Crypto exchanges around the world are encountering new regulatory obstacles, with the United States Department of Justice (DOJ) filing charges against KuCoin and its founders for running an unlicensed money-transmitting business and violating the Bank Secrecy Act on March 26. The DOJ alleges that KuCoin handled over $5 billion in questionable and criminal funds. Additionally, the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) has brought a civil enforcement case against the exchange for multiple violations.

In another legal setback in the U.S., Coinbase's attempt to dismiss a lawsuit filed by the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) was denied by District Judge Katherine Failla. The SEC argued that previous similar transactions have been considered securities transactions. Coinbase challenged the SEC's authority over crypto exchanges and sought to have the case dropped.

On March 25, the financial regulator in the Philippines decided to block Binance access for local users due to concerns about the exchange's unlicensed operations in the country offering leveraged trading services and crypto savings accounts without proper licenses. In Russia, Binance's successor, CommEx, announced the suspension of operations and halted deposits after acquiring Binance's Russian business in September 2023.

In other industry news, BlackRock's spot Bitcoin ETF is on track to surpass Grayscale Bitcoin Trust (GBTC) holdings within three weeks. Galaxy Digital reported a significant turnaround, with $296 million in net income in 2023 after a $1 billion loss in 2022. Additionally, Goldman Sachs' hedge fund clients are showing renewed interest in crypto, driven by the approval of spot Bitcoin ETFs. SWIFT has confirmed the success of the second phase of sandbox testing for its CBDC interlinking solution, planning to further develop the beta version of its connector.

Mastercard released a white paper on the growing remittance rates in Latin America, projecting digital remittances to reach $20 billion by 2026. "Crypto Biz" provides weekly updates on the business side of blockchain and crypto, delivered every Thursday.