May 6, the Libra Association announced the appointment of Obama’s former under secretary for terrorism as its first CEO. Stuart Levey served as an under secretary for terrorism under the administrations of George W. Bush and Barack Obama, focusing on the enforcement of all U.S. anti-money laundering and counter terrorist financing laws by the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN). In his most recent position, he served as the chief legal officer at HSBC. Levey’s appointment continues a trend of Libra trying to make peace with regulators. Bipartisan support The press release quotes Katie Haun, General Partner at Andreessen Horowitz and …

The Netherlands’ central bank, De Nederlandsche Bank (DNB), has issued an ultimatum to all fiat-supporting cryptocurrency service providers to register with the institution by May 18. In a news release published on May 4, the DNB told companies that following the Dutch Senate’s vote in favor of an Implementation Act amending the European Union’s fourth Anti-Money Laundering Directive on April 21, the Act’s statutory requirements will soon be coming into force. The strict two-week deadline to register with the DNB is only necessary for those providers offering fiat-crypto conversion services or cryptocurrency custody. Companies’ draft registration applications will have their …

April 28, CipherTrace launches Armada, a product designed to eliminate risky cryptocurrency blind spots for banks and financial institutions. Unlike other products by CipherTrace and many similar products by its competitors, Armada focuses on the off-chain data instead of on-chain data. It can work in tandem with banks’ existing monitoring tools: “To identify transactions with virtual asset service providers (VASPs), including those with weak KYC or operating as unregistered money service businesses (MSBs).” The press release further says that with the release of Armada, CipherTrace aims to provide: “Critical visibility into risky cryptocurrency blind spots so know your customer (KYC) …

Dutch Bitcoin (BTC) savings platform, Bittr, has decided to cease operations ahead of Holland’s introduction of the EU’s AMLD5 anti-money laundering, or AML, regulations. Bittr’s closure follows criticism of the Netherlands’ implementation of AMLD5 — reportedly resulting in crypto firms incurring greater fees than credit card companies and traditional trusts. Dutch AMLD5 Forces Closure of Bittr Bittr’s founder, Ruben Waterman, posted on April 22 that the platform will shut down on April 28. Waterman protests being forced to collect sensitive identifying data pertaining to his clients, “even those that purchase as little as [$28] worth of Bitcoin).” “[E]very Bittr customer …

Chainalysis announced the extension of its cooperation with South Korean crypto exchange Upbit today, aiming to provide blockchain analysis support across the Asia-Pacific region (APAC). According to the announcement, Upbit APAC will start using Chainalysis KYT (Know-Your-Transaction) to provide a safe trading environment and comply with the established procedures in the region’s different countries. As South Korea’s regulation oversees Upbit Korea’s operations, the crypto exchange hopes to become ever more compliant. Strengthening regulatory compliance Chainalysis KYT is a crypto anti-money laundering (AML) product with over 275 clients in 40 countries. It monitors transactions in real-time and detects suspicious activity that …

Cybercriminals are taking full advantage of the COVID-19 pandemic, which has forced life into a digital realm, by leveraging increased fear and uncertainty to steal money and launder it through the complex cryptocurrency ecosystem. Accordingly, the Joint Chiefs of Global Tax Enforcement, known as the J5, has ramped up its efforts by arresting cybercriminals suspected of laundering millions of dollars in cryptocurrency, according to a J5 joint statement. The J5 also has been updating its Anti-Money Laundering and Combatting the Financing of Terrorism laws for cryptocurrencies in accordance with Financial Action Task Force standards, with Australian researchers having linked half …

The lack of uniformity among different jurisdictions’ cryptocurrency laws makes it difficult for crypto exchanges seeking to expand to new markets. While some countries are embracing and fostering innovation, others are more hostile to Bitcoin (BTC) and other cryptocurrencies. Further exacerbating the difficulty is the lack of regulatory certainty in many jurisdictions, including the United States. Below are four of the most significant international regulatory milestones so far in 2020. The European Union’s AML rules now apply to cryptocurrency exchanges The European Union’s Anti-Money Laundering and Combating the Financing of Terrorism rules now apply to crypto custodians, such as wallets …

The European Parliament has published a study identifying a number of legislative blind spots pertaining to crypto asset oversight in the European Union. The report identifies stablecoins, token-based fundraising, and the threat of money laundering through crypto mining among recent industry developments necessitating a regulatory response. Crypto mining identified as money laundering risk The report asserts that cryptocurrency mining may be used as a vehicle by criminal organizations to “create clean cash”: “Newly mined coins are by definition ‘clean’, so if someone (e.g., a bank) is willing to convert them into fiat currency or other crypto-assets, the resulting funds are …

As the European Commission finished its public consultation on cryptocurrency assets in March, France’s major financial regulator stepped in to express its stance on the matter. The Autorité des Marchés Financiers (AMF), the stock market regulator in France, has published an official response to the EC consultation, outlining some basic proposals regarding their own vision for crypto assets within the EC’s approach. It’s too early to establish a classification of crypto assets In an April 7 statement, the AMF argued that the classification of crypto assets should be based on the existing categories in order to differentiate between crypto assets …

Cryptocurrency network TemTum is partnering with identity verification service Shufti Pro to provide Anti-Money Laundering (AML) and Know Your Customer (KYC) screening services for its customers. As part of the partnership announced on April 7, Shufti Pro will verify TemTum clients' KYC data including date of birth, addresses, names, document numbers, document issue dates and expiration dates. EU’s 5th Anti-Money Laundering Initiative Compliance The partnership follows the adoption of the European Union's Fifth Anti-Money Laundering Initiative (5AMLD), which introduces new and, in some cases, tightened KYC measures on financial platforms — including cryptocurrency service providers. According to the announcement, TemTum …

The Financial Action Task Force (FATF) has reevaluated the United States on its compliance with global anti-money laundering (AML) and counter-terrorist financing (CFT) regulations. According to the report published on March 31, the U.S. is only “largely compliant” with FATF regulations on cryptocurrencies and virtual assets. The assessment considered the degree of compliance of the national legislation to recommendations issued by FATF, an international regulatory standard body. Recommendation 15, dealing specifically with cryptocurrencies, is among the most discussed issues in the report. Since the last assessment in 2016, the FATF rating of the U.S. on this matter has not changed. …

As the world’s supervisory agencies start to heed the crypto guidelines of the Financial Action Task Force, a new regulatory landscape is taking shape within the crypto industry. The latest country to annex the FATF directives is Canada, but how will the new rules impact crypto business in the country? In a report released March 10, the Financial Transactions and Reports Analysis Center of Canada, or FINTRAC, unveiled plans for an “enhanced AML regime.” Come June 1, 2020, FINTRAC will treat all crypto firms as money service business, or MSB. This will place added scrutiny on cryptocurrency transfers, customer identification …