Stories by Alys Key
Will MiCA Jumpstart Crypto in EU? It's ‘Too Early To Tell’, Says Circle
Excitement over the EU’s landmark crypto regulation, coined MiCA, was restrained at Brussels Blockchain Week on Wednesday, as speakers agreed it was too soon to tell if it would give the local industry the serious boost it needs. Markets in Crypto Assets (MiCA) was passed by the European Parliament in April, bringing in sweeping rules that will unify the approach to cryptocurrencies and stablecoins across all 27 EU countries. But Circle’s director for EU strategy and policy, Patrick Hansen, said
Central Banks Should Not Dominate CBDCs, Says an Ex-Central Banker
As central bankers all over the world consider issuing their own digital currency, coined CBDCs, a former member of the fold has argued that they should leave it up to the industry. Jón Helgi Egilsson, a former chairman of the Icelandic central bank's supervisory board, said at a conference on Wednesday that central bank digital currencies (CBDCs) need not be issued by the institutions themselves. "Where private companies compete in the market, in technical and business innovation, a CBDC or CBD
Bybit Announces Exit From Canada
Crypto exchange Bybit has announced its decision to “pause” its Canadian operations, citing recent regulatory changes. The platform is the latest in a string of crypto firms to pull out of the country, following similar moves from Binance earlier this month and OKX in March. Canada has cracked down on the crypto sector in recent months, introducing a pre-registration process and banning leveraged trading. “It has always been Bybit's primary objective to operate our business in compliance with al
Bali Tells Tourists: Don’t Pay With Crypto
Foreign tourists who use crypto as a means of payment in Bali will be "dealt with firmly," local authorities have warned. Speaking at a tourism development press conference on Sunday, Bali Governor Wayan Koster said that visitors who pay with crypto or break other rules could be deported, face criminal penalties, or be dealt tough sanctions. "Foreign tourists who behave inappropriately, do activities that are not allowed in their visa permit, use crypto as a means of payment and violate other pr
Hotbit Shutters Crypto Exchange, Urges Users to Withdraw Funds
Crypto exchange Hotbit has halted operations, citing a litany of issues and suggesting that centralized exchanges are unlikely to be viable long-term. In a statement posted to the company’s website, Hotbit said its operations would cease in the early hours of May 22, and asked users to withdraw their remaining assets by June 21 at 4 am UTC. “We want to say thank you and take a bow now,” the team wrote in the post. “We still believe a bright future about crypto innovation and some of us will stil
Stablecoin Issuers Pour Money Into DC as Crypto Legislation Hits Agendas
Stablecoin issuers have poured hundreds of thousands of dollars into lobbying US lawmakers since the start of last year, records show, at a time when legislation of the sector looks to be back on the agenda. The industry’s biggest issuers Tether and Circle have spent more than a million dollars between them, according to filings collated by ProPublica. Tether, which issues the world’s largest stablecoin, USDT, pays $120,000 a quarter to FTI Government Affairs, specifically to lobby on legislatio
Tether Pledges to Plow 15% of Profits into Bitcoin
Tether is to start regular purchases of Bitcoin to bolster its excess reserves, the stablecoin issuer said in an announcement on Wednesday. The company will allocate up to 15% of its net realized operating profits for buying up the world’s largest cryptocurrency, starting this month. “Bitcoin has continually proven its resilience and has emerged as a long-term store of value with substantial growth potential,” said Paolo Ardoino, Tether’s CTO. “Its limited supply, decentralized nature, and wides
Axie Infinity Rolls Out ‘Lite' Version of Crypto Game on Apple App Store
The developers of play-to-earn crypto game Axie Infinity have released a version of their newest game to Apple’s App Store which doesn’t require users to buy NFTs. Axie Infinity: Origins is a card game that will initially give players free non-NFT “starter characters.” It represents a shift away from the original Axie Infinity game, which users had to either buy or rent NFTs to play. “We have been in touch with Apple for about two years now,” Axie Infinity co-founder and COO Aleksander Leonard L
EU Finance Ministers Give Final Go-ahead to MiCA
The European Union’s landmark crypto regulation has passed its final legislative hurdle, with the unanimous approval of European finance ministers. Members of the EU’s Economic and Financial Affairs Council (EcoFin) adopted the Markets in Crypto Assets (MiCA) with no objections in a meeting on Tuesday. EcoFin consists of the finance and economic ministers of all 27 EU countries, while relevant European commissioners also participate in meetings. Elisabeth Svantesson, Sweden’s minister for financ
What is MiCA? The European Union’s Landmark Crypto Regulation Explained
Markets in Crypto Assets (MiCA) is a piece of European Union regulation that will likely become law in July 2023, with some of its rules taking effect in July 2024 and others by January 2025. It is part of a wider digital finance package that has been put together within the EU, and has been hailed as the most significant crypto-specific regulation anywhere in the world. But what does it involve? What does MiCA apply to? According to the most recent available version of the text, MiCA applies to
Marathon Digital CEO: Crypto Crash Has Cleaned Out ‘Unsavory Operators’
The crypto winter has helped clean out “unsavory operators” in the industry, Marathon Digital’s chief executive has said. Speaking at the Financial Times’s Crypto and Digital Assets Summit, Fred Thiel compared last year’s market upheaval to the dot-com boom, which saw an “initial hype cycle” give way to a “commercialization phase.” “I think this period of stress that the crypto market has gone through is cleaning out a lot of unsavory operators,” the executive, whose company operates Bitcoin min
Europe’s Crypto Regulations Can Be a 'Model' for Rules in US, Says Hester Peirce
Europe’s landmark crypto regulation could serve as a model for the U.S., a top American regulator has said. Hester Peirce, a commissioner at the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) who has previously been outspoken in her support for crypto, expressed her admiration for the speed at which the European Union put together its digital finance package. Markets in Crypto Assets (MiCA) was passed by the European Parliament last month, putting in place a comprehensive framework for crypto regulati
Shaq Still Not Served in FTX Lawsuit, Lawyers Claim
Legal papers may have finally been served to Shaquille O’Neal in April over his involvement in promoting FTX, but the saga is not over yet. Lawyers for the former NBA star have now disputed the legitimacy of how the papers were delivered to O’Neal, saying they were thrown at his car, and landed on a public road. It represents another potential delay for lawyers at the Moskowitz Law Firm, who said last month they had tried repeatedly to serve O’Neal the papers in person but claimed the ex-NBA sta
Dubai Reprimands Three Arrows Capital Founders Over New Exchange OPNX
The founders of collapsed hedge fund Three Arrows Capital (3AC) have found themselves in hot water with Dubai’s crypto regulator over their new project. Kyle Davies and Su Zhu, the co-founders of 3AC, were among five people issued with a written reprimand by Dubai’s Virtual Assets Regulatory Authority (VARA) in relation to the recently-launched Open Exchange (OPNX). The site, which went live last month, has been offering virtual asset exchange services without securing any regulatory licenses, a
Poloniex to Pay $7.6 Million In Sanctions Violations Settlement
Crypto exchange Poloniex has agreed to pay $7.59 million to settle allegations that it allowed violations of international sanctions on its platform, the U.S. Treasury Department said in a statement. Between January 2014 and November 2019, the trading platform allowed customers who appeared to be located in sanctioned jurisdictions to make transactions. The value of these transactions amounted to around $15.3 million for 232 customers who were mainly in the Crimea region of Ukraine, but also in
How to Get Bluesky Invite Codes as Chrissy Teigen Joins Decentralized Twitter Rival
Celebrities, politicians, and other notable Twitter users have begun joining the decentralized social network Bluesky as the app rolls out to more users. After launching in the App Store in March and on Android last week, Bluesky has begun picking up new adopters through its invite-only rollout. They include Twitter power users like U.S. congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, who has 13.4 million followers on Twitter, and model Chrissy Teigen, who has 12.8 million. https://t.co/PH6xqVsYMr 🙂 —
Bitcoin Miner Bitfarms Hits New Hashrate High Amid Argentine Expansion
Bitcoin miner Bitfarms has hit a new milestone after growing operations in Argentina, the company said in an announcement to investors. On Thursday, the group hit a hashrate of 5 exahash per second (EH/s), meaning 5 quintillion hashes per second were achieved. The all-time high was attributed to the expansion of production at its farm in Argentina, which was first fired up last year. The facility, in Rio Cuarto, immediately boosted Bitfarms’s hashrate to 4.1 EH/s from 3.9 when it went live in Se
Binance CEO Lawyers Up Amid ‘Chilling’ U.S. Crypto Regulatory Climate
Legal pressure on Binance, the world’s largest crypto exchange, has underscored the potentially “chilling” effect of a U.S. crackdown on crypto, legal experts have told Decrypt. The company is facing scrutiny from multiple agencies, including a suit filed by the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) against both Binance and its founder Changpeng ‘CZ’ Zhao last month. Per a report from the New York Times, Zhao has hired white-collar defense lawyers from law firm Latham & Watkins to represen
Terra Co-Founder Daniel Shin Indicted in South Korea: Report
Terraform Labs co-founder Daniel Shin was among ten people indicted on multiple charges in South Korea on Tuesday, according to a report. Shin and seven others were charged with illegal trading, while another two people were indicted for breach of trust. Prosecutors said at a press briefing that all those concerned are linked to Terra, Bloomberg reported. Officials said they have already frozen 246.8 billion won ($184.7 million) in assets from the people indicted. Shin co-founded Terraform Labs
Digital Euro Will Have ‘Maximum Level of Privacy’—But Not as Much as Cash: ECB Board Member
The digital euro will aim to “complement” cash and mimic its best features, a European central banker has told lawmakers, but it may not afford the same level of privacy. Appearing before the Committee on Economic and Monetary Affairs at the European Parliament on Monday, Fabio Panetta emphasized that there was no intention “whatsoever” to withdraw cash as a means of payment in the Eurozone. “We would not deprive [citizens] of any option,” he said. “The options that are available today for them
Load More