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Brazil’s largest public bank Banco do Brasil announced on 11 February its cooperation with crypto firm Bitfy to enable taxpayers to pay their taxes in crypto. Taxpayers could scan a barcode for checking their tax bill and then they would be able to see the amount of local currency needed to be converted into the selected crypto for paying the tax bills. Lucas Schoch, Bitfy’s founder and CEO, described the new digital economy as a catalyst for a future full of advantages. Source: https://cointelegraph.com

DBS Group Holdings Ltd is reportedly planning to apply for a license for offering crypto to customers in Hong Kong. Sebastian Paredes, chief executive of DBS Bank (Hong Kong), revealed at a briefing in Hong Kong on 13 February that the bank was planning to apply for a license in Hong Kong so that it could sell digital assets to its Hong Kong customers. Paredes said the bank was willing to begin the digital assets business in Hong Kong once the regulations were clear and it understood exactly the framework.

The New York Department of Financial Services (NYDFS) has reportedly ordered Paxos Trust Company to cease minting Binance USD stablecoin due to several unresolved issues related to the company’s oversight of its relationship with Binance regarding Paxos-issued BUSD. The action comes shortly after the issuance of wells notice to the company by the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), alleging the stablecoin is an unregistered security. Paxos informed customers of its intent to cease cooperation with Binance for BUSD and pledged to continue to manage redemptions of the stablecoin, which will be closely monitored by the regulator.

The world’s second-largest crypto ATM operator Coin Cloud has reportedly filed Chapter 11 bankruptcy in US Bankruptcy Court for the District of Nevada. Chris McAlary, Coin Cloud founder, CEO and president said the company had the support of its largest creditors and would remain operational for their go-forward hosts and customers. According to the filing on 7 February, the company has liabilities between $100 million and $500 million and assets between $50 million and $100 million. Genesis Global Capital is the company’s largest creditor among its 5,001 and 10,000 creditors, which has unsecured claims of over $108 million.

Cryptocurrency exchange Kraken has reportedly reached an agreement with the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) to settle the commission’s charge of failing to register the offer and sale of crypto asset staking-as-a-service program. The SEC said the company had been offering crypto staking services to US users since 2019 without even giving its financial condition and the means of paying the advertised returns to the customers. The exchange agreed to halt its staking program for US users and pay $30 million in disgorgement, prejudgment interest, and civil penalties. Source: https://cointelegraph.com

Finland-based peer-to-peer crypto exchange platform LocalBitcoins announced the decision to cease its operation on 9 February. Despite its continued effort to surmount difficulties during the ongoing crypto winter, CEO Nikolaus Kangas said the company could no longer provide its Bitcoin trading service. New registration will be suspended from 9 February and trading activity will be ceased after 16 February. The company will allow the users to withdraw their assets from the account for 12 months, but it urged the users to begin withdrawal sooner.

US District Court Judge Lewis Kaplan extended the restriction to FTX’s founder Sam Bankman-Fried on using encrypted messaging apps as one of the bail conditions on 9 February. The judge reportedly said he was far less interested in SBF’s convenience than in he contacting potential witnesses in his case. The ban was first ordered on 1 February and will be reviewed on 21 February. SBF’s fraud trial is scheduled to commence in October and he will face eight counts of criminal charges.

Crypto exchange Binance announced on 6 February that it would temporarily suspend USD deposits and withdrawals using bank accounts starting from 8 February. The exchange spokesperson said only 0.01% of its monthly active users leverage USD bank transfers and the company will resume service as soon as possible. Binance US, which is a separate entity, is not affected by the suspension. Binance’s USD saw a net outflow of over $172 million for the day the suspension was announced.

The National Securities Commission (CNV) of Argentina is working on the regulation on crypto companies with its central focus on exchanges. CNV President Sebastian Negri revealed that the regulation will come into effect progressively after the congressional bill which grants the agency oversight authority of the crypto industry is approved, but he refused to comment on whether companies will be asked to submit proof of solvency. The government hopes to strengthen the rules before the evaluation conducted by Financial Action Task Force in September.

UK Financial Conduct Authority has issued a statement on 6 February following the government’s consultation response regarding the proposed regulations for cryptoasset financial promotions. If the new regime is approved by Parliament, all domestic and overseas crypto companies are required to comply with certain requirements when marketing their products to customers in the UK. The FCA lays down four possible routes for promotion to UK customers. The promotion shall either be communicated by an FCA-authorized person or an unauthorized person but approved by an FCA-authorized person. Some market participants could also be exempted to obtain the authorization under certain conditions. Failure to follow the above routes will be in breach of section 21 of the Financial Services and Markets Act 2000 (FSMA) and the responsible person could face up to 2 years in jail.

Virtual Asset Regulatory Authority (VARA), the regulator for virtual assets in Dubai, has issued Full Market Product Regulations covering four compulsory rulebooks and activity-specific rulebooks for virtual asset service providers operating within Dubai. The VARA mandates all VASPs to comply with the regulations for marketing, advertising and promotions. The regulations also highlight that traders with trading capital above $250 million must register with the authority and issuance of privacy coins is prohibited in the country. The rule does not apply to the market participants carrying out business activities in the Dubai International Financial Centre.

South Korea’s Financial Services Commission (FSC) published a press release on 6 February to provide guidance on classifying certain digital assets as security tokens. For instance, it includes a token that represents an equity interest in the business operation, gives holders the right to dividends and to claim distribution of the company’s remaining assets, or allocates the business’s profit to investors. Digital assets falling within the definition of security token would be subject to the country’s Capital Markets Act, while other assets will be governed by other upcoming regulations.