South Korean crypto exchange Coinone has announced it plans to no longer allow withdrawals of tokens to unverified external wallets starting in January. In a Wednesday announcement, Coinone said users would have from Dec. 30 to Jan. 23 to register their external wallets at the exchange, after which time it would restrict withdrawals. The exchange specified that crypto users could only register their own wallets, and the verification process “may take some time” and could change in the future. According to Coinone, it planned to verify users’ names and resident registration numbers — issued to all residents of South Korea …

Each year that we get a little further away from Satoshi Nakomoto’s whitepaper, crypto becomes more popular than ever, breaking more barriers — not just in sheer enthusiasm, but in mainstream acceptance. From nonfungible tokens (NFTs) to the Metaverse, 2021 was the year of crypto, even following a decade where just about every other year could make the same claim. Despite that peak enthusiasm and excitement though, we shouldn’t be blind to the fact that there are still fundamental issues that must be solved before crypto truly becomes the dominant “coin of the realm” across the globe, along with the …

Identity verification tech firm Civic Technologies has launched a free tool to combat botting activity in Solana (SOL)-based NFT drops. According to a Nov. 8 announcement, Civic’s new tool “Ignite Pass” will filter out bots by requiring buyers to complete a liveness verification before being approved to make NFT purchases. Civic’s website notes that users will be required to take a video selfie in order to verify, with an Ignite Pass then being issued to their wallet address upon completion. The pass also remains active for 24 hours to “limit the options of malicious botters verifying multiple wallets. ” The …

A report presented to Sri Lankan central bank governor Ajith Nivard Cabraal on Monday detailed the results of a now-completed Know-Your-Customer, or KYC, proof-of-concept project. The project Sri Lanka's central bank, also known as the CBSL, included 3 collaborators who developed the Blockchain-based KYC platform concept. The KYC platform was also tested by the CBSL and 10 regional and international commercial banks, including Amana Bank, Bank of Ceylon, Cargills Bank, Commercial Bank of Ceylon, DFCC Bank, Hatton National Bank, HSBC, National Development Bank, People’s Bank and Standard Chartered Bank. The team initiated the project in July 2019, and completed development …

In her monthly Expert Take column, Selva Ozelli, an international tax attorney and CPA, covers the intersection between emerging technologies and sustainability, and provides the latest developments around taxes, AML/CFT regulations and legal issues affecting crypto and blockchain. Lately, news headlines are focused on regulators’ concerns over the lack of investor protections in the cryptocurrency market, which has ballooned to more than $2 trillion, and the possible risks to financial stability. National security agencies across the administration of United States President Joe Biden are grappling with high-profile cases of cryptocurrencies playing a role in ransomware attacks, intellectual property espionage, sanctions …

With an increasing number of people forced to work from their homes, data suggests that ransomware attacks are at their all-time highest with the frequency of these incidents increasing by 45% over the course of April 2021 alone. Not only that, some are adamant that the rise in ransomware attacks is closely connected to the meteoric growth of the crypto sector. Also, in the midst of the recent positive crypto market activity, news of the United States regulators aggressively studying the link between crypto and ransomware seems to be dampening the mood somewhat, especially since various government agencies are seemingly …

South Korean crypto exchange Bithumb has reportedly announced a ban on foreigners who have not completed phone-based Know Your Customer (KYC) verification. According to local coverage by Pulse, non-Koreans using the Bithumb crypto exchange will be subject to mandatory mobile verification. While the rule is reportedly set to go into effect this year, the exact date for the new KYC requirement is yet to be announced. Citing Bithumb’s notice, The Korean Herald reported: “Foreigners residing in Korea who cannot process identification with mobile phones cannot use the service.” Bithumb’s move for stricter KYC requirements comes in line with the country’s …

The latest news has left the decentralized finance community in a collective fetal position. Responding to the threat of increased regulatory oversight, leading decentralized exchange Uniswap recently restricted the trading of certain tokens. Earlier in July, Dan M. Berkovitz, chairman of the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC), said that DeFi derivatives platforms might contravene the Commodity Exchange Act (CEA): “Not only do I think that unlicensed DeFi markets for derivative instruments are a bad idea, but I also do not see how they are legal under the CEA.” Most worrisome of all is the initial version of the United States …

Major Bitcoin (BTC) ATM operators in the United States are joining forces to fight illicit activity related to Bitcoin ATMs. Bitcoin ATM operators DigitalMint and Coinsource have launched the Cryptocurrency Compliance Cooperative (CCC), a new association that aims to establish compliance standards for the Bitcoin ATM industry. The new compliance effort has launched with support from major blockchain analytics firms, such as Chainalysis and Elliptic, among its 15 initial members. The CCC is now encouraging participation from cash-based crypto money services businesses, regulators, financial institutions, as well as non-state and law enforcement agencies. The association specifically targets Bitcoin ATMs to …

Cryptocurrency brought us peer-to-peer payments that continue to elevate participation in the global economy for millions of people without access to traditional banking services. The rise of decentralized finance (DeFi) promises to further expand access to financial services, including savings, lending, derivatives, asset management and insurance products. This innovation, which empowers financial inclusion, should be allowed to flourish in a regulated environment where individuals and institutions are protected and suspicious activity is identified and reported. But how do you regulate these decentralized products without completely removing the core attributes of financial inclusion and decentralization? Know Your Customer (KYC) procedures are …

Binance has been in the regulatory cross-hairs of jurisdictions across the globe amid claims of it operating unlicensed businesses. As remediation of the ongoing scrutiny, the crypto exchange has publicly announced new Know Your Customer (KYC) requirements for all users on the platform. “Effective immediately, all new users are required to complete Intermediate Verification to access Binance products and service offerings, including cryptocurrency deposits, trades and withdrawals,” a statement said. Moreover, existing users who were previously allowed to trade cryptocurrency without verification will be allowed to only process “withdrawals, order cancellation, position close, and redemption.” According to Binance, the change …

When blockchain made its debut in 2008, the technology was completely overshadowed by its application — Bitcoin. From an infrastructure technology perspective, there was a team that believed beyond the context of cryptocurrency, there’s a promising future where businesses and individuals will thrive in a more efficient, interactive and inclusive digital economy. ParallelChain claims to have identified the attributes that limit the use of blockchain in the real world, addressed them one by one, and built a new base layer blockchain from scratch. “Since its birth in 2018, ParallelChain has been a private network for traditional finance (TradFi). The purpose …