BINANCE CEO RESIGNS UNDER THE AGREEMENT WITH THE US:

As part of the investigation carried out in the United States, Binance and its CEO Changpeng Zhao were accused of violating anti-money laundering laws. The US Department of Justice claimed that Binance failed to prevent and report suspicious transactions with terrorists. In this context, Zhao, who appeared in court on 21.11.2023, admitted the crimes attributed to him.

In accordance with the agreement made between Binance and US authorities, Zhao resigned from his position at Binance. Following the resignation, Richard Teng took over as CEO. It was also agreed that Binance would pay a total fine of $4.3 billion to the Treasury Department's Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) and the Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC.

US Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen said in her statement: "Binance's intentional errors allowed money to flow to terrorists, cybercriminals and child abusers through the platform." Zhao said in his statement on his X account: "I made mistakes and I must take responsibility." (Forbes)

A STATEMENT ON THE REGULATION OF CRYPTO ASSETS CAME FROM GOVERNMENT OFFICIALS:

AK Party Deputy Chairman of Information and Communication Technologies Ömer Ileri spoke about regulatory efforts regarding crypto assets. Ileri stated that a draft study on crypto assets is currently being prepared.

In his interview with Anadolu Agency, Ileri stated that they met with the leaders of the industry on the issue and their opinions were taken into account during the regulatory works on crypto assets.

Referring to the fact that regulatory studies on crypto assets have just emerged, Ileri said, "There is an intense interest in crypto assets in Turkey, so we have to protect our citizens, but on the other hand, we are working to not obstruct the sector." (AA)

CRYPTO ASSET CUSTODY LICENCE GRANTED TO COMMERZBANK IN GERMANY:

Frankfurt-based German bank Commerzbank has announced that it has been granted a licence to provide crypto asset custody services. In its announcement, the bank said that it is the first German bank to receive this licence under the German Banking Act (KWG). Thanks to the licence, the bank plans to offer a wide range of services related to digital assets, in particular crypto assets. As a first step in this process, it is planned to establish a secure custody platform in accordance with the legislation for crypto assets based on blockchain technology.

In the statement, the bank officials said, "Our licensing shows that we have passed an important milestone, this underlines our ongoing commitment to implement the latest technologies and innovations and forms the basis for supporting our clients in the field of digital assets." (Commerzbank)

THE SEC HAS ANNOUNCED ITS SANCTIONS RESULTS FOR 2023:

America's Securities and Exchange Commission SEC published its enforcement report for 2023. In the published press release, the SEC stated that it filed a total of 784 enforcement actions in the 2023 fiscal year, imposed a total of $ 5 billion in fines in this context, and paid a total of $ 1 billion to the damaged investors.

Regarding the crypto asset sector, in addition to the bankrupt crypto asset service provider FTX, widespread service providers such as Binance and Coinbase were among the service providers under scrutiny. (SEC)

ACCESS TO COINBASE IN KAZAKHSTAN HAS BEEN BLOCKED:

The Ministry of Culture and Information of Kazakhstan blocked access to Coinbase in accordance with the Law on Digital Assets in the Republic of Kazakhstan, which came into force in February 2023. The access block request came from the Ministry of Digital Development on the grounds that the 5th paragraph of Article 11 of the Digital Assets Law was violated.

In accordance with the violated article, the issuance and circulation of unsecured digital assets, as well as the activities of crypto exchanges for such assets, are prohibited in Kazakhstan. Coinbase was also blocked due to violating this ban.

On the other hand, the Astana Financial Services Regulatory Committee (AIFC), the organization authorized to license crypto asset service providers in Kazakhstan, has so far granted operating permits to 7 organizations, including service providers such as Binance and Bybit. In order for organizations to operate in the region, they must obtain a license from AIFC by carrying out activities in accordance with the legislation. (Kursiv Media)

IOSCO HAS PUBLISHED ITS REPORT ON CRYPTO AND DIGITAL ASSETS:

The International Organization of Securities Commissions (IOSCO) published its report titled Policy Recommendations for Crypto and Digital Asset Markets. The report, which has 18 recommendations in total, covers conflicts of interest arising from vertical integration of activities and functions, market manipulation, trading with "insider" information and fraud, cross-border risks and regulatory cooperation, custody and protection of customer assets, operational and technological risk, retail access. It covers main topics such as availability and distribution. It is also stated that the report is designed to address concerns about market integrity and investor protection arising from crypto asset activities. (IOSCO)

CENTRAL BANK OF GEORGIA PARTNERS WITH RIPPLE FOR DIGITAL LARI:

The Central Bank of Georgia (NBG) will make a technology partnership with Ripple for the Digital Lari project, which is being carried out as a pilot.

As part of the pilot project, Ripple will test potential applications of Dijtal Lari and evaluate its practical use cases to measure potential benefits for the public sector, businesses (private sector) and retail users.

Regarding the subject, Natia Turnava, Member of the Board of Directors of the Central Bank of Georgia, said, "We are pleased to choose Ripple as the official technology partner for our Digital Lari pilot project," while James Wallis from Ripple said, "This pilot application will further advance the use of blockchain technology in the public sector." "It will pave the way," he said. (Ripple)

SPANISH BANK SANTANDER STEPS IN TO TRADE BITCOIN AND ETHEREUM:

Santander Private Banking International, the international organisation of the Spanish bank Santander, is setting up a system that will allow its customers with accounts in Switzerland to trade Bitcoin and Ethereum. For the moment, this service is only available to high-wealth customers, but it was stated that this service could become widespread in the next period.

John Whelan, Santander's Head of Crypto and Digital Assets, said, "The regulations in Switzerland on digital assets are one of the first and most advanced regulations in the world. As owning crypto assets becomes widespread, we expect our customers to rely on their existing financial institutions." (CryptoPotato)

JOINT COMMITMENT BY 48 COUNTRIES TO TAX CRYPTO ASSETS:

OECD Secretary-General Matthias Cormann has welcomed the announcement that 48 countries have made a joint commitment to reporting and information exchange under the Crypto Assets Reporting Framework (CARF), published in October 2022.

The OECD, which was mandated by the G20 countries in April 2021 to create a framework for the exchange of information and documents on crypto assets, published a framework called the Crypto Assets Reporting Framework (CARF) in October 2022. CARF sets standards for the automatic exchange of information between tax authorities.

In this way, countries will work together to prevent tax evasion and loss of public revenue.

In a statement, Matthias Cormann said that the commitment of countries to coordinate information exchange under CARF "is an important milestone in the fight against tax evasion" and "we welcome the broad support for swift action to make the international exchange of information collected under the OECD standard on reporting crypto assets a reality". (OECD)

CRYPTO-FRIENDLY CANDIDATE WINS ARGENTINIAN ELECTIONS:

In Argentina, which has been struggling with the economic crisis for some time, Javier Milei won the presidential election in the second round with around 56% of the vote, according to provisional results. The new president, Milei, is known for his crypto-friendly statements and positions, both during the election campaign and in previous periods.

In his statements, Milei has stated that bitcoin is a way to protect against the destruction caused by inflationary environments. In addition, Milei has made some statements that "Bitcoin represents the return of Bitcoin to the private sector, the original creator of money". (CoinDesk)

According to a statement by Botswana's President Mokgweetsi Masisi, blockchain technology is one of the innovative solutions that can be used in the global diamond industry to prevent illegal practices, known as "blood diamonds", in the production of diamonds and to ensure that companies operating in this way are excluded from the supply chain. According to Masisi's statement, the use of blockchain technology can not only give consumers confidence, but also enable them to make more conscious choices regarding the source of their diamonds. "The use of blockchain technology, with such irreversible timestamps, will also encourage companies to act responsibly throughout their supply chain."

Mehmet Şimşek, Minister of Treasury and Finance, in his statement to the Planning and Budget Commission of the Grand National Assembly of Turkey, made statements about Turkey's status in the grey list of the Financial Action Task Force ("FATF"). He also mentioned about the regulations being prepared for crypto assets and the requirements of these regulations. Şimşek said, "We are making efforts to remove our country from the grey list with the effectiveness that we will provide in practice". Turkey has been on the grey list, which the FATF refers to as the list of countries that require increased monitoring, since 2021.

Stating that a healthy financial system is important for economic growth and development, the minister announced that efforts to strengthen the regime against money laundering and terrorist financing will continue intensively. "According to the FATF report, our country is in compliance with 39 out of 40 FATF standards. Within the scope of technical compliance, the only issue that is still under preparation is the work related to crypto assets. Our necessary work in this regard has reached the final stage. In this state, Turkey has become one of the most successful countries in technical compliance. We are determined to continue and intensify our work in this regard. "We are making efforts to remove our country from the grey list with the effectiveness we will provide in practice," he said.

The Annual Programme of the 2024 Presidency of Turkey was published by the Strategic and Budgetary Presidency in the Official Gazette of 25.10.2023. The programme sets out policies and strategies for their implementation. The programme also includes articles on the taxation of digital assets and the regulation of crypto asset custodians. In this context, for the first time in Turkey, an official statement was made by an official public institution that digital assets would be subjected to taxation. According to the programme, the main goal is to create a financial sector that is compatible with global markets and highly competitive in all financial fields, especially sustainable and digital finance, that can contribute to the development process at affordable costs and conditions, and that has high efficiency and a strong institutional structure.

Regarding digital assets, the programme states that "Legislative studies will be continued for transactions involving virtual assets that can be bought, sold and transferred digitally and represent a digital value" and "For the taxation of digital virtual assets, studies will be completed in order to define these assets in the Turkish legal system". In addition, the programme includes the Ministry of Treasury and Finance and the Republic of Turkey. It also states that the Central Bank will carry out regulatory activities for crypto asset service providers.

The annual strategic programme also includes provisions on the Digital Turkish Lira. According to the programme, studies on the Digital Turkish Lira will be developed and implemented within the course of 2024, and studies on widen its use will be carried out. It was also stated that following these studies, the public will be informed about the Digital Turkish Lira and kept informed about the process.

The United Kingdom government published its plans for the regulation of fiat-backed stablecoins on 30 October. The aim is to facilitate and regulate the use of fiat-backed stablecoins in the UK payment system. It is planned that a specific regulation will be laid before Parliament in 2024 and that stablecoins will be brought under the authority of the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA), which has the power to regulate financial markets in the UK. The regulation will state that stablecoins without fiat backing may not be used in payment services regulated in the country, ensuring reliability.