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Bank of Russia Registers Another Digital Asset Issuer
13.3.2023
The Central Bank of Russia has added another entity to its register of authorized issuers of digital financial assets. The platform, called ‘Masterchain,’ becomes the fifth ‘information system operator’ in the country that can legally tokenize traditional assets and organize their trade. Number...
Revised Bill Suggests Prison Time for Russian Crypto Miners Evading Taxation
12.3.2023
A draft law designed to regulate crypto mining in Russia introduces harsh penalties for miners failing to report digital assets to the state. In its latest revision, the bill also threatens to punish those who organize illegal trading of cryptocurrencies with imprisonment and hefty fines. Forced...
USDC Stablecoin Depegging Causes Concern Among Crypto Advocates, 5 Other Stablecoins Slip Below Parity
11.3.2023
On Saturday, March 11, 2023, crypto advocates are concerned as a few stablecoin assets have depegged from their $1 parity. The second-largest stablecoin USDC, issued by Circle Financial, fell below $0.90, reaching a low of $0.877 per coin. Additionally, around five other stablecoins have dropped...
Blockchain.com Shutters Asset Management Subsidiary Amid Crypto Winter and Industry Turmoil
11.3.2023
According to reports and a filing that shows its name struck off the U.K. companies’ register list, Blockchain.com is sunsetting its Blockchain.com Asset Management subsidiary. A company spokesperson cited deteriorating “macroeconomic conditions” and the “crypto winter”...
India Brings Crypto Transactions Under Prevention of Money Laundering Act
11.3.2023
India’s finance ministry has announced that crypto transactions will be covered under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act, 2002 (PMLA). Noting that the move “is a positive step in recognizing the sector,” a crypto insider explained that it will strengthen the industry’s...
US Regulators Close Silicon Valley Bank in One of the Largest Bank Failures Since Washington Mutual
10.3.2023
After Silicon Valley Bank (SVB) experienced financial turmoil, the U.S. Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) and the California Department of Financial Protection and Innovation closed the financial institution. Insured depositors can withdraw their funds on Monday after the FDIC took over...
Biden Budget Proposal Targets Crypto Investors Using Like-Kind Exchange Provision; Plan Aims to Tax Crypto Miners 30%
10.3.2023
On Thursday, the Biden administration released the U.S. president’s 182-page budget proposal for the fiscal year 2024, which aims to “grow the economy from the bottom up and middle out.” The budget includes an $835 billion increase in military spending, but the administration...
Report: Thai Govt to Grant Tax Waivers to Issuers of Digital Asset Investment Tokens
10.3.2023
Thailand’s government has said companies that issue digital tokens will receive a waiver that exempts them from paying corporate and value-added tax. According to a report, the Thai government anticipates losing just over $1 billion in tax revenue as a result of the waiver. Relaxation of...
US Accounting Watchdog Issues Warning on Crypto Proof-of-Reserve Audits: Investors Urged to Exercise Caution
9.3.2023
According to a recent warning by the U.S. Public Company Accounting Oversight Board (PCAOB), crypto proof-of-reserve (POR) audits have limitations, and the board believes that investors should exercise caution when dealing with companies using POR audits. PCAOB Calls for Investor Caution and...
Coinbase Launches Wallet-as-a-Service to Bring Millions to Web3
9.3.2023
On March 8, Coinbase announced the launch of its Wallet-as-a-Service (WaaS) product. The WaaS product aims to “bring the next hundred million consumers into Web3 through a seamless wallet-onboarding experience.” The Coinbase WaaS offers wallet infrastructure application programming...
Bitcoin Proponents Slam Nobel Laureate Paul Krugman After Venmo Payment Issue
9.3.2023
Nobel Prize winner Paul Krugman complained on Twitter Wednesday that he was experiencing issues with the centralized payment processor Venmo. His tweet was followed by a barrage of bitcoin supporters who insisted that Krugman was now realizing the importance of censorship-resistant payment systems....
Ethereum Co-Founder Vitalik Buterin’s Address Sells Trillions of Airdropped Tokens, Causes Illiquid Coin Prices to Plummet
8.3.2023
On March 7, onchain observers noticed that Vitalik Buterin, the co-founder of Ethereum, had allegedly sold billions and trillions of airdropped ERC20 tokens, resulting in a gain of an estimated $700,000 in value. The market liquidity of the airdropped tokens was shallow, and the relatively unknown...
Compass Mining Alerts Bitcoin Miners of Changes in Bitmain’s ASIC Design
8.3.2023
Compass Mining, a bitcoin mining firm, published a blog post stating that Bitmain, the company behind the application-specific integrated circuit (ASIC) mining rig, has made changes to its design. The post advised miners to be aware of the changes as Compass Mining identified “three...
Yuga Labs’ Twelvefold Collection of Ordinal Inscriptions Generates 735 Bitcoin, Worth More Than $16 Million
7.3.2023
Yuga Labs, the creators of the blue-chip non-fungible token (NFT) collection Bored Ape Yacht Club (BAYC), announced that the team has completed its Ordinal Inscription auction with a total of 3,246 bidders. The Twelvefold collection of inscriptions generated 735.7 bitcoin, worth more than...
Kraken Crypto Exchange to Disrupt Traditional Banking with the Launch of Its Own Bank for Digital Assets – Here's What You Need to Know
7.3.2023
Major crypto exchange Kraken is finally putting its feet into the banking waters with the new Kraken Bank.
"We're building a better kind of crypto & bitcoin bank for our clients," said the exchange on its website. The Wyoming, USA-based bank is called Kraken Financial, but "due to overwhelming...
Crypto Seen as Investment Opportunity in the MENA Region Says Iceberg Capital Executive Chairman
7.3.2023
While interest in digital assets has waned in some parts of the world, in the Middle East and Northern Africa adoption of crypto has been skyrocketing according to Mustafa Kheriba, the executive chairman of the asset management firm Iceberg Capital Limited. According to Kheriba, factors such...
While Bitcoin’s Hashrate Remains Sky-High, Merge-Mined Crypto Asset Networks Benefit
6.3.2023
In recent times, Bitcoin’s hashrate has been consistently above 300 exahash per second (EH/s) as multiple mining pools dedicate significant hashpower to the Bitcoin blockchain today. Interestingly, some of the world’s top bitcoin mining pools are also using their hashrate...
Apple’s Approval Process Delays Uniswap’s Mobile App Launch; Firm Launches Limited Trial Release
4.3.2023
On March 3, 2023, Uniswap Labs, the firm behind the decentralized exchange Uniswap, announced the launch of a limited early-release application through Apple’s Testflight program. The company stated that the limited release was due to Apple not granting approval for the application launch...
Bybit Halts US Dollar Deposits via Bank Transfer Due to Service ‘Outages’ From Partner
4.3.2023
On March 4, 2023, cryptocurrency exchange Bybit announced that it had suspended U.S. dollar deposits via bank transfer. Bybit cited “outages” from its partner as the reason for the suspension of USD deposits via bank transfers and the SWIFT network. Bybit Suspends USD Deposits, Wire...
Digital Assets Under Management 5.25% Higher in February — Grayscale Still ‘Most Dominant Player’
4.3.2023
The value of digital assets under management (AUM) for digital asset investment products in February rose to $28.3 billion, the highest number recorded since May 2022, according to Cryptocompare stats. The increase came against the background of rising U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC)...