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Yahoo
2 days ago
- Business
- Yahoo
Crypto Regulation Around the World: What Every Crypto Enthusiast Needs to Know
Benzinga and Yahoo Finance LLC may earn commission or revenue on some items through the links below. If you've been in the crypto space for a while, you've probably noticed something big happening: governments everywhere are finally getting serious about regulating digital assets. Gone are the days when crypto felt like the Wild West. Today, from Washington to Brussels to Tokyo, lawmakers are crafting rules that will shape how we buy, sell, and use cryptocurrencies. This shift isn't happening in a vacuum. The collapse of major players like FTX and several crypto-linked bank failures sent shockwaves through traditional finance, pushing regulators to act faster than many expected. While this might feel overwhelming, understanding these changes can actually help you make better decisions as a crypto investor or enthusiast. Don't Miss: — no wallets, just price speculation and free paper trading to practice different strategies. Grow your IRA or 401(k) with Crypto – . Let's take a friendly tour around the world to see what's happening with crypto regulation and what it means for you. The U.S. has been talking a big game about crypto regulation, and in 2023, it looked like we might finally get some clarity. Two important bills made headlines: the Financial Innovation and Technology for the 21st Century Act and the Blockchain Regulatory Certainty Act. These bills promised to answer some burning questions that have puzzled crypto users for years: When is a cryptocurrency considered a security versus a commodity? Which government agency is in charge of what? Unfortunately, while these bills were introduced with great fanfare, they've since stalled in Congress. What this means for you: If you're a US-based crypto user, you're still navigating a somewhat uncertain regulatory landscape. The good news? This gives the industry more time to mature and for regulators to better understand the technology before implementing potentially restrictive rules. The European Union deserves credit for being first out of the gate with comprehensive crypto regulation. In May 2023, the EU implemented the Markets in Crypto-Assets Regulation. Here's what MiCA means in practical terms: Licensing requirements: Any company issuing or trading crypto needs an official license Enhanced tracking: Starting in January, all service providers must collect sender and recipient information for every transaction, regardless of amount Wallet verification: If your self-hosted wallet holds more than €1,000 ($1,100), you'll need to verify ownership for transactions Swedish Finance Minister Elisabeth Svantesson, explained that FTX's collapse highlighted 'the urgent need for imposing rules which will better protect Europeans who have invested in these assets.' What this means for you: If you're trading crypto in Europe, expect more paperwork and verification steps, but also potentially greater consumer protection. The days of completely anonymous transactions are numbered in the EU. Asia presents a fascinating patchwork of crypto regulations, reflecting the diverse attitudes across the region. Japan has been remarkably progressive, recognizing cryptocurrency as both a type of money and legal property. The Financial Services Agency oversees both crypto and yen transactions, giving citizens freedom to own and invest in digital assets. Recently, Japan has tightened rules around information sharing between exchanges to combat money laundering. South Korea enacted the Virtual Asset Users Protection Act in 2023, focusing heavily on protecting everyday users through better record-keeping and transparency requirements. Financial authorities are expected to publish new guidelines for listing virtual assets soon. China remains one of the most restrictive countries, maintaining bans on exchanges, trading, and crypto mining. If you're in China, crypto activities remain largely off-limits. India's journey has been particularly interesting. After banning crypto, the Supreme Court lifted the ban in 2020. Now, a Cryptocurrency and Regulation of Official Digital Currency Bill is working its way through parliament, though it has faced delays. What this means for you: Your experience with crypto will vary dramatically depending on which Asian country you're in. Japan and South Korea offer relatively friendly environments, while China remains restrictive. Trending: New to crypto? on Coinbase. Brazil implemented crypto regulation in June 2023, making the central bank the supervisor for crypto assets through the Cryptoassets Act. This move came as Brazil saw cryptocurrency imports rise nearly 45% in the first eight months of 2023, totaling $7.4 billion. Interestingly, Roberto Campos Neto, who was the governor of Brazil's central bank at the time, noted that local demand had shifted toward stablecoins, with people using crypto more for payments rather than solely for investment. What this means for you: Brazil's approach shows how countries are adapting to actual usage patterns. As crypto becomes more of a payment method rather than just a speculative investment, regulations are evolving accordingly. The UK is actively constructing crypto rules with a balanced approach. Any company offering digital currency services must be authorized by the Financial Conduct Authority, regardless of where they're located if they serve UK customers. The Bank of England and FCA have also proposed specific regulations for stablecoins, aiming to 'harness the potential benefits stablecoins could provide to UK consumers and retailers, in particular by making payments faster and cheaper' while maintaining consumer protection. What this means for you: The UK appears to be striking a balance between innovation and protection, potentially creating a model that other countries might follow. Perhaps most importantly, international organizations are recognizing that crypto's borderless nature requires coordinated global approaches. The International Organization of Securities Commissions has issued 18 recommendations for global crypto rules, emphasizing the need for consistency across borders. The World Economic Forum has gone even further, stating that international alignment on crypto rules is 'not just desirable but necessary.' As someone interested in crypto, here are the key takeaways: Expect more structure: The days of completely unregulated crypto markets are ending. This isn't necessarily bad – clearer rules can mean greater mainstream adoption and institutional investment. Prepare for more paperwork: Whether it's KYC requirements, transaction reporting, or wallet verification, expect to provide more information about your crypto activities. Geographic differences matter: Where you live will significantly impact your crypto experience. Consider this when making investment decisions or choosing platforms. Compliance is becoming crucial: Choose exchanges and services that prioritize regulatory compliance. They're more likely to survive and thrive in this new environment. Innovation continues: Despite increased regulation, innovation in the crypto space continues. Regulations often lag behind technology, leaving room for new developments. The regulatory landscape might seem daunting, but remember that clearer rules often lead to greater mainstream adoption, institutional investment, and ultimately, a more mature and stable crypto ecosystem. While we're still in the early stages of this regulatory evolution, staying informed about these changes will help you navigate the crypto world more confidently. The key is to stay adaptable and informed. Regulations will continue evolving as governments learn more about this technology and its applications. By understanding these trends, you're better positioned to make smart decisions in your crypto journey. Read Next: A must-have for all crypto enthusiasts: . Maker of the $60,000 foldable home has 3 factory buildings, 600+ houses built, and big plans to solve housing — Image: Shutterstock This article Crypto Regulation Around the World: What Every Crypto Enthusiast Needs to Know originally appeared on
Yahoo
30-05-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
U.S. House Republicans Officially Introduce Crypto Market Structure Bill
Leading Republicans in the House of Representatives have formally introduced their latest version of the bill to establish a regulatory structure for digital assets markets, something the industry has clamored for for years. The successor to the previous session's Financial Innovation and Technology for the 21st Century Act (FIT21), the new bill called the Digital Asset Market Clarity Act is being pushed by top Republicans in the House Financial Services and the House Agriculture committees. Stablecoin legislation is still the frontrunner to be the first major piece of U.S. crypto law, but Thursday's introduction pushes the ball forward on the more important and complex of the two companion efforts. "America should be the global leader in the digital assets marketplace, but we can't do that without establishing a clear regulatory framework," said Representative Dusty Johnson, the South Dakota Republican who leads the agriculture subcommittee focused on digital assets, in a statement on the bill's introduction. The hefty 236-page Clarity Act — likely a starting point for lengthy negotiations between the parties in the House and eventually their Senate counterparts — gives the Commodity Futures Trading Commission "exclusive regulatory jurisdiction over digital commodity cash or spot markets that occur on or with new CFTC registered entities," which represents the bulk of crypto activity according to the current thinking of U.S. regulators. The legislation would set up a regime in which crypto platforms would have options for registration with the CFTC and the Securities and Exchange Commission, depending on whether they're trading in digital assets commodities such as bitcoin BTC, securities or both. Those seeking registration with the CFTC as a digital commodity exchange, broker or dealer could get provisional registrations while the agency is working on rules. The bill also requires crypto platforms to be regulated as financial firms under the Bank Secrecy Act; exempts certain decentralized finance (DeFi) operations and wallet providers from SEC oversight; bans future efforts of regulators to force custody firms to hold their customers' assets on their own balance sheets as the SEC staff sought to do under a now-scrapped accounting stance; and puts some transactional authorities over payment stablecoins — which are clearly stated to not be securities — in the hands of whichever regulator already oversees the firm involved in the activity. The Clarity Act additionally delved into so-called "qualified digital asset custodians" — previously a controversial point when the SEC sought to allow only a narrow array of regulated custodians to handle the assets of investment advisers' clients. The new bill sets the standard for such a custodian as one under "adequate supervision and appropriate regulation by certain federal, state, or foreign authorities" — a bar the CFTC will be called to define. DeFi is kicked down the road, with the bill demanding the SEC, CFTC and Treasury Department study that arena of digital assets and come back with a report in a year on how to proceed. The Government Accountability Office would also be asked to write a report on DeFi and on non-fungible tokens (NFTs). The involved regulators would have a year to put the Clarity Act's market structure rules into effect if the law were enacted. That's a tight timeframe for complex financial regulation, which can often take more than a year — or even several years — for the agency staffs to write rules and seek public input. Despite similar timelines in the Dodd-Frank Act of 2010, for instance, there are still a few provisions that haven't yet been completed. The Senate will return to a floor debate next week on its stablecoin bill, which has already cleared several procedural hurdles with bipartisan support, despite loud Democratic misgivings about President Donald Trump's personal business connections to the crypto sector his government is seeking to regulate. But it's unclear whether that legislation will mesh with whatever version of stablecoin oversight the House eventually votes on, leaving uncertainty about exactly how crypto legislation will proceed in this session. Some discussion remains about whether the stablecoin and market structure bills should be combined as a single crypto push in Congress. Trump has called for both to land on his desk by the August congressional break, though many crypto insiders in Washington see that as a highly ambitious goal. The relevant House committees are set to hold digital assets hearings next week that will give members a chance to publicly discuss the details of the legislation.
Yahoo
13-05-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Market Structure Rules for Crypto Could End Up Governing Core of U.S. Finance: Le
The crypto industry has been desperate for U.S. regulation as the last major piece in its global maturity puzzle, but sector veteran and compliance expert TuongVy Le, a former Securities and Exchange Commission lawyer, argues that what Congress and the regulators are working on isn't just for today's digital assets space but for the core of the future financial system. Le, who has held top legal and regulator positions at Anchorage Digital, Bain Capital and the former Worldcoin (now World Network), told CoinDesk that she expects the new rules coming to her old regulatory employer will eventually govern the business at the heart of the markets. Migrating the securities and commodities transactions in traditional finance onto the blockchain is a dramatic move for a field that's been stuck in a legacy approach to handling transactions, rooted in lengthy clearing and settlement approaches established decades ago. "The crypto-tradfi convergence has already started," she said in an interview, outlining ideas further amplified in a paper she published with New York University's Austin Campbell on Monday. "Once market structure and stablecoin legislation is passed, it's really going to take off. Honestly, it can be hard to realize you're undergoing a real transformation as it's happening, but I think we'll look back on this the way we looked at the internet and how it fundamentally changed how we communicate and interact as a society."I really do believe that blockchain technology and tokenization are going to remake the financial system," said Le, who is set to appear this week at Consensus 2025 in Toronto. She's so far been impressed with the changes congressional lawmakers have made in the latest discussion draft of the market-structure bill that is built on the back of the previous session's Financial Innovation and Technology for the 21st Century Act (FIT21), calling it "much more practical, workable and streamlined." She praised its approach to getting multiple types of transactions under the reach of single trading platforms and also its views on blockchain maturity. She said that the legislation underway in Congress right now will be a "huge unlock" for the industry, but the U.S. financial agencies, including the SEC and Commodity Futures Trading Commission, are already moving. "Even the regulators are recognizing how blockchains can be used to create better architecture for the capital markets," she said. "So the question is, how can we start to incorporate that capital technology in a way that makes markets more efficient and transparent and fair?" She worked enforcement cases at the SEC and argues that many of those involving broker misconduct, market manipulation and fraudulent reporting could have been prevented if transactions were live and transparent, with fewer intermediaries required. "Much of the industry has been begging for regulatory clarity for years, not just because being under the constant threat of enforcement action or even criminal charges is no way to regulate an industry, but because having a clear regime in place makes it easier to distinguish between good and bad actors," she said, noting that the having clearly understood regulations can often be as important as their content, because uncertainty carries more hazards for business than compliance hurdles. "Sometimes the clarity is more important than what the laws actually say, because businesses will find a way to work with that," she said. Le expects U.S. lawmakers will also build in new resources for the markets regulators as they take on the crypto oversight, but those agencies will also have to expand their expertise, because you "can't regulate what you don't understand." "The CFTC, in particular, if it's going to be getting a lot of this new authority over crypto spot markets, is really going to need to be better resourced," she noted. "They just are not there right now." Crypto legislation is a top priority on Capitol Hill — despite some setbacks as politics and President Donald Trump's own crypto interests have interfered with its path. "The wind is really at the industry's back right now, and if we can get legislation right, it's really going to unleash a golden age of financial innovation," Le in retrieving data Sign in to access your portfolio Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data
The Intercept
08-05-2025
- Business
- The Intercept
Democrats Woke Up to Trump's Crypto Grift. Will They Stop Other Scammers?
Cryptocurrency legislation once seemed to be the rare issue that could draw bipartisan support in Donald Trump's Washington, thanks to the industry's prolific donations on both sides of the aisle. Then Trump and his family attempted to monetize the presidency through a meme coin and a $2 billion crypto deal involving an Abu Dhabi-backed venture firm. Democrats were, suddenly, outraged. Some centrist party members who had treated cryptocurrency with deference even began to walk away. Nine Senate Democrats pulled their support for so-called 'stablecoin' legislation over the weekend, imperiling the industry's most likely legislative win this year. Meanwhile, Rep. Maxine Waters, D-Calif., blocked a House hearing on a broader, more ambitious crypto 'framework' on Tuesday, leading several Democrats in a walkout. 'Trump may just cause enough polarization to make crypto skepticism mainstream within the Democratic Party.' The industry is still pushing for a vote on the legislation in the Senate, where Democrats continue to work on a potential compromise. Yet for skeptics who have had their warnings about crypto's threat to the economy ignored for years, Democrats' sudden conversion was heartening. They just wished it hadn't taken Trump to wake the party up. 'Crypto has been able to buy so many Democrats because there was no organized opposition and thus little downside to politicians selling their vote,' said Jeff Hauser, a longtime critic of the industry and executive director of the Revolving Door Project. 'Trump may just cause enough polarization to make crypto skepticism mainstream within the Democratic Party.' The industry's bipartisan alliances were on display last May, as the House debated its favorite legislation: the Financial Innovation and Technology for the 21st Century Act. Out of 213 Democrats, 71 joined with Republicans to give overwhelming support to FIT21, as it is known, though the bill did not proceed to a vote in a Senate. The legislation is aimed creating a framework that would largely shield the industry from oversight by the Securities and Exchange Commission, which is viewed as having the sharpest regulatory bite. The industry seemed even better positioned this year, thanks to Trump's election and a record-breaking $197 million spending spree on the 2024 campaigns. All the cash helped knocked hostile Democrats out of primaries and propel industry-friendly candidates in the general election. Analysts predicted that after the new Congress was sworn in, Democrats skeptical of the industry would hold their tongue for fear of facing well-funded primary challengers. Trump and his family's rapid move into the industry, though, seems to have changed the calculation for some Democrats. The White House has said that the Trump family's crypto deals raise no ethical concerns because Trump's business interests are held in a trust that his sons run. In September, Trump's sons helped launch a crypto marketplace called World Liberty Financial. Hours before his inauguration, the Trump Organization launched a Trump meme coin that has now generated more than $320 million in transaction fees, according to a recent analysis. Then, last week, World Liberty Financial announced the massive deal with the Emirati firm, which planned to use the company's tokens to make a transaction with the crypto exchange Binance, according to a report in the New York Times. By that point, the bipartisan mood on Capitol Hill was already beginning to sour. Waters expressed openness to legislation dealing with stablecoin last year. In March, however, the Trumps announced that they would be issuing a stablecoin of their own. Waters on April 2 tried to amend a stablecoin bill in the House Financial Services Committee, where she serves as ranking member, to prohibit the Trump family from issuing one that benefits the president. Republicans rejected her bid, and the bill passed out of committee with support from several Democrats, including some who have drawn hundreds of thousands of dollars in donations from the industry. Then, as news of World Liberty Financial's Abu Dhabi deal circulated, Sen. Ruben Gallego, D-Ariz., led eight other Democrats in announcing Saturday that they were backing off their support for a similar stablecoin bill in their chamber, imperiling its chances of overcoming a filibuster. Though Gallego and several of his colleagues had just voted for the bill in committee, they now said it 'has numerous issues that must be addressed, including adding stronger provisions on anti-money laundering, foreign issuers, national security, preserving the safety and soundness of our financial system, and accountability for those who don't meet the act's requirements.' Gallego's statement may have had a special sting for the industry, which spent $10 million in super PAC funds helping him win his Senate race last year. In a joint statement Monday, three leading crypto trade organizations said they still hoped the Senate would advance the legislation. 'A comprehensive regulatory framework will enable widespread and increased stablecoin adoption,' the groups said, 'which is essential to cementing U.S. dollar dominance in the digital economy.' According to Axios, Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., is still planning to hold a vote on the stablecoin bill on Thursday, and the measure's sponsors are hoping to strike a deal to revive the legislation. On Tuesday, Waters ratcheted up pressure on the industry by objecting to a joint House Financial Services and Agriculture committee meeting on the newest iteration of the FIT21 bill. 'I object to this joint hearing, because of the corruption of the president of the United States and his ownership of crypto and his oversight of all the agencies. I object,' Waters said. Rep. French Hill, R-Ark., the chair of the Financial Services Committee, said the hearing had been negotiated with Democrats for weeks. 'Through her actions today, the ranking member has thrown partisanship into what has historically been a strong, good bipartisan relationship,' Hill said. Republicans and some of the committees' Democrats continued holding a more informal roundtable, as Waters marched over to a different building for a hearing of her own. At Waters's breakaway hearing, one witness said Congress shouldn't just take a hard line on the Trumps, since some of World Liberty Financial's most problematic practices are mirrored by other leading companies. 'In many ways, the Trump family is simply copying common crypto business practices.' World Liberty Financial markets itself as the future of decentralized finance. On its website, the company says that its governance system, based on a special token that can be bought but not traded, 'ensures that every $WLFI owner has an equal voice. From submitting proposals to casting votes, your participation is key to shaping our decentralized platform.' Yet it is controlled by a small set of insiders who stand to profit at the expense of retail customers, according to Mark Hays, associate director for cryptocurrency and financial technology at Americans for Financial Reform and Demand Progress. 'While it is entirely right for members of Congress to raise concerns about how actions of the Trump presidency distort good policymaking and threaten the public interest, none of us here should lose sight of the fact that, in many ways, the Trump family is simply copying common crypto business practices,' Hays said. 'In other words, many of the potential issues we see with the Trump family's crypto practices are a feature — not a bug — of the crypto industry.' Neither the Trump Organization nor World Liberty Financial immediately responded to a request for comment on the company's governance structure. Waters's effort to disrupt the House hearing pointed to a continuing divide among Democrats. While six other Democrats joined her, several remained at the main hearing featuring industry witnesses, including Rep. Angie Craig of Minnesota, the House Agriculture Committee ranking member. 'I think that, with more publicity around the corruption, they're going to pay more attention.' Democrats who stayed drew supportive statements from one of the industry's biggest players, Coinbase. Craig and the other Democrats who stayed did, however, criticize the Trump family's deals. 'It is corrupt, it is wrong, and it makes this process of coming together to regulate crypto more partisan than it needs to be,' Craig said. In the Senate, Gallego and his colleagues' statement focused on the substance of the stablecoin bill rather than on the Trumps' attempts to enrich themselves. In an interview with The Intercept, Waters predicted that Democrats' focus will soon shift to Trump. 'It's coming,' she said. 'I think that, yes, they had some real issues, but I think that with more publicity around the corruption, they're going to pay more attention.'
Crypto Insight
06-05-2025
- Business
- Crypto Insight
New crypto bill draft seen to curb big crypto firm influence
The new 'Digital Asset Market Structure Discussion Draft' introduced by House Republicans on May 5 could work to reduce the dominance of large crypto firms and promote more participation in the broader market, according to an executive from Paradigm. The discussion draft, led by the House agricultural and financial services committee chairs Glenn Thompson and French Hill, is an 'incremental, albeit meaningful, rewrite' of the Financial Innovation and Technology for the 21st Century Act (FIT21), Paradigm's vice president of regulatory affairs Justin Slaughter said in a May 5 X post. One of the major changes from FIT21 is that the draft defines an affiliated person as anyone who owns more than 1% of a digital commodity issued by the project — down from 5% in the FIT21 bill — a move Slaughter said may curb the influence of big crypto firms and lead to more participation in the crypto market. 'This is a portent of the entire bill. There are often criticisms of crypto being too dominated by a few large firms. This bill makes clear the regulatory regime proposed is going to push against that fact and strongly encourage more small-d 'democratization' of the space.' The draft also defines a 'mature blockchain system' as one that, together with its related digital commodity, is not under the 'common control' of any person or group. The Securities and Exchange Commission would be the main authority regulating activity on crypto networks until they become sufficiently decentralized, Slaughter noted. The draft also clarified that decentralized finance trading protocols are those that enable users to engage in a financial transaction in a 'self-directed manner.' Protocols that meet this criterion are exempt from registering as digital commodity brokers or dealers. The draft also referred to digital commodities as 'investment contract assets' to distinguish their treatment from stocks and other traditional assets under the Howey test. According to Slaughter's analysis, securities laws won't be triggered unless the secondary sale of tokens also transfers ownership or profit in the underlying business. Crypto firms would also have a path to raise funds under the SEC's oversight while also having a 'clear process' to register their digital commodities with the Commodity Futures Trading Commission, the committee members said in a separate May 5 statement. Joint rulemaking, procedures, or guidelines related to crypto asset delisting must be established by the CFTC and SEC should a registered asset no longer comply with rules laid out by the regulators. A 'clear opportunity' to advance crypto innovation, rules once and for all Speaking about the need for a comprehensive crypto regulatory framework, the House committee members said crypto is a 'clear opportunity' to advance innovation in the US — most notably through modernizing America's financial infrastructure and reinforcing US dollar dominance. The Republicans criticized the previous Biden administration and the Gary Gensler-led SEC for adopting a regulation-by-enforcement strategy rather than creating clear rules for market participants. Many crypto firms were stuck in 'legal limbo' as a result of the unclear rules, which pushed some industry players overseas, where clearer rules exist, the House committee members said. 'America needs to be the powerhouse for digital asset investment and innovation. For that to happen, we need a commonsense regulatory regime,' said Dusty Johnson, chairman of the subcommittee on commodity markets, digital assets and rural development. Slaughter added: 'This is the bill that will, finally, provide a clear regulatory regime on crypto that many have been calling for.' Republicans already facing roadblocks over discussion draft House Financial Services Committee Ranking Member Maxine Waters plans to block a Republican-led event discussing digital assets on May 6, a Democratic staffer told Cointelegraph. The hearing, 'American Innovation and the Future of Digital Assets,' is expected to discuss the new crypto markets draft discussion paper pitched by Thompson, Hill, and other committee members. However, according to the unnamed Democratic staffer, the current rules require all members of the House Financial Services Committee to agree on such hearings. Source:
