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The UK Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) has reportedly halted 26 cryptocurrency ATMs across the nation, cautioning consumers about their potential risks. This follows an incident in Sheffield where a citizen lost £1,000 after attempting to buy crypto from a crypto ATM. Since the beginning of the year, the FCA, along with other law enforcement agencies, have inspected 34 suspected locations of hosting crypto ATMs, and disrupted 26 machines. Steve Smart, FCA’s Joint Executive Director of Enforcement and Market Oversight, warned the public of the risks due to the absence of consumer protections. Source: https://www.reuters.com

Asian-based cryptocurrency exchange HashKey Pro has reportedly applied for a licence upgrade to the Hong Kong Securities and Futures Commission (SFC). The exchange is currently restricted to trading only a few digital currencies like bitcoin, ether, tether and USD Coin, but it plans to offer a wider range upon licence approval. It targets to begin offering services to small-scale investors in the upcoming weeks. This application follows an announcement by parent company HashKey Group of plans to raise $100-$200 million to leverage the recent introduction of Hong Kong new licensing regime for Virtual Asset Service Providers. Source: https://www.cryptopolitan.com

The Bank for International Settlements (BIS), an umbrella body for central banks worldwide, has introduced a seven-point plan “Polaris security and resilience framework” aimed at safeguarding the countries from cyber attacks against central bank digital currencies (CBDC). Two BIS reports published on 7 July highlighted the complexity and elevated risk of CBDC systems, indicating “gaps” in the security attack modelling systems of CBDCs. BIS advises central banks to acknowledge the new threat landscape brought by CBDC systems, utilise modern enabling technologies supporting security and resilience, leverage existing capabilities, and identify areas for improvement, with a specific recommendation to utilise the global ”MITRE ATT&CK” database of past cyber attacks and “official extension” of the MITRE ATT&CK framework. Source: https://www.reuters.com

Binance, the world’s largest crypto exchange, is experiencing a wave of high-level departures. Key figures including Patrick Hillmann, Chief Strategy Officer; Steven Christie, Compliance Executive; Hon Ng, the General Counsel, and Yibo Ling, Chief Business Officer, have all announced their resignations. These departures come at a time when Binance is grappling with lawsuits filed by the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), accusing the exchange and its CEO, Changpeng Zhao, of deceptive practices. In addition, the US Justice Department is probing Binance for potential money laundering and sanctions violations. Source: https://www.reuters.com

In an effort to attract global investors and companies, Israel’s parliament, the Knesset, is advancing a bill exempting foreign residents from capital gains tax on the sale of digital currencies. Sponsored by Knesset member Dan Ilouz and passed through a preliminary reading in the parliament on 5 June, the bill also proposes to lower the tax rate on crypto bonuses with employee stock options from 50% to 25%. Nir Hirshman and Shauli Rejwan, co-founders of Israeli Crypto Companies Forum (ICBW3), welcomed the move, perceiving it as the country’s endorsement of cryptocurrencies. The bill also seeks to differentiate the term “digital currency” from “security”. Source: https://cointelegraph.com

BlackRock CEO Larry Fink recently stated the firm’s intention to make Bitcoin more accessible and affordable. Characterising Bitcoin as an “international asset”, Fink highlighted the current high expense to transact Bitcoin. BlackRock filed an application to launch a Bitcoin exchange-traded fund last month, which triggered a wave of similar filings from other asset management firms. Fink hoped that regulatory authorities would view these filings as a step towards crypto democratisation. Despite initial reservations, Fink now sees Bitcoin as digitising gold. Source: https://www.bloomberg.com

Bitcoin experienced a surge on 6 July, climbing 3.28% to reach a 13-month peak of $31,500. The rise in Bitcoin price is fueled by the asset management giant BlackRock’s plans to launch a US-listed spot bitcoin exchange-traded fund (ETF). Nasdaq refiled BlackRock’s ETF application on 3 July after addressing concerns raised by the US securities regulator over its first submission. Source: https://www.reuters.com

Crypto exchange BitgetX has become a member of the Hong Kong Virtual Asset Consortium (HKVAC), a platform offering ratings and indexes for cryptocurrencies. Fiona Fan, founding member of HKVAC, welcomed the move and said both parties have common objectives to promote the long-term development of the virtual asset industry in Hong Kong. In addition, BitgetX has reiterated its intention to secure a Virtual Service Asset Providers (VASP) under Hong Kong’s new licensing regime regulated by the Securities and Futures Commission to foster a compliant and secure digital asset ecosystem for the global market. Source: https://cointelegraph.com

The US Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) has determined that the bankrupt crypto lender, Celsius Network and its former CEO Alex Mashinsky breached US regulations prior to the company’s collapse, according to Bloomberg’s report. If a majority of the CFTC’s commissioners agree with these findings, the case could be filed in federal court as soon as this month. Investigators assert that Celsius, without registering with regulators, misled investors, while Mashinsky also broke rules. In parallel, Celsius is under investigation by the Securities and Exchange Commission and Manhattan federal prosecutors. Source: https://www.bloomberg.com

In the face of regulatory hurdles, crypto exchange Binance and its US arm Binance.US have both experienced significant market share declines this year. The ongoing lawsuit filed by the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has led Binance’s global market share to dip from 60% at the beginning of the year to 52%. Binance.US’s share plummeted from over 22% in April to just 0.9% in June after customers were given a deadline to withdraw their dollar funds, following SEC’s asset freeze request. In contrast, Coinbase’s US market share spiked to 55% in June, benefiting from its role as a surveillance partner for asset managers like Fidelity for a spot bitcoin ETF filing. Source: https://www.reuters.com

The Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) unveiled regulations on 3 July, requiring cryptocurrency service providers to hold customer assets in statutory trusts by the end of the year. These measures aim to guard against the potential loss or misuse of customers assets and ensure a smooth recovery of assets if a digital payment token (DPT) service provider goes insolvent. The new regulations also require the crypto companies to conduct daily reconciliation of customer assets, have proper record-keeping, maintain access and operational controls to customers’ DPTs in Singapore and ensure that the custody function is operationally independent from other business units. Furthermore, the regulator is considering a ban on crypto service providers from enabling retail customers to lend or stake their DPTs. Source: https://cointelegraph.com

Thailand’s Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has set forth the latest investor protection regulations targeting digital asset service providers. The new rules mandate these platforms to prominently display a trading risks disclaimer warning the customers of the potential risks of cryptocurrency trading. Users must acknowledge these risks before using such services. Notably, the new rules also prohibit service providers from using clients’ funds for lending or investment purposes. The regulations, effective from 31 July, come after a catastrophic cryptocurrency lending crisis in the 2022 bear market that led to the bankruptcy of several crypto lending firms. Source: https://cointelegraph.com