regulation

According to market news, Nikolay Shulginov, chairman of the Russian Energy Committee, stated that illegal cryptocurrency mining causes losses of over 20 billion rubles (approximately 250 million USD) annually to the Russian economy and energy sector, leading to power shortages, grid overloads, and affecting other users, including social facilities and newly built residential areas.Russia has legalized cryptocurrency mining since the end of 2024, requiring practitioners to register with the Federal Tax Service and pay taxes, but currently, less than one-third of practitioners have completed the registration. This week, the State Duma submitted a bill proposing to impose administrative fines of up to 2 million rubles for illegal mining, with repeat offenders facing fines of up to 10 million rubles. Shulginov further suggested introducing criminal liability, and the Ministry of Justice has also proposed imprisonment or "forced labor" for unregistered miners.In addition, the Duma has passed a bill in the first reading that authorizes the Ministry of Finance to regulate the cryptocurrency market (including mining) to eliminate administrative barriers and increase the industry registration rate.

According to The Block, CFTC Chairman Michael Selig stated in a Washington Post article that the Commodity Futures Trading Commission is charting a new course and has announced the launch of a new initiative called Future Proof, aimed at modernizing the regulatory approach to digital assets.Michael Selig mentioned that the derivatives regulatory body needs an upgrade and plans to conduct a comprehensive review of existing rules, with the goal of adopting what he describes as a minimum effective dose of regulation. He pointed out that decades-old rules designed for agricultural futures contracts are not suitable for emerging products or trading venues, and just as American businesses modernize the traditional financial system by leveraging new technologies, the CFTC must upgrade its approach to unleash innovation.Michael Selig, appointed by Donald Trump, took office last month and stated that if Congress passes legislation on the market structure for digital assets, the CFTC will take on a broad new set of responsibilities and ensure that these markets thrive domestically through a tailored regulatory framework, maintaining the leading position of the U.S. market. Currently, lawmakers are debating a bill to expand the CFTC's jurisdiction over the digital asset industry.

The Hong Kong securities industry group has expressed objections to the city's proposed regulatory framework for digital asset management, warning that the related reforms could hinder traditional asset management institutions from venturing into the cryptocurrency space.In a submission to regulators on Tuesday, the Hong Kong Securities and Futures Professionals Association opposed a proposed regulatory adjustment that would eliminate the existing "minimum exemption threshold" for Type 9 asset managers. According to a report by local law firm JunHe, under the current framework, institutions holding a Type 9 license (which covers discretionary portfolio and asset management services) are only required to notify regulators without applying for additional license upgrades if they allocate less than 10% of their total fund assets to crypto assets.The Hong Kong Securities and Futures Professionals Association pointed out that the proposed reform would remove this threshold, meaning that even a 1% exposure to Bitcoin would require obtaining a full virtual asset management license. The industry group stated that this "all or nothing" regulatory approach lacks proportionality and believes that it will still incur significant compliance costs even with limited risk exposure, potentially deterring traditional management institutions from attempting to engage with the crypto asset category.This industry backlash targets a regulatory framework that has already entered the fast lane. In December last year, Hong Kong authorities released a consultation summary report on related reform proposals following a public consultation that began in June. The Financial Services and the Treasury Bureau and the Securities and Futures Commission have initiated further consultations on introducing a supplementary licensing system for crypto asset trading, advisory, and management services.

a16z Crypto senior security researcher Daejun Park published an article calling for DeFi protocols to shift from "code is law" to "norms are law," adopting a more principled approach to security. The specific approach involves hardcoding security guarantees through standardized norms and invariant checks, automatically reverting transactions that violate predefined rules. Park pointed out that almost all known vulnerabilities would trigger such checks, potentially preventing hacker attacks during execution.According to a Slowmist report, hackers stole over $649 million last year through code vulnerabilities. Even established protocols like Balancer, which has been running since 2021, lost $128 million last November due to a code vulnerability. Developers are concerned that hackers are increasingly using AI to find vulnerabilities.Immunefi's security chief noted that invariant checks would increase gas costs, potentially driving away users, and are not a panacea. The co-founder of Asymmetric Research stated that many vulnerabilities are difficult to write invariant rules that can detect attacks without false positives.

According to TechCabal, the Nigerian Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has released new regulations. Under the new framework, digital asset exchanges and digital asset custodians that operate trading venues and safeguard users' digital assets must maintain a minimum capital requirement of 200 million naira (approximately 1.4 million USD), up from the previous 500 million naira.In other categories, the minimum capital requirement for Digital Asset Offering Platforms (DAOP) and RWA tokenization platforms is set at 1 billion naira, while digital asset intermediaries and related service providers are required to maintain between 300 million to 500 million naira. The new regulations mandate that the relevant institutions must meet these standards by June 30, 2027, or they may face suspension or revocation of their licenses.

Caixin published an article titled "What Measures Can China Take to Address the Challenges of Cryptocurrency" by Zhang Ming, Deputy Director of the Institute of World Economics and Politics at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences. The article points out that as the world's second-largest economy and an emerging digital finance powerhouse, China needs to play a more active role in global digital currency governance. It can start from within by improving its own response system, including accelerating the development and application of the digital yuan, promoting the intelligent and precise regulation of cryptocurrencies, and quickly advancing the formulation and implementation of unified international regulatory standards (such as anti-money laundering rules for cryptocurrencies). Additionally, it is essential to reassess the balance between innovation and regulation in the cryptocurrency field, promote the integration of stablecoins with the traditional financial system within a controllable range, and strengthen international research and cooperation in the CBDC field as well as international regulatory cooperation in the cryptocurrency sector.

According to Cryptopolitan, Kazakhstan's President Tokayev has signed the "Law on Banks and Banking Activities" and the "Amendments to the Regulation and Development of Financial Markets," aimed at relaxing cryptocurrency trading rules and promoting fintech innovation. The new legislation defines digital financial assets (DFAs) as a new asset class, divided into three categories: stablecoins, tokenized physical assets, and electronic financial instruments.Under the new regulations, the National Bank of Kazakhstan will be responsible for issuing licenses to cryptocurrency exchanges, creating a list of cryptocurrencies allowed for circulation, and regulating the market to prevent money laundering. Commercial banks are permitted to invest in fintech companies and develop innovative financial products, including mobile payments and a digital tenge system.

According to official news, HTX DAO has recently officially released a governance token white paper that complies with the European Union's Markets in Crypto-Assets Regulation (MiCA, Regulation (EU) 2023/1114) standards. This move marks HTX DAO's further alignment with global mainstream regulatory frameworks in terms of information disclosure, governance norms, and compliance transparency. HTX DAO stated that it will continue to promote governance practices within the compliance framework in the future, providing users with a clearer, safer, and verifiable information environment, and steadily building a more transparent HTX DAO ecosystem.HTX DAO, initiated with the support of Huobi HTX and TRON, is a decentralized autonomous organization involving community members, early contributors, and global advisors, dedicated to creating an open governance ecosystem that is user-led, transparent in rules, and efficient in collaboration. Upholding the philosophy of "holding tokens means governance," HTX DAO has gradually implemented voting mechanisms for token listing and token burn mechanisms. The latest data shows that HTX DAO has cumulatively burned 994 trillion $HTX, close to 10% of the total issuance, with a total burned value of approximately $186 million.

According to Jinshi reports, Federal Reserve Governor Milan stated that easing regulations should put downward pressure on prices, which is another reason for the U.S. central bank to cut interest rates.

According to Jinshi reports, Federal Reserve Governor Mester stated that the "ambitious" deregulation in the United States will support the Federal Reserve in further implementing accommodative policies.

Zhao Changpeng stated in a Chinese AMA that the prediction market is a large track in the long term, but the outcome in the short term remains unclear.This track is in its early stages. Taking Polymarket as an example, the platform currently has only one or two capable market makers, and they are focused on the sports events segment. In the future, it faces multiple uncertainties from regulatory bodies in various countries and competitors in the track.

According to Reuters, the French Financial Markets Authority (AMF) stated that in France, nearly one-third of cryptocurrency companies without EU licenses have not informed regulators whether they plan to apply for a license or will cease operations before July.Currently, among the approximately 90 registered cryptocurrency companies that have not obtained MiCA licenses, 30% have applied for a license, 40% have explicitly stated they will not apply, and the remaining 30% have not provided feedback on their plans.The transitional period for cryptocurrency regulation in France will end on June 30, and ESMA requires unauthorized companies to develop or implement an orderly exit plan before the deadline.

JPMorgan Chase's Chief Financial Officer Jeremy Barnum stated during the company's fourth-quarter earnings call that JPMorgan supports blockchain technology and financial innovation, but holds a clear cautious attitude towards the design of certain yield-bearing stablecoins, believing they could replicate traditional banking functions in the absence of appropriate prudent regulation, thereby creating a "dangerous and unwelcome parallel banking system."Barnum pointed out that the bank's stance aligns with the regulatory intent set forth by the GENIUS Act, which aims to establish clear boundaries for stablecoin issuance. He emphasized that if stablecoins possess characteristics similar to "interest-bearing deposits" but do not adhere to the capital, risk control, and compliance requirements that have gradually developed over centuries of banking regulation, they would pose risks to the existing regulated financial system.While JPMorgan welcomes competition and innovation, it does not support "shadow" banking structures that circumvent existing regulatory frameworks. At the legislative level, the issue of stablecoin "yields" has become one of the core divergences during the U.S. Congress's review of the "Digital Asset Market Structure Act."The latest revised draft indicates that lawmakers are inclined to prohibit digital asset service providers from paying interest or yields to users solely for holding stablecoins, to avoid their functions being equivalent to bank deposits; at the same time, the draft still leaves room for incentive mechanisms related to liquidity provision, governance participation, staking, and other network activities.