Tel Aviv's Magistrate Court has reportedly issued a ruling allowing Israel's government to seize all the crypto in more than 150 digital wallets that it hablacklisted for allegedly funding terrorist groups. According to a Dec. 18 local Israeli media report, Israeli Defense Minister Benny Gantz says the court's Dec. 15 ruling has already allowed authorities to seize a further $33,500 from digital wallets linked to the Islamist militant group Hamas. (Cointelegraph)

United States Banking Committee chairman Sherrod Brown has suggested that the Securities Exchange Commission (SEC) and the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) should perhaps consider a ban on cryptocurrencies. Brown’s comments were made in a Dec. 18 appearance on NBC’s “Meet the Press” although the Senator quickly added that a ban would be difficult to enforce. (Cointelegraph)

More than 350 fraudulent cryptocurrency tokens were created per day this year, defrauding millions of investors, according to blockchain risk monitoring firm Solidus Labs. From the start of the year to Dec. 1, 117,629 “scam tokens” were deployed according to Solidus’ 2022 “Rug Pull Report.” That’s a 41% increase from the nearly 83,400 scam tokens Solidus detected in 2021. The report cited the BNB Chain as harbouring the greatest number of scam tokens, claiming 12% of all BEP-20 tokens are scams. (Cointelegraph)

At present, Japanese firms that issue crypto are required to pay a set 30% corporate tax rate on their holdings, even if they haven’t realized a profit through a sale. As such, a number of domestically founded crypto/blockchain firms and talent have reportedly chosen to set up shop elsewhere over the past few years. Japan’s ruling party, the Liberal Democratic Party’s (LDP) tax committee held a meeting on Dec. 15 and approved a proposal — initially tabled in August — which removes the requirement for crypto companies to pay taxes on paper gains from tokens that they have issued and held. (Cointelegraph)

The incoming United States House Financial Services Committee chair Patrick McHenry wants the Treasury to delay the implementation of a section of the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act that deals with digital assets and tax collection. McHenry sent a letter on Dec. 14 to U.S. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen with questions and concerns about the scope of Section 80603 of the Act. In the letter he requested clarification over the “poorly drafted” and potentially privacy-compromising Section that deals with the taxation of digital assets, scheduled to go into effect in 2023. (Cointelegraph)

US legendary investor Jim Rogers told Sputnik that he believes most cryptocurrency will eventually fall to zero and disappear or survive purely as trading vehicles. US legendary investor Jim Rogers told Sputnik that he believes most cryptocurrency will eventually fall to zero and disappear or survive purely as trading vehicles. 

Tester is the senior senator of Montana and has held a seat there since 2007. He also serves on the Senate Banking Committee, which is one of the key players involved in the ongoing debate over U.S. crypto regulation. During a Dec. 11 appearance on NBC’s Meet the Press, Tester argued that as crypto has no real value at all, the sector shouldn’t be regulated, as that would give it legitimacy. (Cointelegraph)

Minnesota Representative Tom Emmer called out Securities and Exchange Commission Chairman Gary Gensler on Sunday, demanding that the official speaks before Congress about his approach to regulating crypto. “@GaryGensler must testify before Congress and answer questions about the cost of his regulatory failures,” he wrote in a thread on Twitter. (Decrypt)

A European Commission proposal for taxing crypto estimates that taxes on crypto assets could raise as much as €2.4 billion ($2.5 billion), a leaked draft obtained by The Block suggests. The proposal, which is scheduled for adoption in the Commission this week, claims to close the “regulatory gap” and remove tax evasion opportunities for crypto investors as well as ensure member states avoid a tax shortfall.

The New York Department of Financial Services (NYDFS) published a proposed regulation on Thursday that lays out how the state agency would assess New York-regulated crypto companies for costs associated with their supervision. The proposed regulation comes eight months after the New York State Senate first authorized NYDFS to charge the crypto companies it oversees, bringing its oversight mandate for crypto in line with how the regulator oversees more traditional banks and financial services firms. (Coindesk)