The National Audit Office (NAO) in the United Kingdom has raised concerns about the effectiveness of the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) in regulating the cryptocurrency industry.

In a recent report titled ‘Financial services regulation: adapting to change,’ the NAO has claimed that the FCA is being slow to respond and take action against illicit activities in the crypto industry.

High staff turnover rates and a lack of specialist skills increase risk to @TheFCA’s key commitments.

It has responded by recruiting and spending £317m on its change programme.

This should help it prepare financial services for the future.

More: pic.twitter.com/GtG5TAjl4t

— National Audit… Read more on Cointelegraph

The United States government has eliminated two provisions from the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) that were designed to address anti-money laundering (AML) concerns involving cryptocurrency.

The NDAA is a legislation that authorizes how the country’s defense department can use federal funding. Among the extensive list of provisions removed from the NDAA, two specifically outlined a thorough review system and reporting of crypto activities to combat illicit practices.

National Defense Authorization Act Conference Report. Source: U.S. Senate Committee on Armed Services

The first provision mandated the US Secretary of the Treasury to coordinate with banking and government…

Read more on Cointelegraph

Top Stories This Week

Binance founder CZ must stay in US until sentencing, judge orders

Binance founder Changpeng “CZ” Zhao has been ordered to stay in the United States until his sentencing in February, with a federal judge determining there’s too much of a flight risk if the former crypto exchange CEO is allowed to return to the United Arab Emirates. On Dec. 7, Seattle District Court Judge Richard Jones ordered Zhao to stay in the U.S. until his Feb. 23, 2024 sentencing date. He faces up to 18 months in prison after pleading guilty to money laundering on Nov. 21 and has agreed not to appeal any potential sentence up to that length.

House committee passes… Read more on Cointelegraph

Binance compliance commitments with the United States Department of Justice (DOJ) were unsealed on Dec. 8, revealing a significant government oversight of the crypto exchange operation and business activities.

In an analysis shared on X (formerly Twitter), John Reed Stark, a former Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) official, classified the “exhaustive list” of Binance’s new compliance commitments as a “consulting firm’s wish list” that will likely shut down the platform.

Binance’s new obligations are described in an 11-page document and include cooperation to grant authorities access to documents, records and resources at their request, including access to information…

Read more on Cointelegraph

Stablecoin issuer Tether has announced another step toward cooperation with law enforcement and regulatory agencies by initiating a voluntary wallet-freezing policy, according to a blog post on Dec. 9. 

Since Dec. 1, Tether has been offering on the secondary market controls to freeze activity connected with Sanctioned persons on the United States Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) Specially Designated Nationals (SDN) List. Companies and individuals controlled or owned by sanctioned countries are included on the list.

According to Tether, the policy will supplement existing security protocols and is a “proactive effort to work even more closely with global regulators and law…

Read more on Cointelegraph

Decentralized exchange (DEX) Lifinity had its LFNTY-USDC pool drained by an arbitrage bot on Dec. 8. According to Lifinity’s Discord channel, an unexpected response to a failed trade caused the $699,090 loss.

A Lifinity’s core member known as Durden explained that a bot attempted an arbitrage trade following the route USDC > xLFNTY > LFNTY > USDC, trying to profit from price discrepancies between different trading pairs.

Here’s how the events transpired in the @Lifinity_io Discord when the 700k arb happened

I noticed something wrong with LFNTY’s price and alerted zoro, one of the devs on the platform.

At first glance, it appeared that the protocol had gotten hacked…

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The crypto trading and lending firm VersiFi stocked its C-suite with two traditional finance hires as it prepares to launch its platform in 2024 Q1. 

VersiFi brought on Sol Zlotchenko as chief product and technology officer and Daniel Zayfman as chief information and security officer. Both hires came from treasury management firm Hazeltree, where VersiFi founder Sameer Shalaby previously served as CEO. 

VersiFi announced it had raised $10 million in a Series A round led by Hunting Hill Global Capital in mid-November. In the press release, the firm said former Genesis managing director Martin Garcia would lead the firm’s sales, trading and lending functions as co-CEO alongside…

Read more on Blockworks