Binance’s CEO and Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin believe blockchain-based voting apps would significantly improve current voting systems. Binance’s chief executive CZ and Ethereum’s co-founder Vitalik Buterin are in furious agreement that a new blockchain-based voting system is required to improve democratic processes in the United States. But one won’t be as easy to implement as…
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The lightchain-vs.-darkchain dichotomy is counterproductive, and a healthy graychain will produce more valuable crypto assets like Bitcoin. In the last month, we’ve seen the United States Federal Reserve come after BitMEX for failing to identify customers, crypto intelligence firm CipherTrace report that most crypto exchanges are not collecting enough user info, and the so-called “FinCEN…
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With new changes to the Travel Rule up for discussion and a bevy of new cases in the courts, it’s time to look at how U.S. AML law is shifting to cope with crypto. The ease of laundering money in the U.S. before 1970 boggles the mind. Prior to the Bank Secrecy Act (BSA) of…
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The changes brought about by 6AMLD will affect a lot of businesses, but there is still time to prepare for new rules. In January 2020, the European Union released its Fifth Anti-Money Laundering Directive to increase transparency while tackling fraud, money laundering and cybercrimes. The 5AMLD extended the scope of customer due diligence checks, introduced…
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The hire comes after BitMEX’s founders were charged with failing to prevent money laundering and operating an unregistered trading platform illegally in the United States. The operator of crypto derivatives exchange BitMEX, 100x Group, has hired a seasoned Anti-Money Laundering (AML) specialist, Malcolm Wright, as its chief compliance officer. In an announcement on Oct. 12,…
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More regulation is coming, and it will be costly, but compliance can also expand an exchange’s customer base. Crypto intelligence firm CipherTrace released a study on Oct. 1 reporting that more than half of the world’s cryptocurrency exchanges had deficient customer identification processes in place against money laundering. On the same day, the United States…
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The highest number of exchanges defying regulatory norms are in Europe More than half of all exchanges worldwide have weak KYC identification protocols — with exchanges in Europe, the U.S. and U.K. among the worst offenders, according to a new study by blockchain analysis firm CipherTrace CipherTrace analyzed more than 800 decentralized, centralized, and automated…
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Despite criminal charges from the DOJ and at least one arrest of its leadership, Bitmex promises to continue operating as usual. In a blog post published Thursday afternoon, Bitmex lashed out at charges that the Commodity Futures Trading Commission and Department of Justice filed against the exchange and its management earlier today. Bitmex’s statement claimed that “From our early days…
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FinCEN has warned U.S. banks that it is closely watching how they respond to crypto risk exposure with their AML programs. The U.S. Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) director Kenneth Blanco has warned banks to think seriously about their cryptocurrency risk exposure. During the virtual 2020 ACAMS anti-money laundering Conference in Las Vegas this week,…
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The IRS has a strong interest in receiving information from informed whistleblowers about offshore crypto accounts and criminal crypto tax activity. The COVID-19 pandemic has forced governments worldwide to focus on bringing blockchain technology to their financial services, along with the needed regulatory upgrades to keep the burgeoning fintech industry clean. Related: Not like before:…
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