Top Headlines
- CTO of Title3Funds Kim LaFleur examines how online investing has changed due to the COVID-19 pandemic and how it will become even more accessible to everyday consumers (Forbes)
- FinCen and the Federal Reserve are proposing a new rule that would lower the financial institution reporting amount for international transactions from $3000 to $250. The proposed rule explicitly calls out virtual currency’s as one of the modes of transaction that this rule would apply to (Coin Telegraph)
- Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell is still reluctant to commit to a central bank digital currency, highlighting the importance of engaging stakeholders in public consultation and extensive research (Bloomberg)
Cryptocurrency Spotlight:
- The Electric Frontier Foundation strongly condemned the Department of Justice’s new cryptocurrency enforcement framework this week, calling it a “complete disaster for privacy and anonymity” (Coindesk)
- After months of mounting speculation, PayPal has confirmed their entry into the cryptosphere in 2021. Customers will be able to use Bitcoin, Ethereum, Bitcoin Cash, and Litecoin to make purchases, and can also purchase cryptocurrency through the app directly (Coin Telegraph)
- Curious about the growing news concerning central bank digital currencies? The Wall Street Journal breaks down the burgeoning interest by countries to develop their own sovereign cryptocurrency
- The proposed settlement between the SEC and Kik has been ratified by a New York court. What comes next? Kik has concluded that the 3 trillion tokens Kin tokens still in their possession should be permitted for trade on exchanges. The company claims that the settlement does not preclude the circulation of Kin tokens, while the SEC has stated that the granting of summary judgment in their favor ratifies that the sale of Kin tokens were the sales of investment contracts and therefore unregistered sales of securities (Decrypt)
International Spotlight:
- ?? Santiago Fuentes, head of Spanish crypto arbitrage company Arbistar, has been arrested by Spanish authorities on criminal fraud and money laundering charges. The company services approximately 120,000 investors who have forked over nearly $520M for their arbitrage trading bot to invest
- ?? The Bank of Canada has posted a job listing for an economist as they explore the development of their central bank digital currency. Although the jobs official duties include keeping tabs on developments in electric funds and payments, the posting also mentions working on the “potential” development of a CBDC (Coin Telegraph)
- ?? Bahamas’ central bank digital currency (the “Sand Dollar”) has officially launched, making it one of the first countries to officially move beyond a pilot program to a full rollout of a CBDC (Coin Telegraph)