De-Risking or Decoupling? China- US Bilateral Trade Falls More Than 10% This Year
Analysts have criticized the new ‘de-risking’ strategy that the U.S. is currently using against China, explained by U.S. National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan in April, clarifying that national security was over economic costs. These de-risking policies might affect bilateral trade, which fell by 11.2% to $217.9 billion during the first four months of 2023. ‘De-Risking’ […]
Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov Explains ‘Multipolar’ World View in Brazil
Sergey Lavrov, the Russian foreign minister, started his tour of Latin America on April 17, landing first in Brasilia to hold high-level talks with Brazilian President Luiz Inacio ‘Lula’ da Silva and Brazilian Foreign Minister Mauro Vieira. Lavrov insisted that Russia was building a “multipolar” world, while Vieira rejected the unilateral sanctions enacted against Russia. […]
US Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen Acknowledges Sanctions Weaponization Could Hurt Dollar Hegemony
U.S. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen talked about the dangers that sanctions based on the U.S. dollar might pose for the hegemony of the currency in international markets. According to Yellen, the government tries to use sanctions “judiciously,” as they can create a desire to find alternatives to the U.S. dollar. U.S. Treasury Secretary Yellen Talks […]
China Opposes Recent US Sanctions for Chinese Firms, Criticizes ‘Long-Arm’ Jurisdiction Policies
The government of China protested the enactment of sanctions on a series of national companies by the U.S., barring them from doing business with U.S.-based entities for allegedly collaborating with Russia. China’s Commerce Ministry criticized the move, saying it is a “typical form of long-arm jurisdiction,” which damages the rights and interests of these companies. […]
‘Ultra Sound’ Money — Simulation Shows Ethereum’s Inflation Rate Is Significantly Lower Using Proof-of-Stake
Its been 105 days since Ethereum transitioned from a proof-of-work (PoW) blockchain to a proof-of-stake (PoS) network and the number of Ethereum validators is set to surpass 500,000 in 2023. According to metrics, Ethereum’s issuance rate of new coins has dropped considerably and only 4,790.45 ether has been minted since The Merge took place on […]
Crypto Exchange Kraken Settles With Treasury Department Over Sanctions Violations
Crypto exchange Kraken has settled with the U.S. Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) over its apparent violations of sanctions against Iran. The cryptocurrency exchange has agreed to remit $362,159 to settle its potential civil liability and invest an additional $100,000 in certain sanctions compliance controls. Kraken Settles With OFAC The […]
Don’t Forget the Importance of Censorship Resistance
Since people are once again talking about self-custody as one of crypto’s unique strengths, I would like to remind everyone about an equally important fundamental value proposition of crypto that, in the early days, was touted as the killer feature. I’m talking about censorship resistance. The following opinion editorial was written by Bitcoin.com CEO Dennis […]
Coin Center Sues US Treasury Over Tornado Cash Ban — Lawsuit Says Government’s Action ‘Was Unlawful’
The non-profit that focuses on policy issues facing cryptocurrencies, Coin Center, has filed a lawsuit against the Treasury department, the secretary of the Treasury Janet Yellen, and the Office of Foreign Assets Control’s (OFAC) director Andrea Gacki. Coin Center’s court filing says that the government’s sanctioning of Tornado Cash exceeds the Treasury’s statutory authority. The […]
US Treasury Charges Bittrex With Sanctions Violations, Crypto Exchange Agrees to Settle With Regulator
On October 11, the U.S. Treasury department’s Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) and the Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) announced that it has settled charges with the cryptocurrency exchange Bittrex. The crypto exchange was accused of sanctions violations and failure to “implement effective sanctions compliance controls” between March 2014 and December 2017. Crypto Exchange […]
Github Partially Reinstates Tornado Cash Codebase, Open Source Code Set to Read-Only Mode
The internet hosting and software development subsidiary of Microsoft, Github, has partially unbanned the Tornado Cash repositories following the recent sanctions enforced by the U.S. Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Asset Control (OFAC). Github’s decision follows the U.S. Treasury updating the public, noting that U.S. persons can copy, view, and discuss the open-source code. Github’s […]