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Despite United States Representatives Mike Flood, Wiley Nickel, Tom Emmer and Ritchie Torres calling on the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) to immediately approve the listing of spot Bitcoin (BTC) exchange-traded funds (ETFs), the agency once again delayed its decision. 

When it comes to spot Ether (ETH) ETFs from VanEck and ARK 21Shares, the SEC delayed making decisions until Dec. 25 and Jan. 10, respectively, while GlobalX will have to wait until Nov. 21 for the commission’s decision. It also delayed deciding on the spot Bitcoin ETF applications of Invesco, Bitwise and Valkyrie until mid-January.

The latest delays came two weeks earlier than the scheduled second deadline date for many applicants, who had been expecting to hear from the securities regulator by Oct. 16–19. The timing of the delays may have been related to the narrowly avoided U.S. government shutdown, which would have disrupted the country’s financial regulators and other federal agencies.

Bitwise Asset Management reacted to the delay of its spot Bitcoin ETF with an amended application, responding to the SEC’s objections to the product. In its amended application, Bitwise engaged with what the SEC called “the ‘mixed’ or ‘inconclusive’ academic record” on the lead-lag relationship between BTC futures and spot markets.

Another Chinese court recognized Bitcoin as property 

The Shanghai No.2 Intermediate People’s Court in China has recognized Bitcoin as a unique and non-replicable digital asset while acknowledging its scarcity and inherent value. According to the court’s report, digital currencies such as Bitcoin stand out as unique and non-replicable internet technology products. The report states that among a sea of digital currencies, Bitcoin is different and unique from other digital assets. It has key currency features such as scalability, ease of circulation, storage and payment. 

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Taiwan bans unregistered foreign crypto exchanges

Taiwan’s Financial Supervisory Commission (FSC) formulated the critical points for regulating Taiwan’s cryptocurrency market, releasing industry guidelines for virtual asset service providers (VASP) operating in the country. In the guidelines, the authority mentioned standard industry-wide rules like separating exchange treasury assets from customer assets and reviewing mechanisms for listing and delisting virtual assets.

The FSC also required foreign VASPs to refrain from providing their services in Taiwan without obtaining necessary approvals from the regulator: Overseas virtual asset platform operators are not allowed to provide business within the territory of the country […] unless they have been registered in accordance with the law.”

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Hong Kong will list “suspicious” crypto platforms

The Securities and Futures Commission (SFC) of Hong Kong will publish a list of all licensed, deemed licensed, closing down, and application-pending virtual asset trading platforms (VATPs) to better help members of the public identify potentially unregulated VATPs doing business in Hong Kong. The SFC said it will also keep a dedicated list of “suspicious VATPs,” featured in an easily accessible and prominent part of the regulators’ website.

The new rules come immediately after the ongoing JPEX crypto exchange scandal, an affair that local media outlets describe as one of the worst cases of financial fraud ever to hit the region. JPEX stands accused of promoting its services to Hong Kong residents despite not having applied for a license in the country.

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Crypto to become UAE’s second-biggest sector in 5 years — Institutional investor

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Crypto to become UAE’s second-biggest sector in 5 years — Institutional investor

Crypto to become UAE’s second-biggest sector in 5 years — Institutional investor

The crypto industry is set to experience massive growth in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) due to its pro-tech and business regulations.

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Blockchain security must localize to stop Asia’s crypto crime wave

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Blockchain security must localize to stop Asia’s crypto crime wave

Blockchain security must localize to stop Asia’s crypto crime wave

Without localized risk detection and public–private cooperation, illicit capital will continue to flow unchecked, and trust in the system will collapse.

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Thousands more Afghans affected by second data breach, ministers say

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Thousands more Afghans affected by second data breach, ministers say

Thousands more Afghan nationals may have been affected by another data breach, the government has said.

Up to 3,700 Afghans brought to the UK between January and March 2024 have potentially been impacted as names, passport details and information from the Afghan Relocations and Assistance Policy has been compromised again, this time by a breach on a third party supplier used by the Ministry of Defence (MoD).

This was not an attack directly on the government but a cyber security incident on a sub-contractor named Inflite – The Jet Centre – an MoD supplier that provides ground handling services for flights at London Stansted Airport.

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July: UK spies exposed in Afghan data breach

The flights were used to bring Afghans to the UK, travel to routine military exercises, and official engagements. It was also used to fly British troops and government officials.

Those involved were informed of it on Friday afternoon by the MoD, marking the second time information about Afghan nationals relocated to the UK has been compromised.

It is understood former Tory ministers are also affected by the hack.

Earlier this year, it emerged that almost 7,000 Afghan nationals would have to be relocated to the UK following a massive data breach by the British military that successive governments tried to keep secret with a super-injunction.

Defence Secretary John Healey offered a “sincere apology” for the first data breach in a statement to the House of Commons, saying he was “deeply concerned about the lack of transparency” around the data breach, adding: “No government wishes to withhold information from the British public, from parliamentarians or the press in this manner.”

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July: Afghan interpreter ‘betrayed’ by UK govt

The previous Conservative government set up a secret scheme in 2023 to relocate Afghan nationals impacted by the data breach, but who were not eligible for an existing programme to relocate and help people who had worked for the British government in Afghanistan.

The mistake exposed personal details of close to 20,000 individuals, endangering them and their families, with as many as 100,000 people impacted in total.

Read more on Sky News:
Data breach victims sent spam emails
Afghan data leak timeline
MoD urged to reveal details of nuclear incident

A government spokesperson said of Friday’s latest breach: “We were recently notified that a third party sub-contractor to a supplier experienced a cyber security incident involving unauthorised access to a small number of its emails that contained basic personal information.

“We take data security extremely seriously and are going above and beyond our legal duties in informing all potentially affected individuals. The incident has not posed any threat to individuals’ safety, nor compromised any government systems.”

In a statement, Inflite – The Jet Centre confirmed the “data security incident” involving “unauthorised access to a limited number of company emails”.

“We have reported the incident to the Information Commissioner’s Office and have been actively working with the relevant UK cyber authorities, including the National Crime Agency and the National Cyber Security Centre, to support our investigation and response,” it said.

“We believe the scope of the incident was limited to email accounts only, however, as a precautionary measure, we have contacted our key stakeholders whose data may have been affected during the period of January to March 2024.”

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