ChainCatcher news, the Central Bank of Russia and the Ministry of Finance will establish a cryptocurrency exchange for "high-qualified investors," which will operate "as part of a trial legal mechanism allowed." Finance Minister Anton Siluanov stated, "This will legalize crypto assets and bring crypto operations out of the shadows."Reportedly, this mechanism applies to individuals who have "invested more than 100 million rubles in securities and deposits, or had an income exceeding 50 million rubles in the previous year." The Central Bank stated that this move aims to "increase the transparency of the cryptocurrency market, establish service standards, and expand investment opportunities for high-risk investors."

ChainCatcher news, according to Cointelegraph, the cryptocurrency exchange eXch announced that it will cease operations on May 1. Earlier reports indicated that the exchange was used for money laundering, involving some of the stolen funds from the $1.4 billion hack incident related to Bybit.In an announcement on April 17, eXch stated that the majority of the management team voted to adopt a "stop and retreat" strategy in response to allegations that the North Korean hacking group Lazarus Group laundered approximately $35 million through the platform—funds that originated from the $1.4 billion hack suffered by Bybit.The exchange claimed it had become a target of a "transatlantic joint law enforcement operation" aimed at shutting down its business and potentially filing criminal charges. eXch stated in its announcement: "Although we have withstood multiple attempts to shut down our infrastructure and maintained operations, we believe it is pointless to continue operating in an environment where we have become a target of signals intelligence surveillance, solely due to the hostile environment created by the misinterpretation of our mission by certain individuals." The exchange initially denied blockchain detective claims that it assisted the Lazarus Group in laundering money but acknowledged handling a "very small portion of funds" from the February hack incident.

ChainCatcher news, according to Decrypt, senior investigators from the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) intelligence and economic crimes department have been accused of embezzling over $21 million in crypto assets during the investigation of the cryptocurrency exchange Cryptoland.According to court documents reviewed by Iran International TV, two senior officials from the IRGC economic intelligence department, Mehdi Hajipour and Mehdi Badi, are the main architects of the scheme. Blockchain evidence shows that wallets controlled solely by Hajipour processed tokens worth over $21 million.

ChainCatcher message, Swiss blockchain analytics company Global Ledger indicates that a large amount of off-chain and on-chain data suggests that the sanctioned Russian cryptocurrency exchange Garantex may have been renamed to Grinex. Both on-chain and off-chain data show a clear connection between the two exchanges, with Grinex being the direct successor of Garantex.

ChainCatcher news, according to on-chain analyst @ali_charts monitoring, 360,000 ETH have been withdrawn from cryptocurrency exchanges in the past 48 hours.

ChainCatcher news, according to Bloomberg, major cryptocurrency firms are returning to the Indian market, betting on a potential easing of regulatory policies. The U.S. exchange Coinbase has recently registered with the Indian Financial Intelligence Unit (FIU) and plans to launch a retail trading platform and expand its investments in India. Previously, platforms such as Binance, Bybit, and KuCoin have also completed their registrations, indicating a reconfiguration in the Indian market.India originally planned to release a cryptocurrency regulatory consultation document during its G20 presidency in 2023, but this has not yet been implemented. With the global policy environment shifting, particularly due to the pro-crypto agenda proposed by former U.S. President Trump, India is re-evaluating its regulatory strategy.Ajay Seth, Secretary of the Ministry of Economic Affairs of India, stated at a roundtable that several jurisdictions have significantly adjusted their positions over the past year. The risks of digital assets such as stablecoins, as well as the potential for cryptocurrencies to drive cross-border capital flows, could have profound impacts on emerging economies like India. He revealed that relevant discussion documents have been prepared but need to be revised according to the new circumstances.

ChainCatcher news, according to The Wall Street Journal, informed sources revealed that last year Binance contacted allies of Trump to propose a business deal with the Trump family as part of a plan to bring the exiled company back to the United States, after which both parties began negotiations.Representatives of the Trump family have been negotiating for a financial stake in the acquisition of the cryptocurrency exchange Binance's U.S. subsidiary, a move that would allow Trump to do business with a company that admitted to violating anti-money laundering requirements in 2023.

ChainCatcher news, according to official news, cryptocurrency exchange Kraken stated that the U.S. SEC has agreed to withdraw its lawsuit against it. Currently, SEC staff have in principle agreed to dismiss the lawsuit against Kraken, not admitting any wrongdoing, not paying fines, and not changing its business.

ChainCatcher news, according to Coindesk, a survey conducted by Binance Research, the research department of the cryptocurrency exchange Binance, involving over 10,000 investors in Argentina, Brazil, Colombia, and Mexico, shows that the vast majority of cryptocurrency users in Latin America (95%) plan to increase their holdings by 2025.The survey results indicate that 40.1% of respondents expect to purchase more cryptocurrency in the next three months, 15.3% expect to buy in the next six months, and 39.7% expect to buy within 12 months. Only 4.9% of people do not have plans to continue investing this year.The report cites research from payment company Triple-A, stating that cryptocurrency adoption in Latin America will lead the world in 2024, growing by 116%. The region currently has 55 million cryptocurrency users, accounting for nearly 10% of the total number of cryptocurrency users.

ChainCatcher news, recently, the global top financial media Forbes selected the 25 most trusted cryptocurrency exchanges in the world for 2025, and Huobi HTX made the list. This further solidifies Huobi HTX's position as a leading exchange in the crypto industry, operating for over 11 years.Forbes evaluated global cryptocurrency exchanges based on multiple dimensions, including trading volume, compliance, and trading costs. Huobi HTX performed excellently overall and has strong competitiveness in terms of BTC and ETH holdings, spot trading volume, and product lines. According to data provided by Forbes, Huobi HTX ranks 6th in spot market share among all listed cryptocurrency exchanges. This achievement is attributed to Huobi HTX's significant efforts in continuously enhancing the trading experience and showcasing wealth effects with new assets.

ChainCatcher news, Indonesian cryptocurrency exchange Tokocrypto has appointed Calvin Kizana as its new CEO. Tokocrypto has also partnered with digital banking service company BCA Digital to enhance its financial solutions for users.

ChainCatcher news, according to Nikkei, the Japanese Financial Services Agency has requested Apple and Google to remove the applications of five unregistered overseas cryptocurrency exchanges. These include exchanges such as Bybit Fintech Limited located in Dubai and MEXC Global based in Singapore.It is reported that Apple has removed these apps from the App Store as requested. Previously, the Japanese Financial Services Agency had repeatedly warned these exchanges not to conduct business targeting Japanese users, but there was no response, marking the first time the regulatory agency has taken action to remove apps.Previous news, several cryptocurrency exchange apps have been removed from the Japanese App Store.

ChainCatcher news, cryptocurrency exchange Kraken has announced that it has obtained a European Union Markets in Financial Instruments Directive (MiFID) license, which was acquired through the purchase of a Cyprus investment firm. This move enables Kraken to offer compliant and regulated derivatives to cryptocurrency traders in selected EU markets.In the coming months, Kraken will work to meet the conditions for launching and introduce related products in the local EU market.

ChainCatcher news, a court in Kazakhstan has sentenced three cryptocurrency exchange operators to imprisonment. According to the official report from the Financial Regulatory Agency (AFM) operated by the Kazakhstan government, the court sentenced these three individuals to 2.5 to 3.5 years in prison, and the bailiffs confiscated their assets worth $750,000.The three individuals "operated a platform without a license" and "charged fees for exchanging cryptocurrencies." The illegal exchange processed cryptocurrency transactions worth over $1.28 million for approximately 380 clients. Prosecutors provided "client" bank statements as evidence. The bailiffs confiscated the assets of the three, "including real estate, five cars, a four-wheeler, and expensive computer equipment."

ChainCatcher news, CryptoQuant has released its user survey report, which shows that Binance is the best-performing cryptocurrency exchange across several key metrics, ranking first in multiple critical categories. Among the respondents, 53% reported that Binance is the centralized exchange they use most frequently, 48% have most of their crypto assets on Binance, and 51% have achieved their highest returns through Binance.According to the survey results from global regional market segments, Binance dominates with 52%-72% of users in the Middle East, South America, and Africa; in competitive markets like Asia and Europe, Binance also shows strong influence, with adoption rates of 50% and 51%, respectively.Additionally, more than half of the respondents believe that Binance has the best cybersecurity measures (54%), customer service (55%), and C2C trading platform (59%). Among the participants in this survey, 83% value compliance in the crypto industry, while 32% believe that Binance has the highest compliance standards, 18% higher than the second-ranked CEX.

ChainCatcher news, according to Nobsbitcoin, the Central Bank of Iran (CBI) has suddenly closed cryptocurrency exchange payment channels without prior notice, restricting citizens' use of digital assets. This move comes against the backdrop of the Iranian rial depreciating by 37% against the dollar in 2024, after many Iranians turned to digital assets like Bitcoin as a safe haven.The Central Bank of Iran is developing a "centralized cryptocurrency management system" similar to the banking system Shaparak to strengthen regulation of the crypto market. The bank's "Cryptocurrency Policy Regulatory Framework" released last month established its position as the main regulatory authority in the industry. The Human Rights Foundation pointed out that for the Iranian people, who are experiencing severe inflation and financial isolation, Bitcoin is one of the few avenues for financial freedom, and the authorities are blocking this channel.

ChainCatcher news, according to cryptocurrency analyst Maartunn on social media, the spot trading volume data for the cryptocurrency market in 2024 shows that market activity is highly concentrated among a few key players, led by Binance.The cumulative spot trading volume of Binance has reached $7.23 trillion, accounting for 46.59% of the market share. The top five exchanges collectively control about 81.24% of the cumulative spot trading volume; while medium-sized exchanges also have a certain trading volume, each exchange's market share is less than 10%; small exchanges collectively account for a negligible market share, with each exchange's share being less than 0.2%.