South Africa’s draft capital flow rules would bring crypto under exchange controls, with declaration duties, transaction limits and tougher penalties. South Africa’s National Treasury has published draft rules that would bring cryptocurrency transactions under the country’s capital flow regime, requiring some holders to declare digital asset holdings and routing certain transactions through authorized providers or Treasury-approved channels. Published on April 17, the draft Capital Flow Management Regulations bill proposes that crypto holders above a yet-unspecified threshold would be required to declare investments to the treasury within 30 days. In some cases, crypto acquired through an authorized provider for a stated purpose would have to be offered for sale if it was no longer needed for that purpose. The draft is open for public comment until May 18 and would replace South Africa’s Exchange Control Regulations of 1961, marking the most significant overhaul of the country’s exchange control framework in ...
Historically, MSTR’s outperformance signals traders are taking more risk, betting Bitcoin’s worst drawdown phase may be over. Strategy’s MSTR stock has jumped roughly 25% over the past month, outperforming Bitcoin’s circa 9% gain and reviving a historical signal that has often appeared near BTC cycle bottoms. Key takeaways: Historically, a sustained MSTR outperformance versus Bitcoin has preceded the latter’s bear market bottom. Read more
China’s new online marketing rules tighten an already sweeping crypto ban and place fresh pressure on financial influencers, echoing parallel crackdowns in Europe, Australia and the UK. China’s central bank and seven other regulators have finalized the “Administrative Measures for Online Marketing of Financial Products” (Announcement No. 9), dated April 21 and publicly released on April 24. The rules take effect on Sept. 30, 2026, and confine online marketing of financial products to licensed financial institutions and lawfully entrusted third-party platforms, and prohibit any organization or individual from offering online marketing services or any other form of assistance that facilitates illegal financial activities. The text explicitly folds virtual currency issuance and trading, along with illegal foreign exchange margin business, into the definition of illegal financial activity, reinforcing a stance first made explicit when the People’s Bank of China declared all crypto transactions illegal in 2021. Re...
The ECB signed deals with three standards bodies to reuse open payment standards for the digital euro and lower integration costs for banks and merchants. The European Central Bank (ECB) said Friday it has signed agreements with three European standards bodies to reuse existing open payment standards for digital euro transactions, as it seeks to reduce integration costs for banks, merchants and payment service providers. According to the ECB, the agreements with the European Card Payment Cooperation, Nexo standards and the Berlin Group will allow the ECB to use standards covering contactless tap-to-pay payments, merchant-to-payment-provider connections and alias-based payments, such as transactions using a mobile phone number. The ECB said using existing open standards would minimize adoption costs for the market and help create a uniform digital euro user experience across the euro area. However, the standards agreements remain a cost-mitigation step, not confirmation that the digital euro will be cheap to ...
Polish prosecutors are investigating Zondacrypto over alleged fraud and fund access issues, while local media report that CEO Przemysław Kral is in Israel. Zondacrypto’s crisis deepened on Friday after Polish outlet Onet reported that CEO Przemysław Kral had gone to Israel as prosecutors investigate the exchange over alleged fraud and investor losses. According to the report, Kral has been in Israel for about a week and holds Israeli citizenship, a factor that could complicate any potential extradition to Poland. Polish authorities opened an investigation into Zondacrypto last Friday over alleged fraud and investor losses. Cointelegraph also confirmed that Kral’s email address, previously used to communicate with him, has become unavailable. The developments come a week after Kral admitted last Thursday that Zondacrypto’s cold wallet holding 4,500 Bitcoin was inaccessible, marking his last publicly known communication at the time of reporting. Polish prosecutors have identified several hundred possible victim...
Wisconsin’s lawsuit against Kalshi, Robinhood, Coinbase, Polymarket and Crypto.com deepens the battle between state gambling enforcers and federal regulators over sports prediction markets. Wisconsin’s top law enforcement official has sued a group of fintech and crypto platforms, including Kalshi, Robinhood, Coinbase, Polymarket and Crypto.com, accusing them of facilitating illegal sports betting by offering “event contracts,” according to complaints filed April 23 in Dane County. Attorney General Josh Kaul is seeking preliminary and permanent injunctions to block the companies from offering sports-related markets to customers in Wisconsin and to have a court declare the operations unlawful under state gambling law and a public nuisance. The case adds to a growing clash between state gambling laws and federally regulated prediction markets, as regulators and courts across the United States debate whether event contracts are financial instruments or illegal wagers. Read more
Spot XRP ETFs record net inflows for nine consecutive days, absorbing sell pressure and potentially supporting XRP price recovery over time. XRP (XRP) has fallen about 5% against Bitcoin (BTC) over the past week, and the confirmation of a bearish pattern now points to the risk of more losses ahead. Key takeaways: XRP/BTC’s descending triangle pattern on the weekly chart points to a possible 40% drop. Read more