ChainCatcher news, according to Finance Magnates, Kazakhstan's regulatory body AFM RK announced that authorities have blocked over 3,500 illegally operating cryptocurrency exchanges. This action is the result of a joint effort by the National Security Committee and the Ministry of Culture and Information. Earlier in 2023, authorities also blocked access to Coinbase on the grounds of alleged violations of digital asset laws.In 2024, regulators shut down 36 illegal cryptocurrency exchanges, with a total trading volume of 60 billion Kazakhstani tenge (approximately 11.3 million USD), and froze assets worth 4.8 million USDT. Additionally, authorities uncovered two cryptocurrency pyramid schemes, returning 545,000 USDT to victims and freezing 120,000 USDT held by the platforms.AFM stated that it is working with international partners to strengthen the regulation of cryptocurrency trading, combat its use for criminal activities, and develop legal amendments to hold digital asset providers accountable for money laundering, while financial institutions' inspections of cryptocurrency trading have also been enhanced.

ChainCatcher news, according to Cointelegraph, the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) of Nigeria raided a cryptocurrency scam center in Lagos on December 10, arresting 792 suspects, including 148 Chinese citizens and 40 Filipino citizens.According to Ken Gamble, co-founder of the cybercrime investigation firm IFW Global, the scam gang offered Nigerian employees a monthly salary of $500 plus performance bonuses, which is 10 times the local minimum wage.

ChainCatcher news, the European Commission has announced the regulatory authorities participating in the second batch of its blockchain sandbox program. The European Blockchain Sandbox Initiative (EBSI) recently stated that 41 authorities and regulatory bodies from 22 countries in the EU and the European Economic Area have joined the initiative.Participants include authorities from the following countries: France, Spain, the Netherlands, Italy, Greece, Slovenia, Germany, Cyprus, Portugal, Bulgaria, Belgium, Denmark, Norway, Latvia, Malta, Poland, Hungary, Slovakia, Iceland, Liechtenstein, Lithuania, and the Czech Republic.The European Commission launched EBSI to support use cases involving Distributed Ledger Technology (DLT). The project aims to provide a framework for blockchain projects, regulatory bodies, and authorities to engage in dialogue and identify legal and regulatory barriers to blockchain innovation, enhancing regulatory certainty for decentralized technology solutions such as blockchain.

ChainCatcher news, the Swiss online bank FlowBank, which provides cryptocurrency services, has now been shut down by the Swiss financial regulator and has filed for bankruptcy.The Swiss Financial Market Supervisory Authority (FINMA) stated that the bank no longer has sufficient capital to maintain its banking operations and has severely violated minimum capital requirements.FINMA also stated that "there are ample reasons to be concerned that the bank is currently over-indebted" and that "there is no prospect of restructuring."

ChainCatcher news, according to Bloomberg, Binance Holdings Ltd. has tightened the requirements for listing new digital tokens, further strengthening the protective measures for investors on its platform.Informed sources revealed that crypto projects seeking to list tokens on Binance must now agree to a significantly longer so-called "Cliff period," during which no tokens can be sold, set aside more tokens for market makers, and pay a deposit. These changes have been in effect since the end of last year, the sources said.The sources indicated that Binance has verbally communicated these changes to token listing participants, while the requirements for trading may vary. So far, the stricter rules do not seem to have affected Binance's share in spot cryptocurrency trading, which has begun to recover from a nearly year-long decline, and Binance's leading position in the number of listings on major trading platforms has further expanded recently.

ChainCatcher news, Google will remove many cryptocurrency exchanges, including Binance and Kraken, from India's Play Store. The Indian regulatory body—the Financial Intelligence Unit (FIU)—issued a "show cause notice" to nine cryptocurrency companies at the end of last month, stating that they do not comply with India's anti-money laundering regulations, and requested the Indian IT department to block the websites of all nine service providers within India.Earlier this week, Apple removed these applications, and on Thursday evening, various telecom networks and internet service providers began blocking the URLs of cryptocurrency exchange websites. Other exchanges from which applications were removed include Huobi, Gate.io, Bittrex, and Bitfinex.

ChainCatcher news, Richard Teng stated during his participation in the Binance Chinese community AMA that Binance will continue to be user-centric in the future, maintaining close cooperation with global regulatory agencies and partners. Currently, the Binance platform has 167 million users, and this number continues to grow; Binance is still a young company with thousands of employees worldwide, and its core value is "persisting in achieving financial freedom." The current major direction and trend in the industry is "compliance," so Binance will continue to increase its investment in protecting users and supporting innovation, as well as making relevant investments in compliance.

ChainCatcher news, Binance has released an official announcement stating that it has reached a resolution with the U.S. Department of Justice, the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC), the Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC), and the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) regarding their investigations into Binance's past issues related to registration, compliance, and sanctions. When Binance started operations, it did not have sufficient compliance management measures to match its rapidly growing business. As Binance grew rapidly worldwide, the industry was still in an emerging and evolving stage, and regulation was still in its early days, leading Binance to make some wrong decisions during this process. Today, Binance takes responsibility for these past actions.It is noteworthy that in the aforementioned resolution, U.S. regulators did not accuse Binance of misappropriating any user funds, nor did they accuse Binance of any market manipulation. Former CEO Changpeng Zhao will remain as a major shareholder, providing consultation on matters related to the platform's development. Binance has never wavered in its core values of maintaining user safety and security, and will continue to promote cooperation with global regulators in the future. Only by maintaining transparency and compliance can the industry rebuild trust in a chaotic market environment.

ChainCatcher news, Michael Will, the head of the German data protection authority, stated that the German data protection authority has been investigating the Worldcoin project since the end of last year due to the involvement of large-scale sensitive biometric data. Will mentioned that this poses many risks, including whether users have explicitly consented to the processing of their highly sensitive biometric data on the basis of "adequate and clear" information.ChainCatcher previously reported that the French privacy regulator CNIL and the UK data protection authority Information Commissioner's Office are also investigating Worldcoin.

According to ChainCatcher news, Binance has reported its acquisition of Gopax to the South Korean financial regulatory authorities. Gopax completed the submission of a change report for virtual asset operators to the Financial Intelligence Unit yesterday afternoon. According to the Specific Financial Information Act, a change report must be submitted when there is a change in the representative or executive officer registration. Earlier this month, Gopax replaced its CEO, founder Lee Jun-haeng, with Binance's Asia Pacific CEO Leon Sing Foong. Additionally, Binance has appointed new internal directors.The report states that even if the FIU accepts the report, it must consider whether Jeonbuk Bank will continue to provide real-name accounts to Gopax. If Jeonbuk Bank feels burdened by the change in shareholders and cancels the cooperation, Gopax's qualification as a virtual asset operator may be revoked. (Newsis)

ChainCatcher news, according to South Korean media Herald, financial regulatory bodies such as the Financial Services Commission and the Financial Intelligence Unit (FIU) have proposed to include the content of "tokens being directly approved by regulatory agencies for listing on domestic crypto exchanges" in the basic virtual asset law.It is reported that the proposers believe that companies need to obtain approval from the Financial Commission under the Capital Markets Act when listing securities, so delegating the token listing of domestic exchanges to self-listing is too risky. However, there are also differing opinions within the organization, both in favor and against, so whether it can be realized remains to be seen. (Source link)

ChainCatcher news, the International Organization of Securities Commissions (IOSCO) stated in a report on Wednesday that securities regulators should have the authority to demand the shutdown of foreign crypto websites. IOSCO also warned that applications are using tactics borrowed from mobile games to lure people into purchasing unsuitable financial products; while financial influencers (Finfluencers) provide investment advice without obtaining licenses.The report stated that financial services are gradually becoming "digitalized," and rules need to be adjusted. The organization noted that cryptocurrencies can be particularly opaque and volatile. IOSCO Secretary General Martin Moloney stated, "Digital fraudsters may hide behind a 'digital veil,' making it difficult for regulators to find, identify, and take action against them."The report indicated that crypto products may deceive investors while evading regulations applicable to traditional financial products like stocks. However, IOSCO believes it has found a way to address the issue of international crypto marketing. "New cooperative mechanisms may be established to help ensure that local regulators of wrongdoers take action to curb online illegal activities (including misconduct related to crypto assets) based on requests from foreign regulators that have identified violations." The report added that this could mean, for example, the SEC requesting foreign authorities to shut down or block access to illegal websites or social media pages, halt trading, or recover fines related to overseas crypto websites.According to previous reports, television reality star Kim Kardashian recently reached a settlement with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and paid $1.26 million, after the SEC accused Kardashian of promoting the EthereumMax token on Instagram without disclosing the payment she received for the promotion. (Source link)

Chain Catcher news, the UK's Financial Reporting Council (FRC) has raised concerns about the audit results of the global fintech company Revolut, stating that its revenue recognition methods are "inadequate," failing to properly test Revolut's payment processes, and presenting a "highly unacceptable" risk of "undetected material misstatements." Additionally, the FRC pointed out that the payment application needs to improve its backend and controls, as it requires a "banking control environment."It is reported that Revolut was founded in 2015, and after completing an $800 million funding round led by SoftBank and Tiger Global last July, the company's valuation reached $33 billion. In early August, Revolut announced the launch of its operations in Singapore. (source link)