Dapper Labs – the company behind CryptoKitties – has a simple mission. They want to introduce a billion people to blockchain. “The reason we decided to go for entertainment — specifically games — is because we felt that it’s just a much easier way to introduce folks to decentralization,” explains co-founder Mik Naayem. “Gamers are
Regulation
Wirecard-issued crypto debit cards from companies like Crypto.com and TenX have been reactivated following permission from the United Kingdom’s Financial Conduct Authority, or FCA. On 29 June, the U.K. watchdog allowed Wirecard Card Solutions, a Newcastle-based subsidiary of troubled German company Wirecard AG, to resume regulated activity. The FCA suspended Wirecard Card Solutions’ license on
June 25, a new class action was filed in California against fintech startup Plaid, which was acquired by Visa for $5.3 billion earlier this year. The plaintiffs allege that Plaid violated privacy and data protections by accumulating and monetizing financial transactions of millions of users. The complaint alleges that the company accumulated this data by
Switzerland’s existing tax law is applicable to developments in the blockchain industry, the Swiss Federal Council said. According to the federal authority, Switzerland does not need to amend its existing tax legislation in regard to blockchain and distributed ledger technology, or DLT. No legislative action is necessary regarding blockchain industry In a June 19 meeting,
Like every maturing industry, the cryptocurrency market is experiencing extensive developments on many fronts. The potential continues growing every year — from the emergence of initial coin offerings, the first blockchain-based projects and speculation on Bitcoin’s (BTC) price to decentralized finance and central bank digital currencies. Crypto has never run out of hot topics. Now,
Contrary to popular belief, privacy is not for those with something to hide but with everything to lose. Authoritarian governments across the globe are increasingly using surveillance to control their citizens at the expense of personal freedoms and civil liberties. The privacy of one’s financial transactions is intricately linked to one’s personal liberty. Without privacy
The Tezos (XTZ) class-action lawsuit from law firm Block & Leviton will likely conclude in a $25-million settlement on August 27. Tezos, like many initial coin offerings (ICO) from 2017, has come under scrutiny from both investors and regulators alike alleging that its token sale constituted an illegal offering of securities. Indeed, the U.S. Securities
LocalBitcoins, a major peer-to-peer (P2P) cryptocurrency exchange, has purportedly managed to significantly cut the amount of criminal funds on its platform in 2020. The P2P platform has seen a decline of over 70% in transactions from darknet markets between September 2019 and May 2020, LocalBitcoins claims. Jukka Blomberg, chief marketing officer at LocalBitcoins, told Cointelegraph
The repeal of a blanket ban on cryptocurrencies in March by India’s central bank, the Reserve Bank of India, has been a boon to the thriving crypto industry in India — with the launch of new exchanges being a catalyst. This is despite the country being one of the most severely affected nations by the
Back in 2017, the Estonian government rocked the legislative side of the crypto world when they introduced a raft of new laws designed to support crypto projects. These licenses split into two different categories: those looking to operate a crypto exchange and those looking to undertake an initial coin offering. Both company types stood to
Every Friday, Law Decoded delivers analysis on the week’s critical stories in the realms of policy, regulation and law. Editor’s note The largest city in the United States and the world’s financial capital for most of the past century, New York City is also used to playing a starring role in the worlds of art,
On June 26, Judge Kevin Castel signed the final judgment in the SEC v. Telegram case, which will require Telegram pay back $1.2 billion to investors in their ICO for the failed Telegram Open Network. Cointelegraph reported on the final judgment proposed yesterday. What has changed is the approval of the court, putting an end
Wirecard’s subsidiary responsible for issuing debit cards, Wirecard Card Solutions Ltd., has been suspended by the United Kingdom’s Financial Conduct Authority, or FCA. According to a statement issued on June 26 by the regulator, Wirecard’s subsidiary is required to not dispose of any of its funds, stop conducting any of its regulated activity, and it
On June 25, the United States Securities and Exchange Commission charged the issuer of AML Bitcoin — not to be confused with Bitcoin itself — with conducting a fraudulent offering. These charges follow up on a criminal filing in San Francisco from June 22. AML Bitcoin’s story Per the complaints, Rowland Marcus Andrade and his
The United States’s Securities and Exchange Commission, or SEC, has filed a proposal for final court judgement in regard of the terminated Telegram Open Network project. In a document filed on June 25, the SEC has asked the New York Southern District Court to order million dollar penalties to multiple defendants related to the case.
A judge has granted a motion from the U.S. attorney’s office to pause the SEC’s action against Edit Pardo and Boaz Manor for their involvement in the alleged $30 million crypto investment scam CG Blockchain. United States District Judge Stanley Chesler cited a parallel criminal investigation into Pardo and Manor in granting the motion to