Francois Villeroy de Galhau, the Bank of France’s governor, has urged for more stringent licensing requirements for crypto companies in France, citing the current turmoil in the crypto markets. During a speech in Paris on Jan. 5, the central bank governor said France shouldn’t wait for upcoming EU crypto laws to enact obligatory licensing for local Digital Asset Service Providers (DASPs). The European Parliaments Markets in Crypto Assets bill (MiCA) provides a licensing regime for the EU amongst other regulations and is expected to come into force potentially sometime in 2024. According to a Jan. 5 Bloomberg report, Villeroy addressed …

Effective regulations are one of the key gateways to cryptocurrency’s mainstream adoption. Due to greater compliance, crypto businesses saw broader acceptance from regulators worldwide. While the crypto ecosystem was awarded countless operational licenses and exposure to new markets, the fall of Terraform Labs, FTX and Celsius, among others, had a negative impact on the industry's reputation with investors and regulators alike. As we look back on 2022 and all it brought for the cryptocurrency industry, we're highlighting how the regulatory landscape has changed for cryptocurrencies and the blockchain industry as a whole. North America China’s blanket ban on crypto mining …

2022 will surely be remembered as a year of crypto discontent — one when the price of Bitcoin crashed three times, many large companies went bankrupt and the industry experienced a series of significant lay-offs. However, it was a crucial year for crypto regulation worldwide. Although some regulatory developments are worrisome in terms of their tighter stance on digital assets, their effect could help the industry to mature in the long run. Looking at the significant regulatory events of 2022 might fuel one’s optimism for the future. The controversial policy to restrict proof-of-work (PoW) mining was supported in New York, …

The arrest of European Parliamentarian and cryptocurrency proponent Eva Kaili has been labeled as a blow to the ecosystem by prominent blockchain industry participants. Kaili, one of 14 European Parliament vice presidents, was arrested and charged on Dec. 10 by Belgian prosecutors that are investigating allegations of corruption, money laundering and criminal organization involving Qatar and senior policy-makers in Europe. Belgian police reportedly seized €600,000 in cash as well as computers and cellphones belonging to Kaili and three other individuals involved in the probe. Kaili has since been suspended from the European Parliament, which she’s been a member of since …

Tech giant Apple is gearing up to permit third-party app stores on its devices to comply with new anti-monopolistic requirements from the European Union (EU), which could be seen as a huge win for crypto and NFT app developers, at least in Europe. Under the new rules, European customers would be able to download alternative app marketplaces outside of Apple’s proprietary App Store, thus allowing them to download apps that skirt Apple’s 30% commissions and app restrictions according to a Dec. 13 Bloomberg report citing those familiar with the matter. Currently, Apple has stringent rules for NFT apps that practically …

Reddit’ NFT minting hits new high Reddit’s nonfungible token (NFT) collection hit another milestone on Dec. 3 with a record 255,000 of its “avatars” minted in the one day. The new minting record beat the previous all-time highs on Aug. 30 and 31, which saw just over 200,000 Reddit avatars minted each day. The NFTs are primarily used on the social media platform as a users’ avatar and are created by a number of independent artists that use the platform. At the time of the collection's launch in July, it was widely seen as a way to boost mainstream adoption …

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 …

Christine Lagarde, president of the European Central Bank, or ECB, has once again called regulation and supervision of crypto an “absolute necessity” for the EU in the wake of the collapse of crypto exchange FTX. At a Nov. 28 hearing of the Committee on Economic and Monetary Affairs of the European Parliament, Lagarde cited Facebook’s Libra as an example of the ECB’s involvement which was “helpful to stop some of the players” from engaging with crypto firms. However, she said the situation with FTX — involved with crypto assets as opposed to stablecoins — was more about the “stability and …

Digital payments company Block Inc. is pursuing legal action against Roger Ver’s Bitcoin.com over alleged trademark infringement involving its newly launched Verse token, which concluded a $33.6 million private sale in May 2022. In a letter addressed to Bitcoin.com CEO Dennis Jarvis and the company’s legal counsel Joseph Collement, lawyers representing Block claimed that Bitcoin.com’s use of “Verse” constituted trademark infringement under German trademark law. The letter, dated Aug. 10, 2022, was a follow-up to a July 4, 2022 notice in which Block’s legal counsel, Bird & Bird, first laid out its trademark infringement case in Germany. A person familiar …

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 …

European Parliament economics committee member Stefan Berger has compared the current situation with FTX to the 2008 financial crisis, using “such Lehman Brothers moments” in justifying the need for regulating crypto. In a Nov. 9 tweet, Berger said proper regulation was needed to avoid issues which “cost enormous trust” in the crypto space, amid FTX reporting financial difficulties. The parliamentary committee member pointed to the Markets in Crypto-Assets, or MiCA, framework currently moving through the European Council as a way to require crypto firms to “ensure internal risk management mechanisms.” Shame! The #FTX/#Alameda case has cost enormous trust. Such Lehman …