects and speculation on Bitcoin’s (BTC) price to decentralized finance and central bank digital currencies. Crypto has never run out of hot topics. Now, in 2020, the crypto asset field is no longer regarded as just another “dot-com bubble.” The subject is gaining more traction over the globe, and as COVID-19’s emergence has streamlined digital assets and crypto’s popularity, mainstream acceptance is just a few steps away. The derivatives …

Recently, the United Kingdom’s Financial Conduct Authority released a detailed statement urging all local crypto business operators to register with the government watchdog by June 30. As part of the document, the regulator has made it absolutely clear that applications will need to have been processed, at the latest, by the end of the official grace period, which ends on Jan. 10, 2021, and failing to meet the requirement will result in a default. From a more technical standpoint, the FCA’s latest registration guidelines come laden with a number of specific compliance quotas, primarily in relation to crypto-related activities like …