A bi-partisan anti-money laundering (AML) bill that covers “decentralized entities” such as decentralized finance (DeFi) protocols and DAOs will soon be reintroduced to Congress, according to United States Senator Elizabeth Warren. Warren, a vocal crypto critic, argued at the Feb. 14 Senate Banking Committee’s hearing entitled “Crypto Crash: Why Financial System Safeguards are Needed for
The long-awaited scaling upgrade from Ethereum layer-2 solution provider Polygon (MATIC) has been announced, with the beta launch of its zero-knowledge Ethereum Virtual Machine (zkEVM) mainnet slated for March 27. In a Feb. 14 blog post, Polygon said that after three and a half months of “battle testing,” the system will be ready for the
Ukrainian authorities are speeding up the development of the electronic hryvnia, a high-ranking government official indicated. The executive power in Kyiv is now in talks with the central bank and businesses involved in the project to pilot the digital currency as early as this year. Minister Says Ukraine Aims to Launch Digital Hryvnia Sooner Than
The official committee of Celsius creditors is proposing to sue Celsius co-founder Alex Mashinsky and other executives for “fraud, recklessness, gross mismanagement and self-interested conduct” that eventually led to the collapse of the crypto lender. In a proposed complaint filed in a New York Bankruptcy Court on Feb. 14, attorneys representing the Official Committee of
Police in the U.K., in collaboration with the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA), have raided several sites allegedly hosting cryptocurrency ATMs. “No crypto ATM operators currently have FCA registration,” the British financial regulator stressed, adding that it is “working with multiple law enforcement partners, including local police forces, to disrupt and disable illegal crypto ATMs.” UK
The decentralized autonomous organization (DAO) behind Lido — the largest Ethereum staking pool — is deliberating whether it should sell or stake the $30 million in Ether (ETH) from its treasury. A proposal was submitted on Feb. 14 by the DAO’s financial unit, Steakhouse Financial that considers four choices, one of which contemplates staking part
Despite attempts to police cryptocurrency through enforcement actions, United States financial regulators “are bound by legal reality” and Congress will ultimately decide crypto regulations the policy expert for the crypto advocacy group Blockchain Association has suggested. The association’s chief policy officer, Jake Chervinsky, shared his views in an extensive Feb. 14 Twitter thread on the
The famous author of the best-selling book Rich Dad Poor Dad, Robert Kiyosaki, has predicted that the price of bitcoin will hit $500,000 by 2025. During the same time period, he expects the price of gold to reach $5,000 and silver to hit $500. Kiyosaki also warned that a “giant crash” is coming and a
sponsored Hello Pets team is building an open entertainment ecosystem where the community can join in the storytelling and art creation of shared IPs. Starting from their own adorable pet characters, Hello Pets also actively incorporate external NFT characters into their story and invite the holders and communities to create amazing content together. The Hello
DBS, the largest bank in Southeast Asia, has unveiled its plan to expand its crypto services in Hong Kong. “We are planning to apply for a license in Hong Kong so that the bank could sell digital assets to our Hong Kong customers,” said an executive of the bank. DBS Bank to Apply for Digital
USD Coin (USDC) issuer Circle has denied rumors that it received a “Wells Notice” over its United States dollar-pegged stablecoin. On Feb. 14, a now-deleted tweet from Fox Business reporter Eleanor Terrett claimed Circle had been ordered by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) to cease the sale of USDC — due to the
The government of South Sudan has reportedly prohibited U.S. dollar-based transactions and has directed that all local payments be settled in the local currency. The Salva Kiir Mayardit government reportedly said it also wants all signed commercial contracts to be based on the local currency. South Sudan’s Economic Meltdown As part of initiatives aimed at
The price of Ether (ETH) declined 10.2% between Jan. 8 and Jan. 10, and has since been range trading near the $1,500 level. More importantly, on a broader time frame, Ether is down 52.5% in twelve months, which partially explains why derivatives metrics were somewhat neutral after Ether’s failed attempt to break $1,700 on Feb.
The Blockchain Association filed an amicus brief Feb. 13 in the United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) case against former Coinbase Global product manager Ishan Wahi and his associates. The advocacy group expressed its support for the defendants’ argument for dismissal, where they claimed the SEC had exceeded its authority in the case. The
The crypto industry will “probably” start using euro, yen, or Singapore dollar based stablecoins in the future, reducing its reliance on US dollar based stablecoins, according to a Feb. 14 statement on Twitter Spaces by Binance CEO Changpeng Zhao, also known as “CZ.” CZ gave the statement in answer to a question about the crypto
The Blur non-fungible token (NFT) marketplace launched its native token this week, and users who were awarded token allotments received “care packages.” Blur tokens began trading at noon on Feb. 14, reaching a high of $5.02 per token. However, the coin has since dropped more than 85% against the U.S. dollar. BLUR Token Launch Records
The United States Securities and Exchange Commission and its chair Gary Gensler were the targets of many lawmakers and witnesses at a hearing exploring the crash of the crypto market. In a Feb. 14 hearing at the Senate Banking Committee titled ‘Crypto Crash: Why Financial System Safeguards are Needed for Digital Assets’, ranking member Tim
Recent data shows that Silvergate Bank, a crypto-friendly financial institution, has become the most shorted stock in the United States, according to the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority. On Tuesday, Silvergate’s stock saw a rise after it was discovered that Citadel Securities holds a 5.5% stake in the bank, according to a Schedule 13G filing with
The United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) settled with Kraken on Feb. 9 for an action taken against the exchange’s staking rewards program. Kraken paid a $30 million fine and agreed to halt the program. Set aside for a moment the irony that the SEC is going after a solvent firm in the crypto
United States Federal Reserve Board Vice Chair Lael Brainard has been chosen to be the director of the National Economic Council, making her President Joe Biden’s top economic adviser, according to media reports. In her new position, Brainard will oversee the implementation of the Biden administration’s multibillion-dollar economic agenda, which includes the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law and