Canadian banks have showed hesitation concerning the management of insolvent cryptocurrency exchange QuadrigaCX’s assets, national public broadcaster CBC reports on Feb. 22. QuadrigaCX has faced financial difficulty following the sudden death of its founder Gerry Cotten, who was the allegedly only one with access to the exchange’s cold wallets. As Cointelegraph reported earlier this week, QuadrigaCX has sent its remaining crypto assets from its hot wallets to Big Four auditing firm Ernst & Young, the court-appointed monitor overseeing the case. During Friday’s court hearing, lawyers for the Bank of Montreal and the auditing firm reportedly said that the banks are …

Huobi Korea, the South Korean branch of the world’s sixth largest crypto exchange, has recently strengthened its anti-money laundering (AML) protections, according to a press release shared with Cointelegraph on Feb. 21. According to the statement, Huobi Korea, which launched its services in 2018, has reviewed its deposit and withdrawal processes and fiat-to-crypto oversight. The company will closely monitor any transactions that might seem suspicious, the press release notes. In addition to that, Huobi Korea says it will regularly update its fraud detection system algorithms. Moreover, the exchange is set to launch an inter-exchange hotline in order to prevent identity …

The Cyprus Securities and Exchange Commission (CySEC) is calling for the transposition of the European Union (EU)’s Fifth Anti-Money Laundering (AML) Directive (AMLD5) into national law — bringing local regulation of cryptocurrencies under its provisions. CySEC’s announcement and consultation paper on the matter were published on Feb. 19. Тhe directive, which came into force on July 9, 2018, sets a new legal framework for European financial regulators to monitor crypto-related businesses and service providers in order to protect against money laundering and terrorism financing. Specifically, the directive extends the scope of regulatory oversight to crypto exchanges and wallet providers, enforcing …

Two prominent research papers have shed light on the latest crime trends affecting the cryptocurrency community over the past two years. Crypto analytics companies Chainalysis and CipherTrace released reports at the end of January that unpack some interesting data on the methods that criminals have used to steal and defraud users within the cryptocurrency and blockchain space. These reports paint an interest picture of the ever-changing cryptocurrency landscape and provides some food for thought about the use of crypto in criminal activity around the world. Exchange hacks and darknet trading still a threat As Chainalysis outlines in its January 2019 …

The Mauritian Financial Services Commission (FSC) is establishing a regulatory framework for digital asset custodian services, according to an official announcement published on Feb. 8. The new regulation will be effective as of March 1 and will require custodian services “to comply with the applicable framework for [Anti-Money Laundering] AML/CFT [combat financing terrorism] in line with international best practices.“ Harvesh Seegolam, the Chief Executive of the FSC said: “The FSC is committed to implementing enabling frameworks which facilitate the development of the Mauritius IFC.” According to the statement, this framework has been developed following consultations with the Organisation for Economic …

Frenchman Hervé Falciani, a whistleblower who has been convicted of the largest leak in banking history, plans to launch an ethical cryptocurrency that would combat money-laundering and fraud, Reuters reported on Feb. 8. In 2015, Falciani was convicted in absentia by Swiss courts for aggravated financial espionage after leaking the details of ~30,000 accounts, holding almost $120 billion in assets at HSBC’s Swiss private bank. The evidence — which was alleged to have exposed a web of clients’ tax evasion, money laundering, and illicit financing schemes — has since triggered investigations and prosecutions in several countries, and Falciani remains in …

Last week, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) claimed that the growth of blockchain in Malta has created major risks of money laundering and terrorism financing in the island’s economy, as per the local media. Malta is renowned for its crypto-friendly politics, whose efforts in the field have earned it the moniker of “blockchain island.” However, its push for becoming the international crypto hub has attracted criticism from both global watchdogs and local opposition. Crypto-friendliness is one of the main priorities for the Maltese government On Jan. 24, the Times of Malta reported on preliminary findings that the IMF allegedly presented …

A United States appellate court in the state of Florida has reinstated charges against a man who sold Bitcoin (BTC) to an undercover police officer, local media Miami Herald reports on Jan. 30. According to the report, the Third District Court of Appeal ruled that a judge who dismissed charges against the defendant, Michell Espinoza, was wrong. Espinoza is a website designer who was charged with allegedly transmitting and laundering $1,500 worth of BTC without a money transmitter license. At the initial trial in a Miami-Dade circuit court, the defense argued that, since Bitcoin is not considered money under Florida …

United States-based investment firm Blockchain Capital has led a seed funding round for blockchain compliance startup TRM, a press release from the firm reveals Jan. 31. TRM announced today that it had a closed a funding round totalling $1.7 million. Tapas Capital, Green D Ventures, The MBA Fund, and “strategic angel investors” also participated in the round. According to TRM, the company is going to spend the funds on scaling its engineering talent and expanding the capabilities of its platform. Based in San Francisco, the firm has developed a so-called token relationship management platform to help crypto businesses streamline their …

The world’s second-largest stock exchange Nasdaq has revealed that seven crypto exchanges are already using its market monitoring technology, Forbes reported Jan. 30. Just two of these seven collaborations have to date been publicized — the Winklevoss twins’ Gemini exchange, and Vctrade, run by Japanese financial services giant SBI Holdings. The stock market giant shared its rigorous vetting system for crypto industry players that seek to use its surveillance technology, known as the SMARTS Market Surveillance system. SMARTS is a cross-market, cross-asset surveillance tool that correlates real-time and historical data with detection patterns to trace illegal market activities, such as …

South Korea-based fintech firm BxB Inc. has launched the first supposed stablecoin backed by the Korean won, according to a press release shared with Cointelegraph on Jan 29. There was an initial beta soft launch of the coin on Airswap, a decentralized exchange platform, before the tokens were released on the global and Korean exchange, according to a Medium blog post by the co-Founder of BxB Inc, Alex Friedberg, earlier this month. The coin, KRWb, is reportedly the first stablecoin produced in South Korea to be backed by the national currency, the won. The coin is purportedly supported with the …

Four major South Korean cryptocurrency exchanges have reportedly joined their forces in order to combat money laundering, sources told local news agency The Korea Herald on Monday, Jan. 28. Quoting a report from South Korean news outlet Yonhap, the articles notes that Bithumb, Upbit, Korbit and Coinone have reportedly established a hotline where users can share information on any unusual trading or payments that could possibly be related to crimes, such as pyramid schemes. According to an anonymous representative of one of the operators, the exchanges will thereby be able to instantly check any suspicious transactions and immediately block the …