Iran Shuts Down Over 8,000 Illegal Crypto Mining Farms in 3 Years

Authorities in Iran have closed down more than 8,000 underground facilities for cryptocurrency mining in the past three years, local media reported. Despite the government’s crackdown, illegal crypto mining continues to account for a serious amount of energy consumption, official figures…

Latam Insights: Bolivia Sells Gold for Dollars, Argentina Bans Fintech Crypto, Fitch Upgrades El Salvador’s Credit Rating

Welcome to Latam Insights, a compendium of the most relevant crypto and economic development news from Latin America during the last week. In this issue, Bolivia passes a law to sell gold for dollars, the Central Bank of Argentina bans fintech…

Digital Assets for 1 Billion Rubles Issued in Russia in a Month

Platforms authorized by the Russian government issued digital assets worth around a billion rubles in April, the local press reported. The spike in the volume has been attributed to Russian companies experimenting with new financial instruments amid limited access to traditional…

Tax Benefits for Bitcoin Businesses in Belarus Extended Until 2025

Tax exemptions for companies and individuals legally working with cryptocurrencies in Belarus will remain in place until Jan. 1, 2025. A new presidential decree extends the tax cuts introduced in 2018 when the executive power in Minsk legalized crypto activities such…

Digital Assets Worth 2 Billion Rubles Issued in Russia in Less Than a Year

Digital financial assets (DFAs) for a total exceeding $26 million have been issued in Russia in the past year. This new market has been developing since it was regulated in 2021 and the country’s monetary authority started licensing issuers in the…

Digital Real Pilot to Run on Ethereum-Compatible, Permissioned Blockchain

According to the Central Bank of Brazil, the digital real pilot project will use an Ethereum-compatible, permissioned blockchain for the issuance of the tokenized version of the country’s currency. Hyperledger Besu, the open-source platform elected for the tests, will allow the…

SEC Files Emergency Action Against Bkcoin in $100 Million Crypto Fraud Scheme

The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has filed an emergency action against Miami-based investment adviser Bkcoin and one of its principals, Kevin Kang. “The defendants disregarded the structure of the funds, commingled investor assets, and used more than $3.6 million…

US Prosecutors Seek to Further Restrict Former FTX CEO Sam Bankman-Fried’s Internet Access

The U.S. attorney for the Southern District of New York (SDNY), Damian Williams, and the Department of Justice (DOJ) are requesting “proposed modifications” to the bail conditions of former FTX CEO, Sam Bankman-Fried. The SDNY prosecutor is asking the court to…

Digital Gold Traded for Digital Rubles by Russia’s Rosbank

Rosbank has brokered Russia’s first deal involving the exchange of tokenized gold with the digital version of the Russian national fiat currency, the ruble. The successful transaction demonstrates the growing interest in digital financial assets and the need for digital ruble…

South African Dispute Resolution Office Says It Now Considers Crypto-Related Complaints

According to South Africa’s Office of the FAIS Ombud, an independent dispute resolution office, individuals with crypto-related grievances that occurred after Oct. 19, 2022, can now formally submit such complaints on the agency’s website. However, the Office of the FAIS Ombud…