Paytm, India's leading digital payments company, has said Thursday that it would consider Bitcoin services if the country's regulatory framework for cryptocurrencies was more definite. Speaking to Haslinda Amin and Rishaad Salamat during an interview on Bloomberg TV, Paytm's Chief Financial Officer Madhur Deora stated that the rules surrounding Bitcoin (BTC) remain in a “grey area” in India. “Bitcoin is still in a regulatory grey area if not a regulatory ban in India. [...] At the moment Paytm does not do Bitcoin. If it was ever to become fully legal in the country then clearly there could be offerings we …

Congressmen Todd Emmer and Darren Soto sent a bipartisan letter to Securities & Exchange Commission Chair Gary Gensler on Wednesday, strongly questioning why the agency has denied approval for the creation of a Bitcoin spot ETF while allowing Bitcoin Futures ETFs to begin trading. In a spot ETF, the fund holds the actual commodity (in this case bitcoin) whereas in a futures ETF fund holds contracts to buy and sell the commodity at a future date at a specified price. In a press release announcing the letter, Minnesota Republican Emmer said: “The SEC’s approach to cryptocurrency regulation has been unacceptable. …

U.S. Republican Senator Ted Cruz of Texas submitted a resolution on the Senate floor Monday that would require the acceptance of cryptocurrency payments at all gift shops, restaurants and vending machines located within the Capitol complex. The resolution, titled Adopting Cryptocurrency in Congress as an Exchange of Payment for Transactions, or ACCEPT, also prohibits the Architect of the Capitol — a presidential appointee who oversees the administration of the Capitol Complex — from entering into contracts which preclude the use of cryptocurrency as a form of payment provided that they “are cost-effective and value-centered for patrons.” Cruz said in an …

The Securities and Futures Commission, or SFC, in Hong Kong is reviewing regulations surrounding virtual currency transactions, including whether individuals can invest in exchange-traded funds, or ETFs. According to a report by South China Morning News on Nov.3, the 2018 regulations limited transactions of cryptocurrencies via funds or trading platforms to professional investors with at least HK$8 million to invest. SFC's deputy chief executive Julia Leung Fung-yee stated that the re-evaluation will be made "to see if it is still fit for purpose and whether modifications are required." Fung-yee, speaking at the 2021 Hong Kong Financial Technology Week conference, said …

The Securities and Exchange Commission could be emerging victorious in the race to secure the leading role in regulating stablecoins. Additional clarity on the demarcation of regulatory mandates between the SEC, Commodity Futures Trading Commission and the Treasury Department could come from the President’s Working Group for Financial Markets’ (PWG) report that was expected by the end of October but failed to arrive before the end of last week. The mandate to regulate cryptocurrency in the United States remains dispersed across a host of actors, and a single PWG report will not remedy this once and for all. Still, having …

Bitcoin (BTC) appears to lack the strength to retest the $67,000 all-time high that it reached on Oct. 20 and this is causing investors to question whether or not the bullish moment has faded. Even with the price facing these hurdles, it’s still premature to call the $58,000 support level test the beginning of a descending channel. Among the factors limiting the rally is the regulatory uncertainty in the United States. Anne Termine, a partner in the government enforcement and investigations practice at Bracewell LLP and former chief trial attorney at the Commodities Futures Trading Commission (CFTC), said that “there …

We have some great news coming out of the United States on the cryptocurrency industry this month with potentially more good news coming later this fall. On Oct. 6, Gary Gensler, head of the U. S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), confirmed during a House Committee on Financial Services hearing that the regulator will not ban cryptocurrency, potentially blazing the path for the world’s largest economy to become the global leader in the development of decentralized finance (DeFi) and blockchain technologies. Gensler, who taught a class on cryptocurrency at MIT, also said that prohibiting cryptocurrency doesn’t fall under the SEC’s …

U.S. Senator Bill Hagerty (R-VA), who was elected in 2020 to represent Tennessee after a stint as Ambassador to Japan, spoke to newly appointed Consumer Financial Protection Bureau Director Rohit Chopra regarding cryptocurrencies in a banking committee hearing, saying “I just want to make certain as you exercise those oversight responsibilities that we don't stifle innovation in this arena.” “Digital ledger technology offers a tremendous amount of promise in terms of financial innovation and inclusion. It’s an industry where I think the United States is leading, has led, and I’d like to see us continue to lead there. Especially when …

During an earnings call with investors and stakeholders, Michael Miebach, CEO of Mastercard, discussed his positive outlook on the cryptocurrency industry. The company had seen sizable volume growth in consumers using their Mastercards to purchase crypto and secured several partnerships with cryptocurrency firms. But Miebach's most ambitious viewpoint comes from a discussion regarding central bank digital currencies, or CBDCs, saying: "We are saying at this point in time, the most likely chance for this kind of technology to work for payments is if it's issued through a government in the form of a CBDC. We said that on a couple …

Bitcoin (BTC) has been trading in a descending channel pattern since its $67,000 all-time high on Oct. 20, which was just one day after ProShares’ Bitcoin Strategy ETF (BITO) debuted at Nasdaq. However, bulls have a sufficient number of incentives to peg Bitcoin's price above $60,000 on Oct. 29 when the $3.2 billion monthly options expiry settles. Currently, investors are displaying mixed feelings about the exchange-traded fund’s approval, even though it reached $1 billion in assets under management in 48 hours. Either market expectations for these funds were insanely high, or the 42% gain in October until Oct. 19 was …

The Bitcoin Fund (QBTCu.TO), a closed-end investment vehicle based in Canada, has received regulatory approval from the Dubai Financial Services Authority. The fund debuted on Nasdaq on June 23, 2021 and became the first listed digital asset fund in the Middle East. The fund's goal is to provide investors in the shares of the fund with exposure to Bitcoin (BTC) and the daily price changes of the U.S. dollar price of Bitcoin, as well as long-term capital appreciation. The fund is a diversified portfolio of digital assets that invests in Bitcoin and U.S. dollar-denominated money market instruments. A report by …

The United States territory of Puerto Rico is seeing a resurgence of interest among crypto investors attracted by the fact it doesn’t charge federal income tax and eligible investors can pay zero taxes on their crypto gains. Under local law Act 22, those who live in Puerto Rico for at least half of the year are exempt from taxes on interest, dividends and capital gains — meaning they can keep most or all of the profits from crypto or other investments without having to renounce U.S. residency. The popularity of the territory as crypto tax haven was highlighted when news …