EU Finalises Crypto Anti-Money Laundering Rules - Top Crypto Updates

EU finalises crypto anti-money laundering rules

The European Union (EU) has finalised a deal regarding anti-money laundering rules that would apply to crypto transactions. The new rules aim to prevent money laundering and terrorist financing. Crypto-assets service providers will now have to collect and store information to identify people involved in crypto transactions. However, the new regulations will not impose tracking requirements on private, unhosted wallets.

Crypto prices today: Bitcoin falls 3.1%, ETH down 5.9% 

Bitcoin is currently trading at $19,436.62, a decline of 3.11% over the previous day. Ethereum is down 5.9% over the last 24 hours to $1,060.38. Solana fell 9% to $31.88, while Cardano is trading lower by 3.25% at $0.452. Avalanche (AVAX) is down 8.31% to $16.58. The global crypto market cap stands at $868.92 billion, a 2.99% decline over the previous day.

North Korean attackers behind $100M Harmony hack: Report

As per a report by blockchain forensics company Elliptic Enterprises, North Korean hackers known as the Lazarus Group are believed to be behind the recent $100 million heist on the Harmony blockchain. Harmony confirmed that its Horizon Bridge, a seamless layer that allows crypto to move across different blockchains, had been hacked last week.

Grayscale sues SEC after Spot Bitcoin ETF rejection

Grayscale Investments sued the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission shortly after the regulator rejected its bid to list the first Spot Bitcoin exchange-traded fund (ETF). In its ruling, the SEC said the Grayscale spot ETF application did not do enough to protect investors from "fraudulent and manipulative acts and practices."  Meanwhile, Grayscale said it would continue to leverage all of its resources to advocate for its investors and the "equitable regulatory treatment of Bitcoin investment vehicles.”

OpenSea reports email data breach

An employee of Customer.io, a platform for managing email newsletters and campaigns, leaked a list of OpenSea customers’ emails to an outside party. OpenSea is the world’s largest NFT marketplace. Email newsletter management platforms and Customer Relationship Management (CRM) software appear to be a weak spot for crypto firms as data leaks continue to occur frequently.