The UK government has launched a consultation to explore a nationwide ban preventing operators of critical national infrastructure from bowing to demands from ransomware cybercriminals.
Here are some of the latest developments from the world of crypto over the past few days
The UK government has launched a consultation to explore a nationwide ban preventing operators of critical national infrastructure from bowing to demands from ransomware cybercriminals.
The Home Office proposed a “targeted ban” on ransomware payments for all public sector bodies in a proposal on January 11, 2025. This included critical national infrastructure, such as the energy, health service and local councils, thus expanding an existing ban on government departments.
Dan Jarvis, UK Security Minister said the goal was to protect national security by cutting off cyber criminals from ransomed funds. Many ransomware attackers ask for cryptocurrency payments.
“These proposals help us meet the scale of the ransomware threat, hitting these criminal networks in their wallets and cutting off the key financial pipeline they rely upon to operate,” Jarvis said.
The South Korea’s Financial Services Commission (FSC) has taken a cautious approach towards allowing corporate accounts for cryptocurrency trading, postponing any decision for further discussion.
On January 15, 2025, the regulatory body held the second Virtual Asset Committee meeting, focusing on the implementation of the country’s new crypto investor protection laws, Korea Times reported.
South Korean regulators reportedly mentioned in the meeting that FSC is finalising its policy review regarding the widely anticipated approval of corporate investment in digital assets.
FSC Vice Chairman Kim So-young said, “The issue of allowing accounts for corporations, which was discussed previously, has undergone extensive review through 12 sub-committee and task force discussions.”
Sony has launched the mainnet for its L2 Blockchain, Soneium. It is a layer-2 (L2) Blockchain platform developed by Sony Block Solutions Labs to streamline Blockchain interactions and provide a user-friendly Web 3.0 experience.
The platform is built on OP Stack from the Optimism Foundation and incorporates Sony’s non-fungible token (NFT)-based Fan Marketing Platform and Soneium Spark. This supports creators, developers and fans.
Soneium also includes partnerships with Sony Pictures, Sony Music and Sony Music Publishing, using NFTs to grant fans access to exclusive content.
This launch, however, met with mixed reactions. Some users praised the platform’s potential, while others raised concerns over its “blacklisting” of some contract addresses. Pump.fun, the pseudonymous founder of slammed the L2 for “nuking everyone’s position to 0”.