Today in crypto, Mega insurance broker Aon is testing stablecoins for paying insurance premiums. Bithumb risks a partial business suspension for negligence around money laundering and customer verification practices, according to local media reports in South Korea. The former US Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) Chairman Chris Giancarlo said US banks are the ones most in need of crypto regulatory clarity.
Aon tests stablecoin payments for insurance premiums
Aon, one of the world’s largest insurance brokers, is testing the use of stablecoins to pay insurance premiums, highlighting the growing role of digital dollars in traditional financial infrastructure following the passage of the GENIUS bill last year.
In a Monday announcement, UK-based Aon said it completed a pilot that settled insurance premiums for clients, including Coinbase and Paxos, using USDC
USDC on Ethereum and PayPal USD PYUSD on Solana.
Tim Fletcher, CEO of Aon’s financial services division, said the pilot reflects the company’s effort to explore stablecoins as a payment rail, predicting that tokenized assets will become more widely used in financial transactions.
Aon said in August that its analysis showed 120 re-insurers wrote nearly $2 trillion of gross written premium in 2024.
Bithumb faces possible six-month partial suspension in South Korea
Bithumb, South Korea’s second-largest cryptocurrency exchange by trading volume, is reportedly facing a possible partial business suspension of up to six months as regulators step up enforcement over anti-money laundering controls.
South Korea’s Financial Intelligence Unit (FIU) gave Bithumb a preliminary notice of a six-month partial suspension over alleged anti-money laundering and know-your-customer failures under the Act on Reporting and Using Specified Financial Transaction Information, according to local media reports on Monday. The regulator reportedly cited concerns over dealings with unregistered overseas virtual asset service providers and shortcomings in customer due diligence.
The FIU also issued a reprimand warning to Bithumb’s CEO, a warning considered a heavy penalty, which may lead to restrictions on his reappointment or future roles. Regulators are expected to hold a sanctions review later in March before deciding on any final measures. Bithumb told News1 that the action remains at the pre-notification stage and that the scope of any sanctions could still change.
“This measure is not yet a confirmed sanction, but is a pre-notification stage, and there may be some adjustments in the sanctions trial,” a Bithumb spokesperson said, adding that “restrictions only apply to the transfer (withdrawal) of virtual assets by new members.”
If finalized, the suspension would restrict new users from transferring digital assets off the platform, according to the report. Bithumb did not immediately respond to Cointelegraph’s request for comment.
Crypto regulatory clarity matters more for banks, ex-CFTC chief says
US banks are the ones most in need of crypto regulatory clarity, according to Chris Giancarlo, former chairman of the US Commodity Futures Trading Commission, who argues that they risk falling behind the rest of the world in payment innovation.
During an episode of Scott Melker’s The Wolf Of All Streets Podcast on Sunday, Giancarlo said the crypto industry will continue to build, even if the Senate’s crypto market structure bill doesn't pass. However, banks will be hesitant to invest in the technology without clear rules.
“The banks, however, can't afford regulatory uncertainty. Their general counsels are telling their boards, you can't invest billions of dollars in this… unless you've got regulatory certainty. The banks need this more than crypto,” he said.
“I think there's a recognition that this is the new architecture of finance and America, our financial institutions are the world's dominant financial institutions. We need to modernize that. We need to adopt this technology.”
