The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) is currently reviewing three bitcoin exchange-traded funds (ETFs), one of which was filed last week to track the prices of two cryptocurrencies. An SEC commissioner said at the Consensus conference on Monday that the time is right for a bitcoin ETF, as the commission is due to make a decision on one of them next week.

At the Consensus 2019 conference in New York on Monday, SEC Commissioner Hester Peirce, also known as "crypto mom," discussed the regulatory environment for bitcoin ETFs. Expressing her dissatisfaction with the current law, she asserted that the SEC should do more to provide a regulatory framework for cryptocurrency including rules around safe harbor. Decrypt quoted her as saying:

I thought the time was right a year ago — even longer than that … My first chance to comment on it was a year ago … Certainly the time is right, but there are still questions floating around the SEC that need to be answered as much as possible by you all.

Peirce then encouraged the audience to write to the SEC to help them understand the market. One issue she noted was market manipulation, which "is a concern that people keep raising at the SEC," she shared. "Other issues like custody issues [also] come up a lot."

Her comments at Consensus echo her speech at the Securities Enforcement Forum which took place on May 9. "The problem is that the securities laws do not cease to operate as a new industry develops," she explained. "Consequently, individuals and companies in the industry must comply with our securities laws or risk becoming the subject of an enforcement action. It is therefore our duty as a regulator to provide the public with clear guidance as to how people can comply with our law. We have not yet fulfilled this duty." The commissioner additionally described:

It is not the SEC's overzealous action that has stifled the crypto industry, but its unwillingness to take meaningful action at all.

Peirce also expressed concern that the U.S. is falling behind other forward-thinking countries. "Our country has always been a country where innovation can really thrive," she opined Monday. "I worry that a lot of the activities are now happening offshore. I want the US to be the market for innovation."

The SEC staff recently issued a 14-page document detailing a framework to assist issuers with conducting a Howey analysis to evaluate whether token offerings are securities. It details features of an offering and actions by an issuer that could signal that the offering is likely a securities offering. Peirce expressed her worry, however, that this framework "could raise more questions and concerns than it answers."

The commissioner previously said she believes the SEC has no jurisdiction to look at the underlying asset when considering whether to approve a proposed rule change for an ETF. She has also emphasized that excessive regulation could hurt innovation such as cryptocurrency.

The SEC's Senior Advisor for Digital Assets and Innovation, Valerie Szczepanik, explained that the agency is moving slowly on cryptocurrency regulations and cryptocurrency-based products because it needs to be cautious. Szczepanik coordinates efforts across all SEC divisions and offices regarding the application of U.S. securities laws to emerging digital asset technologies and innovations, including cryptocurrencies and initial coin offerings.

In his speech at the SEC Sparks conference on April 8, Chairman Jay Clayton said one of the areas the commission has focused its attention on due to heightened risks is "digital assets, including cryptocurrencies, coins, and tokens." At the Consensus Invest conference in November last year, he revealed the key upgrades he needed to see before the SEC could consider approving its first bitcoin ETF such as better market surveillance and safe custody of crypto assets.

SEC Chairman Jay Clayton

Bitwise Bitcoin ETF: August 14

One of the proposals being reviewed by the SEC is for the listing and trading of shares issued by Bitwise Bitcoin ETF Trust filed by NYSE Arca Inc. on Jan. 28. This proposed rule change was published in the Federal Register on Feb. 15. On March 29, the SEC designated May 16 as the day to make its decision on this proposal. However, on May 7, the exchanged filed Amendment No. 1 to the proposed rule change, replacing the original one in its entirety. According to the amended registration statement filed with the SEC:

The trust will hold bitcoin … [and] will store its bitcoin in custody at a regulated third-party custodian, and will not use derivatives that may subject the trust to counterparty and credit risks.

Furthermore, the company explained that "the trust will not directly purchase or sell bitcoin. Instead, authorized participants will deliver bitcoin to the trust in exchange for shares of the trust, and the trust will deliver bitcoin to authorized participants when those authorized participants redeem shares of the trust."

The filing also details that "in seeking to ensure that the price of the trust's shares is reflective of the actual bitcoin market, the trust will value its shares daily based on prices drawn from ten bitcoin exchanges … [which] represent substantially all of the economically significant spot trading volume on bitcoin exchanges around the world."

On March 22, Bitwise tweeted clarifying that "The exact methodology largely mirrors the settlement pricing methodology of CME futures, which we believe has the correct construction." The company added that the exchanges are Binance, Bifinex, Bitflyer, Bitstamp, Bittrex, Coinbase Pro, Gemini, Itbit, Kraken, and Poloniex, noting that five of them "have implemented sophisticated market surveillance tools to prevent market manipulation and bad behavior."

Since the company filed an amendment, the commission began soliciting public comments on the new proposal on May 14. So far, 25 comments have been received on this proposal. Securities lawyer Jake Chervinsky remarked:

The new deadline is August 14. The SEC can delay one more time to a final deadline of October 13.

Vaneck Solidx Bitcoin ETF: May 21

The next proposal for a bitcoin ETF under review by the SEC is the high-profile Vaneck Solidx bitcoin ETF. Cboe BZX Exchange Inc. originally filed the proposed rule change to list and trade shares issued by the Vaneck Solidx Bitcoin Trust in June last year. However, it withdrew the proposal on Jan. 22 due to the U.S. government shutdown which affected the SEC.

The exchange refiled the proposed rule change for the same ETF on Jan. 30 which was published in the Federal Register on Feb. 20. On March 29, the commission extended the time period to review this ETF to May 21. At press time, 24 comments have been received for this new proposed rule change, far fewer than the 1,600 plus comments received for the previous filing that was withdrawn. The registration statement explains:

The investment objective of the trust is for the shares to reflect the performance of the price of bitcoin, less the expenses of the trust's operations.

This trust intends to achieve its objective by investing all of its assets substantially "in bitcoin traded primarily in the over-the-counter markets, and may also invest in bitcoin traded on domestic and international bitcoin exchanges," the filing states. "The trust will be responsible for custody of the trust's bitcoin."

Solidx Management Llc is the sponsor of the trust, with Delaware Trust Company as the trustee and the Bank of New York Mellon as the administrator and transfer agent. The bank will also serve as the custodian with respect to cash of the trust since it will occasionally hold cash for short periods in connection with the purchase and sale of bitcoin, and to pay trust expenses. Van Eck Securities Corporation will provide assistance in the marketing of the shares.

Crescent Crypto Index Fund: Just Filed

The third bitcoin ETF-related filing which the SEC is reviewing at press time is by the United States Commodity Index Funds Trust. The company filed a registration statement with the SEC on Thursday for Crescent Crypto Index Fund, sponsored by the United States Commodity Funds (USCF). It will be traded on the NYSE Arca stock exchange under the symbol XBET. According to the document:

The investment objective of XBET is for the daily changes in percentage terms of its per share net asset value to reflect the daily changes in percentage terms of the Crescent Crypto Core II Index (the 'CCINDX'), less XBET's expenses.

The new index seeks "to track the performance of a market capitalization weighted portfolio of bitcoin and ether," the company describes, noting that it "has limited history and is currently under development and subject to further input from the Crescent Crypto Index Committee." This index "is based on various inputs which may include price data from various third-party exchanges and markets."

The trust and fund are managed and controlled by USCF, a limited liability company that is registered as a commodity pool operator with the Commodity Futures Trading Commission and is a member of the National Futures Association. USCF will employ Crescent Crypto Manager Llc, a wholly owned subsidiary of Crescent, as co-portfolio manager to XBET.

SEC Decision Timeline

Whenever a proposed rule change is filed with the SEC, it will be published in the Federal Register which serves as the key start date for the SEC's ETF approval timeline.

The proposal for the Vaneck Solidx ETF was filed on Jan. 30 and published in the Federal Register on Feb. 20. The Bitwise ETF proposal was filed on Jan. 28 and published in the Federal Register on Feb. 15. The rule change for the Crescent ETF has yet to be published in the Federal Register.

After the proposed rule change has been published in the Federal Register, Section 19(b)(2) of the Securities Exchange Act provides that "within 45 days of the publication of notice of the filing of a proposed rule change, or within such longer period up to 90 days … the commission shall either approve the proposed rule change, disapprove the proposed rule change, or institute proceedings to determine whether the proposed rule change should be disapproved."

According to the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, the SEC can extend the time to make a decision on an ETF up to 240 days after the date of its publication in the Register. If the SEC has not made a decision after 240 days for any reasons, the ETF would be automatically approved.

However, Chervinsky explained that it is extremely unlikely the SEC will let such a decision go to automatic approval, noting that the SEC would likely have measures in place to avoid missing such important deadlines. Further, if a bitcoin ETF is automatically approved, it can easily be undone after the emergency that prevents the agency from making a proper decision is over. The lawyer elaborated:

The SEC doesn't have the power to extend the 240-day deadline. The statute absolutely prohibits any further delays.

As for the three proposals in consideration, the SEC is due to make a decision to either approve, deny, or delay its decision on the Vaneck Solidx bitcoin ETF proposal on May 21, having just delayed its decision on the proposal for the Bitwise bitcoin ETF. Chervinsky estimates that if the commission decides to further delay its decision on the Vaneck Solidx ETF, then the new decision date will be Aug. 19. The final dates after 240 days will be Oct. 13 for the Bitwise proposal and Oct. 18 for the Vaneck Solidx proposal. He also emphasized that the agency could ask the sponsors to withdraw and refile, which will start the clock all over again.

While there are many countries around the world that are cracking down on cryptocurrency markets or wary about how to embrace and regulate them, there are other companies that are receiving support from the government due to the shifting attitudes on the potential of blockchain technology. Recently, Billon Group was awarded over $2.1 million by the European Union (EU) to develop a blockchain-based document management system.

The money comes specifically from the European Commission's SME instrument program, which is part of a larger overall Horizon 2020 program. Horizon 2020 describes itself as the "biggest EU Research and Innovation program" ever. A total of 64 organizations were awarded in this particular phase of the program, including other blockchain-related companies such as Settlemint, a blockchain software company, and KYC (Know-Your-Customer) service AUTHENTEQ.

Billon will not only be digitizing paper documents, but encrypting them, as well. The idea is to increase transparency in efficiency with respect to document storage and management by placing these documents on a distributed ledger. This can reduce cost for a variety of organizations and corporations by as much as 50%, according to the Billon Group. The solution will also be compliant with the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), as well as other EU regulations. The GDPR is a regulation adopted in 2016 that relates to overall data regulation and personal privacy that applies to all EU member states.

The company has already been adopted by the Polish Credit Office (BIK), which increases efficiency with respect to the Polish banking sector. The CEO of Billon Group, Wojtek Kostrzewa, pointed out how the company is working on disrupting the document management sector. He states: "Today's document management industry has struggled with fulfilling regulatory and customer requirements related to protecting document identity content, and to provide customers with control over data they choose to share or delete. With the funding from Horizon 2020, Billon will fulfill MIFiD2 and GDPR requirements with innovation that puts a customer in control of their own data and documents."

Binance suffered a large scale security breach late today, according to a statement. Hackers managed to obtain API keys, two-factor-authentication codes and other information. In addition, 7,000 Bitcoin ($40 million) were withdrawn in a single transaction.

The hackers used multiple techniques, including phishing attacks and computer viruses to get at Binance and its hot wallets, where it keeps funds to manage the day-to-day operation of the exchange. The hackers were unable to access the Binance cold storage—the off-line wallets where the majority of funds are kept. Likewise, individual user wallets were not directly affected.

CZ Binance✔

@cz_binance

 Have to perform some unscheduled server maintenance that will impact deposits and withdrawals for a couple hours.  No need to FUD.  Funds are #safu.

Though trading will continue, the $40 million hack means Binance will halt withdrawals and deposits for a week, while performing a security audit.

According to the statement: "The hackers had the patience to wait, and execute well-orchestrated actions through multiple seemingly independent accounts at the most opportune time."

The company reported it that maintains an emergency fund for these eventualities, called Safu, which will be used to cover the stolen Bitcoin.

As has become usual in exchange hacks, the breach in was announced via an "unscheduled server maintenance" tweet.  That alarmed a number of Twitter users, who messaged CEO Changpeng Zhao, wondering if the exchange had been hacked.

Since the hack was revealed, the price of Binance Coin (BNB) fell eight percent to $19.88 but has since recovered to $21.

Responding to the security breach, CEO at blockchain analytics firm CipherTrace, Dave Jevans, said, "Binance responded quickly to the hack and was very transparent about the ordeal. It is a shining example in the industry of rapid response, full transparency and a solid financial model for reimbursing customers from hacks."

Jevans pointed out it was the second exchange hack using two-factor authentication this week, recommending a more stringent three-factor authentication. However this will be down to exchanges to implement.

Binance said it will undertake a security review to determine what went wrong and what can be fixed. While deposits and withdrawals will remain closed, trading will continue.

The FBI, working in conjunction with its European partners, has struck another blow against darknet markets (DNMs). On this occasion, it's a particularly low blow, as news website Deepdotweb has become the latest victim of its interminable war on drugs. On May 7, both its clearnet and darknet domains were seized, and the operators arrested and slapped with money laundering charges.

The War on Drugs Becomes the War on Information

Not content with waging a war on drugs, law enforcement (LE) have set their sights on media platforms that report on darknet activity. Earlier today, Deepdotweb became inaccessible, its homepage replaced by a seizure notice that's become all too familiar to darknet market users. The shutdown generated shockwaves that have resonated way beyond the darknet community, marking the first time that feds have targeted the press in this manner. Deepdotweb (DDW) was by far the most popular clearnet resource for accessing links to DNMs, following the closure of subreddit r/darknetmarkets last year.

Two Israeli suspects were arrested in connection with the bust, as well as individuals from France, Germany, Holland, and Brazil. The arrests were the result of two months of investigation, and arrive within days of the ringleaders of Wall Street Market (WSM) being arrested in Germany, together with a WSM moderator from Brazil. Deepdotweb is reported to have made millions of dollars in BTC from referral links to DNMs. It is unclear, though, how this activity might constitute a crime, given that darknet markets are not in themselves illegal, and sell a variety of wares, some of which are perfectly legal.

The money laundering statute cited in the seizure notice on DDW –18 USC 1956(h) – suggests that LE has sought a roundabout way to shut down a site it believes to be complicit in spreading information that enables people to access darknet markets. If so, it is a move reminiscent of Al Capone's arrest and incarceration for tax evasion, rather than for gang-related activities.

The Thin End of the Wedge

Numerous freelance reporters worked for Deepdotweb, covering a wide range of topics including the Tor network, cryptocurrency markets, opsec and privacy. The site's closure is a major loss, not only to its staff, but to its sizeable readership, many of whom had no interest in darknet markets. With DDW gone and its ringleaders behind bars, operators of other darknet new sites will be looking over their shoulders nervously. Despite breaking no laws by providing links to DNMs, webmasters may be fearful that underhand LE tactics could see their site shuttered and freedom curtailed due to some tenuous infringement.

On Dread (dreadditevelidot.onion), the Reddit-like forum for DNMs which operates on the darknet, the news of DDW's demise was the primary topic of discussion today. "I feel TPTB [the powers that be] are working on a big operation for this summer," speculated one commenter. "It all adds up to that. They have been testing the waters with DDoS attacks and seizures. Now that they know the DDoS attacks can cripple the markets without much done to prevent it, they'll start shutting down the sources of information to keep people from being able to alert the community once the real OP starts." They continued:

The Hub, DNA, Dread will be attacked even more. DDW was seized because the Tor based DDoS attack wouldn't have taken down their clearnet site. Now with the DNMs in chaos and everyone scrambling to various sites, they'll start the OP in earnest and will prevent the spread of information in the meantime.

One Down, a Dozen to Go

If the FBI's intent was to restrict the flow of information and trusted links leading to darknet markets, the agency has got its work cut out. Despite Deepdotweb's stature, it was merely one of many conduits leading to the darknet's preeminent marketplaces. Other aggregators of DNM links include Darkwebnews, Darkdotnet, and Dark.fail.

As the criminal complaints are unsealed in the coming days, further details about the circumstances surrounding DDW's demise will emerge. One theory being floated on Dread is that one of the busted Wall Street Market moderators was also working for Deepdotweb. Wherever the truth may lie, it is evident that the war against darknet markets has now entered a new phase.

US entrepreneur turned presidential candidate John McAfee has invited infamous Bitcoin SV supporter Calvin Ayre for a face-to-face meeting following accusations he was a "conman."

CRAIG WRIGHT TO MCAFEE: 'I WANT YOU IN COURT'

The latest episode in the ongoing drama involving Bitcoin SV proponents, McAfee announced on social media that he was staying meters away from Ayre's Antigua residence.

The summons comes after Craig Wright, one of the co-founders of Bitcoin SV who alleges it to be the 'real' Bitcoin, gave an interview to Australian media network Finder.

During the debate, which lasted over 90 minutes, Wright accused McAfee of "building a career out of being a conman."

"Please sue me, Mr. McAfee," he said, alluding to current mass lawsuit he and Ayre are orchestrating against anyone who disputes claims Wright created Bitcoin.

"…I want you in court."

While not addressing Wright directly, McAfee took issue with the content of the interview, demanding Ayre make use of his current whereabouts to argue his corner.

"I am right now staying less than a quarter of a mile from Craig's partner – Calvin Ayre. I strongly recommend that Craig stop by for a cup of tea so he can expound on that statement in person," he wrote on Twitter April 30.

BITCOIN SV'S MULTIFACETED WAR

As Bitcoinist reported, McAfee is currently in transit while attempting to direct his presidential campaign.

Frequently changing his location, the entrepreneur spends most of his time on a private boat as he flees US demands to face charges of tax evasion.

Ayre, who himself successfully managed to get US money laundering charges against him dropped in 2017, has yet to respond to the challenge.

Amid an ongoing publicity nightmare for the controversial Bitcoin SV, the altcoin has seen the bottom fall through its support over the past month as major cryptocurrency exchanges simultaneously withdrew support for it.

That decision is also tied to Wright's lawsuits and other behavior, which industry CEOs view as threatening and not in-keeping with the moral values notionally tied to decentralized cryptocurrency.

At press time, BSV/USD traded at around $53, almost exactly 1/100th of the Bitcoin price and just $10 above its all-time lows.

Last week, Yoshitaka Kitao, CEO of Japanese giant SBI Group, took a board member position at Ripple, having confirmed his own exchange would not support Bitcoin SV and cease dealing with its predecessor, Bitcoin Cash (BCH).

"Coins that regularly experience hard forks are ludicrous," he said, referring to the turbulent genesis of Bitcoin SV last November.

On April 25, the Mt. Gox civil rehabilitation trustee Nobuaki Kobayashi published a new announcement concerning the deadline for the rehabilitation plan. According to the letter sent to Mt. Gox creditors, Kobayashi has delayed the proceedings for another six months due to "undetermined" claims. Following the announcement, bitcoin security specialists Wizsec published a scathing critique of the Coinlab claim for US$16 billion and alleged that it was "the elephant in the room causing this delay."

Mt. Gox Civil Rehabilitation Proceedings Delayed Another 6 Months

The Mt. Gox proceedings have been delayed once again according to the court trustee's latest letter to creditors, which says claimants now have to wait until Oct. 28, 2019. Nobuaki Kobayashi detailed that it is "not possible at this moment to make appropriate provisions in a rehabilitation plan." Moreover, Kobayashi also mentioned the court still has to deal with "undetermined rehabilitation claims" and in light of the issue he filed a motion to seek an extension of the submission deadline.

"A large amount of rehabilitation claims that the rehabilitation trustee fully or partially disapproved remains undetermined for being subject to claim assessment procedures," the letter notes.

The latest letter from the Mt. Gox civil rehabilitation trustee follows the coordinator of the largest Mt. Gox legal team, Andy Pag's decision to resign from his position. Pag had decided to sell his Mt. Gox claim and explained that he believed a settlement could take years. The founder of Mt. Gox Legal addressed some issues he had with Mark Karpeles but said the main reason for the rehabilitation delay was because of Coinlab's claim. After the letter on April 25 from the court trustee, security researchers Wizsec published an editorial that lambastes Coinlab and its CEO Peter Vessenes over the enormous claim. Essentially, Wizsec describes how Coinlab justifies a $16 billion dollar claim that is over and above every claimant's filing. Wizsec's report states that the security researchers acquired a copy of the latest court petitions in order to get to the bottom of the situation.

The Elephant in the Room

Coinlab is a claimant because back in 2012 it allegedly made a deal with Tibanne, the parent company of Mt. Gox, with the hope of securing the rights to both U.S. and Canadian Mt. Gox customers. However, the deal never came to fruition and Coinlab sued Tibanne for $75 million and Tibanne attempted to sue them back. Then Mt. Gox went bankrupt and the Coinlab legal battle forged its way into bankruptcy proceedings and ultimately the rehabilitation process. Coinlab now wants $16 billion and Wizsec says it is because Coinlab is assuming Mt. Gox would have stayed in business for the last five years. "CoinLab [claims it] was unfairly robbed of revenue that they would have earned had the license agreement been fulfilled," Wizsec writes in the latest post.

"Here's where Coinlab's claim starts going off the rails," Wizsec states. "Coinlab reasons that since the agreement was for a term of 10 years, plus a strangely one-sided post-termination clause giving them continued revenue sharing for an additional 5 years after termination, CoinLab is actually owed a full 15 years of revenue on 25% of global trade volume." The security researcher's paper continues:

They're basing their claim on the assumption that the Mt. Gox collapse never happened, first extrapolating their 25% "share" of global trade volume all the way until present date, and then extrapolating the last 12 months worth of trading all the way to 2027 and taking "their cut" on trades that haven't even happened yet.

Wizsec says Coinlab has argued for the revenue Mt. Gox made before it went under and then calculated that "between March 2014 and September 2018 they are owed damages for lost revenue equal to global trade volume × 25%." According to Wizsec, the Coinlab claim extrapolates those numbers to the year 2027 as well and has also added legal fees and an extra $1,127,731,005 per year because the proceedings dragged out past 2018. The researchers' editorial also notes that the rehabilitation trustee has said the Coinlab claim is "impossible and completely groundless." Kobayashi appears to be fighting the claim, Wizsec notes, and he has shown no indication of compromise thus far according to the post. But the security researchers conclude that Peter Vessenes and Coinlab are not giving up so easy and plan to "exhaust every legal avenue."

"To continue to argue this frivolous claim at the direct expense of tens of thousands of people who actually lost their own money is utterly shameless," concludes Wizsec.

The Indian government has engaged in numerous crypto-related initiatives and projects while actively drafting the regulatory framework for cryptocurrencies. Below are 11 crypto-specific initiatives that the government has been involved in.

Committee to Draft Crypto Law

An interministerial committee under the chairmanship of Subhash Chandra Garg, Secretary of the Department of Economic Affairs, has been constituted to draft the regulatory framework for cryptocurrencies. Included on the committee are representatives from the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI), the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI), and the Central Board of Direct Taxes.

The committee is "considering all aspects related to virtual currencies and crypto assets … including banning/regulating," according to the Finance Ministry's summary report released in March of the government's activities in 2018.

The legal framework for cryptocurrencies in India was expected to be finalized in July last year, but no framework has been announced so far. This has led to speculation about what the recommendations entail, such as the recent media report claiming that the bill entitled "Banning of Cryptocurrencies and Regulation of Official Digital Currencies Bill 2019" has already been circulated to relevant ministries for discussion. The Indian crypto community has urged the public not jump to conclusions as the media reports only cite anonymous sources on the matter.

Working With FATF and G20

India's "Department of Revenue has been actively involved in the working papers being developed by the FATF on various issues (such as virtual currency, proliferation financing among) which will act as guidance for the member countries," the Finance Ministry's summary report also reveals.

The Financial Action Task Force (FATF), a global standard-setting body created to combat money laundering and terrorist financing, told the G20 recently that it is updating policies on crypto regulation which will be presented at the G20 summit in June. India is a G20 country and will be attending the summit and participate in discussions about crypto regulation.

RBI Banking Restriction

In addition to several warnings about the risk of investing in cryptocurrencies, the RBI issued a circular on April 6 last year prohibiting regulated entities from dealing in cryptocurrencies or providing "services for facilitating any person or entity in dealing with or settling" cryptocurrencies. Financial institutions had three months to exit crypto-related relationships.

The RBI detailed that "Such services include maintaining accounts, registering, trading, settling, clearing, giving loans against virtual tokens, accepting them as collateral, opening accounts of exchanges dealing with them and transfer/receipt of money in accounts relating to purchase/sale" of cryptocurrencies.

While the banking restriction has hurt a number of local crypto businesses, some have found a solution to the ban in the exchange-escrowed peer-to-peer crypto trading model. Meanwhile, the Indian crypto community has been actively campaigning to end the ban.

Supreme Court Hearing

Multiple writ petitions have been filed with the Indian justice system to lift the RBI ban. They were scheduled to be heard by the supreme court since September last year but the case has been continually postponed. The next hearing date is July 23. The supreme court has also asked the government to submit a report of the regulatory framework for cryptocurrencies.

Discussions at Blockchain Summit

In February, the Department of Science and Technology, the State Government of Uttar Pradesh, the Ministry of Commerce and Industry, the Ministry of Law and Justice, the Ministry of Human Resources Development, and the Department of Information Technology gathered at Blockchain Summit India to discuss various crypto-related topics including regulation.

The event's fintech partner, Cashaa, announced afterward that the policymakers discussed how to speed up crypto regulation. "The regulation is planned to be implemented by end of financial tenure," Cashaa wrote, noting that ICOs and STOs were also discussed.

Potential Central Bank Digital Currency

Replying to the question asked by Lok Sabha whether the government is considering introducing its own national cryptocurrency "in place of bitcoins," the Ministry of Finance confirmed on Dec. 28 last year:

The inter-ministerial committee under the chairmanship of Secretary, Department of Economic Affairs, is examining all issues, including the pros and cons of the introduction of an official digital currency in India.

SEBI Crypto Study Tour & Committee

In its 2017-18 annual report, SEBI revealed that it had "organised study tours to Financial Services Agency (FSA) Japan, Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) UK and Swiss Financial Market Supervisory Authority (FINMA) Switzerland to study initial coin offerings and cryptocurrencies."

The regulator constituted the Committee on Financial and Regulatory Technologies on August 3, 2017, "In order to reap the opportunities provided by fintech" and "to deal with relevant risk and challenges," SEBI detailed. It also noted that new technology, including cryptocurrency, "is affecting financial markets through various channels." The committee is under the chairmanship of Shri T.V. Mohandas Pai, Chairman of Manipal Global Education.

Cybercrime Unit for Crypto

India's Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh inaugurated a national cyber forensic lab and the Delhi Police's cybercrime unit called Cypad to help detect fraud online, including those involving cryptocurrency, as news.Bitcoin.com previously reported.

The national cyber forensic lab includes a crypto forensic unit. It is equipped with technology to recover data from damaged hard disks, perform cryptocurrency analysis, and ensure malware forensic data can be retrieved from 33,000 kinds of mobile phone models available on the market.

Working With Canada

Cryptocurrency was a major topic of discussion at the 16th meeting of the Canada-India Joint Working Group on Counter-Terrorism held in Ottawa on March 26 and 27. India's delegation was led by Joint Secretary for Counter-Terrorism from the Ministry of External Affairs, Shri Mahaveer Singhvi. The meeting involved senior representatives from both governments, according to a press release by the joint working group.

Among other items on the agenda, "The delegations reviewed efforts underway to address new and emerging challenges posed by virtual currencies," the announcement reads, adding that "The meetings concluded with agreement on a joint action plan" which includes "joint capacity building and information and technology sharing."

ICAI Report

A detailed study conducted by the Institute of Chartered Accountants of India (ICAI) "on accounting standards and disclosures of cryptocurrency in financial statements of companies" was requested by the Indian Ministry of Corporate Affairs in January last year, according to ICAI member Debashis Mitra. The institute, a statutory body established by an Act of Parliament, went on to launch a course on cryptocurrency and blockchain technology for professional accountants in August last year.

RBI's Regulatory Sandbox

The RBI recently published a draft framework for a fintech regulatory sandbox that welcomes businesses and applications using smart contract blockchain technologies. However, the document also has "An indicative negative list" of products, services, activities, and technology "which may not be accepted for testing." The list includes cryptocurrency, crypto services, crypto trading, crypto investing, as well as settling in crypto assets. It also includes initial coin offerings and any products or services which have been banned by the government.

It should be noted that India is undergoing an election cycle and many decisions made by the current government administration could be null and void when the next administration takes office.