Nearly one third of all our updates this month come out of America, reflecting a shifting trend away from European dominance in regulatory reform/progress.

Jump to Global

Jump to Europe

Jump to Americas

Jump to Middle East & North Africa

Jump to Central Asia

Jump to South Asia

Jump to East Asia & the Pacific

Jump to Caribbean

Jump to Africa

Global

Singapore and Canada central banks use blockchain to send Central Bank Digital Currency. More →

Banks in 27 countries simulate letter of credit transaction on R3 Corda blockchain. More →

Cybercriminals wage war in the cloud for spoils of crypto-mining malware. More →

Bitcoin emerges as global hedge in face of US-China trade war. More →

World’s largest banks investing $50m in proprietary cross-border utility settlement coin. More → 

Financial Action Task Force to finalise global cryptocurrency standards in June. More →

Global standards setter for securities regulation IOSCO seeks views on crypto-asset exchanges. More →

Europe

EU

Europol shuts down DeepDotWeb darknet marketplace, freezes wallet showing 8,150 BTC. More →

European Central Bank president Mario Draghi says Bitcoin is asset, not currency. More →

ECB releases huge new report on crypto-assets. More →

ECB warns of regulatory arbitrage on crypto-assets. More →

ECB council member: Central Bank Digital Currencies are ‘viable option’. More →

Estonia

New government hikes fees for authorising cryptocurrency firms from €345 to €3,300. More →

France

BNP Paribas, Natixis, Societe Generale banks join blockchain syndicated loan platform. More →

Central bank governor has ‘great interest’ in stablecoins, tokenised platform. More →

Germany

Millions in Bitcoin and Monero confiscated as darknet marketplaces Wall Street Market and Silkkitie fall. More →

BitBond $3.5m Security Token Offering launches as first approved by Federal Financial Supervisory Authority. More →

Regulator slates Hong Kong’s ‘unregistered’ Coinbene exchange for hiring freelance traders. More →

Deutsche Bundesbank president warns central banks of digital currency risks. More →

Jersey

Scammers dupe man out of £1.2m promising 15x Bitcoin investment. More →

Liechtenstein

Regulator approves institutional Bitcoin mining fund. More →

Malta

Binance hacked for 7,000 BTC ($41m). More →

19 students win $180,000 scholarships to study blockchain. More →

Netherlands

ANB Amro drops wallet plan, switches to blockchain trade inventory. More →

Bitcoin mining kingpin conned $2m from investors with fake rigs. More →

Dutch police seize servers at cryptocurrency mixing service Bestmixer.io. More →

Rabobank abandons plans for cryptocurrency wallet. More →

Russia

Courts unable to block crypto services website with regulation still undone. More →

Regulation no longer a priority, says Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev. More →

Sberbank demands cryptocurrency income data from client. More →

State Duma official claims Bitcoin will wreak havoc on Russian financial system. More →

Russia has lost mining race to cheap Canadian, US electricity. More →

Duma drops crypto regulation laws with FATF requirements in sight. More →

FSB warns terrorists now rely heavily on cryptocurrency. More →

Bank of Russia considers gold-backed cryptocurrency. More →

Spain

Guardia Civil police arrest gang laundering cryptocurrency for other criminal groups. More →

Switzerland

SIX stock exchange working on Swiss Franc-pegged stablecoin. More →

Security token regulation underway. More →

UK

Crypto-assets still too volatile to be useful store of value, says Bank of England deputy governor. More →

London Stock Exchange CEO says blockchain most useful for settling trades. More →

Get rich quick crypto, forex scams hit £27m in 2019, says FCA. More →

FCA wins XCore forex case as founder spent £102k in investor funds on cryptocurrencies. More →

FCA discovers fraud in crypto clone of financial giant. More →

Americas

Brazil

Cryptocurrency cartel shut down after scamming $200m from investors. More →

Canada

Kraken slams regulator’s plans to codify relationship between crypto-exchange and buyer as a security. More →

Kraken pays 250 employee salaries in Bitcoin, company confirms. More →

Kin cryptocurrency reveals $5m legal defence fund for SEC battle. More →

Colombia

Bill debuts in Congress to regulate cryptocurrency transactions. More →

US

Bank of America patents cryptocurrency risk assessment tool. More →

Regulators need ‘supervisory nodes’ if blockchain becomes standard in financial services, says Boston Fed. More →

Washington State signs law recognising blockchain records. More →

Fake cops paid in Bitcoin scam $2m from tourists. More →

Facebook recruiting financial firms to build in-house cryptocurrency for payments. More →

CFTC chair: Explosion of interest in cryptocurrency will mean more clearinghouses. More →

Fidelity to offer institutional cryptocurrency trading ‘within weeks’. More →

Regulators ready to approve Ether futures, CFTC insider says. More →

Bitfinex, Tether parent company claims ‘no fraud, no victims’ in court. More →

Facebook ends ban on cryptocurrency ads as it gears up to launch its own. More →

FinCEN issues new guidance on cryptocurrency business models. More →

Senate banking committee demands details of Facebook cryptocurrency. More →

Democrat calls on Congress to ‘outlaw cryptocurrencies’. More →

Congress think tank reports Bitcoin used as ‘investment vehicle’, not money. More →

Crescent Crypto applies to SEC to list new ETF. More →

SIM-swap cryptocurrency fraudsters face hundreds of years in prison. More →

Libertarian Ron Paul dismisses anti-crypto lobby as ‘Washington thugs’. More →

Bitcoin investor hit in SIM-swap hack handed $75.6m. More →

Time still right for Bitcoin ETF, says SEC Commissioner. More →

Major retailers including Whole Foods, Gamestop to accept cryptocurrency. More →

SEC delays decision on Bitwise ETF. More →

SEC crypto head says IEOs could face regulatory trouble. More →

Federal judge dismisses ICO lawsuit naming Floyd Mayweather. More →

Congress launches task force to consider blockchain ID, banking AI. More →

IRS Commissioner: New tax rules are ‘priority’ for cryptocurrency, forks. More →

Amazon files Proof of Work patent. More →

New York Attorney General freezes Tether reserves. More →

Poloniex delists 9 altcoins citing SEC securities guidance. More →

Facebook heads to Switzerland to form Project Libra payments firm. More →

SEC delays decision on Van Eck SolidX Bitcoin ETF. More →

Georgia court hears famous rapper sold unregistered securities in ICO. More →

May 2019 is strongest month yet for CME Bitcoin futures. More →

SEC needs support from Congress to update cryptocurrency regulations. More →

Bitfinex, under investigation for $850m loss, to launch new IEO fundraising platform. More →

SEC files emergency order against $30m diamond-backed ICO as Ponzi scheme. More →

US Copyright Office awards Craig S Wright registration for Satoshi Nakamoto white paper. More →

Circle cuts 10% of staff citing restrictive regulatory environment. More →

Bitfinex sister site Ethfinex has ‘no plans’ to seek regulatory approval for IEO. More →

Federal criminal probe investigates pump and dump schemes. More →

SEC sues $26m pyramid scheme operator who offered cryptocurrency riches. More →

Grayscale opens Ethereum Trust to retail investors after FINRA approval. More →

AT&T becomes first mobile operator to accept Bitcoin. More →

Facebook to release in-house GlobalCoin cryptocurrency in 2020. More →

Robinhood trading app launches in New York after BitLicense success. More →

Florida Senate creates Blockchain Task Force to study industry. More →

Montana passes bill to exempt utility tokens from securities law. More →

Non-custodial cryptocurrency mixers are not subject to US regulation, law review finds. More →

Bitcoin spot market ‘much smaller and more efficient’ than public believes, Bitwise tells SEC. More →

JP Morgan adds transaction amount, sender anonymity to Ethereum-based Quorum blockchain. More →

Maryland governor declares widespread Bitcoin ransomware attack a state emergency. More →

Venezuela

Nonprofits using cryptocurrencies to aid poverty crisis. More →

Middle East & North Africa

Bahrain

National payments system adds blockchain for KYC. More →

Dubai

Court rejects harsh sentences for Bitcoin Facebook scammers. More →

Government’s real estate arm debuts blockchain mortgages. More →

Egypt

Central bank draft law will ban cryptocurrencies without licenses. More →

Israel

Blockchain ID, credit score project Qedit closes $10m Series A round. More →

Sirin Labs founder Moshe Hegog settles out of court in Stox ICO fraud case. More →

Bitcoin is an asset and profits taxable, Israeli court rules. More →

Iran

P2P exchange LocalBitcoins ends Iranian operation. More →

Central bank building banking blockchain on IBM Hyperledger Fabric. More →

Central Asia

Kazakhstan

Bitfury contracted by Kazakhstan finance hub for blockchain projects. More →

South Asia

India

‘Blanket ban’ bill making its way through government may be futile. More →

Coinome is second major exchange to close with no regulation in sight. More →

Powerful tech lobby urges central bank to include crypto firms in regulatory sandbox. More →

One size fits all cryptocurrency regulation a mistake, says Supreme Court advocate. More →

East Asia & Pacific

Australia

Australian Tax Office monitoring transaction data to weed out evasion. More →

World Bank, Commonwealth Bank of Australia record secondary bond market trade on blockchain. More →

Federal police charge contractor with mining Bitcoin on government computers. More →

Financial regulator warns over OneCoin scam. More →

Australian Securities and Investment Commission debuts guidelines on crypto-assets, ICOs. More →

China

Social media giant WeChat bans crypto-related accounts. More →

Fake Bitcoin mining rigs steal $300m from investors. More →

Owning Bitcoin is legal despite government trade ban, says Bank of China Law Research Association. More →

61-year-old grandmother jailed for stealing electricity to mine Bitcoin. More →

E-commerce giant Alibaba using blockchain for intellectual property disputes. More →

Government body ranks EOS, Tron best blockchains. More →

Japan

FSA step up cryptocurrency exchange oversight in wake of money-laundering concerns. More →

Yahoo Japan-backed cryptocurrency exchange launching on May 30. More →

Laos

Central bank reiterates cryptocurrency ban, warns against buying, trading. More →

Myanmar

Central bank confirms Bitcoin ban, says banks not allowed to host cryptocurrency accounts. More →

Central bank warns against cryptocurrency use, trading. More →

New Zealand

Hacked exchange Cryptopia calls in liquidators after losing $23m. More →

Cryptopia seeks bankruptcy protection in New York, needs $2m to protect SQL database. More →

Southern District of New York grants Cryptopia temporary relief. More →

Singapore

Singapore stock exchange ditches Hyperledger Fabric for Amazon Managed Blockchain. More →

Blockchain education certificates rolled out nationwide. More →

Monetary Authority says cryptocurrencies useful for cross border payments but no point in bank digital currencies. More →

South Korea

More blockchain firms enter into FSC regulatory sandbox. More →

Samsung Pay preps to include crypto-assets in mobile wallet. More →

Country’s oldest commercial bank Shinhan debuts blockchain loan platform. More →

Government meets to discuss regulations as Bitcoin price spikes. More →

Thailand

SEC tweaks securities law to allow STOs, tokenised trades on primary market. More →

Indian tech giant Wipro building central bank cryptocurrency for Bank of Thailand. More →

Caribbean

Bahamas

Central bank to deliver national digital currency ‘Project Sand Dollar’ by 2020. More →

Africa

Malawi

Cryptocurrencies not legal tender, warns central bank. More →