1. The U.S. Treasury Department dismantled a North Korean cryptocurrency money laundering network
The U.S. Treasury Department's Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) dismantled a North Korean cryptocurrency money laundering network that provided money laundering and cryptocurrency trading services through a UAE company, funneling illegal proceeds back to Pyongyang, with amounts involved reaching millions of dollars.
2. Ohio State Representative proposed that the state treasury establish a Bitcoin reserve
Ohio State Representative Derek Merrin proposed that the state treasury establish a Bitcoin reserve as a supplement to the state treasury's investment portfolio and to hedge against the depreciation risk of public funds.
3. Deutsche Bank launched a pilot platform for compliant digital asset trading based on Ethereum L2, Dama 2
According to Bloomberg, Deutsche Bank launched a test version of its Ethereum L2-based digital asset compliance trading platform Dama 2 in November. The L2 in the platform was developed by Memento Blockchain and Interop Labs based on ZKSync's ZK Stack. Deutsche Bank stated that trading based on its own L2 can circumvent compliance issues related to paying transaction fees to sanctioned entities. The bank hopes to launch a minimum viable product next year upon obtaining regulatory approval.
4. The Secretary for Financial Services and the Treasury of Hong Kong, Hui Ching-yu, moved the second reading of the Stablecoin Bill
According to a press release from the Hong Kong government, the Secretary for Financial Services and the Treasury, Hui Ching-yu, today moved the second reading of the Stablecoin Bill at the Legislative Council meeting and hopes for its swift passage. The regulatory framework includes (1) licensees must maintain a robust reserve stability mechanism; (2) stablecoin holders should have the right to redeem stablecoins at face value from the issuer; (3) a series of requirements related to anti-money laundering, risk management, disclosure regulations, audits, and suitable candidates need to be specified.
5. Australian Securities and Investments Commission Vice Chairman: Binance Australia's compliance system is severely inadequate
According to an announcement from the Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC), Australia's financial services regulator has sued Binance Australia Derivatives, accusing it of misclassifying over 500 retail customers and refusing to provide legal protections. The lawsuit outlines several regulatory violations, including Binance's failure to issue Product Disclosure Statements (PDS) or Target Market Determinations (TMD), inadequate dispute resolution mechanisms, and a lack of employee training to ensure compliance with its financial services license. ASIC also accused Binance of failing to provide services 'efficiently, honestly, and fairly.'
The Australian Securities and Investments Commission stated in a document that retail clients are entitled to stronger consumer protections, including Product Disclosure Statements (PDS), Target Market Determinations (TMD), and internal dispute resolution processes. ASIC Vice Chairman Sarah Court criticized Binance's compliance system as 'severely inadequate,' stating that many clients suffered significant financial losses due to insufficient protective measures.
6. The Hong Kong Securities and Futures Commission issued licenses to 4 virtual asset trading platforms under the 'Fast Licensing Procedure'
The Securities and Futures Commission (SFC) of Hong Kong today issued licenses under the 'Fast Licensing Procedure' to four applicants for virtual asset trading platforms that were considered for licensing. The four applicants are Cloud Account Greater Bay Area Technology (Hong Kong) Limited, DFX Labs Company Limited, Hong Kong Digital Asset Trading Group Limited, and Thousand Whales Technology (BVI) Limited. The SFC is reviewing the remaining applications using the same fast licensing procedure.
