A new hook available on an open-source directory for Uniswap V4 hooks is sparking controversy within the crypto community. The hook enables users to be checked for Know Your Customer (KYC) before they can trade on a pool.
Criticizing the hook, a user at X (formerly Twitter) noted that the hook opens up the possibility of decentralized finance protocols being whitelisted by regulators:
“As I explained in all my posts for the past year: It starts with “kyc option” for LPs. And then eventually it moves into a “regulator whitelist approved” database hosted offchain. And then non-kyc gets labeled as illegal terrorist money laundering. Stop simping for soyboys.”
Essentially, a hook is a tool that allows developers to customize a code without altering the main structure of the program. In Uniswap V4, this hook will permit developers to use KYC verification within the decentralized finance protocol.
Financial institutions use KYC procedures to authenticate customer identities and assess associated risks. A primary goal of KYC is to detect money laundering and terrorist financing activities.
KYC hook code available on GitHub. Source: GitHub
The KYC hook was rolled out by a community developer on Uniswap V4’s directory as an opt-in functionality. The KYC verification is carried out by a nonfungible token (NFT). According to another X user, the hook is specific for liquidity providers and may be useful for projects that must comply with regulatory requirements in certain jurisdictions:
“Seems like you don’t understand how this works. #1 it’s lp specific. Some projects may want to operate within the legal confines of jurisdiction. #2 hooks can be made by community devs. You’re trashing something that has done more than anyone else for “real defi”.”
Governments around the world are taking a closer look at DeFi protocols and transactions. Recently, the group of twenty worlds’ largest economies, G20, accepted a crypto regulatory roadmap proposed by the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the Financial Stability Board (FSB) tightening crypto regulations.
Uniswap V4 introduces customizable hooks and is expected to be available in early 2024, with access limited to governance-approved entities.
A hostile environment era deportation policy for criminals is being expanded by the Labour government as it continues its migration crackdown.
The government wants to go further in extraditing foreign offenders before they have a chance to appeal by including more countries in the existing scheme.
Offenders that have a human right appeal rejected will get offshored, and further appeals will then get heard from abroad.
It follows the government announcing on Saturday that it wants to deport criminals as soon as they are sentenced.
The “deport now, appeal later” policy was first introduced when Baroness Theresa May was home secretary in 2014 as part of the Conservative government’s hostile environment policy to try and reduce migration.
It saw hundreds of people returned to a handful of countries like Kenya and Jamaica under Section 94B of the Nationality, Immigration and Asylum Act 2002, added in via amendment.
In 2017, a Supreme Court effectively stopped the policy from being used after it was challenged on the grounds that appealing from abroad was not compliant with human rights.
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However, in 2023, then home secretary Suella Braverman announced she was restarting the policy after providing more facilities abroad for people to lodge their appeals.
Now, the current government says it is expanding the partnership from eight countries to 23.
Previously, offenders were being returned to Finland, Nigeria, Estonia, Albania, Belize, Mauritius, Tanzania and Kosovo for remote hearings.
Angola, Australia, Botswana, Brunei, Bulgaria, Canada, Guyana, India, Indonesia, Kenya, Latvia, Lebanon, Malaysia, Uganda and Zambia are the countries being added – with the government wanting to include more.
Image: Theresa May’s hostile environment policy proved controversial. Pic: PA
The Home Office claims this is the “the government’s latest tool in its comprehensive approach to scaling up our ability to remove foreign criminals”, touting 5,200 removals of foreign offenders since July 2024 – an increase of 14% compared with the year before.
Home Secretary Yvette Cooper said: “Those who commit crimes in our country cannot be allowed to manipulate the system, which is why we are restoring control and sending a clear message that our laws must be respected and will be enforced.”
Foreign Secretary David Lammy said: “We are leading diplomatic efforts to increase the number of countries where foreign criminals can be swiftly returned, and if they want to appeal, they can do so safely from their home country.
“Under this scheme, we’re investing in international partnerships that uphold our security and make our streets safer.”
Both ministers opposed the hostile environment policy when in opposition.
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In 2015, Sir Keir Starmer had questioned whether such a policy was workable – saying in-person appeals were the norm for 200 years and had been a “highly effective way of resolving differences”.
He also raised concerns about the impact on children if parents were deported and then returned after a successful appeal.
In today’s announcement, the prime minister’s administration said it wanted to prevent people from “gaming the system” and clamp down on people staying in the UK for “months or years” while appeals are heard.
TRM Labs says the Embargo ransomware group has moved over $34 million in ransom-linked crypto since April, targeting US hospitals and critical infrastructure.