Egyptian fintech MNT-Halan announced on Feb. 1 that it had raised over $340 million via debt and equity and it expects to raise an additional $60 million from leading international investors. The latest funding round sees MNT-Halan’s valuation rise to over $1 billion which reportedly makes it the country’s “only private billion-dollar company.” ‘Egypt’s Greatest
On a recent visit to Sri Lanka, American billionaire Tim Draper pitched the idea of adopting Bitcoin (BTC) as a legal tender to fight against the corruption that contributed to hyperinflation in the island country. However, a key Sri Lankan authority — central bank Governor Nandalal Weerasinghe — believed doing so would worsen the country’s
Financial authorities in Kazakhstan are starting a public consultation on draft changes to the country’s framework for digital-asset trading. The proposals include measures to reduce risks in the crypto market and improvements to the structure of exchange platforms. Kazakhstan’s Financial Hub Seeks to Amend Its Concept for Trading Digital Assets The Astana Financial Services Authority,
Samsung, the Korean electronics company, has revealed it is working to build its own metaverse and extended reality devices, hinting at the possibility of the launch of a VR headset in the near future. TM Roh, head of Samsung mobile experiences business, stated that the device will be built in partnership with Google and Qualcomm.
India’s Finance Minister, Nirmala Sitharaman, suggested that regulation “cannot be done” by a single country, it requires an international effort, in a recent television interview. Speaking to Rahul Joshi on CNBC-TV18 in India on Feb. 3, Sitharaman noted that while the central bank is the “authority for issuing cryptocurrency,” the rest of the digital assets
Meta, the company that owns Facebook, Instagram, and Whatsapp, has shared its fourth quarter results, reporting better numbers than expected. While the company beat revenue estimates, CEO Mark Zuckerberg declared 2023 a “Year of Efficiency,” hinting at a further restructuration of the company to focus on its AI (artificial intelligence) and metaverse projects in the
Binance has announced that Indian crypto exchange Wazirx can no longer use Binance wallet services. Zanmai, the operator of Wazirx, has until Feb. 3 “to remove the funds from the accounts that they used for Wazirx’s operations.” The move followed a public dispute regarding the relationship between Binance and Wazirx. Binance Ends Wallet Services to
Several crypto firms have made job cuts this week amid the ongoing crypto winter, retaining “impactful” employees as they prepare for a “longer downturn.” At least 216 jobs were slashed between three crypto firms – open-source software laboratory Protocol Labs, blockchain data firm Chainalysis and U.S. cryptocurrency exchange Bittrex, with reductions of 89, 83 and
The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) has seized two non-fungible tokens (NFTs) worth more than $100,000 and 86.5 Ether (ETH) from a reported phishing scammer. The alleged scammer in question, Chase Senecal — known as Horror (HZ) online — was initially exposed via a lengthy investigation by independent blockchain sleuth ZachXBT posted back in September.
Blockchain analytics firm Chainalysis says 2022 was “the biggest year ever for crypto hacking,” with $3.8 billion stolen from cryptocurrency businesses. The firm added that decentralized finance (defi) protocol hacks accounted for 82.1% of all cryptocurrency stolen by hackers during the year. Crypto Hacking Hit Record High in 2022 Blockchain analytics firm Chainalysis published a
Binance has returned to the South Korean cryptocurrency market after two years with a “meaningful” investment in a local, licensed crypto exchange. Gopax fell into trouble following the collapse of crypto exchange FTX and the bankruptcy filing of crypto lender Genesis Global. Binance Invests in Troubled Korean Crypto Exchange Cryptocurrency exchange Binance announced Friday that
While operations with digital assets are not taxed in Uzbekistan, the government is receiving a growing amount of revenues from the industry. The increase in budget receipts has been attributed to the licensing regime and the introduction of fees for crypto companies. Crypto Exchange in Uzbekistan Pays Over $10,000 a Month to the State Coffer
Following finder.com’s reports on bitcoin and ethereum predictions, the product comparison site polled 56 specialists in the fintech and cryptocurrency industry to gauge their thoughts on future regulation of crypto exchanges. The experts predict that virtual currency trading platforms will be regulated, but not until 2025 or 2030. When regulation does occur, 76% of Finder’s
The tZERO Crypto exchange, whose majority owner is Overstock, will shut down on March 6, the company announced via Twitter on Feb. 3. The company says that it will continue to focus on its regulated securities products after the shutdown, as the United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and other regulators clarify the legal
A recent report details that Russia’s largest financial institution, Sberbank, plans to launch a decentralized finance (defi) platform in May. Konstantin Klimenko, product director of Sberbank’s blockchain laboratory, said that open testing will begin in March. Sberbank’s Defi Platform to Enable Large-Scale Commercial Operations According to a report published by the news outlet Interfax, state-owned
In September 2022, Interchain Foundation, the team behind Cosmos’ development , introduced the Cosmos ATOM 2.0 whitepaper. The document proposed significant changes to Cosmos’s design, including a tokenomics upgrade to fund the Cosmos ecosystem development and reduce ATOM inflation. While the whitepaper launch acted as a bullish catalyst for ATOM price, the community vote to
Welcome to Finance Redefined, your weekly dose of essential decentralized finance (DeFi) insights — a newsletter crafted to bring you significant developments over the last week. 2023 started on a bullish note for the entire crypto market, including the DeFi ecosystem, with most of the tokens posting double-digit gains in January and recording multi-month highs.
Rostin Behnam, chair of the United States Commodity Futures Trading Commission, or CFTC, has said he will be continuing efforts for the agency to regulate non-security tokens. In remarks released for a Feb. 3 American Bar Association event, Behnam pointed to “bankruptcies, failures, and runs” as part of the justification for Congress to give the
Bitcoin’s (BTC) rally in 2023 has been boosted by expectations that the United States Federal Reserve will slow down the pace of its rate hikes as inflation has started cooling down. Some even anticipate a rate cut by the end of the year. That assumption received a jolt on Feb.3 when the U.S. employment data
Following a request from FTX lawyers to subpoena FTX co-founder Sam Bankman-Fried (SBF) and members of his family, the U.S. Trustee appointed by the Department of Justice has filed an opposition to the request. The U.S. Trustee explained that the motion would duplicate the efforts of the federally appointed independent examiner. U.S. Trustee Argues for