What happens with unreported cryptocurrency? Not reporting Bitcoin despite the obligation to do so may have severe consequences for individuals’ lives and finances. The fine for making an incorrect declaration can be substantial and can even be considered a felony in certain circumstances. Individuals may wonder whether centralized cryptocurrency exchanges actively report to the IRS. Centralized exchanges do issue tax forms to the IRS. Likewise, the IRS has issued so-called John Doe Summons to exchanges, including Coinbase, to request people’s information and catch those who try to cheat on their tax obligations. But, such summonses are not the only law …

Should I share my Bitcoin address publicly? It is not a problem to share public keys, but make sure the private key cannot be found by third parties. Transactions can be sent to the public key, which is completely secure. It is safe to share your Bitcoin address publicly. This way, it is possible to safely complete donations or payments. No cryptocurrencies can be stolen through a public address. The only way by which stealing crypto is possible is if someone has managed to get hold of the private keys. Bitcoin wallets always make a difference between public keys and …

Georgia, one of the world’s most cryptocurrency-friendly countries, is moving to introduce new crypto regulations to pursue its ambitions to become a global crypto hub. Georgian lawmakers have prepared a new regulatory framework targeting digital business and cryptocurrency trading in the country, Georgian Minister of Economy and Vice Prime Minister Levan Davitashvili announced. Davitashvili said that a draft bill has been sent to the parliament and the amendments are expected to be passed in the autumn session, local news agency Business Media Georgia reported on Monday. According to the minister, the draft bill aims to coordinate local cryptocurrency laws with …

Many see implementing Know Your Customer (KYC) tools in crypto as a deterrent to the Bitcoin (BTC) Standard, which has predominantly promoted anonymized peer-to-peer transactions. However, regulators stay put on promoting KYC and anti-money laundering (AML) implementations as a means to ensure investors’ safety and protection against financial fraud. While most crypto exchanges have begun implementing regulatory recommendations to remain at the forefront of crypto’s mainstream adoption, investors still have the choice to opt for crypto exchanges that promote greater anonymity by not imposing KYC processes. But does opting for the latter as an investor mean compromising on safety? A …

For Satoshi Nakamoto, the creator of Bitcoin (BTC), the motivation to create a new payment ecosystem from scratch in 2009 stemmed from the economic chaos caused by the banking sector’s over-exuberant and risky lending practices mixed accompanied by the bursting of the housing bubbles in many countries at the time. “And who do you think picked up the pieces after the fallout? The taxpayer, of course,” said Durgham Mushtaha, business development manager of blockchain analytics firm Coinfirm, in an exclusive interview with Cointelegraph. Satoshi recognized the need for a new monetary system based on equity and fairness — a system …

India’s Enforcement Directorate (ED), the agency responsible for financial crimes, is looking at cryptocurrency exchanges suspected of processing transactions that sent more than 10 billion rupees, or about $130 million, from firms under investigation to international wallets. At least ten crypto exchanges are allegedly involved, according to an official who spoke to The Economic Times, and bank accounts of exchange WazirX have been frozen, the newspaper reported. Transactions of up to 1 billion rupees, or $1.3 million, were allegedly made in the names of people with no connections to the money by companies investigation in a case involving instant loans. …

Another top executive joins three co-founders of the crypto exchange BitMEX, pleading guilty in the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York. The court case under the headline "U.S. v. Hayes et al." goes on for two years, with BitMEX management being indicted for violating the U.S. Bank Secrecy Act. According to the Wall Street Journal, on Aug. 8, a one-time head of business development at BitMEX, Gregory Dwyer, admitted his guilt of violating the Bank Secrecy Act in court. As part of a plea deal, Dwyer would pay a $150,000 fine. As Manhattan Attorney Damian …

International agencies are urging central banks to consider interoperability early in the design of central bank digital currencies (CBDCs). The Bank for International Settlements (BIS) Committee on Payments and Market Infrastructures, the BIS Innovation Hub, the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank released a report Monday that looked at three options for cross-border interoperability that address challenges including high costs, low speed, limited accessibility and thelack of transparency. The present publication was a response to a 2020 Committee on Payments and Market Infrastructures report that identified 19 building blocks to enhance cross-border payments. Most work on CBDCs has been …

In a new blog post published Thursday, Coinbase says that starting Monday, all of its customers in the Netherlands will need to complete new Know Your Customer, or KYC, requirements when transferring digital assets to wallet addresses that are not based on the exchange. This includes providing the recipient's full name, the purpose of the transfer and the recipient's complete residential address. Transfers between Coinbase accounts are not affected by the new rule. The exchange noted that the change will only impact Coinbase users in the Netherlands, and is being implemented to comply with the country's digital asset regulations. Non-custodial …

Benjamin Delo, co-founder of cryptocurrency exchange BitMEX, has been sentenced to 30 months probation for violating the Bank Secrecy Act (BSA), which is an Anti-Money Laundering (AML) law. The sentence, handed down at a federal court in New York on Wednesday, follows his guilty plea to charges in February of “willfully failing to establish, implement and maintain an Anti-Money Laundering (AML) program” in his role at BitMEX. Prosecutors had argued Delo should serve a year in prison or at least receive a two-year probation and six months of home detention, as was given to former CEO Arthur Hayes in May. …

On Wednesday, self-custody crypto exchange Edge announced a no-Know Your Customer (KYC) debit Mastercard that can be funded with Bitcoin and other digital currencies. Without KYC verification, users would be able to spend their crypto at more than 10 million merchant terminals in the United States. Currently, one can fund the Edge Mastercard using Bitcoin (BTC), Bitcoin Cash (BCH), Dogecoin (DOGE), Litecoin (LTC) and Dash (DASH) directly from the Edge app. In a statement to Cointelegraph, representatives at Edge say that the card is compliant with Anti-Money Laundering and Counter-Terrorism Financing regulations because of a $1,000 daily spending limit on …

Regulators from Europe, the United States and elsewhere are busily hammering out details on how to designate decentralized exchanges (DEXs) as “brokers,” transaction agents or similar entities that affect a transfer and cooperate with each other. The U.S. called for multinational cooperation in its executive order on responsible digital asset development, as did the European Union with its recent Financial Stability and Integration Review. And that is just what’s publicly accessible. Behind the scenes, the whisper of regulation is getting louder. Did anyone notice that all the Know Your Customer (KYC) requirements have been laid on smaller centralized exchanges in …