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According to Bloomberg, the Central Bank of Ireland has fined Coinbase's Irish subsidiary €3.25 million (approximately $3.6 million) due to deficiencies in its outsourcing governance framework and inadequate customer fund protection measures.Regulators pointed out that the company relied too heavily on the U.S. Coinbase Group to execute customer fund protection processes, and design flaws in the system along with insufficient control testing led to a long-term shortfall in the designated customer fund protection accounts.A Coinbase spokesperson stated that the relevant issues mainly occurred during the U.S. banking crisis in 2023, when the company directed customers to deposit funds into other bank accounts of Coinbase to mitigate potential losses from bank failures. However, this practice resulted in the mixing of customer funds with those held by other entities of Coinbase, which did not comply with regulatory requirements.Last year, the Central Bank of Ireland also fined Coinbase Europe €21.5 million for violating anti-money laundering and counter-terrorism financing transaction monitoring obligations (which included a 30% settlement discount).

Apple Inc. announced the expansion of App Store review rules to include the regulation of AI-generated non-consensual intimate images. The platform had previously banned pornographic content, and the new rules require developers to proactively prevent and remove AI-generated deepfake content. If effective action is not taken, applications containing such violations will be forcibly removed from the store.The updated Clause 1.2 specifically mentions applications that create AI content and names controversial products such as Grok. Previously, users complained that Grok, a product of xAI, was used to create nude and sexually suggestive deepfake images. Earlier this year, Apple warned xAI that if such content continued to spread, Grok would be removed from the App Store; subsequently, xAI implemented safety measures, and the updated version was approved.The newly added Clause 2.5.19 targets so-called "bait-and-switch" tactics, stating that if developers hide new features or modules outside of the submitted review version, especially harmful features like "de-clothing" that are activated only after approval, they may be removed from both the App Store and the Apple Developer Program. Updates to Section 5 will also extend the ban on applications promoting human trafficking or child exploitation to alternative application distribution channels. Apple stated that when developers violate these guidelines, the related applications will be removed, and the developer's eligibility will be terminated.

The Iranian Navy stated that the number of violating oil tankers damaged while attempting to cross the restricted navigation zone of the Strait of Hormuz has increased recently. On the 17th, an oil tanker caught fire and lost its navigational capability in the Gulf of Oman. On the same day, the Iranian Revolutionary Guard reported that two supertankers exploded after hitting mines in the strait, one of which was carrying over 2 million barrels of crude oil.

According to Bloomberg, the New Taipei District Court in Taiwan has authorized Taiwan's communication regulatory agency and internet registration agency to block domestic access to Coinbase and the prediction market platform Kalshi, due to allegations of providing election betting services.This blockage occurs a few weeks before the local elections in Taiwan, which will test the public support for President Lai Ching-te's government. Some Coinbase users in Taiwan have reported that they have been unable to access the platform normally since Wednesday.

On October 13, chip company Qualcomm announced in San Diego that a jury found Arm in violation of the long-standing architecture license agreement (ALA) with Qualcomm, failing to fulfill related commitments and deliberately disrupting Qualcomm's business.Qualcomm stated that, combined with the previous court victory, this outcome further indicates Arm's intention to harm Qualcomm and its ecosystem. Qualcomm called this result a victory for innovation and competition and will continue to develop and deliver semiconductor products, including the Oryon CPU.

The Finance Committee of the French National Assembly has passed an amendment that proposes requiring the declaration of self-custodied wallet crypto assets with a year-end value reaching or exceeding €100,000 (approximately $112,000). Those who fail to declare may face fines of up to €10,000 (approximately $11,000). This regulation has not yet become law and may still be adjusted in the future.Harry Halpin, CEO of privacy infrastructure company Nym, stated that personnel from the French tax authorities are suspected of selling taxpayer data to criminals, and the new declaration requirements could threaten the safety of holders. Rand Hindi, founder of the privacy protocol Zama, urged French crypto asset holders to leave France, and those who cannot should hire security for their families.As this proposal emerges, France has seen several incidents of crypto asset robberies, kidnappings, and "ransom attacks" in recent years. The committee had also previously passed measures such as considering the exchange of crypto assets for stablecoins as a taxable sale and expanding the scope of the crypto asset exit tax, but the budget revenue portion was subsequently rejected by a vote of 31 to 3, and the related amendments need to be resubmitted.

According to the Iranian Tasnim News Agency, the public relations department of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Navy stated that a violative supertanker carrying crude oil attempted to leave through a non-designated route in the Strait of Hormuz and struck a mine, resulting in an explosion.The statement warned that any violative tanker that ignores safety regulations will face the consequences of a fierce fire.

The head of research at OpenAI issued a statement in response to an open letter from three former employees, Jasmine, Mikita, and Tomek. The company stated that after a thorough investigation, the three violated clear policies regarding the handling of sensitive information; serious breaches of trust discovered during the internal investigation exceeded the scope disclosed in the open letter, leading to the termination of their employment last week, a decision that will be upheld.OpenAI emphasized that this decision is not aimed at those who raise safety concerns or express opinions publicly. The company stated that there are intense and critical safety and research discussions internally every day, and it encourages questioning; it maintains a tolerance for good-faith mistakes and will not fire employees for raising concerns.Regarding the safety issues mentioned in the open letter, OpenAI stated that it is finalizing contracts with third-party security assessment organizations, with details expected to be announced in the coming weeks, and it is committed to including external evaluators in its safety work. The company recognizes that maintaining the monitorability of cutting-edge models requires collective investment from the entire industry, stating that this area has long been a focus of its research and will continue to receive significant resources.

According to the Financial Times, DWF Labs' DWF Maas and Falcon Digital have sued the cryptocurrency custody company BitGo in the High Court of London, accusing it of violating over-the-counter (OTC) agreements by selling Falcon Finance (FF) and ESPORTS tokens before the agreed lock-up period ended, resulting in a drop in token prices.According to the lawsuit, both parties agreed that the tokens would be offered at a discounted price but must adhere to a three-month lock-up period and subsequent phased unlocking arrangements. DWF claims that BitGo transferred the tokens to exchanges about two months before the first unlocking, causing market sell-off pressure and damaging the value of its remaining holdings, thus seeking $141 million in damages. BitGo declined to comment on the lawsuit, and the related allegations have not yet been adjudicated by the court.

According to The New York Times, the previous collaboration between NBA superstar LeBron James and the prediction market platform Polymarket, worth $15 million, has drawn attention. However, there is currently no evidence that this collaboration violates NBA rules. LeBron James is merely a spokesperson and not an investor, and the collaboration will focus on non-NBA markets such as soccer, thus it is not similar to the previous salary violation incident involving Kawhi Leonard with the Los Angeles Clippers.However, as the commercial ties between players, teams, investors, and prediction market platforms deepen, sports leagues face new regulatory challenges: how to distinguish between legitimate commercial endorsements and potential conflicts of interest that could affect market fairness.

According to a report by Reuters, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) has approved a disbursement of $139 million to El Salvador, following the organization's exemption regarding the Salvadoran government's violation of conditions limiting further accumulation of Bitcoin. The IMF Executive Board completed the second and third reviews of El Salvador's $1.4 billion Extended Fund Facility (EFF), allowing for the immediate release of these funds.The IMF stated that El Salvador's economic performance has exceeded expectations, benefiting from improved security conditions and increased investor confidence. The IMF noted that some program performance standards were not met, including indicators related to Bitcoin holdings. However, after El Salvador took strong corrective measures and recommitted, the IMF approved the relevant exemptions.In September, IMF staff indicated that documents provided by El Salvador showed that the increase in Bitcoin following the initial review came from private donations rather than public funds. The IMF also stated that El Salvador has made progress in anti-money laundering measures, fiscal transparency, and transferring majority ownership and control of the state-owned digital wallet Chivo to private operators.

According to Bloomberg, sources have revealed that U.S. federal prosecutors are investigating whether Binance Holdings Ltd. violated U.S. sanctions against Iran by failing to prevent certain transactions on its platform.The investigation into Binance's compliance is being handled by the Manhattan U.S. Attorney's Office. One source also noted that the Criminal Division of the U.S. Department of Justice in Washington is involved in the case, and authorities are focusing on whether Binance knowingly allowed the relevant transactions to proceed.

The Financial Intelligence Unit of India (FIU-IND) issued non-compliance notices to 15 offshore virtual digital asset service providers under Article 13 of the Anti-Money Laundering Act, including Weex, Blofin, Rezorex, Bitunix, DigiFinex, Toobit, XT.com, Latoken, WOO X, Pionex, ChangeNow, SimpleSwap, Fixedfloat, WhiteBIT, and Guardarian. These platforms are accused of providing services to Indian users without registering with FIU-IND.Since March 2023, India has included cryptocurrency platforms in the same anti-money laundering regulatory framework as banks, requiring any platform serving Indian customers, regardless of whether they have an office in India, to complete registration and fulfill user verification, record-keeping, and suspicious transaction reporting obligations. FIU-IND also warned the public that cryptocurrency products and NFTs are unregulated and carry extremely high risks, and related trading losses may not be eligible for regulatory relief.This action comes amid reports of Indian users converting stablecoins like USDT into gift cards through platforms in Sweden, Germany, and Singapore to purchase groceries, fuel, and gold in India. Previously, FIU-IND had issued notices to nine major offshore exchanges, including Binance, Kraken, and KuCoin, in December 2023, after which Binance completed its registration and paid a fine of 1.882 billion rupees.

According to Decrypt, Judge Rosemarie Aquilina of the Ingham County Circuit Court in Michigan has issued a preliminary injunction against the prediction market platform Kalshi, requiring it to stop offering sports betting-related contracts to Michigan residents. The court found that Kalshi's related business is essentially "sports betting disguised as investment opportunities."Under the order, Kalshi must block in-state users through a third-party geolocation service licensed by the Michigan betting regulatory agency, or face a daily fine of $500,000. The injunction also prohibits it from allowing account registration, deposits, advertising, and similar sports betting product features for Michigan residents until a final judgment is made in the case.

According to a Reuters report, Polymarket's new Global Head of Research and Intelligence, Shana Bautista (former analyst at Coinbase, former investigator at the FBI), stated that as the U.S. midterm elections approach, Polymarket has established a system to identify unusual trading activities and will continue to prevent U.S. users from using its international platform to comply with the settlement agreement reached with U.S. regulators in 2022.In addition, Polymarket plans to launch a new webpage to publicly disclose the operational details of market integrity review mechanisms such as machine learning, blockchain analysis, and trading monitoring, and revealed that it has referred over 100 cases to law enforcement agencies.

Fox Business crypto reporters posted on the X platform that the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency and the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation are advancing the finalization of a rule to define "unsafe or unsound practices" in bank regulation. This term has not been clearly defined for years, primarily relying on the broad discretion of bank examiners.Under this rule, when regulators determine that a practice is "unsafe or unsound," they must link it to actual illegal conduct or significant financial risk, thereby reducing the likelihood of pressuring banks serving legitimate clients, including crypto companies, based on vague reputational or procedural issues. This rule marks another important step towards further dismantling "Operation Chokepoint 2."

According to Sifted, the EU's Artificial Intelligence Act officially entered a new enforcement phase this week, with regulators beginning to require companies to label AI-generated content and fulfill disclosure obligations when users interact with AI technology. This move marks a key step for the EU in the field of AI regulation, with fines of up to 3% of annual global turnover for non-compliant companies.The scope of the act is broad, covering various forms of AI-generated content, including images, videos, and text. Analysts point out that the implementation of this enforcement will place substantial pressure on the compliance systems of tech companies operating in the EU, and companies need to quickly improve their relevant disclosure mechanisms to meet regulatory requirements.

The People's Bank of China Shenzhen Branch, Shenzhen Securities Regulatory Bureau, Municipal Internet Information Office, and Municipal Local Financial Supervision Administration continue to carry out special rectifications, urging local website platforms to strictly implement their main responsibilities and legally handle a number of illegal self-media accounts.Some typical cases include: "USDT Merchant Group Chat," "Gather Together to Play Virtual Currency," "Search for Bitcoin," "WeChat Quick Exchange," "Zhongchain Laojiu," "Medicine Breaks a Good Sleep," "Little Goldfish 9884," "User 0767527971," and other accounts that illegally provided marketing and promotional information related to virtual currency business activities within the country, enticing the public to participate in illegal financial activities related to virtual currency. According to the relevant policy provisions such as the "Notice on Further Preventing and Handling Risks Related to Virtual Currency," the aforementioned accounts have been permanently closed and dealt with by the platform in accordance with the law and agreements.

U.S. Congressman Ritchie Torres has requested the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) to investigate whether the upcoming Truth API from Truth Social's parent company Trump Media & Technology Group (TMTG) violates federal securities laws, and to assess whether it involves issues such as market manipulation, investor protection, and conflicts of interest.According to previous reports, the Truth API will launch on August 1, providing paying customers with real-time data access to public posts from popular Truth Social accounts, with authorization fees reaching up to $100,000 per month.

On July 20, the King County Superior Court in Washington State approved the preliminary injunction motion against KalshiEX, LLC (Kalshi), ruling that Kalshi's activities constitute illegal actions in violation of Washington State's gambling laws, and determined that the federal Commodity Exchange Act does not take precedence over state gambling laws.This ruling is an important precedent in the jurisdictional dispute between state regulatory agencies and federal regulatory prediction market platforms, following accusations from the CFTC chairman of illegal enforcement actions by states against federally regulated exchanges. The court made the ruling after reviewing multiple materials, including the oral arguments from July 10. The case number is 26-2-10264-3 SEA.