While regulators have often targeted projects in and out of the crypto space, the fines levied against digital asset exchanges are a fraction of those against traditional financial institutions. According to data from Good Jobs First’s violation tracker, the platform analyzed 50 of the biggest fines regulators levied against major banks, investment firms and brokers over the last 20 years. Bank of America accrued roughly $82 billion covering 251 different fines, including securities violations, while JPMorgan Chase and Citigroup have also been some of the most-fined banks in the United States since 2000, with penalties totaling $35.9 billion and $25.5 …

Two bills aimed at furthering the adoption of cryptocurrency and blockchain are now law in the state of Texas. Texas House Bills 1576 and 4474, passed by both chambers in the state legislature in May and signed into law by Governor Greg Abbott in June, officially took effect on Sept. 1. H.B. 1576 establishes a blockchain working group in the state, while H.B. 4474 amends the state's Uniform Commercial Code to recognize cryptocurrencies under commercial law. Lee Bratcher, president of the Texas Blockchain Council, told Cointelegraph that H.B. 4474 better defines the security interests for Bitcoin (BTC) and other cryptocurrencies …

Binance’s affiliate United States-based cryptocurrency exchange, Binance.US, is targeting an initial public offering (IPO) in 2024, according to Binance CEO and founder Changpeng Zhao. Binance.US is planning to close a large private funding round in the next two months that would allow the firm to become more independent from the global exchange, Zhao said on Wednesday in an interview with tech publication The Information. Zhao is confident that the global crypto exchange will survive the ongoing regulatory crackdown by global regulators, and that Binance.US will move toward a public listing in three years. “Binance.US is just going to do what …

A Salvadoran news outlet has reported that a computer and cryptocurrency expert critical of the country accepting Bitcoin as legal tender was arrested by local police and held for hours before being released. According to multiple interviews conducted by La Prensa Gráfica, police in San Salvador arrested computer specialist Mario Gómez Wednesday without a warrant, seizing his phone and attempting to take possession of a computer from his mother Elena de Gomez. The National Civil Police, or PNC, released a statement saying Gómez’s detainment was related to an investigation for financial fraud. Otto Flores, Gómez’s lawyer, said authorities released Gómez …

Standard Chartered, a United Kingdom-based multinational banking firm, has joined an alliance of fintech companies and banks aimed at accelerating the adoption of cryptocurrency best practices. In a Wednesday announcement, Standard Chartered said it would be joining crypto and digital finance industry membership body Global Digital Finance (GDF) Patron Board. As a member, the bank will help engage with international regulators and lawmakers as well as others in the industry to advocate for digital assets. According to the GDF, Standard Chartered is the first bank to join the group’s patron board, consisting of ten other members, including crypto exchanges Coinbase, …

A large-scale poll across 12 European Union member states revealed that a majority of Europeans would prefer local governments to create and regulate cryptocurrencies. Redfield & Wilton Strategies carried out a survey for Euronews, polling 31,000 respondents from Estonia, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, the Netherlands, Poland, Portugal and Spain. Against the backdrop of the new crypto laws proposed by the European Commission (EC), a lion’s share of respondents from all nations supported the creation of a national cryptocurrency. The main reason for an in-house token, however, is attributed to gaining financial independence from the European Union. Out …

Some financial experts believe that the price of cryptocurrencies is solely driven by investors' speculation, and in the past few years, detractors have suggested that fixed income instruments like Treasury bills have no relation to do with digital assets. This point of view is fairly accurate because at this time, most investors from the asset class are not allowed to invest in Bitcoin (BTC) and altcoins. Public pension funds, retirement plans, fixed income and most non-leverage equity and multimarket mutual funds can only invest in certain asset classes. These limits arise from the fund class regulation, the fund's own bylaws …

Kathy Hochul, the governor of New York — who has been in office for only a week since the departure of Andrew Cuomo — has nominated Adrienne Harris to lead the state’s Department of Financial Services. According to a Tuesday Wall Street Journal report, Hochul tapped Harris to lead the New York Department of Financial Services, or NYDFS, following the resignation of Superintendent Linda Lacewell. Harris is currently a senior adviser at the public relations firm Brunswick Group, but prior to that was a special assistant for economic policy to United States President Barack Obama and a senior adviser to …

U.S. Department of the Treasury will reportedly push to extend the reach of new rules designed to govern the cryptocurrency space. Closely following the infrastructure package freighted with last-minute crypto taxation provisions is the upcoming budget reconciliation bill that could also see additional requirements for cryptocurrency businesses. Citing an unnamed official within the Biden administration, Roll Call reported on Monday that the administration is looking to append provisions to the budget bill requiring U.S. digital asset firms report information on their foreign clients. As with the infrastructure bill, the purpose of the potential regulation is to enhance tax compliance and …

Anthony Scaramucci, CEO and founder of SkyBridge Capital, thinks Bitcoin (BTC) can reach $100,000 before the end of the year, mainly due to the exponential growth in demand every month. “The bottom line is you have the limited and fixed supply of Bitcoin and you have every month exponentially more demand,” Scaramucci told Cointelegraph in an exclusive interview. “As long as I see that, I see those prices rising. So, we’re going to stick with the $100,000 price target,” he explained. Once a Bitcoin skeptic, Scaramucci launched SkyBridge Capital's first BTC fund last year with a $25 million dollar investment. …

Very few events can shake the cryptocurrency markets in a sustainable manner that really sends Bitcoin and altcoin prices into a sharp directional move. One example is when Xi Jinping, China's President, called for a country-wide development of blockchain technology in October 2019. The unexpected news caused a 42% pump in Bitcoin (BTC), but the movement completely faded away as investors realized China was not altering its negative stance on cryptocurrencies. As a result, only a handful of tokens focused on China's FinTech industry, blockchain tracing, and industry automation saw their prices consolidate at higher levels. Some 'crypto news' and …

Although the cryptocurrency sector may still be considered the “Wild West” by some governments and regulators, continued adoption and emerging use cases show that digital currencies are here to stay. Some even argue that blockchain-based networks and decentralized finance, or DeFi, platforms may soon replace traditional financial systems. Yet despite ongoing progress, the crypto industry is still young and, therefore, requires further development before it can be widely accepted. One area in particular that needs deeper addressing within the crypto space is regulation. Mohamed El-Erian, chief economic advisor at Allianz — a German multinational financial services company — stated in …