Brief丨Banks should report to the suspected illegal cross-border financial activities involving virtual currencies that are discovered

1. Measures for the Administration of Foreign Exchange Business of Banks (for Trial Implementation): Banks shall report to the State Administration of Foreign Exchange (SAFE) suspected of illegal cross-border financial activities involving virtual currencies

On December 29, it was reported that in order to further enhance the bank's foreign exchange business capacity, promote cross-border trade, investment and financing facilitation, and prevent cross-border capital flow risks, the State Administration of Foreign Exchange formulated the "Measures for the Administration of Foreign Exchange Business of Banks (Trial)" in accordance with the "Regulations of the People's Republic of China on Foreign Exchange Administration" and relevant laws and regulations, which will come into force on January 1, 2024. Chapter 5 of the Monitoring and Handling of Foreign Exchange Risk Transactions points out that banks should monitor and analyze customer transactions with foreign exchange risk transactions, and promptly form a foreign exchange risk transaction report and submit it to the State Administration of Foreign Exchange (SAFE) for information suspected of involving false trade, false investment and financing, underground banks, cross-border gambling, fraudulent export tax rebates, illegal cross-border financial activities in virtual currency, and other suspected illegal cross-border capital flows.

2. Kyrgyzstan plans to tax $1 million through cryptocurrency mining in 2023

The Kyrgyz government plans to raise more than $1 million this year (2023) through a tax on the cryptocurrency mining industry. The country's Ministry of Finance reported that $900,000 worth of tax revenue had been raised from cryptocurrency miners in the first 11 months of 2023. Among them, miners paid more than $132,000 in taxes to the state government in August. Data from the Ministry of Finance of Kyrgyzstan shows an increase in cryptocurrency mining activity in Kyrgyzstan. The report notes that mining-related tax revenues began to grow positively in the second quarter of this year. Taxes were paid nearly $8,300 in February, and revenues climbed rapidly in April.

3. In the past three years, the amount of virtual assets traded by South Korean lawmakers has exceeded 60 billion won

Chung Seung-yun, acting chairman of the Korea Anti-Corruption and Civil Rights Commission, announced the results of the virtual asset survey of the 21st National Assembly at the Sejong Government Building in Sejong City, South Korea.

According to the latest survey, the amount of virtual assets traded by lawmakers in the past three years has exceeded 60 billion won. Of the 298 MPs, 18 (6%) hold virtual assets. The number of MPs with crypto assets increased from 8 in 2020 to 17 in 2023. During the same period, the types of crypto assets held by parliamentarians increased from 24 to 107.

Bitcoin is the most commonly traded cryptocurrency by parliamentarians. During the study, 11 parliamentarians bought and sold cryptocurrencies. Their cumulative purchase amount is 62.5 billion won, and the cumulative sale amount is 63.1 billion won. A total of 10 lawmakers were identified as failing to report on the ownership and changes in cryptoassets. Of these, 2 members did not register the ownership of assets, 2 members omitted to report changes in assets, and 6 members did not register ownership and changes.

4. Goldman Sachs executives: The crypto asset market will grow in 2024

Mathew McDermott, head of digital assets at Goldman Sachs, said in an interview with Fox Business that one of the biggest developments in the digital asset space last year was the increasing involvement of traditional financial institutions in the space over the past 12 to 18 months.

This is happening against the backdrop of a growing recognition that digital assets can "increase efficiency, can reduce risk, and can have a number of very positive impacts on business models and the way businesses operate."

That's where increased regulatory transparency on a global scale helps. Mr McDermott said digital assets are at a stage where people are more widely embracing the technology, which allows the market to focus on "building and creating scale", which is the stage where "you really start to see the business value proposition emerge" to materialize. I think for me, next year we're going to start to see the market develop. We're going to start to see the emergence of on-chain secondary liquidity, which is a key enabler.

So for me, this is one of the key developments for the next year. McDermott also said greater adoption of the technology will enhance collateral liquidity next year by addressing issues in the market's financial pipeline.

5. The judge will hold a telephone hearing tomorrow on Changpeng Zhao's application for travel authorization

CoinDesk reporter @nikhileshde said on social media that Binance founder Changpeng Zhao applied for travel authorization to the federal court in charge of hearing the case and asked to seal the request for the document, and the judge has scheduled a telephone hearing tomorrow at 10 a.m. Pacific time (02:00 a.m. Beijing time on the 31st).

6. Suzhou Cultural Metaverse Laboratory was unveiled

On December 28, the Suzhou Cultural Metaverse Laboratory was unveiled. The laboratory was established by Su Wentou Group in cooperation with Beijing University of Posts and Telecommunications, focusing on the vertical application of data assets and committed to the activation and utilization of traditional culture, which is another innovative carrier to promote cultural digitalization.

7. Ren Jingxin, CEO of Cyberport: Digital currency will become a "smart currency" in the future, and he is optimistic about the Web3 insurance industry

The outgoing CEO of Hong Kong Cyberport, Joseph Yam, said in the latest interview that the biggest change in Web3 is in data, how to control the data we generate by ourselves, and the ownership of data assets will change many different applications. Simply talking about the application of landing, such as smart contracts, digital currency is actually a kind of smart contract, and digital currency can become smart currency in the future.

In addition, Ren Jingxin also said that in addition to the financial field and the industrial application promoted by the Hong Kong government, the insurance industry will have good development. On the one hand, with the development of more and more virtual assets, different insurance products may come out to reduce the risk of virtual assets. On the other hand, the integration of blockchain technology into the insurance industry process can reduce costs, and Cyberport is ready to launch a Web3 pilot program to subsidize enterprises to participate in digital assets, insurance and other services.

8. The SEC charged a U.S. resident with fraudulent crypto investments and securities offerings

Diana Mae Fernandez, a former resident of New Jersey, engaged in fraudulent crypto investments and securities offerings in which she claimed to have invested client funds in cryptocurrency, private and public companies, and luxury real estate, with the promise of returns of up to 63%, which were actually used for personal use, the SEC said in a lawsuit announcement released Thursday. The resident raised approximately $364,000 from at least 20 investors through an entity called The Self-Made Success and Diana Mae K., LLC.

9. India issued compliance "explanation of reasons" notices to nine offshore exchanges, including Binance and KuCoin

India's Financial Intelligence Unit (FIU) announced that it has issued compliance "explanation of reasons" notices under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) to nine offshore exchanges, including Binance, Kucoin, Huobi HTX, Kraken, Gate.io, Bittrex, Bitstamp, MEXC and Bitfinex, and has written to the Secretary of India's Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology to block the websites of these exchanges.

10. Value Partners Hong Kong intends to issue ETFs related to virtual assets and tokens

On December 28, it was reported that Zhao Shande, senior strategist of the ETF business of Value Partners Fund in Hong Kong, said in an interview that Value Partners Fund is considering issuing ETFs related to virtual assets and tokens. Value Partners Group, part of Value Partners, was established in 1993 and has US$5.8 billion in assets under management.

Disclaimer: The above content does not constitute any investment advice, investment is risky, and participation should be cautious.