Crypto regulation in the world: weekly digest #30

FTX Update

The US Department of Justice continues to investigate the transactions of the bankrupt exchange FTX. According to Bloomberg at the present time a bank holding company Silvergate Capital Corp. faces US fraud probe over FTX and Alameda Research dealings.

The investigation is at an early stage and no one has yet been charged. According to Bloomberg law enforcement is investigating bank accounts linked to the FTX’s founder Sam Bankman-Fried.

The bank itself reported that are being checked not only for FTX operations, but also those carried out by Alameda Research. A Silvergate representative on Tuesday that the firm has a comprehensive compliance and risk management program and did significant due diligence on FTX and Alameda Research.

Silvergate was among the lenders hit hardest by FTX 's sudden crash last November. The bank reported a $1 billion loss last quarter and fired 40% of its staff. It also disclosed taking out billions of dollars in loans to stave off a run on deposits after Bankman-Fried's exchange collapsed.

In January 2023, U.S. federal prosecutors confiscated over $6 million from Bankman-Fried, held in three Silvergate accounts in the Bahamas.

At the same time, a bankrupt Alameda Research sues also bankrupt crypto broker Voyager Digital, demanding a refund of $445.8 million.

The EU

Finnish fintech company Membrane Finance has launched EUROe – Europe's first and only EU-regulated full-reserve stablecoin and payment network. EUROe transforms a fiat Euro into a 1:1 pegged digital currency transactable on Ethereum, with planned support for an increasing number of blockchains.

Unlike other Euro-pegged stablecoins, EUROe has received the Electronic Money Institution license from the FIN-FSA, future-proofing its competitiveness in the market ahead of the upcoming European MiCA legislation. EUROe eliminates the operational and financial risks stemming from crypto volatility and foreign exchange risks.

Membrane Finance plans to release EUROe smart contracts on an increasing number of blockchains, such as Solana, Polygon, and Arbitrum One.

The company recently raised €2 million in funding from Finnish seed-stage venture capital firm Maki.vc. Next, the company is working on its tokenization platform and bridging technology, meaning users will be able to make cross-chain transfers of EUROe without holding the native gas asset.

India

The Indian authorities have long called for a global regulation of cryptocurrencies. At the same time, there is no national legal framework for cryptocurrencies in the country, despite the presence of special taxation of crypto transactions.

This time, the G20 Stability Board may come to reach a consensus on crypto regulation. Global regulation of not only cryptocurrencies themselves, but also virtual asset service providers (VASP) is necessary to effectively counter global money laundering and terrorism financing.

It is noteworthy that in India itself there is no consensus on how to regulate cryptocurrencies. The RBI has repeatedly pointed out the risks associated with cryptocurrencies and called for them to be banned. On the other hand, the government and fiscal authorities are taking a less radical approach.

Hong Kong

The Hong Kong Monetary Authority (HKMA) has unveiled new rules to regulate stablecoins. The bill provides that companies operating in Hong Kong will be required to obtain a license to issue stablecoins.

One of the most important restrictions of the bill is a ban on the issuance of algorithmic stablecoins, whose pegging to the fiat currency rate is provided by algorithms, and not by the issuer’s funds. The HKMA plans to control fiat-to-coin pegging through stablecoin collateral checks for licensed companies.

The new rules will be introduced this year. We wrote earlier that Hong Kong will become a new hub for cryptocurrency companies whose activities are prohibited in mainland China.

News from other countries:

• The Indonesian government plans to launch an official crypto exchange by June 2023.
• The UK Treasury has published a consultation paper outlining plans to regulate cryptocurrency trading platforms and lenders.
• The New York financial regulator has launched an investigation against the Gemini crypto exchange. The company that claimed to insure the EARN product stopped withdrawing funds in November 2022. The regulator concluded that the exchange probably misled its users by declaring the safety of their assets.
• American investment fund Ark Invest is betting on the transformation of Bitcoin into a multi-trillion dollar market. In its latest report, the company expects BTC to rise over $1,000,000 by 2030.

We continue to highlight the news of the world of crypto regulation worldwide. Please stay with us!