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…

Binance Reportedly Removes Restrictions on Russian Users

The world’s largest crypto exchange, Binance, has lifted certain restrictions on Russian users, local crypto media unveiled. According to multiple reports, Russians can once again use their bank cards to make deposits and the trading platform has canceled a limit on…

CATO Institute: CBDC the ‘Single Largest Assault to Financial Privacy Since Creation of Bank Secrecy Act’

A central bank digital currency (CBDC) may turn out to be the “single largest assault to financial privacy since the creation of the Bank Secrecy Act,” a policy analysis document released by CATO Institute has said. To stop the U.S. Federal…

FL Gov. DeSantis Proposes Ban on Central Bank Digital Currency Use as Money

Governor Ron DeSantis of the U.S. state of Florida has proposed legislation to prohibit the use of central bank digital currency (CBDC) as money in his state. “The Biden administration’s efforts to inject a centralized bank digital currency is about surveillance…

Republican Congressman Tom Emmer Queries FDIC on Alleged Efforts to Purge Crypto Activity from US

On Wednesday, Tom Emmer, the U.S. Republican congressman from Minnesota, revealed he sent a letter to Martin Gruenberg, the chairman of the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC), regarding reports that the FDIC is “weaponizing recent instability” in the U.S. banking industry…

Binance Bans Russians From P2P Transactions With Dollars and Euros

Cryptocurrency exchange Binance has introduced new restrictions for Russian users, in accordance with the latest European sanctions. The platform is restricting access to peer-to-peer (P2P) transactions in U.S. dollars and euros for traders based in the Russian Federation. Binance Prohibits US…

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…

Report: South Sudan Government Bans US Dollar Transactions

The government of South Sudan has reportedly prohibited U.S. dollar-based transactions and has directed that all local payments be settled in the local currency. The Salva Kiir Mayardit government reportedly said it also wants all signed commercial contracts to be based…

Report: Nigeria to Stop Cash Withdrawals From Government Accounts

From the start of March, Nigerian public officials will be barred from withdrawing cash from government bank accounts, the head of the Nigerian Financial Intelligence Unit reportedly said. Public officials that want to be exempted from this new regulation will have…

Full Ban on Crypto in Russia Would Be Counterproductive, Rosfinmonitoring Says

Russian citizens and businesses already own cryptocurrencies, which is why a complete crypto ban would be counterproductive, according to a top executive of Rosfinmonitoring, Russia’s financial intelligence agency. At the same time, the regulator supports prohibiting payments with digital coins and…