Benedikt Faupel, the head of public affairs at the Austrian crypto exchange Bitpanda, said Europe’s main crypto law (MiCA) still leaves room for countries to apply it differently. Speaking to Cointelegraph during German Blockchain Week, Faupel said that, as far as he knows, Bitpanda is the only company with three licenses under the MiCA rules. Bitpanda started in Austria in 2014 and now has offices in Berlin, Bucharest, London, and other places. Faupel explained that MiCA finally gives the European Union clear and unified rules for crypto. Before MiCA, Europe’s crypto rules were confusing because each country had its own…

U.S. Senator Cynthia Lummis shared a new draft bill on Thursday to change tax rules and make some crypto transactions tax-free. This comes after crypto tax changes were not added to the latest budget plan. The bill suggests that small crypto transactions, where the gain is $300 or less, should not be taxed. But there would be a limit of $5,000 in these tax-free gains per year. The Senator from Wyoming also wants crypto loans and crypto given to charities to be tax-free. Additionally, she proposes that people shouldn’t have to pay taxes on crypto mining or staking rewards until…

A U.S. bankruptcy judge rejected key parts of Tether’s motion  to dismiss the case and ruled that Celsius Network’s $4 billion lawsuit against Tether may proceed.  A significant milestone in the ongoing fallout from the crypto lender’s collapse, the decision was filed in a New York court on June 30, 2025.  Claimant Celsius alleges that Tether executed a “fire sale” of the assets to cover Celsius’s $812 million debt without honoring a 10-hour waiting period required by their contract.  Celsius accuses Tether of improperly liquidating over 39,500 Bitcoin in June 2022, worth over $4 billion today, during a market crash,…

Arizona’s Governor Katie Hobbs vetoed a bill that would have allowed the state to create a fund to store cryptocurrency seized in criminal investigations. House Bill 2324 proposed the establishment of a “Bitcoin and Digital Assets Reserve Fund” to manage digital assets forfeited to the state.  Governor Hobbs rejected the measure on July 01, 2025 stating in a formal veto letter that the law would discourage cooperation from local law enforcement by removing seized digital assets from their control. “This bill disincentivizes local enforcement from working with the state on digital asset forfeiture by removing seized assets from local jurisdictions,”…

The U.S. Treasury Department has reportedly sanctioned Aeza Group, a Russia-based bulletproof hosting (BPH) service for allegedly aiding cybercriminals to facilitate ransomware campaigns and information theft.  Aeza Group is accused of offering infrastructure, including specialized servers, to support ransomware operators and malware distributors like Meduza and Lumma infostealer operators, the BianLian ransomware gang, RedLine infostealer panels, and the Russian darknet marketplace BlackSprut. A Tron blockchain wallet address reportedly processed payments and transferred funds to various exchanges. The Wallet allegedly received payments for Aeza’s services, funneled money through intermediaries, and maintained links to other cybercriminal networks, including the sanctioned Russian exchange…

British banking giant Barclays says it will block all cryptocurrency transactions made through its Barclaycard credit cards, effective Friday, June 27, 2025.  The move comes amid growing concerns over the volatility of digital assets and a wider regulatory review of crypto purchasing in the United Kingdom. Barclays cites the risk of customers falling into unsustainable debt due to sudden drops in the value of cryptocurrencies.  “We’re doing this because a fall in the price of crypto assets could lead to customers finding themselves in debt they can’t afford to repay.”  Barclays The bank goes on to say that crypto related…

The Arizona Senate has approved a renewed version of the “Bitcoin Reserve Bill”, which aims to establish a state managed fund for digital assets seized in criminal investigations. House Bill 2324 passed the Senate on Thursday in a narrow 16-14 vote and now moves to the state House for final debate.  The legislation seeks to create a Bitcoin and Digital Assets Reserve Fund managed by the Arizona State Treasurer to securely hold and manage cryptocurrencies and other digital assets seized through criminal forfeiture. Under the proposal, the state would have the authority to either retain digital assets in their native…

South Korea’s main financial regulator has shared its plan to allow spot crypto ETFs in the country, according to local news. The Financial Services Commission (FSC) submitted this plan to the Presidential Committee on Policy Planning. The committee said it will start working on how to put the plan into action in the second half of 2025. This move supports new President Lee Jae Myung’s campaign promise to lift the country’s ban on crypto ETFs. Until now, the FSC had blocked these products, saying they were too risky and that cryptocurrencies weren’t a good foundation for investment funds. Approving crypto…