New York's Department of Financial Services has issued a consumer alert warning against "sentiment-based virtual currencies," known as meme coins, highlighting their extreme volatility, lack of regulation and high risk of fraud, including "chive-cutting" schemes that suddenly drive up shipments. The department warned that these tokens are often...
Japan's Financial Services Agency (FSA) recently put forward some ideas on cryptocurrencies and stablecoins to the Financial System Commission's Payment Services Working Group, mentioning reluctance to allow banks other than trust banks to issue stablecoins. For stablecoins issued by trust banks, the FSA wants to relax the current reserve requirement that all assets must be held in the form of bank demand deposits....
The California Department of Financial Protection and Innovation (DFPI) has announced the permanent revocation of the lending license of bankrupt cryptocurrency lending platform BlockFi. The decision comes two years after BlockFi filed for bankruptcy. The DFPI suspended BlockFi's license in November 2022 and has since conducted a comprehensive review of the company. BlockFi has agreed to accept license revocation and promised to stop illegal and unsafe business practices. The DFPI originally fin...
The Federal Reserve and the New York State Department of Financial Services (NYDFS) have approved digital bank OakNorth to establish a representative office in New York. The authorization will enable OakNorth to "proactively market its products and services from its U.S. offices while continuing to explore the possibility of obtaining a bank charter." Launched in September 2015, OakNorth focuses on servicing and empowering businesses with a turnover of 1 million to 100 million.