KuCoin Labs, VAIOT launch crypto-regulation think tank amid U.S. crackdown

KuCoin Labs and VAIOT, a blockchain and AI-powered services business, jointly launched a think tank to foster crypto regulation informed by the perspectives of industry experts.

Regulated by Malta since September 2020 and with oversight exercised by leading accounting and advisory firm Grant Thornton, VAIOT positions its new Digital Assets Regulation Institute (DARI) at the forefront of establishing regulatory clarity in an industry that is still struggling to carve out its legitimacy, particularly in the U.S.

“No one cares about regulation during a bull run when money is being tossed around and investors are making massive gains,” said Pawel Andruszkiewicz, COO of VAIOT and President of DARI. “It’s when everything crashed and burned a few months ago that people came to understand the value of companies, like VAIOT, that comply with stringent regulations. It’s our goal at DARI to ensure effective regulation is at the forefront of the way we think about this industry going forward.”

The launch comes on the heels of the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) having filed a lawsuit against crypto exchange Binance and founder Changpeng Zhao last month on allegations the company knowingly offered unregistered crypto derivatives products in the U.S. against federal law. The CFTC’s lawsuit against the world’s largest crypto exchange is only the latest in a string of actions taken by U.S. regulators against large crypto companies in an uncertain regulatory environment.

Some have dubbed U.S. action on crypto post-FTX collapse as a “war on crypto.” But that implies a coordinated effort to kill the nascent industry, which doesn’t add up considering steps taken to craft crypto regulation alongside industry leaders before crypto behemoths started tumbling.

More likely is that the U.S. government is panicking in an attempt to move quickly to protect investors. The problem is it might not quite know how—Sam Bankman-Fried, the disgraced former CEO of FTX, had infamously been involved in working with regulators to craft new rules behind the scenes. In some sense, now they have to start from scratch.

“We’ve been hearing about governments working on regulation for digital assets for years now,” said Wayne Pisani, Partner and Head of Tax, Regulatory and Compliance at Grant Thornton, who supports DARI. “But part of the problem is it’s being developed behind the scenes. Effective regulation requires bottom-up initiative, where companies and entities working within regulatory frameworks can share their opinions and expertise with regulators in a public manner. That’s what DARI is aiming to bring to the industry.”

DARI will gather relevant stakeholders, ranging from regulated companies and projects seeking regulation to consulting firms, financial and security auditors, accounting companies, law firms, and VCs, to conduct research and produce reports that will inform government policy across the globe.

KuCoin Labs, the investment and research firm spun out of crypto exchange KuCoin, brings to DARI significant experience in research and incubation of Web3 projects based on a strict selection criteria and vetting process. KuCoin Labs is known for gathering both internal and external leading market experts from different project development segments.

“It is particularly crucial to join as strong an industry force as possible to ensure an optimal development condition for future crypto builders and users,” said Lou YU, Head of KuCoin Labs, and vice-president to DARI. “We hope to create regulatory synergies among countries and markets, shouldering the fundamental ideologies of crypto but also making them relevant and tangible to all participants. DARI will put efforts into the submission of an official proposal to the European Commission, and is enthusiastic about engaging in regulatory hearings with the relevant European institutions.”

Projects seeking to be regulated will be able to participate in consultation and incubation with DARI’s institutional partners, and the institutional partners will act as consultants for the think tank.