The failure of FTX triggered a notable growth of self-custody in 2022, with numerous cryptocurrency investors transitioning from centralized exchanges (CEX) to hardware or software wallets. The rising popularity of self-custody could even potentially erase the need for centralized exchanges one day, according to Binance CEO Changpeng Zhao. But how would people buy or sell
Ali Shamkhani, secretary of the National Security Council of Iran, has stated that the recent bilateral cooperation efforts between his country and Russia are contributing to rendering U.S.-established sanctions useless at a global level. The official noted that many other countries are also in this course of action — abandoning the hegemony of the U.S.
The federal court in Brooklyn, New York, charged a former investment banker and registered broker for allegedly defrauding numerous investors by promising profits on fake cryptocurrency investments and misappropriating the funds received to finance his lifestyle. Documents with the court claim the defendant, Rashawn Russell, misused the growing interest in crypto investments to mislead investors.
The French government is seeking public comment on the metaverse, or what it’s calling the “virtual immersive universe,” to shape “a French strategy” for the up-and-coming sector and offer an alternative to the “international giants.” On April 11, France’s Directorate General for Enterprise issued a consultation calling upon companies, associations, citizens and researchers to answer
The Ethereum blockchain is set to undergo its next major update since the network switched from proof-of-work to proof-of-stake through The Merge. The upcoming upgrade, dubbed “Shapella,” which combines the Shanghai and Capella validator changes, is expected to take place on April 12, 2023. While most users will not be affected by the change, the
ZA Bank, Hong Kong’s biggest virtual bank by assets, is reportedly set to provide crypto account services and facilitate crypto-to-fiat exchanges. According to an April 12 Bloomberg report, the bank will act as a settlement bank to allow token deposits at licensed exchanges to be withdrawn in Hong Kong dollars, Chinese yuan and United States
An estimated 170,000 Ether (ETH) of the total 18.1 million ETH staked on the Beacon Chain will be unlocked within the first week of the Shanghai hard fork being executed on Ethereum, Glassnode has predicted. The figure comprises 100,000 Ether ($190 million) worth of staking rewards and 70,000 ETH worth of staked Ether ($133 million)
United States financial regulators are tightening their grip on the crypto industry and the U.S. dollar has also been under pressure with countries distancing themselves from dollar hegemony, but the chief of Stellar says stablecoin regulation may solve that. In an April 11 Bloomberg interview, Denelle Dixon, the CEO and Executive Director of the Stellar
The Australian government is being pushed to ban the payment of cyber ransoms, usually demanded in cryptocurrency, following a local business suffering a mass data breach and subsequent ransom demand. Australian financial institution Latitude Financial first announced on March 16 that it was hit by a cyber attack and provided an update on April 11
India’s finance minister, Nirmala Sitharaman, said during her official visit to the U.S. that crypto regulation is a very important part of the discussion by the G20 countries given “so many collapses and shocks in cryptocurrencies.” She stressed: “We seek to develop a common framework for all countries to deal with this matter.” India Seeks
Economist Nouriel Roubini, also known as “Dr. Doom,” predicts that the global reserve currency system will shift from unipolar to bipolar. He expects most countries that attempt to reduce their reliance on the U.S. dollar to propose the Chinese yuan as an alternative to the USD. Roubini on U.S. Dollar and Chinese Yuan as Global
The brother of a former Coinbase employee has agreed to pay the cryptocurrency exchange nearly $470,000 for his role in an insider trading scheme. According to a New York District Court filing signed on April 6 and made public on April 10, Nikhil Wahi — brother of former Coinbase product manager Ishan Wahi — will
Executives at the stablecoin issuer Circle and the bankrupt cryptocurrency lender BlockFi have been questioned by two members of Congress investigating the so-called “mutual backscratching arrangements” alleged to have taken place with the now-failed Silicon Valley Bank (SVB). On April 9, letters from Senator Elizabeth Warren and Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (AOC) were sent to Circle,
According to worldwide data from Google Trends, the search term “bitcoin” has reached a score of 93 out of 100 in the last seven days. Additionally, the price of bitcoin rose above the $30,000 range for the first time in ten months, or since June 2022. Bitcoin Search Interest Rises as Leading Crypto Asset Taps
The annual inflation rate in China has unexpectedly slowed down in March to its lowest level in a year and a half, the latest statistical data indicates. On a monthly basis, consumer prices decreased for a second consecutive month, despite estimates suggesting they will remain unchanged. Post Zero-Covid Policy Inflation in China Eases Further China’s
While regulators and policymakers dither and try to decide if cryptocurrencies have a future in the economy, early adopters, including terrorists and violent extremists, are exploiting a law enforcement blind spot. The ease by which money laundering and terrorism financing take place with cryptocurrencies and the more dangerous privacy coins are becoming a security threat of
The U.S. state of Wyoming has requested to intervene in the case between Custodia Bank and the Federal Reserve System, seeking to defend its framework allowing certain crypto firms to qualify as state-chartered banks. In an April 10 court filing, Wyoming Attorney General Bridget Hill filed a motion to “intervene in the defense” of the
On Tuesday, the bitcoin mining company Cleanspark announced that it had purchased 45,000 Antminer S19 XP bitcoin mining devices for a total price of $144.9 million. Cleanspark stated that the new fleet would add 6.3 exahash per second (EH/s) of computational power to the company’s current 6.7 EH/s. Cleanspark Acquires 45,000 Bitmain Antminers for $144.9
On April 11, European cryptocurrency investment firm CoinShares published its latest “Digital Asset Fund Flows Report,” revealing that digital asset investment products experienced positive sentiment with inflows totaling $57 million last week, bringing inflows back to a net positive position year-to-date. However, despite this, “volumes were low at $970 million for the week,” and the
The Banque de France has contributed to the discussion of European crypto asset regulation with a close examination of decentralized finance (DeFi) and potential approaches to its regulation. The discussion is timely, given the growing use of tokenization in finance and the introduction of blockchain technology in many economic sectors, the authors said. The