Ahead of upcoming European Union Anti-Money Laundering and terror financing standards, Ireland is preparing to draft “urgent” cryptocurrency regulations.
The finance minister of Ireland, Jack Chambers, told the cabinet that urgent legislation would be drafted to update crypto regulations before the EU laws take effect on Dec. 30, the Irish Examiner reported.
However, no details were shared about the new crypto legislation or when it might come into force.
The EU’s “Anti-Money Laundering and Countering the Financing of Terrorism Act” will enhance the powers of financial intelligence units, enabling them to suspend transactions.
The laws will also impose stricter reporting requirements for crypto exchanges and a 10,000 euro ($10,850) limit on cash payments.
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There will be more stringent monitoring of large transactions and new reporting requirements for high-value transactions.
The legislative framework covers a range of areas posing risks, including crypto assets and crowdfunding. It also “complements other regulations such as Markets in Crypto-Assets Regulation (MiCA),” the European Commission noted earlier.
Chevron overturn unlikely to impact SEC's conduct — Ripple CLO
Stuart Alderoty, Ripple’s chief legal officer, believes that the June 2024 overturn of Chevron USA Inc. vs. Natural Resources Defense Council by the United States Supreme Court will have little impact on the Securities and Exchange Commission’s (SEC) strategy of pursuing crypto compliance through enforcement.
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Alderoty, in an interview with Cointelegraph’s Turner Wright, stressed that only a leadership change would cause a shift in SEC posturing.
“I think under this leadership, the SEC has done tremendous institutional damage to what was once a very well-respected agency,” the Ripple CLO said.
Alderoty also stated that the SEC’s continued litigation against the crypto industry — including the recent appeal in the Ripple lawsuit — was deliberate and meant to create maximum confusion among industry participants.
94% of Asian private wealth is investing or considering crypto: Report
As per a new report from Aspen Digital, it estimates that 76% of private wealth in Asia has already dabbled in digital assets, with an additional 18% planning future investments.
Since the Hong Kong-based wealth management platform conducted its survey in 2022, interest in digital assets within Asia’s private wealth sector has grown. At the time, only 58% of respondents had ventured into the digital asset space.
The report surveyed 80 family offices and high-net-worth individuals across Asia, most of whom manage assets between $10 million and $500 million.
Among those already invested in cryptocurrency, 70% have allocated less than 5% of their portfolios to digital assets, though some increased their investments to over 10% in 2024. Asian private wealth seems increasingly attracted to the profit potential of blockchain's technological uses.
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Around two-thirds of respondents indicated interest in decentralized finance (DeFi), and 61% expressed interest in artificial intelligence and decentralized physical infrastructure networks (DePIN).
Aspen Digital also observed that respondents are generally positive about Bitcoin’s outlook for the rest of 2024, with 31% predicting its price could reach $100,000 by year’s end.
