On Dec. 15 lawyers representing FTX filed a motion with the United States Bankruptcy Court seeking permission to sell off the firm's Japanese and European branches, derivatives exchange LedgerX and stock-clearing platform Embed. The lawyers note that each of these businesses have been under pressure from regulators, which “merit[s] an expeditious sale process,” adding: “The longer operations are suspended, the greater the risk to the value of the assets and the risk of a permanent revocation of licenses.” FTX Japan is currently subject to a business suspension and improvement orders, while FTX Europe has had its licenses and operations suspended. …

Following the global trend of tightening the crypto regulation in the aftermath of recent market failures, France may reassess its eased regime of licensing for digital asset providers. That would challenge the nation’s efforts to present itself as one of the most pro-crypto countries in Europe. According to the Financial Times, Hervé Maurey, a member of the French Senate’s finance commission, proposed an amendment to eliminate a clause enabling crypto companies to operate without a full license until 2026. The current regime preserves this possibility even after the Markets in-Crypto Assets (MiCA) coming into law in 2024. Maurey’s amendment will …

The metaverse and digital reality experiences are barreling toward consumers, whether they are ready or not. However, there are certain places in the world that are more ready to embrace a digital future from a technological standpoint. A new study by Uswitch, an internet and telephone service researcher, looked at a combination of fixed broadband speeds, broadband package prices, the number of blockchain financial start-ups and the price of high technology exports to determine which countries have the capacity to embrace the metaverse. At the top of the list is the Netherlands, with the most hospitable conditions to cater to …

The ongoing crypto winter is not stopping the industry from pushing for global adoption and accessibility. A new partnership between CoinCorner and Bitnob opens a way for users across continents to perform cross-border transactions involving multiple fiat currencies. Typically transfer of funds between Europe and Africa requires a third-party facilitator like Western Union, which rely on centralized entities. These transactions often have processing times of multiple parties prior to approval and are known for their expensive cuts. World Bank estimates that remittances to Sub-Saharan Africa went upwards of $40 billion yearly as of 2020 —with Nigeria receiving almost half of …

RBB Lab, a technology development firm based in the Republic of San Marino, has utilized nonfungible token (NFT) technology to issue a court summons to a former employee and a contractor. RBB Lab CEO Enrico Rubboli told Cointelegraph that it summoned the two individuals to the Judiciary of Italy on claims of attempted extortion and aggravated defamation of the firm. The summons was “an order restriction that we are asking them to stop this campaign against us,” said Rubboli. This is the first time that an NFT has been used to deliver a court summons in Italy. If this technology …

In light of the recent FTX collapse and liquidity scandal, regulators in the European Union have joined other global lawmakers in a push for more clear guidelines and regulations on cryptos. The European Central Bank (ECB) released a blog post titled “Bitcoin’s last stand” on Nov. 30, which summarized the financial career of Bitcoin (BTC) amid current price fluctuations. However, instead of outlining the entire picture, which would include both up and downs of the cryptocurrency’s lifespan thus far, it only portrayed its shortcomings. Written by Ulrich Bindseil and Jürgen Schaaf, the director general and advisor of the ECB, the …

Belgium’s financial regulatory body has confirmed its position that Bitcoin (BTC), Ether (ETH) and other cryptocurrencies that are issued solely by computer code do not constitute securities. The explanation came from Belgium's Financial Services and Markets Authority (FSMA) in a Nov. 22 report, a draft of which was opened for comment in Jul. 2022. The clarification comes following an increase in demands for answers as to how Belgium’s existing financial laws and regulations apply to digital assets, according to the FSMA. While not legally binding under Belgium or European Union law, the FSMA stated that under its “stepwise plan,” cryptocurrencies …

A group of pro-crypto Ukrainian lawmakers, Blockchain4Ukraine, and the citizen group Virtual Assets of Ukraine (VAU) revealed a joint roadmap for promoting and developing Web3 in the country. The document was signed by its co-authors on Nov. 14, according to regional media. The roadmap proposes a set of measures for promoting Web3, such as the launch of a regulatory sandbox for blockchain and Web3 projects, the creation of a national blockchain-backed land and realty register, the preparation of a “blockchain plan” to rebuild the country after the war and integration of Ukraine into the European blockchain community. VAU and Blockchain4Ukraine …

As the Plenary vote for the landmark Pan-European crypto legislation, Markets in Crypto Assets (MiCA), has been rescheduled from the end of 2022 to February 2023, Stefan Berger believes that to be a matter of technical necessity. Responding to Cointelegraph's request for more info, Berger, a member of the European Parliament responsible for procedural handling of MiCa, explained that the delay has nothing to do with the legislation’s content: “I view this as a purely technical necessity and not as a political move. I have no reason to believe that the support for the MiCA has changed in the European …

Smaller cryptocurrency exchanges and start-ups could benefit from the European Union’s Markets in Crypto-assets (MiCA) regulation, according to Martin Bruncko, Binance’s executive vice president of Europe. Cointelegraph had a one-on-one interview with Martin Bruncko during the Web Summit conference in Lisbon early in November 2022. Heading up Binance’s operations across Europe, Bruncko offered unique insights into the exchange’s growth across the continent and its perspective on the regulatory environment. The European Parliament Committee passed the MiCA crypto policy on Oct. 10, which aims to create a one-size-fits-all regulatory framework for the industry across the 27 countries that make up the …

Despite the turbulence that broke out in the crypto market this summer, there is an important long-term marker that should be considered in any complex assessment — the combination of adoption and regulation. The latest report by EUBlockchain Observatory, named “EU Blockchain Ecosystem Developments,” tries to measure this combination within the European Union, combining the data on each and every member country from Portugal to Slovakia. As the original report counts more than 200 pages, Cointelegraph prepared a summary with the intent to capture the most vital information about the state of crypto and blockchain in Europe. Cointelegraph started from …

In the weeks following new sanctions from the European Union, Binance has kept its doors open for non-sanctioned Russian nationals, but that does not mean that the firm isn't complying with EU sanctions, according to Binance’s newly-appointed sanctions executive. Western sanctions against Russia have been a major challenge for Binance from day one, and the firm has been working hard to comply, Binance’s global head of sanctions Chagri Poyraz told Cointelegraph in an interview. Since the start of Russia's invasion of Ukraine, Binance has comprehensively blocked several non-government-controlled territories of Ukraine, including annexed regions like Donetsk and Luhansk, Poyraz said. …