Blockchain-based smart contracts indubitably fall subject to private international law, a legal expert has argued in a post published to Oxford University’s Business Law Blog today, Jan. 23. Giesela Rühl — a professor of Private International Law and co-director of the Centre for European Studies at the Friedrich Schiller University in Jena, Germany — entitled her analysis “The Law Applicable to Smart Contracts, or Much Ado About Nothing?” As the title implies, the report argues that the presumed friction between smart contracts and established legal precedent may be over-exaggerated. Professor Rühl opened her argument with the observation that: “[T]he initial …

High-volume Coinbase Pro and Prime users in Europe and Asia can now fund their accounts via international SWIFT wire transfer from non-United States bank accounts, a post on the official Coinbase blog announces Jan. 22. The post also notes that “select Coinbase Prime customers globally will also have access to our US and European over-the-counter (OTC) trading desks and Coinbase Custody.” Coinbase Custody — which focuses on serving institutional customers and storing large amounts of cryptocurrencies — recently obtained approval to operate in the state of New York, after launching in July. According to the announcement, the OTC trading desk …

The European Banking Authority (EBA) has recommended further research into cryptocurrency and will perform “a number of actions” relating to the sector in 2019. The agency has said this in its latest report published Jan. 9. In the document, which focuses on the “applicability and suitability of European Union law to crypto-assets,” the EBA appeared broadly unhurried about developing new regulatory frameworks for the bloc. “Typically, crypto-asset activities do not constitute regulated services within the scope of EU banking, payments and electronic money law, and risks exist for consumers that are not addressed at the EU level,” a summary of …

A member of the Governing Council of the European Central Bank (ECB) has warned that “the [cryptocurrency] bubble has already started to collapse,” Bloomberg reported Jan. 7. Speaking at a conference in Riga, Latvia, Ardo Hansson — also the governor of Estonia’s central bank — stated that digital currencies will end up as a “complete load of nonsense.” The official warned that “the bubble has already started to collapse and maybe we should just see how far this collapse goes, and what is left when we’ve reached a new kind of equilibrium.” Hansson added: “I think we will come back …

The Cabinet, the executive organ of the government of Ireland, has approved a bill that would give effect to the European Union (EU) Fifth Anti-Money Laundering (AML) Directive, the Irish Times reported Jan. 3. The directive — which came into force on July 9, 2018 — sets a new legal framework for European financial watchdogs to regulate digital currencies in order to protect against money laundering and terrorism financing. Specifically, the directive will extend the scope to crypto platforms and wallet providers, end the anonymity of bank and savings accounts, and improve information exchange among authorities. EU member states must …

After months of monitoring and observing the “promising and challenging” potential of distributed ledger technology (DLT), the European Union (EU) is finally making a turn into the blockchain industry. How it all started Back in February 2018, the European Commission (EC) launched the EU Blockchain Observatory and Forum, aimed to support European cross-border engagement with the technology and its multiple stakeholders and to unite the economy around blockchain. Since its official launch, the newly established organization — supported by European Parliament — has released three thematic reports: the first one in July, dubbed “Blockchain Innovation in Europe”; the second one …

Crypto-friendly fintech startup Revolut has obtained a banking license in Lithuania, technology news outlet TechCrunch reported Dec. 12. As the report states, the startup obtained a license through the Bank of Lithuania and “is leveraging passporting rules to operate in other European countries.” The mentioned “passport rules” are laws permitting the operation of banks that are part of the European free market on the territory of other member states. In the coming months, Revolut’s users in the United Kingdom, France, Germany, and Poland are expected to get a “true current account and a non-prepaid debit card.” Additionally, users’ deposits will …

United Kingdom-based cryptocurrency exchange CEX.IO now requires its users to disclose their identities, according to a company blog post published Tuesday, Dec. 11. The new policy was announced in November and has come into force on Dec. 11. From now on, new and previously unregistered users will have to prove their identity. In addition, they can also provide their home address in order to use the full range of CEX.IO options. Customers will be able to skip the mandatory registration only twice, and then must choose between passing the verification process or withdrawing their funds. Previously CEX.IO also had a …

Members of the Group of 20 (G-20), an international forum for the governments and central banks of countries with developed and developing economies, addressed cryptocurrencies in their recent declaration on sustainable development of the global economy. Declaration summary: Crypto is important, but it needs to be put under scrutiny and tax regulations On Dec. 1, the G-20 declaration titled “Building Consensus for Fair and Sustainable Development” was published on the official website of the Council of the European Union and the European Council. The document summarized the 13th gathering of G-20 nations that took place on Nov. 30 and Dec. …

Seven southern European Union member states have released a declaration calling for help in the promotion of Distributed Ledger Technology’s (DLT) use in the region, the Financial Times (FT) reports Dec. 4. The declaration was reportedly initiated by Malta and signed by six other member states, France, Italy, Cyprus, Portugal, Spain and Greece, during a meeting of EU transport ministers in Brussels on Tuesday. The participating governments explained that DLT –– one type of which is blockchain –– could be a “game changer” for southern EU economies. Namely, the document cites “education, transport, mobility, shipping, Land Registry, customs, company registry, …

This article has corrected misinformation about the claim filing procedure for investors in Envion in the case of liquidation. Our editorial team would like to apologize for the error. The cantonal court of Zug, Switzerland has shut down cryptocurrency mining firm Envion AG for an alleged unauthorized Initial Coin Offering (ICO), German news outlet Handelsblatt Global reported Nov. 28. Envion was established in Switzerland by Michael Luckow and Matthias Woestmann as an off-grid mining company that claims to use decentralized, clean energy like hydroelectric and solar to power its mobile mining units. Envion reportedly raised around $100 million through an …

The lawyer for Alexander Vinnik, the alleged former operator of defunct cryptocurrency exchange BTC-e, said his defendant will go on a hunger strike this Monday, Russian state-owned news outlet TASS reported Nov. 23. According to Timofey Musatov, the head of the lawyers representing Vinnik, the reason given for the hunger strike is that “he [Vinnik] was stripped of the right for defense in France and, consequently, in Greece.” The lawyer also noted that “it became clear that the [French-issued] European arrest warrant expired.” In 2017, Greece’s supreme court ruled to extradite Vinnik to the U.S., where he faces charges of …