Compliance | FinTelegram News

Category: Compliance

January 29, 2025

France Expands Money Laundering Probe Into Binance: Crypto Giant Under Fire Again

French prosecutors have escalated their investigation into Binance, alleging the crypto giant facilitated habitual money laundering tied to drug trafficking and tax fraud. The probe, initially launched in 2023 over regulatory violations, now extends to alleged illicit activities spanning the entire EU. Binance denies the accusations, calling them outdated.

January 28, 2025

KuCoin Pleads Guilty: $297M Settlement and Management Changes in U.S. Crypto Crackdown!

Seychelles-based KuCoin, one of the largest crypto exchanges globally, pleaded guilty in the U.S. to operating an unlicensed money transmitting business and agreed to pay $297 million in fines and forfeitures. The settlement highlights failures in anti-money laundering (AML) and compliance practices, forcing KuCoin to exit the U.S. market for two years.

January 27, 2025

Nasdaq Proposes Rule Change for BlackRock Bitcoin ETF: A Game-Changer for Crypto Investors?

The U.S. crypto sector is moving fast under the presidency of Donald Trump, a declared crypto supporter. The Nasdaq has filed an interesting proposal with the SEC to allow in-kind redemptions for BlackRock’s spot Bitcoin ETF. This move could revolutionize investor access to Bitcoin while streamlining costs and boosting liquidity.

January 27, 2025

Kraken’s Defense Crumbles: SEC Scores Partial Victory in Court!

A California federal judge rejected Kraken’s “major questions doctrine” defense, marking a significant win for the SEC in its push to regulate the crypto industry under existing securities laws. However, Kraken’s “fair notice” defense will proceed, keeping its legal challenge alive. Kraken is one of the leading U.S. crypto exchanges.

January 16, 2025

Compliance Report: Australian Regulator’s Q4/24 Findings on Illegal Online Gambling Operations Around Softswiss and Others!

The Australian Communications and Media Authority (ACMA) has continued its crackdown on illegal online gambling websites, focusing on operators violating the Interactive Gambling Act 2001. This report analyzes the regulator's recent actions in the context of known illegal casino schemes, particularly those associated with Dama N.V. and Softswiss.

January 16, 2025

SEC Sues Elon Musk Over Twitter Stock Purchases

Elon Musk faces fresh legal trouble as the SEC alleges he violated U.S. securities laws by failing to disclose his early 2022 Twitter stock purchases on time. By delaying the disclosure, Musk reportedly saved $150 million in additional costs. There is also an opinion in the market that the SEC's action is politically motivated, as Musk is known to be a close confidant and supporter of incoming President Donald Trump.

January 15, 2025

Compliance Analysis Report: Court Order Against Crypto Exchange BitMEX!

The crypto exchange BitMEX has been ordered to pay a $100 million fine for violations of U.S. anti-money laundering (AML) laws. This decision concludes a prolonged legal battle concerning BitMEX's non-compliance with regulatory requirements between 2015 and 2020. This case highlights the growing enforcement actions against crypto platforms that fail to implement adequate AML measures.

ACMA

January 15, 2025

ACMA Warns Against Curaçao-Based Operators: The Dama N.V. and Luster N.V. Connection

The Australian Communications and Media Authority (ACMA) has recently issued formal warnings against Curaçao-based online casino operators Dama N.V. and Luster N.V. for illegal gambling operations targeting Australian players. These operators, while licensed in Curaçao, have been identified as operating unlawfully in Australia, where strict regulations prohibit unauthorized gambling platforms from offering services.

January 14, 2025

Gemini Trust Slapped with $5 Million Penalty for Misleading CFTC

The U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) has issued a $5 million fine to Gemini Trust Company LLC for making false or misleading statements during a 2017 bitcoin futures contract certification process. The order stems from the CFTC’s July 2, 2022, complaint against Gemini Trust. The case highlights the importance of truthfulness in regulatory disclosures.

January 14, 2025

Crypto Fraud Unveiled: Mosaic Exchange and CEO Hit with $1.1M Penalty for Crypto Scheme

The U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) has secured a $1.1M judgment against Mosaic Exchange Ltd. and its CEO, Sean Michael, for running a fraudulent digital asset scheme that targeted 18 victims globally. The judgment exposes their misuse of funds, false profit claims, and deceptive practices. The orders stem from the CFTC’s three-count fraud complaint filed Sept. 26, 2023.

January 13, 2025

Regulatory Crackdown on Polymarket: Illegal Gambling or What?

Polymarket, the crypto-based prediction market platform, is facing increasing regulatory scrutiny across multiple jurisdictions. The Gambling Regulatory Authority of Singapore has taken a firm stance against Polymarket, officially blocking access to the platform within the country This report analyzes the recent developments and their implications for the platform's future operations.

Crypto Compliance

January 7, 2025

Coinbase’s Bold Move into Tokenized Shares!

A $30 Trillion Opportunity Coinbase, one of the leading U.S. cryptocurrency exchanges, is making waves in the financial world as it explores the tokenization of its COIN stock on its Ethereum layer-2 network, Base. This development, revealed by Base developer Jesse Pollak on January 3, 2025, signals a potentially transformative step for the crypto industry.

The Unraveling of Rabidi and the Rise of the SoftSwiss Network: Our Updated Forensic Report

A few months ago, FinTelegram released a first forensic report on the bankruptcy of Rabidi N.V., a Curacao-registered online casino operator with hundreds of millions in revenues — and no traceable assets by the time of its collapse in May 2024. That report already raised serious questions about the opaque structures behind Rabidi’s operations and its successor, Liernin Enterprises Ltd.

DeFi Decoded: Smart Contracts – The Code Behind the DeFi Revolution

Smart contracts are the invisible architects of decentralized finance. These self-executing lines of code run everything from token swaps to lending platforms without middlemen. But while they offer autonomy, they also introduce new risks—bugs, exploits, and irreversible mistakes. In this fourth installment of our FinTelegram DeFi Series, we explain what smart contracts are.

CFTC

Despite New Crypto Friendlyness: No Settlement Between U.S. CFTC And KuCoin?

A planned settlement between the U.S.CFTC and crypto exchange KuCoin is now in limbo due to a reported policy shift within the CFTC. This change is attributed to the Trump administration’s new approach, which deprioritizes enforcement actions against crypto companies. As a result, a CFTC attorney said that it is "unlikely that such authorization will be granted in the near term" regarding the settlement approval.

SEC’s New Era: Paul Atkins Sworn In—Will Crypto Finally Get the Regulatory Clarity It Deserves?

The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has entered a new chapter with the swearing-in of Paul S. Atkins as its 34th Chairman, a move widely anticipated to mark a dramatic pivot in how the agency approaches crypto and DeFi regulation. For years, the financial industry—especially the burgeoning digital asset sector—has bristled under the SEC’s “Regulation by Enforcement” strategy.

Crypto Mogul Changpeng Zhao – Fallen, Rich, and Rising Again?

As spring 2025 blooms and Easter’s themes of rebirth fill the air, Changpeng Zhao emerges as one of the most controversial figures of startup mythology: a man who fell spectacularly, paid a price—then rose again, wealthier and louder than ever. Once the almighty architect of Binance, CZ now resides in Dubai with a net worth that Forbes estimates at $63 billion.