Tech

When the digital avatar “Diella” was launched by the Albanian government last year, its purpose was clear: to serve as an incorruptible public servant in a country known for widespread corruption, according to new reporting by The New York Times. 

Revolut has dropped plans to buy a U.S. lender as a means to get a foothold in the American market and will instead apply for a banking license from the Trump administration, the Financial Times reported. 

Australia’s financial intelligence unit has ordered Singapore-based Airwallex to review whether the payments giant has violated the nation’s anti-money laundering (AML) laws.  

Major U.S. crypto companies and lobbyists are turning against a sweeping digital-asset bill they had championed, threatening efforts to lock in a regulatory framework while Republicans still control Congress.

California’s Department of Financial Protection and Innovation (DFPI) fined crypto lending platform Nexo Capital Inc. $500,000, alleging the company made crypto-backed consumer and commercial loans to Californians without the required state license. 

The Dubai Financial Services Authority (DFSA) has banned the use of crypto privacy tokens in the special economic zone the body oversees, citing anti-money laundering and sanctions compliance risks, CoinDesk reported. 

Two UK-registered cryptocurrency exchanges, Zedcex and Zedxion, operated as front companies for an infrastructure that processed approximately $1 billion in funds linked to Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), according to new analysis from TRM Labs. 

World Liberty Financial, the Trump family’s flagship crypto venture, said an affiliated entity has applied for a national banking license, The Wall Street Journal reported.

PwC has decided to “lean in” to cryptocurrency work after years of a more guarded approach, citing a friendlier U.S. policy environment under President Donald Trump and new legislation governing digital assets, according to the Financial Times. 

The UK government will examine the role of cryptocurrency donations in politics as part of a wider review of party-financing rules triggered by a bribery case involving a Reform UK politician, Bloomberg reported.