New cryptocurrency exchange rules go into effect in Washington

Following the passing of Senate Bill 5031, new regulations for digital currency exchanges are now effective in the state of Washington, CoinDesk reported. Introduced this January, the bill is sponsored by Senators Jan Angel and Mark Mullet. It was sent to Governor Jay Inslee for approval in April and was signed within a couple of days. According to the details on Legiscan.com, the regulations went into effect on July 23, 2017.

Delaware Blockchain Stock Bill signed into law

The governor of Delaware John C. Carney Jr. has officially approved a bill that aimed to legalize using blockchain or distributed ledger technology for the creation or maintenance of corporate records, CoinDesk reported. The Senate Bill 69 was signed on 21 July 2017. Former Governor Jack Markell launched an initiative last May to help the state to embrace the emerging blockchain and smart contract technology industry.

Cryptocurrency exchange BTC-e fined $110M for violating AML laws

The US government has fined BTC-e, one of the largest cryptocurrency exchanges by volume, $110 million for willful violations of Anti-Money Laundering (AML) laws. This follows the arrest of Russian national Alexander Vinnik, one of the operators of BTC-e, earlier this week. BTC-e, which has conducted over $296 million in transactions of bitcoin alone, kept its geographic location and ownership hidden all these years.

Bank of Papua New Guinea, Abt Associates to establish PNG Digital Commerce Cryptocurrency Association

Abt Associates has announced that it is working with the Bank of Papua New Guinea to establish the PNG Digital Commerce Cryptocurrency Association. The initiative will help the country to link up with the Global Blockchain Forum, an initiative led by the U.S. Chamber of Digital Commerce.

South African Reserve Bank to test bitcoin regulations – Report

The South African Reserve Bank (SARB) will start testing new regulations for cryptocurrencies such as bitcoin in the forthcoming months, Business Tech reported. Speaking to the publication, Bankymoon CEO Loerien Gamaroff said that that the company has been selected for the central bank’s sandbox to trial-run the new regulations. He said that he had been in touch with the SARB for some time now and had conducted cryptocurrency-related workshops and seminars. Gamaroff was also involved in an initiative to investigate alternative currencies in the country.

Research studies:

Federal securities laws may apply to blockchain-based ICOs and token sales: SEC

Startups propose central bank digital currency to Federal Reserve task force for faster payments

Events/Conferences/Hackathons:

ConsenSys Academy’s blockchain training program to kick off on August 1st

Funding/Investments:

Bitcoin.com.au raises $815k in Series A round

US government grants $749k to Evernym to develop blockchain key management system

Fenbushi Capital to participate in blockchain firm Tierion’s token sale

Consortium News, Partnerships and More:

Euroclear terminates blockchain gold settlement project with Paxos – Report

Hyperledger blockchain project adds 10 new members

Digital Currency and Blockchain Initiatives:

Russia’s S7 Airlines issues tickets using Ethereum blockchain – Report

Renault builds blockchain prototype for digital car maintenance book with Microsoft and VISEO

Infosys subsidiary EdgeVerve brings blockchain to sales platform ‘TradeEdge’

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