Crypto criminals are getting more adaptive and smarter than ever before. But how can industry service providers keep up with them? If I say that the crypto industry is highly targeted by cybercriminals and, in particular, organized criminals, I’m sure that no one who has spent a few months within the space would be surprised. And for a valid reason. Due to the new technology and the nascent nature of the sector, criminals and fraudsters have long identified the excellent opportunity that crypto offers to profit via illicit methods. Indeed, any “new” approach to the financial sector is welcomed by …

Due to their anonymity or pseudonymity, digital assets are perceived as entailing the risks of money laundering and financing terrorism. In October 2018, the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) adopted changes to its recommendations on financial activities involving digital assets, adding the definitions “virtual asset” (VA) and “virtual asset service provider” (VASP). Since then, the FATF has adopted a risk-based approach to VA activities or operations and VASPs. This new approach includes the supervision of VASPs to ensure compliance in the areas of licensing and registration and preventive measures such as customer due diligence, transaction reporting and record-keeping. It also …

Ongoing regulatory scrutiny has forced many crypto businesses across the globe to close up shop. Amid this crackdown, Sam Bankman-Fried, CEO of prominent crypto exchange FTX, has been vocal about his continued efforts to adapt to the changing regulations around running crypto businesses, announcing FTX’s efforts toward finding systems for streamlining its Know Your Customer (KYC) operations. “As we mature as a company, we’ve been building out our checks, finding and incorporating more signals,” Bankman-Fried stated. He also highlighted the addition of a new feature on FTX that confirms a user’s jurisdiction based on their registered phone number. Bankman-Fried said: …

The provisions aim to raise $28 billion for infrastructure funding through expanded digital asset taxation and will impose broad third-party reporting requirements on any crypto firm deemed to be a “broker.” On Monday, Jake Chervinsky, general counsel to Compound Labs, tweeted that the United States Senate had voted 68 in favor to 29 against ending the debate surrounding the provisions, halting discussions until Tuesday’s final vote. However, Chervinsky emphasized that the Senate could still pass an amendment to the bill by unanimous consent before the final vote. Senate talks over the controversial cryptocurrency tax provisions to the U.S. infrastructure bill …

Decentralized finance, or DeFi, has established itself as a force capable of disrupting traditional systems. While DeFi still mostly keeps opposing itself to traditional finance, the centralized operators are actively looking for ways to integrate into the established system. The institutional interest pushes both decentralized and centralized participants to ask questions about DeFi, its role and a possible collaboration with centralized finance, or CeFi. Related: DeFi proved resilient during the March 2020 and May 2021 market crises Of course, the situation isn’t uniform for both centralized and decentralized institutions, but the main generic concerns are the following: Can there even …

Binance, the world’s biggest cryptocurrency exchange by trading volumes, continues its efforts to maintain dialogue with global regulators by introducing withdrawal limits and a new tax reporting system. The company officially announced Tuesday a major update to its Know Your Customer policies, significantly reducing maximum withdrawal amounts for users who have not completed full identity verification. Effective immediately for new Binance accounts, users who have completed only basic account verifications will be unable to withdraw more than 0.06 Bitcoin (BTC) per day, worth roughly $2,400 at the time of writing. Previously, the maximum daily withdrawal amount was capped at 2 …

Bybit, the world’s fifth-largest cryptocurrency derivatives exchange by trading volume, is planning to impose Know Your Customer rules. The Singapore-based company posted several statements on introducing major KYC policies on its platform in order to “improve security compliance for all traders.” A spokesperson for Bybit told Cointelegraph that Bybit will introduce KYC procedures starting from July 12 to help better protect user accounts and funds. Individuals will have two KYC verification levels with Bitcoin withdrawals capped at 50 Bitcoin (BTC) and 100 BTC. In order to receive the KYC 1 level verification, users will be required to identity document and …

An adoption-focused ecosystem that is built to simplify the way crypto payments are made says its smart contracts have been successfully audited by an independent firm — with the beta version of its app receiving a warm reception since being launched in early June. Samecoin says more than $2 million was locked in its protocol within an hour of launch, and an extensive list of partnerships means that it delivers immediate utility. The project’s team is also growing quickly, with new hires being made on a regular basis. Permissionless asset creation is one of Samecoin’s strong suits, and these tokens …

Decentralized finance (DeFi) has emerged in 2021 as one of the fastest-growing trends in the crypto sector and as the unique features of DeFi begin to work their way into traditional finance, executives from crypto and conventional business circles warn that regulation could be on the way if the protocols don't take steps to self-regulate. On June 23, Mike Novogratz, CEO of Galaxy Digital, warned that DeFi protocols will soon need to decide if they want to incorporate know-your-customer and anti-money-laundering procedures to gain acceptance from regulators or “pay the piper later.” Starting to think that major DEFI protocols are …

Cryptocurrency is becoming increasingly mainstream. Between the entrance en masse of traditional financial institutions — from investment funds, to banks, to insurance companies — to the multitrillion-dollar market capitalization, crypto is truly unignorable. As such, it is also increasingly on the radar of regulators around the world, particularly in the United States. How can this industry balance stability and investor protection on the one hand with the promotion and support of innovation on the other? There are three paths to regulating crypto. The first is to not regulate it as much, but given the incredible growth and increasing overlap with …

Decentralized finance (DeFi) protocol Arcx has announced the launch of Sapphire v3, a DeFi passport allowing crypto users to pseudonymously build and verify their reputation on-chain. Announced June 2, the DeFi passport will score users on a scale between 0 and 1,000, with Arcx advancing that the passport “incentivizes reputation-building and curates on-chain identity into DeFi.” In the absence of a DeFi passport, Arcx asserts that “protocols are left to treat every user the same, occasionally giving preferential consideration to wallet size, institutional backing, or restrictive KYC.” Arcx expects its passport will be integrated onto many DeFi protocols, predicting Sapphire …

Cryptocurrency businesses in the United Kingdom have been struggling to meet Anti-Money Laundering standards set by the Financial Conduct Authority, according to a senior official. John Glen, a member of U.K. Parliament and the economic secretary to the Treasury, pointed out major difficulties in the process of registering crypto firms under the FCA’s AML regulations in official comments on Friday. According to the official, only five crypto businesses have received registration from the FCA as of May 24 after the authority became the official AML supervisor of the crypto industry in the U.K. in January 2020. “Of the firms assessed …