Everything you need to know from the past few weeks: In the US, the SEC announces digital assets will be the focus of its compliance inspections in 2019. The EU Banking Authority calls for regulatory consistency across the Union. And in Asia — a domino effect of licensing for cryptoasset exchanges.
Our take: The past few months have seen a gradual escalation of regulatory enforcement actions, and now, by making digital assets a focus for 2019, the SEC is officially making it a cleanup year for the space. Legislation is simultaneously evolving on the national and state level to accommodate and guide intensifying enforcement.
Thailand’s Ministry of Finance issued for the first time licenses to three digital asset exchanges and one broker-dealer firm while denying two other applicants for lacking compliance infrastructure.
Our take: With this domino effect of licensing and comprehensive security checks, Asia continues to be a leader in digital asset regulation. Once operational and security standards are established, a likely next step will be addressing market manipulation and integrity concerns.
The EU’s European Banking Authority released a study of digital assets, asserting that while they don’t post a financial stability risk, “crypto-assets/activities do not appear to fall within the scope of current EU financial services law and are highly risky with regard to consumer protection, operational resilience, and market integrity.” The EBA, calls the European Commission to promote an EU-wide legal framework that would provide consistent policy among its member states.
Our take: European bureaucracy is waking up, clarifying that digital assets do not pose a risk but rather an opportunity for finance, and calls for a continental effort to accommodate with consistent regulation.
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Solidus Labs uses 20 years of Wall Street FinTech experience to provide machine learning-powered trade surveillance tailored for cryptoassets. Our products help exchanges, broker-dealers, market makers and other financial service providers detect and combat manipulation in digital asset trading, and streamline reg-reporting.
To learn more about our product schedule a demo, visit www.soliduslabs.comor contact us at hello@soliduslabs.com. We’re always happy to start a conversation.
#Blockchainbeyondthebuzz
All the crypto news compliance professionals need to know. This month's highlights: SEC Chairman Jay Clayton again calls for better market surveillance and reduced manipulation before the agency can approve a crypto-ETF; A study by The Block raises concerns that 86% of volume in 48 exchanges is potentially wash trading; 94% of surveyed US, UK and Canadian endowment funds are actively engaged with crypto investments
Keynoted by SEC Commissioner Hester M. Peirce and featuring speakers from Coinbase, Gemini, Circle, GDF, Tagomi, ErisX and the Chamber of Digital Commerce among others.
Coindesk‘s Institutional Crypto expert Noelle Acheson hosted Solidus Founder & CEO Asaf Meir for an hour-long discussion of the unique compliance and market manipulation challenges.