Politics, Legal & Regulation

Policy and regulations impacting innovations in Finance.

CFTC Proposes Updated Crypto Rules Aiming to Support Innovation, Protect Investors; Advocacy Group BetterMarkets Slams It Anyway

Yesterday, the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) issued proposed rules aiming to support digital asset innovation while protecting investors. Crypto proponents view the digital asset sector as key to the US maintaining its global leadership in financial services. Multiple jurisdictions worldwide have begun or already… Read More

ZachXBT Posed as Client to Map Chinese Money Laundering Network that Allegedly Laundered $1B+ for North Korea’s Lazarus Group

Blockchain investigator ZachXBT disclosed on October 5, 2026, that he spent weeks inside a Chinese organized crime network he says has moved more than $1 billion in stolen cryptocurrency for North Korea’s Lazarus Group across several exploits. In a 12-part thread on X, he described… Read More

FinCEN Drops 2023 Crypto Mixing Proposal After Privacy and Reporting Pushback

The US Treasury’s Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) has withdrawn a 2023 proposal that would have treated international crypto mixing as a primary money laundering concern, citing warnings that the measure could discourage lawful privacy use and load banks and other covered firms with heavy… Read More

Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) Sued Over Crypto Trust Bank Charters

Community bankers have taken the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) to federal court, arguing that the agency has stretched its chartering power to let cryptocurrency firms enter the banking system under a lighter set of rules than traditional lenders face. On October… Read More

Looking at how we interact with whistleblowers

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This post was originally published on fca.org.uk  Just over a week ago, we received the incredibly sad news that a whistleblower, Simon Andriesz, who we had been in contact with over many years, had died. We’ve shared our condolences, and our thoughts are with his… Read More

Prediction Markets : Polymarket Beat Traditional Polls in the Brazilian Election

Senator Flávio Bolsonaro finished ahead of President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva in the opening round of Brazil’s 2026 presidential election, an ordering that several late national polls had not projected and that the prediction market Polymarket had priced for weeks. The split between survey… Read More

Zcash (ZEC) Advocacy Group Registers Its First Washington Lobbyist to Shape US Crypto Policy

A privacy-focused cryptocurrency project has moved from informal education in the capital to a formal lobbying presence. Pretty Good Policy for Zcash, or PGPZ, registered under the Lobbying Disclosure Act with an effective date of October 1, 2026, naming executive director Divij Pandya as its… Read More

OCC Hails 2026 Update to U.S. National Strategy for Financial Literacy

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This post was originally published on OCC.gov WASHINGTON–The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) today hailed the 2026 update to the U.S. National Strategy for Financial Literacy, underscoring the agency’s commitment to helping Americans develop practical skills to make sound financial decisions, build… Read More

Bitcoin Nears $87K as Uptober Bulls Eye $94K BTC Price and SEC Advances Custody Rules

Bitcoin (BTC) price is pressing back toward the $87,000 area as October opens, giving seasonal bulls a fresh case for a move toward roughly $94,000 if the month’s historical pattern holds. Spot-market data over the weekend showed the asset lifting from an intraday low near… Read More

CFTC Issues No-Action Letter for DCMs Regarding Converting Existing Perpetual-Style Broad-Based Security Index Futures into True Perpetual Futures

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CFTC Issues No-Action Letter for DCMs Regarding Converting Existing Perpetual-Style Broad-Based Security Index Futures into True Perpetual Futures | CFTC /PressRoom/PressReleases/9308-26 Skip to main content October 05, 2026 WASHINGTON — The Commodity Futures Trading Commission’s Division of Market Oversight today announced it has issued no-action relief to designated contract markets

French Execs Call for Direct Tax on Crypto to Stablecoin Trades

Executives at several crypto-focused companies in France have urged the government to treat conversions between volatile digital assets and stablecoins as taxable events. The proposal comes from Jean Meyer of the payments firm Deblock, Damien Patureaux of Lyzi, and Pierre Morizot of the tax-reporting software… Read More

CFTC Seeks Public Comment on Advanced Notice of Proposed Rulemaking Relating to Regulation Crypto Asset Transactions and Regulation Crypto Asset Markets

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WASHINGTON — The Commodity Futures Trading Commission today published an Advanced Notice of Proposed Rulemaking to provide notice of, and seek public comment regarding, its intent to establish a comprehensive regulatory framework comprised of fit-for-purpose rules concerning section 2(c)(2)(D) of the Commodity Exchange Act and retail commodity transactions described thereunder

Reforming UK capital markets to ensure they work well for our economy

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This post was originally published on fca.org.uk  Turning reform into results You can see our approach in the reforms we have already delivered. We have completed around 30 capital-markets focused workstreams. And there’s an even larger number across the FCA’s broader work. That’s too many… Read More

SEC Proposes Conditional Crypto Custody Framework for Advisers and Funds

The US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) on October 1, 2026, advanced a package of proposed amendments and new provisions under the Investment Advisers Act of 1940 and the Investment Company Act of 1940 aimed at creating a workable path for registered investment advisers and… Read More

European Digital Assets Investors Have More Confidence in MiCA-Regulated Companies, Bitpanda Exec Reveals

European cryptocurrency users are showing greater confidence in platforms that operate under official authorization, according to remarks from a senior executive at the Austrian exchange Bitpanda. Christian Trummer, the firm’s co-chief executive, made the observation while recently sharing key insights with news media outlets. He… Read More

Singapore’s MAS Reshuffles Senior Management, Names New Heads for Key Functions

The Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) will make changes to its senior management team from Nov. 1, including appointing new leaders for corporate development, financial crime policy, and the development of Singapore as an international financial centre. Jacqueline Loh, currently deputy managing director for corporate… Read More

BitGo CEO Warns Stalled CLARITY Act Leaves Capital Markets Open to a Risk Worse Than Lehman

BitGo’s chief executive has warned that the US Senate’s failure to advance the CLARITY Act leaves American capital markets exposed to a concentrated failure he believes could prove more damaging than the 2008 collapse of Lehman Brothers. Mike Belshe made the argument at Korea Blockchain… Read More

Aave Founder Stani Kulechov Criticizes European Central Bank Push to Restrict Stablecoin Yield and DeFi Access

Aave founder Stani Kulechov has publicly challenged positions taken by European authorities as the European Commission reviews the Markets in Crypto-Assets Regulation (MiCA). In comments published on October 2, 2026, he said he was disappointed by the European Central Bank and the European Banking Authority’s… Read More

Crypto Tax Filers Face Final October 15, 2026 Deadline as US Rules Tighten without CLARITY Act

With roughly two weeks remaining before the October 15, 2026 cutoff, US holders of digital assets who requested more time earlier in the year face a final chance to submit their 2025 federal returns. That date marks the end of the automatic six-month extension available… Read More

EU Regulators Probe Crypto Exchange Binance’s Use of Reverse Solicitation to Keep Serving Customers without MiCA License

European market supervisors are examining whether Binance is still providing crypto-asset services to customers in the European Union without the authorization the bloc’s new regime now requires. Reporting by the FT says the European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA) and national authorities in France, Germany and… Read More

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