Crypto comes in from the cold as Europeans lead with new legislation, ETF issuers get creative, lobbyists ramp up, Bakkt disappoints and world governments round on Libra over sovereignty.

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Global

Financial Stability Board appoints Japan’s top cryptocurrency regulator as Chair of Supervisory and Regulatory Cooperation. More →

Money-laundering watchdog FATF has Libra under close watch, says President Xiangmin Liu. More →

Blockchain security firm Ciphertrace reveals open source fix for FATF travel rule. More →

Europe and Asia lead on crypto industry mergers, fundraising, finds PwC report. More →

Bank of International Settlements makes case for ‘embedded supervision’ so regulators can auto-monitor tokenised markets. More →

330 banks now part of Quorum blockchain Interbank Information Network, says JP Morgan. More →

IMF hails rise of stablecoin but warns legacy banks could lose out. More →

Kraken, Coinbase lead most honest exchange volume, says Blockchain Transparency Institute. More →

SWIFT interbank Chairman Yawar Shah says cryptoassets ‘changing competitive landscape’ of payment industry. More →

Researchers claim institutional investors manipulating Bitcoin price by selling longs just as CME futures contracts settle. More →

International accounting standards body IFIRS rules cryptocurrencies ‘intangible asset’. More →

Bitcoin’s Lightning Network hits record 10,000 active nodes. More →

Europe

EU

Libra is totally centralised and ‘cartel-like’, warns European Central Bank’s Yves Mersh. More →

Antitrust regulators probing Libra to count competition risks. More →

Former IMF chief and incoming ECB head Christine Lagarde calls for lawmakers to be ‘open to opportunities’ of digital currency, cryptoassets. More →

Libra, cryptocurrencies forcing faster central bank innovation, says ECB board member. More →

Regulatory uncertainty still high even as market matures and adoption grows, finds ING. More →

Stablecoins ‘vulnerable to regulatory uncertainty’, says ECB’s Benoit Coeure. More →

France

France launches crypto-specific tax regime. More →

Crypto traders seek guidance on lower tax threshold. More →

Finance Minister Bruno Le Maire says France will block Libra as it threatens sovereignty. More →

France will not tax crypto-to-crypto gains, says Le Maire. More →

Germany

Finance Minister Olaf Schultz says Germany too will block Libra, private stablecoins over sovereignty concerns. More →

Berlin passes comprehensive blockchain strategy to block ‘parallel digital currencies’. More →

Deutsche Bank joins JP Morgan’s Interbank Information Network blockchain. More →

Noted author tells how Bitcoin will destroy ‘golden cage’ banking cartel. Watch →

Boerse Stuttgart opens regulated digital asset exchange. More →

Ireland

£500k of BTC seized from criminals auctioned online. More →

Bank of Ireland to testify to US Senate over allegations corporate bank account laundered $300m for OneCoin scam. More →

Italy

Sicilian Regional Assembly approve bill to set up blockchain food tracing. More →

Liechenstein

Financial Monetary Authority greenlights tokenised equity offerings by fintech startup Neufund. More →

Lithuania

Network of Narvesen newsagents and kiosks begin selling Bitcoin. More →

Luxembourg

Big Four accounting firm PwC will accept Bitcoin payments from clients from 1 October. More →

Regulator red-flags BitPay clone. More →

Malta

Binance releases two testnets for upcoming futures platform. More →

Malta Financial Services Authority 2021 plan includes stringent crypto firm oversight. More →

Binance granted key ISO 27001 security standard for exchange. More →

Binance debuts Market Maker scheme to attract high rollers. More →

Netherlands

Dutch central bank announces new cryptocurrency rules. More →

Billionaire suing Facebook over fake Bitcoin ads using his likeness says negotiations have broken down. More →

Oil and gas giant Dietsmann expects corporate uptake of blockchain after successful test. More →

Portugal

Portugal confirms cryptocurrency trading, transactions tax free. More →

Police bust gang selling counterfeit banknotes for cryptocurrency. More →

Spain

Santander adds blockchain payments to Madrid public transport network. More →

Switzerland

Swiss National Bank President sees threat to monetary stability from stablecoins tied to foreign currency. More →

Regulator FINMA issues new stablecoin rules. More →

Libra Association to pursue Swiss FINMA payment license. More →

Arab Bank Switzerland opens Bitcoin brokerage, custody. More →

Libra doesn’t want to replace traditional currency, claims Association director Bertrand Perez. More →

Russia

Bitcoin mines flourishing in Siberia’s Soviet factories. More →

Sberbank completes first blockchain trade with commodities giant Trafigura. More →

Refusing to provide password for crypto wallets criminalised. More →

Chairman of Financial Markets says meeting to consider cryptocurrency bill due on 21 September. More →

Retired ice hockey star arrested in $700k Bitcoin fraud. More →

Central bank head of malpractice warns over scam spike if Libra introduced. More →

Meeting between finance chiefs to consider cryptocurrency bill postponed indefinitely. More →

Association of Banks in Russia suggest new tax laws treat cryptocurrency in same way as found treasure. More →

Nuclear warhead facility employee fined for using petaflop supercomputer to mine Bitcoin. More →

Turkey

Exchange BTCTurk becomes first football club main shirt sponsor. More →

Takasbank launches tokenised gold purchases. More →

UK

Crypto forensics tracker Elliptic wins $23m Series B funding led by UK, Japanese banks. More →

Telegram launches testnet, says $1.7bn TON due for release. More →

Coinbase UK settles for £900k over corporate cryptocurrency trader’s stolen Bitcoin. More →

Premier League football team Watford add Bitcoin shirt symbol for sports betting sponsorship. More →

Teenager arrested for stealing unreleased songs and selling them for cryptocurrency. More →

Financial Conduct Authority grants EU’s first crypto benchmark licence to CME Bitcoin index provider. More →

UK police say new approach needed as Albanian cocaine gangs embrace cryptocurrency. More →

LLoyds Bank partners with blockchain firm Komgo to streamline trade finance. More →

New treaty says UK police can force US tech giants to install back door into end-to-end encrypted messaging apps. More →

UK’s first police auction for BTC, ETH, XRP stolen in Etherdelta hack makes £240,000. More →

Binance aids Met Police Cyber Crime Unit in £41m dark web fraud case. More →

Ukraine

Government plans to legalise cryptocurrency, says Digital Transformation Minister Mikhail Federov. More →

Americas

Argentina

Bitcoin price premium exceeds $1,000 as peso collapses. More →

Brazil

Country’s largest payments firm Cielo adds Bitcoin support to 1.4m POS devices. More →

Brazilian Securities Commission regulator bans Bitcoin options broker. More →

Canada

Judge approves moving QuadrigaCX exchange bankruptcy case to Toronto. More →

Tax authority now wants 2015-2018 corporate returns from QuadrigaCX. More →

Cuba

Cubans flock to cryptocurrency for payments in defiance of US sanctions. More →

United States

Andressen Horowitz lobbying Washington against harsh crypto regulations. More →

Advisory to US Senate suggests Congress create new section for Bank Secrecy Act to regulate crypto firms. More →

Human trafficking expert urges Congress to regulate crypto miners. More →

Van Eck, SolidX to offer limited version of Bitcoin ETF to institutional investors. More →

NSA working to develop quantum-resistant cryptography. More →

Massachusetts city refuses to pay $5.3m Bitcoin ransomware demand. More →

Paxos wins New York DFS approval for gold-backed token, USD-backed stablecoin. More →

Lawmakers should press ahead with ‘sensible’ crypto regulations, urges former Congressman. More →

US Federal Reserve chair Jay Powell says central bank ‘not actively considering’ stablecoin, digital currency. More →

Facebook hires two new lobbyists to promote Libra. More →

Hacker piggybacks Florida car parts website, demands $100k Bitcoin ransom. More →

Gemini launches cryptocurrency custody services. More →

US Treasury official: Libra will have to meet exacting securities standards. More →

Blockstack raises $23m in first Reg A+ SEC-approved token offering. More →

Roger Ver’s Bitcoin.com in CFTC talks for Bitcoin Cash derivatives. More →

California councilman first elected official to buy cannabis with cryptocurrency. More →

CME tells CFTC it seeks to double bitcoin futures contract limit. More →

Global regulators including US Fed, Bank of England to grill Facebook over Libra. More →

2020 Presidential candidate Andrew Yang says Universal Basic Income could come as Bitcoin. More →

CFTC appoints former Coinbase VP as Bitcoin futures head. More →

Former CFTC chairman Giancarlo joins Chamber of Digital Commerce. More →

Banking giant Wells Fargo builds stablecoin, tests cryptocurrency for internal payments. More →

VanEck-SolidX withdrawn Bitcoin ETF from SEC consideration — again. More →

Self-described ICO inventor charged in Ether extortion case. More →

SEC sues ICOBox founder over $14m ICO, $650m broker-dealer violations. More →

SEC chairman Jay Clayton says Bitcoin won’t trade on mainstream exchanges until it is ‘better regulated’. More →

CME Group to offer Bitcoin futures options in Q1 2020, subject to approval. More →

Ripple files motion to dismiss ‘unregistered securities’ motion from investors. More →

Coinbase considers Telegram among 16 new coin listings. More →

Binance US to launch on 29 September 2019. More →

Facebook sees Libra tied to US & Singapore dollar, British pound, Euro and Yen but not Yuan. More →

Bitwise ETF SEC application claims spot market ‘more efficient’. More →

Bakkt Bitcoin futures make muted trading debut. More →

Lawsuit to abolish New York BitLicense moves to state’s highest court. More →

IBM says it is open to working with Facebook on Libra. More →

Congress questions SEC on Libra, cryptocurrency and ‘the whole blockchain phenomenon. More →

SEC chair Jay Clayton refuses to tell Congress panel whether Libra will be regulated as security. More →

Appeals court rules Bitfinex can stop providing documents to New York Attorney General. More →

Kik shocks by closing messenger app after SEC probe to focus on KIN cryptocoin. More →

Kraken lists Chainlink’s LINK, MakerDAO’s DAI. More →

Ex-Fed official takes aim at Mark Carney’s claim crypto can supercede USD as global reserve currency. More →

Lack of mainstream banks willing to offer gateway to Bitcoin futures harming Bitcoin futures on Bakkt. More →

SEC delays Wilshire Phoenix Bitcoin Treasury bonds ETF. More →

Zuckerberg promises Libra will ‘look before it leaps’. More →

SEC votes to speed up ETF approvals with new legislatorial framework. More →

CME daily futures volume of 21,000 BTC dwarfs Bakkt. More →

Congress passes bill to study blockchain for FinCEN enforcement. More →

SEC ‘Crypto Mom’ Hester Peirce says agency needs to be ‘less paternalistic’ on regulation. More →

Facebook COO Sandberg to testify on Libra before Congress. More →

Ledger X claims ‘personal animus’ drove CFTC to block their derivatives clearing. More →

NBA blocks basketball player’s plan to tokenise his $34m contract on Ethereum. More →

Crypto lobbying group attempts to halt spread of New York’s BitLicense regulatory regime. More →

California law on digital assets could crush industry, argues lobby group. More →

CFTC charges Pennsylvania man with $7m Bitcoin fraud. More →

JP Morgan analyst blames underwhelming Bakkt futures for Bitcoin price crash. More →

LA firm Wave Financial sets up ‘world first’ yield fund selling BTC calls. More →

SEC orders Block.one to pay $24m for unregistered securities fraud over multi-billion dollar EOS ICO. More →

Top exchanges form Crypto Rating Council to help firms avoid SEC securities violations. More →

Tokenisation ‘will transform commerce’, says KPMG advisory paper. More →

Venezuela

Maduro mandates Petro be used to pay for state housebuilding project. More →

Central bank running tests to see if it can accept BTC, ETH from state oil company. More →

Country will activate crypto payment methods soon, says Maduro. More →

Middle East & North Africa

Iran

Government plans compulsory annual license for crypto-miners. More →

Central Asia

Kyrgyrastan

Ministry of Economy proposes cryptocurrency mining tax could make $5m a year. More →

South Asia

India

Bitcoin ban will hurt 5 million Indian cryptoasset investors, 20,000 crypto developers. More →

East Asia & the Pacific

Australia

Regulated security firm files patent for blockchain cannabis supply chain tracker. More →

Securities watchdog gearing up for ‘significant’ growth in cryptoasset markets. More →

Joint securities regulator-police operation busts fraud syndicate laundering millions with cryptocurrency. More →

China

Huobi-backed startup launches blockchain smartphone with built-in crypto wallet. More →

Digital yuan will ape Facebook’s Libra, says central bank officer. More →

Tether launches yuan-pegged stablecoin CNH₮ on Ethereum. More →

GXChain blockchain offices raided by Gushu police, executives held. More →

Illegal $14m crypto-mining scam hijacked Chinese internet cafes. More →

State warns regulatory bodies in Inner Mongolia to crack down on crypto-mining. More →

‘No timetable’ for digital yuan, insists People’s Bank of China governor Yi Gang. More →

Beijing-based Bitmain to offer matching service for Bitcoin miners. More →

Securities analysts say Libra poses threat to China sovereignty. More →

Hong Kong

Custody provider Legacy Trust launches Bitcoin pension plan. More →

Japan

FSA watchdog says cryptocurrency activity dips 14% after crypto-exchange sweeps. More →

Messaging giant LINE wins regulatory approval to launch crypto-exchange. More →

Libra needs globally co-ordinated regulation, says Bank of Japan governor. More →

Coincheck exchange to distribute Bitcoin dividend-like instruments to shareholders. More →

Indonesia

£6bn market cap IT giant Kakao’s cryptocurrency to debut on Upbit. More →

Marshall Islands

Marshall Islands launches national cryptocurrency with 24m hard cap, 4% annual interest. More →

SOV national cryptocurrency will embark on pre-sale. More →

Philippines

Boxer Manny Pacquiao follows Floyd Mayweather with own cryptocurrency. More →

277 Chinese nationals arrested in cryptocurrency fraud case. More →

All 6,000 7-Eleven corner stores now selling Bitcoin. More →

‘No rush’ to pass cryptocurrency laws, says Senator Grace Poe. More →

Singapore

First firm to win Swiss crypto banking license targets same in Singapore. More →

South Korea

PlusToken Ponzi scam could be much larger than $2.9bn. More →

Upbit exchange rushes to apply FATF recommendations. More →

Samsung Galaxy Note 10 ships with built-in crypto wallet. More →

Electronics giant LG manufacturing blockchain smartphone. More →

OKEx Korea delists Monero, four more privacy coins in wake of FATF rules. More →

Five of South Korea’s largest banks join JP Morgan Quorum blockchain. More →

Bithumb Global comes out of beta in bid to expand worldwide. More →

$333m Bithumb takeover deal ‘on verge of collapse’. More →

Thailand

Traders panic as Bitcoin Co Ltd exchange abruptly shuts down. More →

National utility company launches Ethereum-based renewable energy platform. More →

Caribbean

St Kitts & Nevis

Bitcoin.com launches cryptocurrency exchange. More →

Africa

Burundi

Burundi bans all cryptocurrency trading. More →

Nigeria

Securities and Exchange Commission building cryptoasset framework, due for 2020. More →

$15,000 Bitcoin ransom releases politician’s kidnapped daughter. More →

Seychelles

BitMEX COO steps down after less than one year under cloud of regulatory probe. More →

MERJ raising $4m in world’s first tokenised IPO on national stock exchange. More →