The United States House Financial Services Subcommittee on Digital Assets, Financial Technology and Inclusion received an education in the uses of blockchain technology in a hearing titled “Crypto Crime in Context: Breaking Down the Illicit Activity in Digital Assets.” The meeting began with a discussion of Hamas’s use of crypto for fundraising. However, the committee’s Chair, Representative French Hill, declared that as “phone and the internet aren’t to be blamed for terror financing,” crypto shouldn’t be either. The witnesses, including representatives from Consensys and Chainalysis, spoke about the need for international and public-private collaboration in stopping the…

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Canada’s Office of the Superintendent of Financial Institutions (OSFI) has opened a consultation period on crypto asset disclosure requirements for federally regulated financial institutions (FRFIs). The consultation was foreseen in the 2023 federal budget, but its timing is tied to a similar enquiry initiated by the Bank for International Settlements (BIS).

The Canadian government stated in March that it would draw up crypto exposure guidelines for banks “to help protect Canadians’ savings and the security of our financial sector.” The provision is found in section 5.4 of the budget, titled “Combatting Financial Crime.” The budget also stated that federally regulated pension…

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Microsoft (MSFT) stocks hit an all-time high of $378.81 on Nov. 20 on the back of a tumultuous weekend for the AI sector involving the ousting of OpenAI CEO and co-founder Sam Altman. Not to be outdone, Nvidia (NVDA) stocks also reached an all-time high of $499.60, continuing a trend that’s seen its shares rise from a one-year low of $138.84.

Both stocks have skyrocketed over the past few years, with end-over-end growth due to an explosion in the AI field spurred by the onset of deep learning and generative models such as OpenAI’s ChatGPT.

In Microsoft’s case, many experts and pundits are attributing the late November push to the Redmond corporation’s newest AI hire, former OpenAI…

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Bitcoin block space looks set to be the hottest commodity in crypto.

Bitcoin once again occupies more than half the entire crypto market, having outperformed ether by nearly double so far in 2023. Now, the long-prophesied “flippening” of ether over bitcoin is even further in the future.

The market currently values Bitcoin three times higher than Ethereum. Bitcoin’s market cap, at $727 billion, has swelled by $400 billion in 2023 — a figure bigger than Mastercard’s entire stock valuation and about twice that of Netflix’s.

Ethereum’s valuation has grown by $100 billion, jumping from under $145 billion in January to nearly $245 billion today. 

Some anticipate that…

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The US Justice Department is negotiating with Binance in an attempt to resolve its investigation into the company, according to a November 20 report from Bloomberg citing people familiar with the discussions. The agreement would require Binance to pay $4 billion in fines. In return, the company would be allowed to keep operating while complying with US laws. According to the report, the announcement of an agreement “could come as soon as the end of the month.”

*US SEEKS MORE THAN $4 BILLION FROM BINANCE TO END CRIMINAL CASE

Source: Bloomberg | Coins: BNB

— db (@tier10k) November 20, 2023

As part of the agreement, Binance CEO Changpeng Zhao (also known as “CZ”) would face the…

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Bittrex Global announced in a post on X that it’s winding down its global operations, just months after it shuttered its US arm following a lawsuit by the US Securities and Exchange Commission.

In a post on X, Bittrex Global said that it would shutter all trading activity on Dec. 4. 

“After that date, customers will only be able to withdraw assets as part of the winding down process,” the company said.

Additionally, the exchange will not pay out in US dollars. Instead, it instructed customers to convert to either crypto or euros prior to withdrawing. 

A post on the company’s website warned customers not to make a deposit because customer “funds may be permanently lost as a…

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Once branded for a Texas-specific audience, the North American Blockchain Summit (NABS) shook things up in 2023 — changing its location and name as many United States lawmakers prepared for an election season.

Hundreds of crypto and blockchain enthusiasts gathered in Fort Worth, Texas from Nov. 15-17 to network, discuss mining, and listen to politicians and industry leaders talk about developments in policy and regulation affecting the space. Among the headliners of the event were longshot Republican presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy, Independent presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. and current lawmakers including Wyoming Senator Cynthia Lummis and Texas Senator Ted… Read more on Cointelegraph

Bitcoin mining services firm Luxor Technology has introduced a business for crypto miners in need of better hardware transportation and management ahead of the bitcoin halving.

The company’s new division, called Luxor Logistics, looks to answer demand from miners for “a crypto-native, experienced international logistics provider,” according to Lauren Lin, the company’s director of business development.  

It is set to offer international and US shipping via air and sea freight and trucking, as well as customs clearance, insurance advisory and warehousing solutions.

The Monday launch comes just months before per-block rewards for bitcoin mining are set to be cut in half — from…

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