ChainCatcher news, Andre Cronje, co-founder of Sonic Labs (formerly Fantom), shared on the X platform that despite adhering to all regulations, he has been in tough discussions with regulators, including the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), for nearly two years.He also pointed out that user preferences have changed, and now many people prefer teams and products over immutable code. Cronje concluded that builders face a tough choice: either commit to decentralization and immutability, risking blame, regulatory hurdles, and lack of returns; or accept corporatization, licensing, and controlled improvements to ensure continuous progress.

ChainCatcher news, Telegram is establishing a local office in Kazakhstan to improve compliance and communication with regulators.The Ministry of Digital Development, Innovation and Aerospace Industry of Kazakhstan announced on October 14 that Telegram has agreed to appoint a local representative and open an office in the Republic of Kazakhstan. According to Minister Zhaslan Madiyev, Telegram's entity in Kazakhstan will be "an important step in strengthening control over the content of the messaging platform."

ChainCatcher news, FOX Business reporter Eleanor Terrett announced the list of attendees for today's crypto roundtable on social media. Important attendees include:Biden Senior Advisor Anita DunnMark CubanCoinbase Chief Legal Officer Paul GrewalBitGo Co-founder Mike BelsheDCG Vice President of Public Policy Julie Stitzela16z Head of Government Affairs Collin McCuneKraken Chief Compliance Officer Marco SantoriFormer CFTC Chairman Chris Giancarlo (Paxos Board Member)Pantera Chief Compliance Officer Katrina PagliaFormer SEC Senior Advisor Justin Slaughter (Paradigm Policy Director)Uniswap Labs Chief Legal Officer Marvin AmmoriCircle Chief Strategy Officer and Global Policy Head Dante DisparteIn addition, attendee Congressman Ro Khanna reported that he believes today's meeting "made a productive step forward," and Biden Senior Advisor Anita Dunn participated in the meeting for about an hour.

ChainCatcher news, according to NBC, Twitter co-founder Jack Dorsey's fintech company Block is under a compliance investigation by federal prosecutors. Internal documents provided by a former employee to the Southern District of New York prosecutors indicate that Block's Square and Cash App businesses have long-standing and widespread compliance deficiencies.These issues include: insufficient collection of customer information to assess risk; Square processed thousands of transactions involving sanctioned countries; Block handled multiple cryptocurrency transactions for terrorist organizations; and most suspicious transactions involving credit cards, dollar transfers, and Bitcoin were not accurately reported to the government.Block stated that it has established a comprehensive compliance program and continues to invest to address new threats and the evolving sanctions regulatory environment. However, the former employee claimed that the company did not take corrective actions after discovering violations. Additionally, an external consulting firm found nearly 50 deficiencies in Block's internal monitoring system last year.It is reported that Block's payment application Verse in Europe was also fined by the Bank of Lithuania last year and ordered to rectify for "serious and systemic" violations of anti-money laundering and anti-terrorism financing laws.As one of the most popular mobile payment applications in the United States, Cash App has 56 million active users, but its banking partner Sutton Bank recently reached a settlement with the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) over issues such as violations of the Bank Secrecy Act. Financial regulators are intensifying compliance reviews of third-party payment institutions.

ChainCatcher live report, the 2024 Hong Kong Web3 Carnival opened today at the Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Centre. HashKey Group COO and HashKey Exchange CEO Ong Siu Ki shared insights on global regulatory dynamics and the current state of crypto compliance in Hong Kong during his keynote speech in the afternoon. He also proposed six follow-up market highlights:Market pressure from the clearing of non-compliance risksTiming and magnitude of US dollar interest rate cuts (election year)Short-term impact of Bitcoin halving and reduction of net selling pressure in the medium to long termApproval of Hong Kong spot ETFs bringing in Asian capitalETH spot ETF: US vs Hong KongPopular DApps driving an application revolutionIn addition, Ong Siu Ki revealed that on April 8, HashKey Exchange will announce significant updates, presenting a brand new service approach for Web3 users.

ChainCatcher news, Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin, along with researchers from Chainalysis, the University of Basel, and other institutions, jointly published a paper titled "Blockchain Privacy and Regulatory Compliance: Towards a Practical Equilibrium."The paper studies Privacy Pools, an enhanced privacy protocol based on smart contracts. It discusses the advantages and disadvantages of this protocol and demonstrates how it can be applied to create a separating equilibrium between honest and dishonest users.The core idea of the paper is to allow users to publish zero-knowledge proofs to demonstrate that their funds originate from known (or not) legitimate sources without publicly revealing their entire transaction graph. This is achieved by proving membership in a custom association set that satisfies certain attribute requirements, which are stipulated by regulatory or social consensus. This paper may represent a first step towards a future where individuals can prove compliance with regulatory requirements without disclosing their entire transaction history.

ChainCatcher news, Binance co-founder He Yi recently gave an exclusive interview to Bloomberg in Dubai, during which she attempted to convey two key messages: first, the differences between Binance and regulators may not be as significant as perceived; second, the company is far from being the "bad actor" that critics claim.She said, "If they really took the time to understand our industry, they would find that if Binance is non-compliant, then almost no other global trading platform or offshore company is compliant." Binance claims it has no formal headquarters, which theoretically makes it harder to sue and regulate.Regarding the SEC and the recent series of regulatory actions against Binance by market regulators around the world, she stated, "We respect the stance of regulators, whether they support or oppose the development of cryptocurrencies. I understand that the overall intention of regulation is good in order to protect investors. The global regulatory trend is inevitable, and this is not something that can be resolved by just shouting a few slogans."In He Yi's view, Binance provides more transparency than critics claim and has been cooperating with U.S. regulators. Unlike the allegations against FTX, Binance has not used user funds for its own purposes, nor has it used its BNB as collateral for loans.When asked whether she and Zhao Changpeng had considered what would happen to Binance without them, He Yi replied, "Both Zhao Changpeng and I have backup executives in training, and I am temporarily refusing to disclose their names. I think we will be fine."Bloomberg noted that the relationship between He Yi and Zhao Changpeng easily evokes comparisons to FTX's Caroline and SBF, but He Yi firmly denied this: "Caroline is an employee, while I am a partner. The relationship between co-founders requires more than just a dating relationship. The co-founder relationship is about camaraderie or brotherhood, while a dating relationship is about chemistry. The former is based on shared beliefs and transcends gender, while the latter is based on physical attraction and selfish desires."He Yi also added that her status as a cryptocurrency pioneer predates Zhao Changpeng's, "Even without considering personal relationships, I was the one who introduced Zhao Changpeng to the cryptocurrency trading business, and Zhao Changpeng brought me to Binance based on the achievements I had already made." (Source link)

ChainCatcher news, the Hong Kong Securities and Futures Commission (SFC) has issued a circular titled "On Virtual Asset Futures Exchange-Traded Funds," establishing new rules for cryptocurrency futures ETF issuers. These include requirements that any product must meet the standards for managed unit trusts, mutual funds, and unlisted structured products; ETF issuers must demonstrate at least three years of performance records and regulatory compliance; issuers will need to prove that the digital asset ETF has sufficient liquidity; the net risk exposure of derivatives cannot exceed 100% of the ETF's net asset value; and issuers must conduct investor education prior to launch. (Source link)