Today in the cryptocurrency world, significant developments unfolded across regulation and industry recovery efforts. In the United States, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) proposed a new rule that seeks to extend banking-like protections to users of cryptocurrency accounts and wallets. If enacted, this rule would allow users who suffer financial losses due to hacks or scams to potentially receive refunds from crypto service providers. The proposal aims to extend the safeguards offered under the Electronic Fund Transfer Act to crypto transactions, thereby offering protections to those trading in stablecoins and similar assets.
Concurrently, Indian crypto exchange WazirX revealed a restructuring plan in response to a substantial $235 million cyberattack attributed to North Korea’s Lazarus Group. Under the supervision of Singapore’s legal system, WazirX’s parent company, Zettai, has sought a moratorium in the Singapore High Court, aiming to reorganize its debts through a Scheme of Arrangement. This effort is designed to compensate affected users, with WazirX holding assets that currently surpass user claims. The company has introduced recovery tokens as a way to resolve outstanding claims, offering affected parties future profits as potential compensation. WazirX founder Nischal Shetty emphasized the initiative’s goal to rebuild trust and prioritize user recovery.
Additionally, a legal amendment in the United Kingdom clarified the regulatory stance on crypto staking. The UK Treasury updated a segment of The Financial Services and Markets Act 2000 to specify that crypto staking does not constitute a “collective investment scheme.” This change alleviates potential regulatory burdens for proof-of-stake blockchains like Ethereum and Solana, as it removes staking activities from being heavily regulated under this definition. The new guidelines will be effective starting January 31, providing clarity and potentially easing operations for blockchain networks engaging in staking.
