News on Regulations and Laws relating to Crypto Industry
B2C2 OTC, cryptocurrency liquidity provider B2C2 has received a regulatory license from the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA, British regulator) to deal in contracts for difference (CFDs), it marks the first occasion that a firm has been given authorisation. Max Boonen, CEO of B2C2 said “We are excited to have received authorisation from the FCA to introduce a cryptocurrency CFD product.”
The Italian court has ordered the BitGrail cryptocurrency exchange to repay back to its customers due to the loss occurred in January 2018, about 17 million NANO tokens called RailBlocks worth up to $595 million were found to be inaccessible to users. Victims’ Group has called the ruling a huge win for crypto users and a cautionary tale for crypto-exchange owners.
The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) of the United Kingdom released warning that SMS Crypto Limited is not authorised to provide financial services in the UK and has identified it as new suspected scam. In its website, one of the first things you see is a stamp of the FCA logo, implying that the entity is regulated by the British watchdog.
The Department of Financial Services (DFS) of New York has granted Robinhood Crypto a license which allows the user to use their debit cards to purchase Bitcoin at selective ATMs. DFS in its statement, “…is the first DFS virtual currency licensee to allow customers to use debit cards to purchase bitcoin from traditional ATMs.”
Italy seeks to add terminology related to smart contracts and distributed ledger technology (DLT) to Senate Act 1989 and would allow blockchain timestamping, validation of digital documents, to be legally recognized. It believes this move will help it to advance governance of crypto and blockchains industry and in the country. Last month, it created a dedicated group to design blockchain strategies.
The amendment on blockchain industry regulation named as “Decreto semplificazioni” has been approved by the Italian Senate committee. The approval decision made has officially become the first regulatory move in the blockchain space by the Italian government which also defines basic industry terms such as the distributed ledger technology (DLT)-based technologies and smart contract.
A consultation paper for cryptocurrency assets named “Guidance on Cryptoassets” has been published by the UK Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) which explained the related cryptocurrency issue and its guidance. While exchange tokens can be used as a means of exchange, they are not currently recognized as legal tender or money in the UK.
The case against the crypto ban by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) was heard at the country’s supreme court, but senior advocates for the parties were reportedly absent, so a new date has been set as February end. The RBI issued a circular on April 6 last year banning regulated financial institutions from providing services dealing with cryptocurrencies.
Gibraltar has expressed its support towards the cryptocurrency industry by awarding the license to operate in the country to have five cryptocurrency exchanges so far. The Minister of Commerce, Albert Isola said, “Our financial regulator, the Gibraltar Financial Services Commission (GFSC), began awarding DLT licenses to a number of leading blockchain firms operating here in October.”
The final draft of regulations for the implementation of blockchain technology in China has been released by the Cyberspace Administration of China (CAC). As per the draft, the Chinese blockchain service providers are prohibited from using it for illicit activities that could bring danger to “national security, disrupt social order, and infringe on the legitimate rights and interests of others.
