Morgan Rockcoons, also known as Morgan Rockwell, has pleaded guilty to two cryptocurrency-related charges in San Diego federal court this week. Rockcoons admitted both to selling land he didn’t have for a crypto city project dubbed “Bitcointopia” and to operating a money transmitting business without a license, daily news outlet the Los Angeles Times (LA Times) reported on March 8. Per the report, Rockcoons first attracted the attention of law enforcement in 2015 with his Bitcoin (BTC)-fiat currency exchange services, which he advertised online. The LA Times reports that under United States federal law, businesses exchanging crypto for cash in …

Russia’s Duma Committee on Financial Markets is considering the adoption of a mandatory identification process for users of digital assets, local news service Izvestia reports on March 7. The committee chairman, Anatoly Aksakov, revealed that the authority is planning to amend Russia’s crypto regulation, aiming to establish a special identification process for users of digital financial assets, including cryptocurrencies. According to the planned amendment, dealing with crypto by unidentified users will become illegal, Aksakov said. The chairman stressed that the new initiative is concurrent with the existing legislation against money laundering, with violation penalties reaching up to 15 years of …

New York-based blockchain analytics firm Chainalysis has published an official statement clarifying that it does not collect or sell users’ personal data when it provides its services to cryptocurrency exchanges. The statement was published in a company blog post on March 5. Chainalysis is one of the highest-profile firms in the blockchain intelligence industry, providing technology — such as its proprietary KYT (Know Your Transaction) tool — that enables firms, governments and law enforcement agencies to monitor blockchain transactions and track suspected illicit activities, such as money laundering or terrorist financing. As reported, allegations that such firms may be circulating …

London-based blockchain analytics firm Elliptic — which provides technology to major United States crypto exchange Coinbase — has refuted allegations that it collects and sells clients’ user data to third parties for financial gain. In an official statement published on March 4, Elliptic’s CEO and co-founder James Smith stated that the firm has never “enabled the violation of individuals’ financial privacy,” and that such accusations represent a fundamental misunderstanding of Elliptic’s industry role. Elliptic is one of key players in the blockchain intelligence sector, providing analytics tools that allow companies, governments and law enforcement agencies to monitor blockchain transactions and …

Brian Armstrong, co-founder and CEO of major United States crypto exchange and wallet Coinbase, has said that Neutrino staff with prior connections to controversial software firm Hacking Team will transition out of their new roles at Coinbase. Armstrong made his announcement in an official blog post published on March 4. Controversy has surrounded Coinbase’s recent acquisition of blockchain analytics firm Neutrino, due to the backgrounds of key Neutrino staff at the contentious software outfit Hacking Team. The latter firm is alleged to have provided its surveillance tools to global law enforcement agencies, corporations and governments — with authoritarian regimes allegedly …

The founder and CEO of United Kingdom-based digital banking app Revolut publicly denied allegations of a money laundering breach and negligence by the company in a blog post Mar. 1. The latest in a series of publicity disasters to afflict Revolut, as U.K. newspaper the Telegraph last week alleged that executives had deliberately decommissioned Anti-Money Laundering (AML) software earlier last year. Further reporting by the Telegraph has revealed that the company had attracted the attention of the U.K.’s finance regulator, the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA). “This week, there's been some misleading information in the media relating to our compliance function,” …

Christine Sandler, Coinbase’s director of institutional sales, has defended the crypto exchange’s controversial acquisition of blockchain intelligence firm Neutrino. In an interview with financial news channel Cheddar on March 1, Sandler said that previous client data providers were selling Coinbase user data to outside sources. As reported, major United States crypto exchange and wallet Coinbase first announced the Neutrino acquisition on Feb. 19, saying it would make use of the startup’s advanced blockchain analytics tools, Anti-Money Laundering and Know Your Customer technology. The move swiftly became controversial as details of the Neutrino’s co-founders’ backgrounds came to light: specifically, their prior …

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has said that the Malta Financial Services Authority (MFSA) has critical gaps in its supervision for anti-money laundering (AML) and combating the financing of terrorism (CFT), and is recommending “urgent action.” The news was reported by local news outlet the Times of Malta on Feb. 28. A Financial System Stability Assessment Report was purportedly issued by the IMF on Thursday, Feb. 28, and represents an assessment of Malta’s financial system, the quality of the regulatory and supervisory framework, as well as the country’s ability to cope with financial crises. Per the report, the IMF stated …

The Financial Action Task Force (FATF), an intergovernmental organization that develops policies against money laundering, has published preliminary guidelines for cryptocurrencies on its website on Thursday, Feb. 28. The FATF held a meeting on preliminary crypto requirements on Feb. 22. According to the organization, the new text of the Interpretive Note to Recommendation 15 — which contains requirements for regulating and supervising digital asset services providers — has been finalized. However, the FATF expects to benefit from private sector consultations that are scheduled for May, asking entrepreneurs to send their comments to the organization by Apr. 8. Once the recommendation …

More than 7,000 cases of suspected money laundering tied to crypto were reported to Japanese police in 2018, a more than tenfold increase from the 669 cases over a nine month period during the previous year. The news was reported on Feb. 28 by local English-language daily The Japan Times. In 2017, just 669 cases were reported over a nine month period through December 2017, after new rules taking effect in April 2017 made it mandatory for crypto exchange operators to report transactions suspected to be tied to the movement of illicit funds. The twelve months and 7,096 cases in …

The chairman of the European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA) — the European Union-level financial markets supervisor — has said that he supports further regulations on digital assets, political news outlet Roll Call reported on Feb. 27. Delivering his speech at the FinTech Conference 2019 earlier this week in Brussels, Belgium, ESMA Chairman Steven Maijoor reportedly outlined the need to apply regulations to digital assets in order to help investors. He also expressed his support for expanding Europe’s Anti-Money Laundering (AML) requirements to include those involved in the exchange of one crypto asset to another, and not just the exchange …

The Russian Supreme Court has included the illicit use of cryptocurrencies in the list of criminal offences related to money laundering, local legal news site Pravo reported on Tuesday, Feb. 26. The court has introduced new amendments to the anti-money laundering (AML) decree issued in July 2015. These clarifications relate to Russian criminal code articles dedicated to the legalization of property acquired via criminal means. According to Alexander Chervotkin, a judge who commented on the regulations, in the three years since the decree was signed, cryptocurrencies have became widely used by criminals. To prove that, the judge cited several cases …