ChainCatcher news, according to The Block, Jack Dorsey's payment company Block, Inc. has reached a $40 million settlement with New York state financial regulators due to anti-money laundering violations.The consent order released by the New York State Department of Financial Services on Thursday stated that the investigation found that the fintech company, formerly known as Square, "failed to adequately consider the significant risks posed by the scale and complexity of its business" in its anti-money laundering program when providing Bitcoin services through Cash App.Regulators specifically pointed out three major vulnerabilities at Block: a lack of risk-based anti-money laundering controls, insufficient customer due diligence, and lax handling of high-risk Bitcoin transactions that led to a large number of anonymous transactions going unchecked. This is the second time this year that Block has paid a settlement due to anti-money laundering issues. In January, the company paid $80 million to financial regulators in 48 states.A Block spokesperson stated that this settlement marks the resolution of all state-level remittance license matters and emphasized that while the company did not admit to the findings of the investigation, it has invested significant resources to improve the compliance framework of Cash App. Under the agreement, Block must hire an independent monitor to implement corrective actions.

ChainCatcher news, according to Bloter, Kim Sung-jin, head of the Virtual Assets Division of the Financial Services Commission of South Korea, stated in Congress on April 2 that if domestic cryptocurrency exchanges have sufficient anti-money laundering capabilities, it may be possible to allow foreign investment in domestic cryptocurrency assets in the future. Current laws still prohibit foreign corporations and individuals from participating in such investments.

ChainCatcher news, according to Cointelegraph, the Argentine National Securities Commission (CNV) has finalized regulatory rules for Virtual Asset Service Providers (VASP).The new regulations cover registration obligations, cybersecurity, asset custody, anti-money laundering, and risk disclosure, requiring mandatory separation of company and client funds, annual audits, and monthly reports to the CNV. Starting in 2024, VASPs operating in Argentina must register with the Virtual Asset Service Provider Registry (PSAV), and violators may have their registration revoked.CNV Chairman Roberto E. Silva stated that institutions failing to comply with the regulations will not be able to operate in Argentina.

ChainCatcher news, according to the Korea Economic TV, the Financial Intelligence Unit (FIU) under the Financial Services Commission of Korea held a "Anti-Money Laundering Trustee Meeting" to discuss regulatory plans against new types of money laundering methods such as virtual asset trading.The FIU will focus on cracking down on money laundering activities using virtual accounts and simple remittances, conducting special operations once a month to analyze suspicious transactions related to crimes such as voice phishing, pyramid schemes, and gambling targeting vulnerable groups. The Financial Supervisory Service stated that it will strengthen inspections of companies with insufficient implementation of anti-money laundering systems and promote cooperation between consumer protection departments and anti-money laundering departments.

According to ChainCatcher news reported by CoinDesk, Hitachi and 12 Japanese companies related to digital asset trading announced that they will begin an empirical experiment in February 2025 aimed at improving the effectiveness of anti-money laundering (AML) measures in the trading of cryptocurrencies, stablecoins, NFTs, and other digital assets.In the experiment, information related to money laundering collected and analyzed separately by each company will be shared on a dedicated platform provided by Hitachi. The analysis results will be fed back to each company and used for AML operations in domestic blockchain transactions. This approach aims to verify the actual effects of improved AML accuracy and reduced costs. Participating companies include NTT Digital, Optage, Crypto Garage, JPYC, Chainalysis Japan, Digital Platformer, NEC, Nomura Holdings, Bitbank, finoject, Hokuriku Bank, and Laser Digital Japan.Currently, digital asset trading companies are responding to regulations individually, facing challenges such as high compliance costs and a shortage of AML professionals. At the same time, it is expected that strengthened regulations in the future will bring more challenges. This experiment aims to address these issues through the sharing of systems, talent, and information. The experiment period is from February to April 2025.

ChainCatcher news, Greeks.live macro researcher Adam stated that there are many important macro events this week, with the Federal Reserve and U.S. economic data being quite prominent. The semi-annual monetary policy and CPI data are worth paying attention to.New EU regulations require cryptocurrency exchanges to comply with travel rule guidelines and strengthen anti-money laundering measures. Exchanges like Deribit need to improve KYC in order to operate normally.The EU's Markets in Crypto-Assets Regulation (MiCA) has come into full effect, and compliant exchanges like Kraken are gradually delisting stablecoins such as USDT in Europe. The cryptocurrency market continues to be sluggish, with Bitcoin oscillating below $100,000. Altcoins have generally seen significant declines over the past month, and the wealth effect in the market has weakened, with enthusiasm gradually turning into pessimism.In terms of options, the implied volatility (IV) for the full term continues to decline, with the at-the-money IV for the current month dropping below 50% and the quarterly at-the-money IV below 55%. Market speculation is not very intense. Recently, there has been a significant amount of trading in large call options, mainly driven by large holders adjusting their positions.

ChainCatcher news, according to an announcement from the Southern District of the U.S. Department of Justice, the cryptocurrency exchange BitMEX has been fined $100 million for violating the Bank Secrecy Act (BSA). BitMEX is accused of failing to establish and implement anti-money laundering (AML) and know your customer (KYC) programs, deliberately circumventing U.S. laws for profit.Its founders and executives had previously pleaded guilty, and the company pleaded guilty in July 2024, receiving a fine and two years of probation on January 15, 2025.

ChainCatcher news, according to Cointelegraph, Turkey is set to launch new cryptocurrency regulatory legislation in the last week of 2024, inspired by the proactive regulatory developments in major jurisdictions around the world, including Europe.According to the published document, the new rules require users conducting transactions exceeding 15,000 Turkish Lira (approximately 425 USD) to provide their identity information to cryptocurrency service providers in the country.This new Anti-Money Laundering (AML) regulation aims to prevent money laundering and the financing of terrorism through cryptocurrency transactions, and it will come into effect on February 25, 2025.

ChainCatcher news, according to Blue Whale News , TRON blockchain founder Justin Sun held a media conference for "The Most Expensive Banana"《Comedian》in Hong Kong and publicly ate a banana, in response to previous allegations that the banana auction event was malicious hype and involved money laundering.Justin Sun denied the allegations and stated: "Regarding the so-called money laundering allegations, I want to say that this is impossible. The world's most famous auction houses, like Sotheby's, have very strict anti-money laundering measures, and every transaction undergoes rigorous scrutiny. All my investment activities are transparent and compliant."

Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong stated on the X platform that anti-money laundering (AML) regulations are a failed policy, costing about $213 billion each year and harming the interests of legitimate consumers (as seen in multiple de-banking events), and according to United Nations data, this only prevents about 0.2% of illegal activities. This sounds like a job for the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE).

ChainCatcher message, Binance announced that in order to comply with the new amendment to Taiwan's anti-money laundering law effective on November 30, 2024, all merchants in the New Taiwan Dollar (TWD) market, including cash merchants, who have not obtained P2Pro certification (approved by the Financial Supervisory Commission of Taiwan for anti-money laundering compliance) will have their advertisements removed from Binance P2P's TWD market on November 29, 2024. Affected merchants are prohibited from posting any advertisements related to the New Taiwan Dollar or providing services for buying and selling New Taiwan Dollars and virtual assets on the platform.Binance urges all affected merchants to raise awareness and plan ahead, applying for anti-money laundering registration with the FSC starting from November 30, 2024, and applying for P2Pro merchant status after obtaining approval.

ChainCatcher news, the Financial Supervisory Commission (FSC) of Taiwan will implement new anti-money laundering (AML) rules on November 30, a month earlier than initially planned, as the regulator accelerates its anti-fraud efforts.The new rules require crypto service providers, such as cryptocurrency exchanges, to complete AML compliance registration. Non-compliance may result in penalties, including up to two years of imprisonment and fines of up to 5 million New Taiwan Dollars (approximately 153,700 USD).In a statement on Wednesday, the FSC indicated that overseas "virtual asset service providers" (VASP) must establish a company or branch in accordance with Taiwanese company law and complete the necessary AML registration before conducting business in Taiwan. These new regulations were introduced following amendments to the law in July.

ChainCatcher news, according to Yonhap News Agency, Kim Byoung-hwan, chairman of the Financial Services Commission (FSC) of South Korea, announced that the government will take strong measures to prevent virtual assets from becoming a "loophole" in the anti-money laundering system.At the 18th Anti-Money Laundering Day ceremony, Kim Byoung-hwan emphasized that cases of virtual assets being misused for illegal activities are not uncommon.He also added that future amendments to the Foreign Exchange Transaction Act will require virtual asset service providers participating in cross-border transactions to register in advance and report transaction details to ensure that virtual assets are not used for illegal fund transfers or tax evasion.

ChainCatcher news, the Financial Information Unit (FIU) of the South Korean Financial Services Commission has discovered at least 500,000 suspected violations of customer identity verification (KYC) obligations during its review of the business renewal of the virtual asset exchange Upbit. The FIU is examining the legality of these cases one by one.The violations found during this review include some accounts that registered using vague identification documents, which may be used for money laundering or other illegal activities. According to the Act on Reporting and Using Specified Financial Transaction Information, virtual asset exchanges are required to renew their licenses every three years, and for violations of customer identity verification obligations, each case may be fined up to 100 million won. The FIU's review of Upbit is still ongoing.KYC is a necessary procedure under anti-money laundering (AML) and counter-terrorism financing (CTF) requirements, and exchanges must ensure that users submit valid identification and complete identity verification.

ChainCatcher news, the crypto anti-money laundering company Notabene has completed a $14.5 million Series B funding round, led by DRW Venture Capital, with participation from Apollo, Nextblock, ParaFi Capital, Wintermute, CMT Digital, F-Prime, Green Visor Capital, Illuminate Financial, Jump Capital, Signature Ventures, and Y Combinator.Notabene is a startup that helps cryptocurrency trading companies comply with anti-money laundering (AML) regulations. Notabene aims to become the SWIFT for crypto trading, and its network effects are continuously strengthening, with 165 companies using the platform, including some virtual asset service providers (VASP) such as Copper, OKX, and Ramp.

ChainCatcher news, the Federal Financial Monitoring Service of the Russian Federation (Rosfinmonitoring) emphasized that even if the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) decides to blacklist Russia, its anti-money laundering system will continue to operate effectively. Previous assessments mentioned issues related to virtual currency regulation, but Rosfinmonitoring insists that these issues have been resolved.According to TASS, the regulatory agency stated: "The Russian Federation has improved its ratings on three FATF recommendations, with only one being downgraded to 'partially compliant' due to insufficient legislative regulation in the field of virtual currency circulation."However, Rosfinmonitoring pointed out that since these assessments, Russia has passed two federal laws to strengthen its digital currency regulatory framework. The agency added: "Since then, the Russian Federation has passed two federal laws regulating the circulation of digital currencies."It is reported that the FATF is an intergovernmental organization that sets global standards for anti-money laundering and combating the financing of terrorism. Whether Russia will be blacklisted will be discussed at the FATF plenary meeting from October 21 to 25.

ChainCatcher news, according to Decrypt, before the European Union introduces a new round of laws and regulations to combat money laundering and terrorist financing, Irish Finance Minister Jack Chambers will draft "emergency" legislation to update the country's cryptocurrency regulations. However, the minister did not explicitly indicate what these rules would include, nor did he specify when they would take effect. Chambers was appointed to the position in June 2024, having had little experience as a cryptocurrency regulator.It is reported that the EU's Anti-Money Laundering and Counter-Terrorism Financing Act will take effect on December 30, 2024, granting EU member states' Financial Intelligence Units (FIUs) greater investigative powers and the ability to suspend transactions.