The Crypto Currier 4th April

This week's biggest news in crypto in the Crypto Currier:

Regulators are cracking down on crypto. Binance is facing a lawsuit that whilst is big, isn't so much big financially for the exchange as big in that could shape the next stage of the industry. They're also going after anyone who tries to bank the industry in the US (and the UK), whilst Hong Kong and other jurisdictions are quietly going on about getting ahead. Demand for tokenised assets is demonstrably growing, whilst the metaverse seems to have seen more inflated days. And it turns out DAOs (decentralised autotonomous organisations) work out better if they actually wait for votes to come in before giving out a lot of money. Who'd have thought?

Binance, CEO CZ and influencers face $1B lawsuit for unregistered securities promo

Regulators are going after the exchanges. Binance, its CEO Changpeng 'CZ' Zhao, and three crypto influencers are facing yet another lawsuit. This time, it's a $1 billion one, and alleges Binance's involvement in trading unregistered securities and paying influencers for unlawful promotion. The lawsuit alleges that Binance violated U.S. derivatives laws by offering derivative trading services to U.S. customers without proper registration. The CFTC has Binance of prioritizing commercial success over regulatory compliance and levied charges against the exchange, CZ, and Lim for seven violations of the Commodities Exchange Act and controlled foreign company rules. The CFTC seeks to ban Binance, Zhao, Lim, and all affiliates from trading on registered entities, holding any commodity interest, registering or exempting with the CFTC, or acting as a principal, officer, or employee of a registered entity. Additionally, the CFTC is demanding Binance pay back trading profits, revenues, commissions, and fees derived from U.S. customers, pay civil penalties assessed by the court, and stand a jury trial on this matter. That's big. The lawsuit has gathered evidence, including internal supposedly private chat records between CZ and Binance execs. The filing isn't holding back, "This is a classic example of a centralized exchange, which is promoting the sale of an unregistered security." NBA Miami Heat star Jimmy Butler and YouTubers Graham Stephan and Ben Armstrong (BitBoy Crypto) are named in the suit, which claims they are liable for customer losses. The lawsuit also states that investors don't need to prove they were influenced by the ads, and "millions" could be eligible for damages. The 74 document is entertaining and enlightening reading. Things aren't looking good for crypto exchanges in the US (or, elsewhere). (Cointelegraph) Read More and more

Bittrex Exits U.S. Market Amid Regulatory Issues

The US is losing crypto companies. Bittrex crypto exchange is now withdrawing from the US market due to regulatory challenges.?Co-Founder and CEO Richie Lai was clear where the blame lies. ‘Regulatory requirements are often unclear and enforced without appropriate discussion or input, resulting in an uneven competitive landscape’ , adding 'operating in the U.S. is no longer feasible’. Lai announced the decision on Twitter, stating that the exchange's U.S. operations would wind down but emphasising that Bittrex Global would continue serving customers outside the U.S. "Don’t worry – all customer funds are safe and available to withdraw; however, it’s just not economically viable for us to continue to operate in the current U.S. regulatory and economic environment." Bittrex will permit trading in the U.S. until April 14, 2023, and customers are advised to withdraw their funds by April 30, 2023. (Finance Magnates)?Read More

Three Canadian Crypto Exchanges Confirms Plans to Merge

Three Canadian crypto exchanges are set to merge, in plans to jointly create one of the world's largest crypto trading platforms. WonderFi, Coinsquare, and CoinSmart have a combined 1.65 million users and over $600 million in assets under custody. The merger has led to a surge in shares of WNDR of WonderFi, which is backed by investor Kevin O'Leary. WonderFi President Dean Skurka believes the combined company will have the scale to be the market leader in Canada, a strong balance sheet for expansion, and a clear path to profitability. We'll see. (CoinDesk) Read More

Looking like US crackdown will push crypto ‘center of gravity’ to Hong Kong

It's looking like strict and unclear crypto regulation in the US (and, elsewhere) is driving the market to Hong Kong. It seems as if the US government's stringent approach to cryptocurrency regulation could lead to the industry's "center of gravity" shifting to Hong Kong, according to CEO of Paris-based institutional crypto market data provider Kaiko, Ambre Soubiran. While the US has become more aggressive towards crypto since FTX's collapse, Hong Kong has been working to establish itself as a major crypto hub with progressive regulations. The Hong Kong Securities and Futures Commission (SFA) proposed a crypto licensing regime focused on consumer protection without hindering innovation. More than 80 virtual asset-related firms have expressed interest in establishing operations in Hong Kong, with 23 already indicating plans to set up a presence. (Cointelegraph) Read More

Senator Warren Touts Building ‘Anti-Crypto Army’ In Re-Election Campaign

Senator Elizabeth Warren has launched her re-election campaign, focusing on the "building of an anti-crypto army." Warren has a history of hostility towards Bitcoin and crypto, and she is now, allegedly, actively recruiting conservative Republicans to join her anti-crypto movement. The goal of this movement is to derail the growth of the cryptocurrency industry. Warren's efforts led to the introduction of the Digital Asset Anti-Money Laundering Act of 2022 in December, which sounds good, in theory, but faced opposition from both Republicans and Democrats. She has promised to reintroduce the bill this year, with the aim of protecting vulnerable people from digital assets. Her plans include implementing anti-money laundering (AML) policies for DeFi platforms and self-hosted wallets and banning the use of mixers. In January 2023, the Heritage Foundation revealed Warren is allegedly working with US SEC chief Gary Gensler on what they call Operation Choke Point 2.0. (Bitcoinist) Read More

Amid the Failures, Who Is Providing Banking Services to Crypto?

The US banking industry is facing instability, as three crypto-friendly banks, Silvergate Bank, Silicon Valley Bank, and Signature Bank, recently ran into trouble. Signature Bank has been taken over by Flagstar Bank, and Silicon Valley Bank was purchased by First Citizens Bank. Some in the crypto industry suggest there might be a clandestine operation, dubbed Operation Choke Point 2.0, to shut down crypto in the US by cutting off links with conventional banking services. As a result, crypto entities have faced challenges, including the inability to use the Silvergate Exchange Network (SEN) which had been a primary payments solution for the sector. Despite these banking crises and potential regulatory hostility towards crypto, investors don't seem to be deterred, with some 'CEOs allocating 1-5% of the corporate treasury in case of emergency', according to Steven Lubka, Head of Private Clients and Family Offices at Swan Bitcoin. (Finance Magnates) Read More

Stablecoin USDC Market Cap Dips by $10 Billion in 2 Weeks: Here's Why

Circle's stablecoin USDC is facing some of the challenges that have crashed other stablecoins, following the collapse of its banking partner Silicon Valley Bank. Its market cap dropped by over 5% in the past month and it's had more than $10 billion wiped out in the past two weeks. Circle gave reassurances about its reserves and the Federal Reserve's bailout of SVB, meaning Circle could finally access the over $3 billion in reserves it had stuck in the collapsed bank, and it did go back to its dollar peg (for now). Despite that, it seems the damage might have been done for the stablecoin, and investors’ confidence is at an all-time low. Not necessarily a bad thing, given the general instability of general stablecoins. (CoinDesk) Read More

A problem of DAOs: Arbitrum’s first governance proposal sparks controversy with $1B at stake

Arbitrum DAO just had its first ever proposal, intended to help set up the ArbitrumDAO and the Arbitrum Foundation, designed to serve the DAO and wider community. As part of this, 750 million ARB tokens, worth nearly $1 billion, were distributed to the Arbitrum Foundation to cover 'Special Grants, reimbursing applicable service providers [...] and covering ongoing administrative and operational costs of The Arbitrum Foundation'. All good so far, and yet 83% voted against the proposal, at last count. One of the main problems seems to be that they've already done some of the actions that people were voting on, such as distributing a lot of money (as above). It's looking like Arbitrum is more centralised than a DAO (decentralised autonomous organisation) is intended to be. (Decrypt) Read More

Crypto ATMs decrease by over 5,000 so far in 2023 - Here's why

Despite increasing global Bitcoin adoption, the number of crypto ATMs, dedicated to fiat-crypto conversions, has gone down this year at its fastest rate. In March alone, 3,627 crypto ATMs were removed, the biggest drop in a month yet, reducing the total count to 33,727. This marks the fourth consecutive month of net decline in crypto ATM installations. Over 5,000 have been removed so far this calendar year. (NewsBTC) Read More

FTX EU LTD Launches Website for Customers to Request Withdrawals

The European site for FTX, FTX EU LTD has launched a website for customers to request final balances and withdrawals. This applies only to customers who opened accounts through FTX.com/eu after March 7, 2022, and does not affect other FTX group businesses. Withdrawals will be made from fiat currency funds in segregated FTX EU LTD accounts. “Any withdrawal requests will be subject to customary know-your-customer and anti-money-laundering checks, and a customer’s withdrawal may be delayed if bank or other account details have not been sufficiently verified,” FTX said in a release. “Each customer of FTX EU LTD is also being informed via email to such customer’s email address as reflected in customer records.” (Pymnts) Read More

New Data Shows Sell Out Demand for Tokenized Real-World Assets

Regulated blockchain platform Swarm, which offers tokenised public stocks and bond ETFs, has seen an 11% increase in platform users and three product sellouts within the first month of its launch on February 24th. The platform offers tokenised Apple and Tesla stocks, as well as iShares US treasury bond 0-1 year ETF and iShares US treasury bond 1-3 year ETF. Swarm buys stocks and bonds from a traditional German broker to sell tokenised versions to investors and has experienced significant interest in these tokenised real-world assets, possibly a sign of increase in interest in tokenised assets. (Fintech Finance) Read More

Germany’s Second-Largest Stock Exchange To Enable Institutional Bitcoin Trading Through Subsidiary

Boerse Stuttgart Digital, a subsidiary of Germany's second-largest stock exchange, has received a final license from BaFin, the country's financial regulator, to operate as a cryptocurrency custodian. The license allows the exchange to offer institutional investors bitcoin trading and custodial services on its platform. Boerse Stuttgart Digital has been providing custody services since January 2020 under a provisional license. The exchange now joins international firms like Fidelity and Mercado Libre in entering the bitcoin custodial and trading industry.?(Bitcoin Magazine) Read More

MIT Space Force major proposes Bitcoin mining as cybersecurity tool

Major Jason Lowery, an active-duty US Space Force astronautical engineer and national defense fellow at MIT, has proposed a cybersecurity tool to the Pentagon that uses Bitcoin as a new form of "digital-age warfare." In his academic thesis, now a book, 'Softwar', Lowery argues that proof-of-work technologies like Bitcoin can change global competition and help the US military prevent certain types of attacks, such as denial-of-service attacks. By creating software programs that only respond to signals from large transactions recorded on the Bitcoin network, Lowery suggests that it would be harder for attackers to flood servers with fake signals. He also recommends that the US stockpile Bitcoin, build a domestic Bitcoin mining industry, and extend legal protections to the technology, treating it as a self-defence weapon. Good idea? Maybe. Chance of a government adopting it? Slimmer. (CoinDesk) Read More

Crédit Agricole CIB and SEB Launch a Sustainable and Open Digital Bond Platform on?Blockchain

Crédit Agricole CIB and SEB have jointly launched a sustainable and open platform for digital bonds based on blockchain technology called so|bond.?The platform aims to improve efficiency and enable real-time data synchronisation for issuers in capital markets. It uses the latest blockchain buzzwords- ‘Proof of Climate awaReness’ - as a validation protocol in the latest bid to try and get participants to minimise their environmental footprint. According to Anna Sjulander, Head of SSA DCM at SEB, the launch is an important step for gaining insights into the future of digital assets in the financial services industry, with a focus on transparency, faster processing, and operational simplifications.?Would be nice to see something like this work. (Fintech Futures) Read More

Are we seeing the decline of the Metaverse??Elon Musk celebrates its decline as corporate hype and virtual-land prices deflate

The much hyped Metaverse seems to be showing signs of decline. Meta Platforms and Microsoft have shown less enthusiasm for it of late. Virtual land prices (which had been inflated up into the millions) have dropped nearly 90% from a year ago. Elon Musk has previously criticised it as being more of a marketing buzzword than a realistic concept. Obviously, one never knows if criticism is warranted (usually) or is just a way to get prices down to buy up highly volatile and easily-manipulated digital assets (also, frequently). Companies like Disney, Microsoft, and Meta Platforms are experiencing slow user growth, disappointing revenue, and decreasing consumer enthusiasm due to issues like glitchy software, less than inspiring virtual worlds, and expensive headsets, plus the reality VR in general is still pretty nausea-inducing. Tech firms have been cutting headcounts across various divisions. Disney just cut its metaverse division of 50 being part of a larger restructuring that could dismiss 7,000 employees and save $5.5 billion.?(Business Insider) Read More

Donald Trump's NFT trading cards jumped in value after indictment

Apparantly, NFTs of oneself pump in value if one happens to face criminal charges (around hush funds relating to an adult film star/ former stripper) and one is an ex-President of the USA. Following his indictment, the value of Donald Trump's digital trading card NFTs has soared, with the highest sale reaching nearly $1,700, up from approximately $748 USD when he was indicted. Sales are also up 460%. That's one way to get hush funds back. (Bitcoinist) and (Business Insider)

Argentinian Airline Issues Every Ticket as an NFT

Low-cost Argentinian airline Flybondi has expanded its partnership with NFT ticketing company TravelX to offer tickets as NFTs. The NFTicket technology aims to allow passengers to change names, transfer, or sell their tickets independently, aiming to offer a more flexible travel experience. The airline seeks to benefit from reduced customer service costs and increased revenue from trading fees. TravelX charges no fee on initial ticket purchases but collects a 2% transaction fee on secondary market trades, with airlines also receiving a 2% cut.?It's built on the Algorand blockchain. Flybondi says the NFT ticket "offers a more flexible travel experience that allows passengers to even buy in advance without having to define their travel plans or who the travelers will be." Kinda cool idea. But- is there a market for buying tickets in advance of knowing travel plans? Surely the two go together, no? (CoinDesk) Read More

Disclaimer:?The Crypto Currier offers information, not advice or recommendations.?We do not recommend any particular investment or investment strategy and focus on use cases and applications of the technologies rather than investment. You should carry out your own independent research including your own independent verification of facts and data. We write the Currier carefully but we can’t guarantee the accuracy or completeness of any information we publish and we accept no liability for any act or omission by a reader of our content.