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The Electronic Trade Documents Bill, which seeks to recognize digital trade documents to eliminate “needless paperwork and bureaucracy”, has been introduced in the UK Parliament on 12 October. The Bill will allow businesses to provide digital trade documents such as promissory notes and warehouse receipts. In addition to the benefit of reducing carbon emissions, it is believed that the possible application of blockchain technology to digital documents would make it easier to trace records.

Blockchain.com has reportedly decided to withdraw its services to Russian nationals, following the latest EU‘s eighth package of sanctions against Russia that imposes a complete ban on cross-border crypto payment between the EU and Russians. The crypto wallet provider has reportedly notified its Russian users to withdraw their funds by 27 October. Any of their accounts will be blocked after the deadline. Other major crypto exchanges such as Crypto.com also plan to restrict their services for Russian nations to comply with the EU sanctions.

Mastercard announced Crypto Source, a new program that allows financial institutions to bring crypto trading capabilities and services to their customers on 17 October. It partners with Paxos Trust Company, a leading regulated blockchain infrastructure platform, which will provide crypto asset trading and custody services on behalf of the banks, while Mastercard will leverage its technology to integrate the crypto trading capabilities into banks’ interfaces. Mastercard also highlighted its New Payments Index this year which found that 29% of respondents globally hold crypto as an investment, with another 65% preferring their current trusted financial institution to provide crypto-related services. The program is reportedly expected to launch later this year. https://cointelegraph.com

The Luxembourg-based cryptocurrency exchange Blockchain.com has reportedly obtained preliminary approval from the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) to provide Digital Payment Token services in the country. This decision comes two days after the central bank’s in-principle approval of crypto exchange Coinbase to provide crypto services in Singapore. Peter Smith, CEO and co-founder of Blockchain.com, commends that the MAS provides a transparent regulatory process for the crypto industry in the country.

The Investment Industry Regulatory Organization of Canada (IIROC) has reportedly granted approval to the crypto trading platform Coinsquare for its membership and investment dealer registration. Coinsquare believes that it will boost the client’s confidence in dealing with an IIROC registrant through an understanding that it operates at the highest level of dealer compliance and oversight under the existing regulatory system. In Canada, all crypto exchanges are required to register or at least apply to IIROC in order to operate in the country.

Rio de Janeiro, which is the second largest city in Brazil, has reportedly accepted the taxpayers in using digital assets to pay property taxes. The city is now looking for crypto companies to provide this payment service starting next year, provided that they are registered with the city and are in compliance with the requirement of the Brazilian Securities and Exchange Commission. It is believed that more than one digital asset could be used to settle the payment and there will be more categories of tax that could be paid by digital currency in the future.

The Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) has reportedly approved the Singapore-based arm of the U.S. cryptocurrency exchange to offer crypto-related services in the country. Hassan Ahmed, CEO of Coinbase Singapore and the exchanges’ regional director for Southeast Asia, said it would seek to collaborate with the local platforms and offer Digital Payment Token services. Ahmed added that Coinbase is working with the local industry to facilitate communication with the authority and promote a pragmatic regulatory regime for digital assets. The CEO also revealed the exchanges’ plan to provide services throughout Southeast Asia.

Binance, the world’s largest crypto exchange, has reportedly suffered a loss of over $100 million in consequence of the hacker’s attack on its blockchain network. The company said the transactions and fund transfers were suspended immediately after detecting such exploitation. The CEO of the crypto exchange assured users that the issue was under control and their funds were safe. A similar incident occurred in August that caused the cryptocurrency service Nomad to lose $200 million in the hack.

The Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) proposes to present a new framework for enabling automatic information sharing on crypto-asset between countries to G20 Finance Ministers and Central Bank Governors Meeting. The Crypto-Asset Reporting Framework (CARF), announced on 10 October, aims to increase transparency concerning crypto-asset transactions to combat tax evasion. It requires entities or individuals that provide services effectuating exchange transactions in crypto-assets for, or on behalf of customers to report under the CARF. It is believed that the framework would facilitate exchanging of information on crypto-asset transactions between the 38 member countries of the OECD. https://cointelegraph.com

Kazakhstan’s AIFC Financial Services Authority has reportedly granted Binance a permanent license to manage a digital asset platform and offer custody services at the Astana International Financial Center. This decision comes after the parties have signed a series of memorandums of understanding and “in-principle” approval has been granted by the authority. Gleb Kostarev, the Asia regional head at Binance, said that the approval to operate in Kazakhstan is another step for Binance to become a compliance-focused exchange.

The European Union announced its decision to impose a new package of sanctions against Russia on 6 October, banning all crypto-asset wallets, accounts, or custody services, irrespective of the amount of the wallet. The new sanctions tightens the previous sanctions that limited the Russian payment to the EU wallet of up to 10,000 euro. This decision comes shortly after the Russian government approved the use of crypto for cross-border payment.

The government of Norway proposes to stop offering a discounted rate on electricity to the crypto data centres owing to the increased pressure on the power supply in the country. Announced on 6 October, the finance minister intended to put a halt to the scheme that has been introduced since 2016 aimed at reserving power for the community. He believed that charging the standard electricity rate on the Bitcoin miners could increase tax revenue by more than $14 million. Norway currently accounts for 0.74% of the global Bitcoin hash rate.