While some global cryptocurrency exchanges move to expand Know Your Customer (KYC) rules, some major rivals claim that crypto platforms do not need KYC at all. Digitex, a Seychelles-based crypto derivatives exchange, will start removing KYC identification this week in response to a major user data leak that happened last month. Digitex will have no KYC identity requirements as of April 2020 Adam Todd, CEO at Digitex Futures Exchange, revealed the news in a public video statement on March 4, declaring that Digitex will have all KYC identification processes removed from its platform as of April 2020. Todd clarified that …

The Ukrainian National Agency on Corruption Prevention (NACP) detailed how cryptocurrencies must be reported on yearly income declarations. Cryptocurrencies are categorized under the “intangible asset” section, though they are also mentioned by name. On March 2, the agency published a set of instructions on how to report ownership of various types of assets in a yearly income declaration. The declaration is mostly intended for government officials, though it must also be submitted by individuals with foreign income and freelancers without a business registration. Cryptocurrencies must be reported under the “intangible assets” section, which generally includes objects with an undefined value, …

It is no secret that the United States Internal Revenue Service is working to cope with the unique challenges of taxing cryptocurrencies. In the first of a series of panels today, March 3, four experts spoke about recent advancements in cryptocurrency technology and the challenges and opportunities they present for regulators. Public ledgers offer more transparency to regulators Jesse Spiro, global head of policy & regulatory affairs at crypto analysis firm Chainalysis, was especially optimistic about the promise that public ledgers hold for regulators — unsurprising, given Chainalysis’s work tracking transactions on such ledgers. “As technology continues to develop, I …

The German financial watchdog (BaFin) issued a new summary leaflet detailing how cryptocurrencies are treated under newly enacted laws for 2020. The instructions are presented as BaFin’s interpretation of the new German legislature. The March 2 leaflet “specifies the new regulatory standards” that businesses will need to adhere to should they wish to provide crypto custody services. This is understood as a generic term to include all businesses that hold crypto for clients, including exchanges, financial services or banks. The new crypto regulation introduced on Jan. 1, 2020 was part of a wider initiative to align German law with the …

The U.S. Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) sanctioned two Chinese nationals accused of laundering cryptocurrency that was stolen in a 2018 crypto exchange hack. At the same time, the Department of Justice announced an indictment for money laundering against the same two individuals. Their activity is linked to Lazarus Group, a hacking group allegedly connected to the North Korean government. OFAC accuses Yinyin Tian and Juiadong Li of assisting “a malicious cyber-enabled activity.” Secretary Steven Mnuchin gave the following statement: “The North Korean regime has continued its widespread campaign of extensive cyber-attacks on financial institutions …

Amid a major economic downturn, countries in Latin America (LATAM) are increasingly suffering from money laundering through cryptocurrencies, a new report says. Cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin (BTC) have become a major tool of organized crime groups and hackers in LATAM countries, according to a Feb. 27 report issued by threat intelligence firm IntSights. Titled “The Dark Side of Latin America,” the report claims that LATAM countries top the list of the world’s worst money laundering nations, while local crypto-related firms apparently lack Know Your Customer (KYC) and Anti-Money Laundering (AML) regulations. To issue the report, IntSights partnered with major global blockchain …

On Feb. 26, Hong Kong’s financial secretary Paul Chan stated that his administration will strengthen its Anti-Money Laundering (AML) and Counter-Terrorist Financing (CTF) policies regarding cryptocurrencies. In his recent budget speech, Chan indicated that the amendments will address recommendations made by global financial watchdog, the Financial Action Task Force (FATF). New regulations to affect crypto exchanges, precious metals dealers The FATF assessed that Hong Kong was “largely compliant” with its AML/CTF guidelines following a September 2019 evaluation. The assessment saw Hong Kong become the first jurisdiction in the Asia-Pacific region to pass the FATF's appraisal. The proposed changes to Hong …

Recently, financial regulators around the world have been growing concerned about the role of cryptocurrency in money laundering and financing of various illicit activities. The first two months of 2020 saw many governments acting on these concerns and introducing a variety of legal measures designed to bolster their defenses against financial cybercrime allegedly facilitated by the use of digital money. Russia has become the latest of the major jurisdictions to make a move in this direction, as the Central Bank of Russia unveiled last week a revised set of indicators by which financial institutions are advised to recognize suspicious transactions …

While some governments are selling Bitcoins (BTC) confiscated through law enforcement actions, Finland is yet to decide what to do with its seized BTC. Finnish Customs, operating under the Ministry of Finance, has reportedly been deliberating about what to do with 1,666 Bitcoins seized from drug criminals years ago. As reported by Finland's national public broadcasting firm on Feb. 25, the Finnish Customs service doesn’t want to auction the confiscated Bitcoin because the cryptocurrency could be returned to the hands of criminals. Price of seized Bitcoins surges since the confiscation According to the report, at the time of the seizure, …

The French cybersecurity company Nigma Conseil and the Austrian Institute of Technology (AIT) have revealed to have collaborated on developing a new blockchain forensics tool. The agreement was signed on Feb. 25 to work on e-Nigma, a proposed compliance tool. E-Nigma provides its users with a way of conducting due diligence investigations in response to Know Your Customer (KYC) and Anti-Money Laundering (AML) regulation. Like other similar tools, it monitors and organizes blockchain transactions. The platform provides several advanced features such as risk scoring and wallet clustering. It is able to identify addresses with real-life identities by scraping through both …

Earlier this week, the decentralized lending protocol bZx was exploited in back-to-back “flash loan” attacks. While the two exploits were distinct, the end results remained the same. In total, $954,000 was gleaned from the platform. But what exactly happened? Was it an exploit, a simple case of arbitrage or a malicious attack? And where does decentralized finance go from here? It hasn’t been a good PR week for the DeFi sector. For some, the movement promising an alternative to the legacy financial system is starting to look like a failed experiment. For others, the attacks amounted to little more than …

Amid a tightening regulatory scene in crypto, blockchain analytics firm Chainalysis has joined up with digital asset exchange CoinField. CoinField plans to use Chainalysis technology to help with its Anti-Money Laundering, or AML, practices, Chainalysis announced on Feb. 20. As a result of tightening regulations over the past two years, Chainalysis has seen growth in its customer base, a representative from the company confirmed to Cointelegraph. “We've increased our customer count by 290% over the past two years, and new cryptocurrency exchange customers cite regulatory compliance as a top reason for adopting our technology,” she said. Crypto leaves the Wild …