South Korea’s Financial Services Commission (FSC) has updated its anti-money laundering rules by requiring domestic banks to monitor all of the accounts held by cryptocurrency exchanges, CoinDesk reported. Exchanges may have multiple accounts with a bank: They might have an account to store the funds of its traders and another account to hold their own assets. The move comes as a recent inspection discovered that exchanges had moved assets out of the depositing accounts geared towards investor funds and into their own operating accounts.
In other news, the federal government is seeking the forfeiture of 4,000 bitcoins — currently valued at approximately $24 million — that might have been the proceeds from the sale of illegal drugs, CoinDesk reported. During a crackdown on dark web vendors, prosecutors indicted two Maryland men for allegedly manufacturing and distributing drugs. Beyond the bitcoins, the government is looking for the forfeiture of two residences and two vehicles.
That news comes as a recent U.S. Department of Justice undercover operation of narcotic vendors discovered that many dark web users were using bitcoin for transactions, The Next Web reported. In addition, some vendors were mining bitcoin on the side. Even so, dark web users are reportedly turning to monero and ether as bitcoin alternatives.
The State Service of Special Communications and Information Protection of Ukraine has said that it does not plan to regulate crypto mining, CCN reported. The news comes as miners have kept their operations under wraps, out of concern for the potential consequences of such an activity.
On another note, the CEO of Coinbase, Brian Armstrong, unveiled a cryptocurrency fund called GiveCrypto dedicated to charitable causes, The Next Web reported. The idea is that the funds will help people from around the world, as crypto can allow small amounts of money to be sent to other countries. The first people to receive the funds will be individuals “living in emerging markets, especially those going through financial crisis,” Armstrong wrote in a post.
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