All Articles

Britain’s Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) carried out coordinated enforcement action on Wednesday, targeting eight London addresses suspected of engaging in illegal peer-to-peer cryptocurrency trading in what it described as its first operation of this kind conducted jointly with other agencies. The financial regulator confirmed the action as part of a broader effort involving cooperation with tax authorities and police under money laundering and terrorist financing regulat

South Korea’s financial authorities have imposed a 5.2 billion won penalty alongside a three-month partial suspension of operations on the cryptocurrency exchange Coinone after uncovering widespread deficiencies in its anti-money laundering controls. The action follows an extensive investigation conducted by the Financial Intelligence Unit, which identified roughly 70,000 cases in which the platform failed to properly verify user identities in accordance with national legal r

A recent report from TRM Labs outlines how Indonesian law enforcement successfully prosecuted three individuals accused of orchestrating the systematic transfer of digital assets to support international militant organizations between 2024 and 2025. These cases, widely regarded as a milestone in regional enforcement, stemmed from detailed financial investigations that uncovered the movement of roughly 49,000 USDT to extremist groups operating in Syria. The outcomes signal a n

The introduction of the Markets in Crypto-Assets Regulation (MiCA) is transforming Europe’s digital asset landscape while simultaneously bringing new regulatory complexities to the surface, according to George Theocharides, chairman of the Cyprus Securities and Exchange Commission.   Writing in an article originally published in Eurofi magazine, Theocharides characterised MiCA as a fundamental turning point for the European crypto-asset market. He explained that an industry w

Oztures Trading, operating under the name Binance Australia Derivatives, has been ordered to pay a $10,000,000 penalty following a federal court ruling that exposed serious compliance shortcomings in its operations.   The legal action was brought by the Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC), which found that the firm had incorrectly classified hundreds of retail clients as wholesale investors, depriving them of key consumer protections and required disclosur

The United Kingdom has initiated formal proceedings to dissolve two London-registered companies after uncovering evidence that they facilitated approximately $1 billion in transactions for the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC). Authorities found that the firms operated as a coordinated enterprise, moving digital assets through the TRON blockchain while deliberately bypassing international anti-money laundering controls. This case highlights growing concerns over the mi

United States Department of the Treasury has released an extensive report examining the growing convergence between emerging financial technologies and the enduring threat of illicit finance within digital asset ecosystems. The strategic document highlights the evolving vulnerabilities associated with stablecoins and decentralized financial protocols while proposing the use of advanced technological tools to reduce systemic risk across virtual markets. By emphasizing the inte

The global financial system is confronting a new layer of risk as the Financial Action Task Force highlights the dangers posed by offshore virtual asset service providers that operate without a physical presence in the jurisdictions where they actively serve customers. According to international regulators, these platforms frequently function outside domestic oversight frameworks, creating vulnerabilities that can be exploited for money laundering and terrorist financing acti

A federal judge in New York has dismissed a major lawsuit seeking to hold the cryptocurrency exchange Binance responsible for allegedly enabling the financing of dozens of terrorist attacks around the world, marking a significant development in the evolving legal framework surrounding digital assets and national security. The decision, issued on March 6, 2026, by the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York, addressed claims brought by 535 victims an

South Korea has formally moved to enforce a strict 20 percent ownership ceiling for digital asset exchanges, a policy change that will significantly reshape a market where leading platforms such as Bithumb and Gopax have historically been dominated by single controlling shareholders holding stakes well above 60 percent. The sweeping reform, led by the Financial Services Commission, is intended to dismantle concentrated ownership structures that have long complicated transpare

Economic analysts and international regulatory authorities have uncovered an enormous web of illicit financial activity totaling approximately $350 billion, tied to systematic sanctions evasion and transnational criminal enterprises. This hidden financial infrastructure increasingly relies on digital assets to circumvent the oversight mechanisms embedded in the traditional banking system, enabling hostile governments and organized crime networks to transfer large amounts of m

The Financial Action Task Force (FATF) has renewed its warning that stablecoins are increasingly being used as a primary tool for illicit finance, stating that “stablecoins are the most popular virtual asset used in illicit transactions,” including by actors in Iran and North Korea. In a 42-page report released Tuesday, the global anti-money laundering watchdog called for tighter oversight of stablecoin issuers as the sector continues to expand rapidly. The warning builds on

One in three people and more than half of businesses in Cyprus have been targeted by cyberattacks over the past year, according to two nationwide surveys carried out by the Communications Commissioner and the Digital Security Authority, highlighting growing digital threats across the country.   The findings showed that 33 per cent of individuals experienced a cyberattack within the last 12 months, while nearly half of companies reported at least one security breach during the

Austria’s chief financial watchdog, Financial Market Authority of Austria, has delivered a decisive administrative ruling against KuCoin EU Exchange GmbH, effectively blocking the cryptocurrency platform from onboarding new clients or rolling out new products after identifying serious deficiencies in its internal governance structure. The enforcement action followed the regulator’s determination that the company no longer retained the mandatory personnel required to oversee r

Binance CEO Richard Teng has publicly challenged a report published by The Wall Street Journal that claimed $1.7 billion in cryptocurrency transactions were connected to sanctioned Iranian entities. The exchange asserted that the article contained inaccuracies and misrepresented its compliance practices. In a statement dated February 23, 2026, Binance disclosed that it had sent a formal letter to the publication demanding corrections and a complete retraction. According to th

The Isle of Man Gambling Supervision Commission has issued a warning about the increasing risks associated with the use of cryptocurrencies in the gambling industry, pointing to growing concerns over financial crime, including money laundering and sanctions evasion.   The regulator also stressed the need for closer international cooperation and stronger enforcement measures to address these emerging threats.   The Commission highlighted the expanding role of virtual assets wi

Payments made using cryptocurrency to groups suspected of running human trafficking operations increased by 85% during 2025, with investigators tracing hundreds of millions of dollars in activity across public blockchain networks, according to new research released by Chainalysis. The U.S.-based blockchain intelligence company reported that the majority of this activity was tied to a rapidly growing criminal infrastructure centered in Southeast Asia, where scam compounds, ill

The European Union is considering a sweeping prohibition on all cryptocurrency transactions involving Russia as part of efforts to restrict Moscow’s ability to use digital assets to bypass existing sanctions, according to a document obtained by FT. The proposed measures would specifically target efforts to prevent sanctioned Russian crypto infrastructure from re-emerging under new guises. Officials are seeking to block "copycat Russian crypto entities spun out of already sanc

Russia’s largest lender, Sberbank, is moving closer to launching loans secured by cryptocurrency and said on Friday that it is ready to work alongside the country’s central bank to help develop the regulatory framework required for such products, according to Reuters. The bank has already carried out an initial test of the model, having issued the country’s first bitcoin-backed loan in January to one of Russia’s largest bitcoin mining firms, IntelionData. Sberbank described t

A dramatic selloff in ether this week turned an aggressively bullish wager into a costly unraveling for Trend Research, a trading firm led by Liquid Capital founder Jack Yi, after ETH prices plunged below the $2,000 mark.   Trend Research had spent months constructing a massive long position in ether valued at roughly $2 billion. The strategy relied on a high-risk “looped” structure: the firm deposited ether as collateral on the DeFi lending protocol Aave, borrowed stablecoin