The United Kingdom remains committed to becoming a world crypto industry hub in spite of the recent negative events that have occurred on the market. It is “the sector I have dedicated the most time to,” Member of Parliament and HM Treasury Economic Secretary Andrew Griffith told a meeting of the UK Parliament Treasury Committee on Jan. 10, underscoring that commitment. The introduction of a wholesale stablecoin and the Financial Markets Infrastructure (FMI) sandbox will be next steps in the process. Those elements are included in the Financial Services and Markets (FSM) bill, which will have its second reading in …

A group of four United States senators have criticized one of the law firms involved in the bankruptcy case of crypto exchange FTX for conflicts of interest. In a Jan. 9 letter to Judge John Dorsey of the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the District of Delaware, Senators John Hickenlooper, Thom Tillis, Elizabeth Warren, and Cynthia Lummis — a bipartisan group — called on the judge to approve a motion appointing an independent examiner into FTX’s activities prior to its collapse in November. The U.S. lawmakers said Sullivan & Cromwell, the law firm currently tasked with the investigation, had previously provided …

The South Korea-based cryptocurrency exchange Bithumb is under a “special tax investigation” by the country’s National Tax Service (NTS), according to local reports. On Jan. 10 tax agents raided the exchange’s headquarters in the country’s capital city Seoul as a part of a compliance investigation. The investigation was carried out by the 4th Bureau of Investigation of the Seoul Regional Tax Service, which specifically investigates “special tax investigations”, as opposed to standard ones. Previously, Bithumb was under a special tax investigation in 2018 by the NTS, through which it won roughly $64 million in income tax. This story is developing …

As one of the world’s pioneers in adopting its own central bank digital currency (CBDC), Nigeria declares its readiness to accept the existence of private stablecoins as well. The necessity to create a legal framework for stablecoins is marked in the latest central bank strategy paper. Published under the headline “Nigeria Payments System Vision 2025”, the 83-page report from the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) considers the development of a regulatory framework for the potential implementation of a stablecoin. According to the document, there is a need to develop a framework, given that stablecoins are likely to become a successful …

Terraform Labs (TFL), the firm behind the defunct algorithmic stablecoin TerraUST (USTC), and its co-founder Do Kwon is back in the limelight again for allegedly running a smear campaign and issuing threats against one of their own community members. It all started in the month of May with the genesis airdrop that was planned after the original ecosystem imploded in the wake of its stablecoin depeg. TFL, in a Twitter thread, claimed that Jimmy Le, a community member entrusted with Terra community funds, has refused to return funds gained during the genesis airdrop. The thread noted that the newly minted …

As the investigation into FTX continues, the crypto exchange’s former engineering chief Nishad Singh followed former FTX and Alameda Research executives Gary Wang and Caroline Ellison by reportedly meeting with federal prosecutors to cut a deal. Singh attended a proffer session sometime last week at the United States Attorney’s office for the Southern District of New York for prosecutors to determine if he has valuable information to offer in the lawsuit against FTX founder Sam Bankman-Fried, according to a Jan. 10 Bloomberg report. Prosecutors are interested in Singh’s insight regarding FTX’s political donations as one of the charges Bankman-Fried faces …

Nepal’s telecommunications regulator has ordered the country's internet service providers (ISPs) to block all cryptocurrency trading websites, threatening legal action against those that fail to comply. In a Jan. 8 notice, the Nepal Telecommunication Authority (NTA) ordered ISPs and email service providers to prevent access to “websites, apps or online networks” related to crypto. It stated that virtual currency transactions “are increasing in recent days [translated]” and reiterated that crypto transactions in the country are illegal. Nepal Rastra Bank (NRB), the country’s central bank, declared crypto trading and mining illegal in a Sept. 2021 notice. “Encouraging” others to use crypto …

Sanctions aimed at decentralized crypto mixer Tornado Cash weren’t able to completely cut off its usage, though it has hamstrung the service, a blockchain analytics firm has shared. On Aug. 8, the Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) announced sanctions against the crypto mixer for its role in the laundering of crime proceeds. In a report published on Jan. 9, Chainalysis said the sanctions did have some effect, causing total inflows to the mixer to drop by 68% in the 30 days after the sanctions came into force. 1/ The first section preview of our 2023 Crypto Crime Report is …

The United States Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) filed suit against self-described digital artist Avraham Eisenberg on Jan. 9, charging him with two counts of market manipulation in connection with an exploit of decentralized finance platform Mango Markets. Eisenberg was arrested on related charges on Dec. 27 and is currently in custody. The CFTC claimed in its suit that Eisenberg “engaged in a manipulative and deceptive scheme to artificially inflate the price of swaps offered by Mango Markets […] culminating in the misappropriation of over $100 million from the platform” in October. According to the filing, Eisenberg “purchased over 400 …

Former FTX CEO Sam Bankman-Fried has pled not guilty to all criminal charges he’s facing, including wire fraud, securities fraud and violations of campaign finance laws. In total, the entrepreneur faces eight criminal counts, which could result in 115 years in prison should he be convicted. Meanwhile, Daniel Friedberg, the controversial lawyer who served as top compliance chief at FTX, has reportedly cooperated with prosecutors and provided them with his knowledge of SBF’s use of customer funds to finance his illegal business scheme. The United States Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York has formed the FTX Task …

Xiao Yi, the former Chinese Communist Party secretary of Fuzhou, has confessed to “acting recklessly” in support of crypto mining during a state-run television broadcast. In an interview released by state-run media on Jan. 8, Xiao seemed to speak with a very subdued voice from what appeared to be prison, apologizing for being a “sinner” and causing “grave losses” to Fuzhou. The former CCP official pled guilty to corruption charges in December related to accepting more than $18 million in bribes for construction programs and illicitly promoting projects — including a localcrypto mining firm. According to a report from the …

At the end of January 2022, member of the Belgian parliament Christophe De Beukelaer became the first European politician to convert his salary to Bitcoin (BTC). Celebrating the anniversary of this experiment, Cointelegraph reached out to a lawmaker to know more about his experience. Back in 2022, Beukelaer, who represents Humanist Democratic Centre (CDH) party, cited the example of New York City Mayor Eric Adams and how American politicians are working to make their native states or cities Bitcoin hubs to justify his decision. The Brussels MP’s monthly salary of EUR 5,500 ($6,140) was to be converted to Bitcoin using …