Celsius Faces US Federal ‘Investigations’, IRS Puts Crypto, NFT and Stablecoin in Digital Asset Category, HackNotice Accepts BTC, XMR

Get your daily, bite-sized summary of cryptoassets and blockchain-related news – examine the stories that fly under the radar of today’s crypto news.
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Legal news

• Bankruptcy cryptocurrency lender Celsius network faces US federal “investigations,” according to a filing by lawyers for the Committee of Unsecured Creditors. “The number and scope of investigations into debtors by governmental entities is significant: Celsius is apparently the subject of enforcement or investigations in at least 40 states, in addition to investigations or inquiries involving the federal government,” the filing said.
• Three people associated with OneCoin Founder Ruja Ignatova has appeared in a German court on charges for their alleged roles in a multi-billion dollar fraud operation. They are accused of money laundering, fraud and banking crimes, Bloomberg reported.

Tax news

• An early draft for 2022 USA The tax authority (IRS) tax form has cryptocurrencies, stablecoins and non-fungible tokens (NFT) grouped under a new “Digital Asset” category. It states that “if a particular asset has the characteristics of a digital asset, it will be treated as a digital asset for federal income tax purposes.” The question needs to be answered by all taxpayers, not just those who have engaged in a transaction involving digital assets, it added.

Payment news

• Platform for threat awareness HackNotice said it now accepts cryptocurrency as a payment method, specifically monero (XMR) and bitcoin (BTC). “In addition to the increased security of cryptocurrency, HackNotice is adopting digital currencies as a payment method because it’s easier for businesses to use,” said CEO Steve Thomas.

Regulatory news

• The Japan Virtual and Crypto Assets Exchange Association (JVCEA) plans to relax the token listing for exchanges and allow exchanges to skip a lengthy screening process, Bloomberg reported. The relaxed rules could come into effect as early as December, while JVCEA vice-chairman Genki Oda said it could remove prior checks for new coins by March 2024, as well as for tokens issued through ICOs.

Blockchain News

• The The Israeli Ministry of Finance‘s Office of the Accountant General and Tel Aviv Stock Exchange plans to test the use of digital government bonds, assisted by Israeli startup and blockchain infrastructure company Fire blocks and multi-cloud service provider Vmware. The project is called ‘Eden’ and a joint team will perform a Proof of Concept (PoC) for clearing digital bonds in Israel on a new platform for trading and clearing digital assets, which is based on blockchain, smart contracts, and tokenization. says the announcement.

Career news

• Former head of policy and regulatory affairs at Celsius network Aaron Iovine has been hired as managing director of digital asset regulatory policy at the US banking giant JPMorganwhich is a newly created role, according to a report from Bloomberg Law.
• Marie-Anne Barbat-Layani, a former banking lobbyist, has received parliamentary approval to lead the French The Financial Market Supervisory Authority (L’Autorité des marchés financiers (AMF)), Market Insider reported. Her role will include overseeing the registration of crypto firms in France.

NFT news

• NFT gaming platform Balthazar DAO announced that it is adding Tezos (XTZ) to its list of supported blockchains to “help build the future of Web3 gaming through Balthazar’s recently released infrastructure product, Babylon,” it said in an announcement. This follows recent funding of Tezos Foundation.

Investment news

• Green asset capital is launching four investment funds focused on sustainable investments in early and growth stages within the FinTech, crypto, blockchain, DeFi, NFT, Web3 and metaverse verticals, the press release states. Green Asset Capital is a global digital asset investment group with BTC 40,000 and ETH 200,000 under management, totaling over $1 billion at current exchange rates, it added.
• Cora announced an investment from Tezos Foundation, as well as the use of the Tezos blockchain to power its app. The Kora app rewards climate-positive actions and helps individuals, businesses and organizations measure and reduce their carbon footprint, the press release states. Users earn Koras for actions that reduce their carbon footprint, such as cycling, switching to renewable energy or taking public transport.
• Shardeuman Ethereum Virtual Machine (EVM)-based sharded blockchain, announced $18.2 million in the blockchain’s first seed round of funding, which included over 50 investors, such as Jane Street, Punish Crypto, The Spartan group, Big Brain Holdings, DFG, Ghaf Capital Partnersand Foresight Ventures. According to an announcement, the funds will go towards increasing the company’s research and marketing efforts, as well as expanding the development team to improve the cutting technology and ecosystem, with a special focus on product and design development.