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Latam Insights: El Salvador Won’t Sell Its Bitcoin, Bitcoin Spot ETFs Land In Brazil and Peru
4.3.2024
Welcome to Latam Insights, a compendium of Latin America’s most relevant crypto and economic news during the last week. In this issue: President Bukele states El Salvador will not sell its bitcoin, Bitcoin ETFs land in Brazil and Peru, and Argentine President Javier Milei aims to criminalize...
Milton Friedman’s 1999 Vision: Predicting Bitcoin Before the Digital Age Dawned
3.3.2024
Nearly two decades before the Bitcoin network revolutionized the digital world, Nobel Laureate Milton Friedman foresaw the emergence of digital currencies. His prediction of an electronic currency facilitating anonymous transactions has become a cornerstone in understanding the evolution of digital...
Digital Euro Association Partners With HBAR Foundation to Boost Understanding of CBDCs and Stablecoins
28.2.2024
The Digital Euro Association (DEA) has entered into a partnership with the HBAR Foundation. This collaboration aims to bolster its comprehension of central bank digital currencies (CBDCs) and stablecoins. Although this partnership marks a significant milestone in the digital currency landscape...
Senator Warren Hits Out at Crypto Again, Says Industry Needs to Follow the Same Rules as TradFi
28.2.2024
Warren reiterated her disdain for the industry in an interview
Senior U.S. Military Airman and Cyber Analyst Charged with Money Laundering for NFT “Rug Pull” Scheme
27.2.2024
Two individuals, including a senior airman and cyber analyst in the U.S. military, have been charged for money laundering in connection to an NFT “rug pull” scheme, a February 23rd statement from U.S. Immigrations and Customs Enforcement (ICE) reveals.
The post Senior U.S. Military Airman and Cyber...
FATF Grey Listing Concern Prompts Kenya to Establish a Crypto Working Group
23.2.2024
The fears that Kenya’s lack of a regulatory framework for overseeing the crypto industry has prompted the government to establish a working group tasked with drafting crypto regulations. Authorities in the East African nation are confident that the approved regulations will designate a sole...
Chainalysis Report: Crypto Value Sent From Illicit Addresses Dropped by Nearly $10 Billion in 2023
16.2.2024
According to Chainalysis’ report on money laundering trends, the value of crypto transferred by illicit addresses in 2023 fell by nearly $10 billion from $31.5 billion to the latest $22 billion. The report attributes the drop to the overall decline in both legitimate and illicit crypto...
Crypto Money Laundering Dropped Almost 30% in 2023: Chainalysis
15.2.2024
Illicit cryptocurrency transactions fell roughly 30% in 2023, according to Chainalysis’ newly released 2024 Crypto Crime Report. This decrease signals a major shift in crypto money laundering trends. The report also stated that total funds sent between illicit addresses dropped by 14.9%...
China to Revise AML Law to Address Risks Associated with Virtual Assets
15.2.2024
China is set to revise its outdated Anti-Money-Laundering (AML) law in a bid to tackle the increasing risks associated with virtual assets. The draft amendment, discussed at a State Council meeting chaired by Chinese Premier Li Qiang, will soon undergo review by the national legislature, according...
Crypto Money Laundering Dropped 30% Last Year, Chainalysis Says
15.2.2024
Illicit addresses sent $22.2 billion in cryptocurrency to services in 2023, a decrease from $31.5 billion in 2022, and centralized exchanges remain the primary destination
Digitex CEO Charged for Illegally Operating Crypto Futures
14.2.2024
Digitex crypto futures exchange CEO Adam Colin Todd willfully failed to include adequate anti-money-laundering (AML) program, Florida federal court alleged. The US Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Florida said in a statement Tuesday that the offender “willfully caused Digitex Futures...
FA Hayek’s Foresight: Imagining Bitcoin’s Unstoppable Rise Through a ‘Sly, Roundabout Way’
11.2.2024
In recent years, discussions have flourished around the visionary predictions of famed architect and systems theorist Buckminster Fuller, who is said to have anticipated a concept akin to Bitcoin. Similarly, industrial magnate Henry Ford is credited with imagining a novel energy currency with...
Traditional Banking Sector Helped to Fuel Misconceptions About Regulators’ Stance on Crypto, Says Karim Chaib
11.2.2024
Although many global regulators are commonly perceived to be against offering regulation that is supportive of crypto, Karim Chaib, the CEO of the digital assets platform Web3intelligence, asserts that their stance is, in fact, intended “to ensure a safe and secure environment for both...
Former Bitmex Chief Foresees Bitcoin Rising to $1 Million Amid Banking Bailout and Money Printing Surge
9.2.2024
Arthur Hayes, former CEO of crypto exchange Bitmex, has predicted a remarkable surge in the price of bitcoin, envisioning it reaching $1 million amidst anticipated banking bailout measures and significant money printing by the Federal Reserve. Hayes expects the troubled New York Community Bancorp...
U.S. Treasury Department Highlights Increasing Use of Crypto by Criminals in 2024
7.2.2024
The U.S. Department of the Treasury has released its 2024 National Risk Assessments on Money Laundering, Terrorist Financing, and Proliferation Financing, outlining the most significant threats facing the United States in illicit finance. The reports detail updates to the anti-money laundering...
DOJ Charges Belarusian National With Money Laundering Conspiracy and Operating Unlicensed Crypto Exchange
4.2.2024
The United States Department of Justice (DOJ) has charged the Belarus national Aliaksandr Klimenka with money laundering conspiracy and the operation of an unlicensed money services business. Most of these criminal activities were perpetrated via BTC-e’s servers in the U.S. which were “leased...
Man Behind Defunct BTC-e Exchange Once Popular with Criminals Faces U.S. Charges
1.2.2024
One of the men behind BTC-e, a now-defunct crypto exchange once popular with cybercriminals and money launderers, has been arrested and charged in the U.S., the Department of Justice (DOJ) said Thursday
China’s AML Legal Framework Set to Target Cryptocurrency Transactions in Major Update
1.2.2024
As part of its ongoing efforts to modernize financial regulations, China is revising its Anti-Money Laundering laws to include stringent measures against cryptocurrency-related transactions. This revision, the first since 2007, aims to plug the legal gaps exploited in the burgeoning world...
China Gears Up for Updated Crypto AML Laws: Report
31.1.2024
China is reportedly planning to enhance surveillance over the burgeoning crypto sector, by amending its anti-money laundering (AML) laws to include crypto transactions. A group of executives, chaired by Prime Minister Li Qiang discussed the ‘revised draft’ of the AML regulations on January 22....
UK Police Seize Nearly $1.8B of Bitcoin From Investment Fraud in China: FT
31.1.2024
A London court heard of the seizure Tuesday as part of the trial of Jian Wen, who is accused of laundering bitcoin on behalf of her former employer, Yadi Zhang, FT reported