US financial watchdog FinCEN hires first-ever chief digital currency advisor

    The Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) has hired Michele Korver, previously of the Digital Currency Council in the U.S. Department of Justice, to serve as the agency’s first chief digital currency adviser (DCA). Korver, who has been involved in crypto-related Anti-Money Laundering (AML) operations since 2013, will advise FinCEN acting director Michael Mosier regarding cryptocurrency’s…

    Spanish leading party proposes to create a national digital currency

    Spain’s governing party wants to be the first country in Europe and the next in the world, after the Bahamas, to create a central bank digital currency (CBDC). The Spanish Socialist Party (PSOE) has proposed the creation of a study group to implement the digital euro as a public digital currency. As reported Spanish newspaper…

    Will Africa’s next to adopt Bitcoin?

    The emerging markets are hurry to embracing opportunities of the digital economy. After El Salvador becoming the first country has given a legal tender status to Bitcoin, a number of countries want to follow, writes Paul Opoku for Bitcoin Magazine. Latin American neighbors to El Salvador, such as Panama, Argentina, and Paraguay, have started a…

    U.S. Congressman wants courts to ‘reverse’ crypto transactions over ransomware attacks

    U.S. Congressman Bill Foster has suggested that laws must allow federal courts to identify digital-asset holders and reverse blockchain transactions in Bitcoin and other digital currencies. But it’s doubtful that many crypto investors would like that policy. Speaking at a virtual event hosted by Axios on June 29, Bill Foster, U.S. congressman and Democratic Rep…

    Digital yuan: Will China get the first-mover advantage with the wide adoption of digital currency?

    China has moved deliberately to secure the first-mover advantage in what it believes is the future of the internet. If the digital yuan is Beijing’s tender for the digital frontier, its blockchain initiative is its bid to build the railroads. In the first installment of a three-part series produced with support from the Judith Neilson…

    Palestinian Monetary Authority looks toward its own digital currency

    The Palestinian Monetary Authority is researching the possibility of issuance of its own digital currency, which would provide a symbolic move to monetary independence from Israel. PMA plans to use European funds to boost the private sector, but experts are skeptical about this new adventure. This step would include Palestine on the list of other…