Kenneth A. Blanco, director of the U.S. Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN), has revealed that the agency has seen a surge in filings of crypto-related Suspicious Activity Reports (SARs). The number of complaints now exceeds 1,500 per month, according to him. Blanco’s remarks were made as part of a speech he delivered at the 2018 Chicago-Kent Block Legal Tech Conference August 9. The director outlined FinCEN’s ongoing role in regulation and law enforcement for the emerging crypto space, which it coordinates in tandem with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC). He noted …

South Korean police have raided the office of a local firm whose alleged crypto scam promised investors the spoils of a sunken Russian warship, The Korea Herald reported August 7. The Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency reportedly sent 27 investigators from its white collar unit to to collect evidence from the premises of Shinil Group in Yeouido, western Seoul, and seven other locations on Tuesday. In mid-July, Shinil had released submarine footage of what it claimed was the wreckage of the Dmitrii Donskoi, an armored Russian cruiser that sank in 1905 in the midst of the Russo-Japanese war, alleging it had …

Almost half of Russians have heard of cryptocurrencies, and 13 percent claim to have a good understanding of them, a survey conducted by research holding Romir revealed August 7. Romir, a representative of the Gallup International Association in Russia, asked 1,500 Russian residents about their knowledge of cryptocurrency, as well as their plans to interact with the industry. Of those respondents, 44 percent had heard of crypto, 13 percent said they had a good understanding, and 56 percent did not know what the word meant. The survey also noted that 31 percent of respondents answered that they can “imagine what …

A Greek court has accepted a Russian request to extradite Bitcoin (BTC) fraud suspect Alexander Vinnik, complicating subsequent international litigation, the Associated Press reported July 30. A panel of senior judges in the city of Thessaloniki ruled in favor of a new extradition request from Russia for the accused computer expert. At a hearing on Monday, Vinnik reportedly denied allegations of fraudulent activity and said that he was fighting U.S. dominance in the global financial system. The court's decision complicates the case as the U.S. and France seek his extradition as well. Vinnik, who is a former owner of crypto …

Five major banks from each BRICS member state signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) on the development of distributed ledger technology (DLT), according to an official press release July 26. During the 10th International BRICS Summit in Johannesburg, banks from the emerging economies of Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa agreed to a joint study of DLT technology like blockchain, “in the interests of the development of the digital economy.” BRICS countries have met annually since 2009 to discuss initiatives for economic, cultural, and political cooperation between member states. The State Corporation Bank for Development and Foreign Economic Affairs …

The CEO of Russian payment services provider Qiwi Sergey Solonin has claimed that an ex-employee of the company used its payment terminals to mine bitcoins in 2011. The programmer, who has not been named by Solonin, has managed to mine 500,000 bitcoins, according to a July 25 report by news site Meduza. During his lecture at the Moscow Advanced Communications School (MACS), Sergey Solonin said that one of Qiwi’s programmers had used its payment terminals for cryptocurrency mining, managing to mine 500,000 bitcoins in 2011, worth about $5 million that year and $4 billion today. Solonin said: “Most of all, …

Cryptocurrency miners and holders in Russia will be regulated under the Internal Revenue Code, local news outlet Izvestiya reported July 18. The Chairman of the Russian State Duma Committee on Financial Markets, Anatoly Aksakov, told Izvestiya that lawmakers are looking to pass the bill on digital financial assets, or cryptocurrencies, during the autumn session of the Duma. According to Aksakov, the document will not include separate taxation schemes for cryptocurrency owners, meaning that mining and circulation of cryptocurrencies will be regulated under existing provisions of the Russian Tax Code. Aksakov specified that individuals engaged in the circulation of virtual currencies …

Witnesses before the U.S. House of Agriculture Committee at a public hearing July 18 were unanimous in their view that digital assets complicate the hard and fast distinctions of existing regulatory frameworks. The hearing was chaired by Texas U.S. Representative Michael Conaway, who convened six eminent witnesses to give testimony — former Goldman Sachs partner and U.S. government regulator Gary Gensler, Andreessen Horowitz managing partner Scott Kupor, the CFTC’s Daniel Gorfine, law professor Joshua Fairfield, Clovyr CEO Amber Baldet, and Perkins Coie managing partner Lowell Ness. A key takeaway from the hearing was that a given digital asset may shift …

The cryptocurrencies’ potential to facilitate money laundering and financing illicit activities has long informed Bitcoin-insecure politicians’ hawkish postures on crypto regulation. With the release by the Department of Justice (DoJ) of an indictment of twelve Russian intelligence officers last Friday, which includes a count of an alleged conspiracy to launder money ‘through cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin,’ statesmen of this bent have procured a powerful supplement to their rhetorical toolkit – a formally recorded instance of a Bitcoin-backed interference into a vital sector of domestic affairs. The only consideration that makes the news look somewhat less haunting for the future of …

The U.S., Switzerland, and Singapore were ranked as the top three “most favorable” countries for Initial Coin Offerings (ICO) in a recent report, according to a press release the researchers shared with Cointelegraph July 14. Analysts associated with the Crypto Finance Conference compiled the research based on publicly available data of the top 100 ICOs by country in terms of funds raised and ranked them by number of projects launched. The report highlights the U.S. as the most favorable country for ICOs with a total of 30 companies launched in the field. The second country is Switzerland, which is responsible …

A Greek court has ruled to extradite the alleged former operator of crypto exchange BTC-e, Alexander Vinnik, to France, local news outlet CNN Greece reported Friday, July 13. The 39-year old Russian national Vinnik, also known colloquially as “Mr. Bitcoin,” was indicted by U.S. authorities on charges of fraud and money laundering last year, reportedly involving up to $4 billion in Bitcoin (BTC). Vinnik’s Greek lawyer Ilias Spyrliadis confirmed to Russian news agency TASS that “the court has granted France’s request for Vinnik’s extradition.” Spyrliadis also revealed that he is planning to appeal against the court’s decision in the Greek …

The U.S. Department of Justice (DoJ) released an indictment on July 13 charging twelve Russian nationals with committing federal crimes — funded by cryptocurrencies — with the aim of “interfering” in the 2016 U.S. presidential elections. According to the DoJ’s announcement, Russian officials from two units of the Russian government’s Main Intelligence Directorate (GRU) used cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin (BTC) — which they allegedly mined and obtained by “other means” — to fuel efforts to hack into computer networks associated with the Democratic Party, Hillary Clinton’s presidential campaign, and U.S. elections-related state boards and technology companies. A grand jury in the …