The US House Financial Services Committee advanced a bill aimed at preventing federal banks from using or issuing central bank digital currencies, or CBDCs, paving the way for a vote in the chamber. In an April 2 committee session, lawmakers voted 27-22 in favor of passing the CBDC Anti-Surveillance State Act. The bill was one of five the committee considered in a markup hearing discussing possible amendments. Lawmakers also approved a bill regulating payment stablecoins, setting up the legislation for […]
Lawmakers on the US Senate Banking Committee voted to advance the nomination of Paul Atkins to be chair of the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), paving the way for a full floor vote in the chamber. In an April 3 executive session of the banking committee, lawmakers voted 13-11 for Atkins to serve two consecutive terms as an SEC commissioner, taking over former Chair Gary Gensler’s term ending in June 2026 and another term ending in 2031. Atkins’ nomination will […]
Authorities in the US state of Massachusetts continue targeting unlawful cryptocurrency market practices, with a local court fining crypto financial services firm CLS Global. A federal court in Boston on April 2 sentenced CLS Global on criminal charges related to fraudulent manipulation of crypto trading volume, according to an announcement from the Massachusetts US Attorney’s Office. In addition to a $428,059 fine, the court prohibited CLS Global from offering services in the US for a probation period of three years. […]
European Union regulators are reportedly mulling a $1 billion fine against Elon Musk’s X, taking into account revenue from his other ventures, including Tesla and SpaceX, according to The New York Times. EU regulators allege that X has violated the Digital Services Act and will use a section of the act to calculate a fine based on revenue that includes other companies Musk controls, according to an April 3 report by the newspaper, which cited four people with knowledge of […]
US crypto exchange Coinbase has filed with the US Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) to launch futures contracts for Ripple’s XRP token. “We’re excited to announce that Coinbase Derivatives has filed with the CFTC to self-certify XRP futures — bringing a regulated, capital-efficient way to gain exposure to one of the most liquid digital assets,” stated Coinbase Institutional on April 3. The firm added that it anticipates the contract going live on April 21. According to the certification filing, the […]
Former Binance CEO Changpeng “CZ” Zhao will begin advising the Kyrgyz Republic on blockchain and crypto-related regulation and tech after signing a memorandum of understanding with the country’s foreign investment agency. “I officially and unofficially advise a few governments on their crypto regulatory frameworks and blockchain solutions for gov efficiency, expanding blockchain to more than trading,” the crypto entrepreneur said in an April 3 X post, adding that he finds this work “extremely meaningful.” His comments came in response to […]
Update (April 4, 1:45 pm UTC: This article has been updated to add a comment from an OKX spokesperson. Cryptocurrency exchange OKX is under regulatory scrutiny in Europe after Maltese authorities issued a fine for violations of Anti-Money Laundering (AML) laws in the past. Malta’s Financial Intelligence Analysis Unit (FIAU) fined Okcoin Europe — OKX’s Europe-based arm — 1.1 million euros ($1.2 million) after detecting multiple AML failures on the platform in 2023, the authority announced on April 3. While […]
The new trade tariffs announced by US President Donald Trump may place added pressure on the Bitcoin mining ecosystem both domestically and globally, according to one industry executive. While the US is home to Bitcoin (BTC) mining manufacturing firms such as Auradine, it’s still “not possible to make the whole supply chain, including materials, US-based,” Kristian Csepcsar, chief marketing officer at BTC mining tech provider Braiins, told Cointelegraph. On April 2, Trump announced sweeping tariffs, imposing a 10% tariff on […]
Opinion by: Andrey Sergeenkov, researcher, analyst and writer Crypto founders love big promises: decentralized finance, banking the unbanked and freedom from intermediaries. Then hacks happen. In some cases, billions vanish overnight. On Feb. 21, 2025, the North Korean Lazarus Group stole $1.46 billion from Bybit. They sent phishing emails to staff with cold wallet access. After compromising these accounts, they accessed Bybit’s interface and replaced the multisignature wallet contract with their malicious version. When Bybit attempted a routine transfer, the […]
Japan’s finance regulator is planning to change the country’s laws to classify cryptocurrencies as financial products as early as 2026, according to the local outlet Nikkei. The Financial Services Agency (FSA) plans to submit a bill to parliament to revise the Financial Instruments and Exchange Act as early as next year after having considered the changes through internal study groups, Nikkei reported on March 30 without citing a source. The outlet reported that the details are still being finalized, but […]