Day: February 28, 2023

G20 To Establish Standards For Global Crypto Regulatory Framework

by Blockchain News

It was announced on February 25 by the group of the 20 largest economies in the world, known collectively as the G20, that the Financial Stability Board (FSB), the International Monetary Fund (IMF), and the Bank for International Settlements (BIS) will deliver papers and recommendations establishing standards for a global crypto regulatory framework.

The Financial Stability Board (FSB) is expected to publish its recommendations by July 2023 on the regulation, supervision, and oversight of global stablecoins, crypto asset activities and markets, as stated in a document that provides a summary of the outcomes of a meeting with finance ministers and governors of central banks.

The next set of guidelines is not anticipated to be released until September 2023. At that time, the FSB and the IMF are scheduled to jointly provide “a synthesis document incorporating the macroeconomic and regulatory aspects of crypto assets.” Another research on the “possible macro-financial ramifications of the broad adoption” of central bank digital currencies is scheduled to be published by the International Monetary Fund (IMF) in the same month (CBDCs). The following is an excerpt from the statement that was released by the G20: “We look forward to the IMF-FSB Synthesis Paper which will support a coordinated and comprehensive policy approach to crypto-assets, by considering macroeconomic and regulatory perspectives, including the full range of risks posed by crypto assets.”

Additionally, the BIS will provide a paper that discusses analytical and conceptual concerns in addition to potential risk reduction techniques associated with crypto assets. The text does not include any information on the deadline for this report. The use of cryptocurrency assets to finance terrorist operations will also be investigated by a financial task group established by the G20.

During the course of the event, United States Secretary of the Treasury Janet Yellen said that it was “essential to put in place a solid regulatory framework” for activities relating to cryptocurrencies. In addition to this, she emphasized that the nation is not advocating for a “outright ban on crypto activity.” In a brief conversation with reporters on the margins of the main event, the managing director of the IMF, Kristalina Georgieva, suggested that the G20 nations need to have the option of outlawing cryptocurrencies.

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FATF Releases Action Plan to Improve Implementation of Global Standards on Crypto

by Blockchain News

According to a study published by the Financial Action Task Force, often known as FATF, its delegates have reached a consensus on an action plan “to encourage prompt worldwide implementation” of global standards on cryptocurrencies.

According to a publication that was released on February 24 by the Financial Action Task Force (FATF), the plenary for the financial watchdog, which is comprised of delegates from more than 200 jurisdictions, recently met in Paris and reached a consensus on a roadmap that is intended to strengthen the “implementation of FATF Standards on virtual assets and virtual asset service providers.” The task force has said that it would provide a report on how FATF members have progressed in implementing the crypto standards in 2024. This study will include topics such as the regulation and monitoring of VASPs.

According to the findings of the research, “the absence of regulation of virtual assets in many nations presents possibilities that are used by criminals and terrorist financiers.” “Since the FATF strengthened its Recommendation 15 in October 2018 to address virtual assets and virtual asset service providers, many countries have failed to implement these revised requirements,” the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) writes. “This includes the ‘travel rule,’ which requires obtaining, holding, and transmitting originator and beneficiary information relating to virtual asset transactions.”

The “Travel Rule” established by the FATF contains a section that recommends virtual asset service providers (VASPs), financial institutions, and regulated organizations in member states gather information on the originators and beneficiaries of certain digital currency transactions. The financial watchdog said that as of April 2022, several nations were not in accordance with its requirements for combating the financing of terrorism and anti-money laundering.

The nations of Japan, South Korea, and Singapore have been among those that have shown the most willingness to put policies in place that are in line with the Travel Rule. According to reports, a number of countries, including Iran and North Korea, have been added to the “grey list” maintained by the FATF in order to monitor potentially illicit financial activities.

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Citizens Trust Bank Holds $65 Million in USD Coin reserves

by Blockchain News

Citizens Trust Bank, a financial institution that is regulated by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC), has partnered with Circle Internet Financial to hold some of its reserves in USD Coin (USDC). The move, which the companies said would promote financial inclusion and digital literacy in the greater Atlanta area, was announced earlier this week.

As part of a bigger partnership between the two firms, Circle announced on the 24th of February that the Atlanta-based Citizens Trust Bank will hold $65 million in USDC reserves. This partnership is part of a larger cooperation between the two organizations. Small firms will have access to finance thanks to the bank’s USDC reserves, and those reserves will also be utilised for other projects aimed at expanding financial inclusion. According to Cynthia N. Day, president and chief executive officer of Citizens Trust, owning USDC would also help enhance the bank’s balance sheet.

The Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) has designated Citizens Trust Bank as a minority-owned depository institution (MDI), which indicates that minority people make up the majority of either the bank’s voting shares or its board of directors. In 1947, the bank became a member of the Federal Reserve System.

The bank was able to attract an additional $220 million in deposits during the years 2020 and 2021. The most recent year for which information is readily accessible to the public is 2021, and during that year Citizens provided funding for business, consumer, and residential mortgage loans totaling 157 million dollars.

More users are depending on dollar-pegged assets to hold collateral, trade cryptocurrency, and generate income, which has led to the growth of stablecoin settlements in lockstep with the explosion in decentralized finance that has occurred over the last two years. Despite this, the use of stablecoins for payments is still relatively uncommon because of regulatory hurdles.

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The IMF Releases a Report on Jordan Preparations for a Central Bank

by Blockchain News

After the International Monetary Fund (IMF) has finished its technical assessment on the country’s markets, the Central Bank of Jordan is one step closer to taking the next step that is necessary to launch a retail central bank digital currency. This action was necessitated as a consequence of the International Monetary Fund’s (IMF) conclusion of the research that they commissioned (rCBDC). In order to give assistance in the development of a CBDC feasibility study the previous year, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) sent a mission to the bank that lasted for a combined total of three months and lasted for the whole of the preceding calendar year. During the course of the preceding calendar year, this mission was carried out. On February 23rd, the research was made available to the public by the International Monetary Fund.

An investigation on the current condition of the retail payment sector in the country was carried out by the International Monetary Fund (IMF) during the months of July and September 2022. After looking at their data, they came to the conclusion that the market was “extremely linked.” According to the findings of the study, the nation has a high smartphone penetration, and there are two non-bank payment service providers (PSPs) that provide goods that are “generally accessible and appropriate.” Additionally, the country has a large number of people who own smartphones. In addition to this, a sizable portion of the population of the nation has a computer and access to the internet.

Despite this, a rCBDC would expand people’s access to financial services by making them available to them even if they do not have telephones. This would make it possible for more people to benefit from these services. Because of this, it will be feasible for a greater number of individuals to make use of these services. There are a few other ways, besides those already mentioned, in which a rCBDC may be of aid to the domestic payment system. These include decreasing the costs associated with transferring money internationally and making the infrastructure of a rCBDC accessible to payment service providers (PSPs).

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Lawyers for SBF time to discuss additional bail conditions

by Blockchain News

In the federal court, the attorneys who are defending former FTX CEO Sam Bankman-Fried have asked for additional time to prepare and present a proposal concerning the conditions of their client’s release on bond. This request was made in response to the fact that the attorneys need additional time to prepare the proposal. A request similar to this one was submitted in response to a request that was made by the court.

Mark Cohen of Cohen & Gressler stated on February 24 in a document that was presented to the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York that the legal team wanted until March 3 to present a proposal for additional bail conditions for Bankman-Fried and find a suitable candidate to act as a technical expert in the case. This document was submitted to the court by Cohen & Gressler. In addition, Mark Cohen indicated that the legal team desired to locate a good candidate to testify in the case by March 3; they stated that they wanted to give themselves this much time. During the course of the hearings for the case, the judge was shown the document that was being submitted. Following the hearing that took place on February 16 concerning the usage of a virtual private network, also known as a VPN, by the former CEO of FTX, the attorneys reached a consensus to retain the services of an expert witness.

It is said in the brief that “the parties have been painstakingly assessing individuals to serve as the Court’s technical consultant; but, they have not yet discovered a qualified candidate.” ” In a way that is analogous to this, the parties have been having fruitful conversations over additional bail terms for Mr. Bankman-Fried; despite this, they would want more time to finish those talks.

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IMF Urges Countries to Consider Banning Cryptocurrencies

by Blockchain News

During a meeting of the Group of Twenty (G20) that took place on February 25, United States Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen emphasized how important it was to develop a robust regulatory framework for cryptocurrencies.

Yellen stated it was “essential to put in place a solid regulatory framework” while she was speaking to Reuters. In addition to this, she emphasized that the United States is not advocating for a “absolute prohibition on crypto activity.”

Yellen’s comments follow earlier ones made by the managing director of the International Monetary Fund (IMF), Kristalina Georgieva, who stated that prohibiting cryptocurrencies should be an option: “There has to be very strong push for regulation… if regulation fails, if you’re slow to do it, then we should not take off the table banning those assets, because they may create financial stability risk.” Yellen’s comments follow Georgieva’s earlier statements.

In addition, Georgieva emphasized to the media that it is essential to distinguish between stablecoins and cryptocurrencies, which are issued by private enterprises, and central bank digital currencies (CBDCs), which are issued by central banks.

Nirmala Sitharaman, who serves as India’s Minister of Finance, has advocated for a unified approach to be taken at the international level to deal with the widespread economic effects of crypto assets. Throughout her time in office, Sitharaman has been a proponent of developing cryptocurrency legislation in collaboration with other governments. For a number of years, the government of India has been debating whether cryptocurrencies should be regulated or outright prohibited.

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) on February 23 issued a plan of action on crypto assets, in which it urged governments to remove cryptocurrencies from their status as legal cash. A framework of nine policy principles that addresses macrofinancial, legal and regulatory, and international coordination challenges was detailed in the study that was named “Elements of Effective Policies for Crypto Assets.”

Following a visit to El Salvador earlier this month, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) made a recommendation to the nation that it reconsider its plans to increase its exposure to Bitcoin. The IMF made this recommendation citing the risk that cryptocurrencies pose to El Salvador’s ability to maintain its fiscal sustainability, protect its consumers, and maintain its financial integrity and stability.

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Grayscale CEO challenges SEC’s denial of application

by Blockchain News

Michael Sonnenshein, CEO of Grayscale Investments, stated in a recent interview that he “can’t imagine” why the United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) “wouldn’t want” to protect Grayscale investors and return the true asset value to them. Sonnenshein made this statement in response to a question regarding why the SEC “wouldn’t want” to protect Grayscale investors.

Sonnenshein explained that the SEC “violated the administrative procedures act” by denying approval for the Grayscale Bitcoin Trust (GBTC) to be a spot Bitcoin (BTC) exchange-traded fund (ETF), in June 2022, during an interview that took place on February 25 on What Bitcoin Did, a popular podcast that is hosted by Peter McCormack. The podcast is called What Bitcoin Did.

He stated that this act ensures that the regulator does not show “favoritism” or act “arbitrarily,” adding that the SEC acted “arbitrarily” by approving Bitcoin Futures ETFs while rejecting “GBTC’s conversion.” He explained that this act ensures that the regulator does not show “favoritism” or act “arbitrarily.”

Grayscale Investments saw the SEC’s approval of the first Bitcoin exchange-traded funds (ETFs) as “a indication” that the SEC was “changing its approach about Bitcoin,” according to Sonnenshein’s observation.

He stated that there is a “couple billion dollars” of capital that would immediately go back into investors’ pockets, on a “overnight basis,” if GBTC was approved as a spot Bitcoin ETF, and that this capital would “bleed back” up to the fund’s net asset value. He said this would occur if the fund was approved as a spot Bitcoin ETF (NAV).

Sonnenshein noted that this is because GBTC is now trading at a discount to its NAV. However, if it were to convert to an ETF, there would “no longer” be a discount or a premium; instead, there would be a “arbitraged mechanism” incorporated in the product.

He reaffirmed that Grayscale is now “suing the SEC now,” and that the company may have a ruling appealing the SEC’s rejection of its original application as early as “fall 2023.”

In addition to this, he said that Grayscale has more than “a million investor accounts,” and that investors from all around the globe trust on the company to “do the right thing for them.”

Sonnenshein “can’t fathom” a scenario in which the SEC would have no interest in “protecting investors” or “returning that value” to those investors.

He continued by saying that Grayscale isn’t going “to shy” away from the fact that it has a “commercial interest” in this approval, noting that if the application to challenge the SEC is denied, Grayscale may be able to appeal the case to the United States Supreme Court. He said that Grayscale isn’t going “to shy” away from the fact that it has a “commercial interest” in this approval.

This comes as a result of the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) filing a 73-page brief with the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia in December 2022, outlining its reasons for denying Grayscale’s request to convert its $12 billion Bitcoin Trust into a spot-based Bitcoin ETF in June 2022. The brief was submitted in response to Grayscale’s request to convert its Bitcoin Trust into a spot-based Bitcoin ETF.

The conclusions that Grayscale’s approach did not adequately safeguard against fraud and manipulation were the primary considerations that led to the SEC’s determination.

The regulator has arrived at a same conclusion in a number of past applications for the creation of spot-based Bitcoin ETFs.

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A Colombian court recently hosted its first legal trial in the metaverse

by Blockchain News

An article that was published not too long ago states that a judge working in a court in Colombia recently presided over the first legal hearing that was conducted in the metaverse. According to the court, the proceedings seemed “more authentic than a video conversation.”

According to a report that was made public by Reuters on the 24th of February, on the 15th of February, the Magdalena Administrative Court of Colombia held a court case in the metaverse, which comprised participants involved in a traffic dispute.

The complaint that was launched against the police lasted for two hours, was brought forward by a regional transport union, and will “partially” continue in the metaverse. It is not out of the question that the verdict will also be arrived at in the metaverse.

A virtual courtroom was occupied by the avatars of the participants, and the magistrate, Maria Quinones Triana, wore black robes that were suitable for the proceedings.

It has been said that Columbia is one of the first countries in the world to experiment with having judicial proceedings take place in the metaverse. According to a remark that Reuters obtained from Quinones, he described the encounter as feeling “more authentic than a video conversation.”

This comes as a result of a recent study that was carried out and published by CoinWire on January 16th, which indicated that 69% of respondents think that the metaverse will ultimately affect social behaviors as a result of new ways used for leisure and activities. This comes as a result of the fact that 69% of respondents think that the metaverse will ultimately affect social behaviors as a result of new ways used for leisure and activities.

If this is taken into account, then, in Hackl’s opinion, “how we socialize will be deeply impacted by the metaverse.”

Experiences in the metaverse were available for guests to partake in at the World Economic Forum that took place in January of this year. Participants at the conference were offered the chance to take part in the “Global Collaboration Village,” which was the name given to the forum’s very own 3D immersive digital sessions. These sessions were available to them throughout the conference.

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FTX Japan users withdraw funds amid litigation

by Blockchain News

The continuing dispute between FTX and its co-founder, Sam Bankman-Fried (SBF), has been making a stir in the cryptocurrency market, with many consumers left waiting for a resolution to the conflict between the two parties. In the meanwhile, customers of FTX Japan have made the executive decision to take things into their own hands by withdrawing all of their money.

The problems for FTX started in November 2022, when Binance CEO Changpeng Zhao made the announcement that his company would be liquidating its substantial holdings of FTX Token (FTT). This caused a domino effect that slowed down fund withdrawals across FTX and its subsidiaries. FTX Token (FTT) was the cryptocurrency that Binance held. The statement had a particularly negative impact on the Japanese cryptocurrency trading site Liquid Group, which has been controlled by FTX since February 2022. On November 15, withdrawals were fully halted for the platform.

Moving ahead in time to the 21st of February, FTX Japan commenced withdrawals, although the procedure was not an easy one. In order to complete the withdrawals, cash needed to be transferred from the now-defunct FTX Japan exchange onto an account with Liquid Japan. Despite this, some users saw this as a positive turn of events, and as a result, many of them started withdrawing all of their money from FTX Japan.

Hibiki Dealer, a well-known cryptocurrency trader based in Japan, just reported that they were able to effectively remove all of their cash off the site. Concerns have been expressed regarding the steadiness and dependability of cryptocurrency exchanges as a result of the scenario, even if it is unknown how many users have followed suit.

The volatility nature of the cryptocurrency market highlights the significance of effectively managing risk, which is also brought to light by this episode. It is essential for exchanges to have solid risk management procedures in place in order to safeguard not just themselves but also the users of their platform. In spite of this, it is still unknown how FTX will bounce back from this setback, which is particularly concerning given the current legal dispute with SBF that hangs over the firm.

In conclusion, while the decision by FTX Japan to restart withdrawals was a welcome step for its consumers, the scenario has underlined the issues that face crypto exchanges in a market that is very volatile. Cryptocurrency exchanges must place an increased emphasis on risk management and user safety in order to remain competitive in an industry where consumers are increasingly demanding accountability and transparency.

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Voyager reportedly sells assets on Coinbase exchange

by Blockchain News

It has been revealed that the centralized finance (CeFi) platform known as Voyager Digital has been selling its assets via the cryptocurrency exchange known as Coinbase. Voyager Digital filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in July 2022. On-chain data suggests that Voyager was paid a minimum of one hundred million dollars in USD Coin (USDC) over the course of three days beginning on February 24.

According to the assertions of the on-chain expert Lookonchain, Voyager has been sending cryptocurrency assets to Coinbase on an almost daily basis since Valentine’s Day. According to the findings of the inquiry, Voyager moved millions of dollars using a variety of cryptocurrency tokens, such as Chainlink (LINK), Ether (ETH), and Shiba Inu (SHIB) (LINK). In spite of what seems to be a sell-off, Voyager still has about $530 million worth of cryptocurrency in its possession, with the greatest amounts held in Ether (about $276 million) and Shiba Inu (about $81 million).

The purported sale of money takes place at the same time as the United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has expressed concerns over Binance.acquisition US’s of over one billion dollars’ worth of assets that had belonged to Voyager. The SEC has raised concerns regarding the legality of such a transaction, and as a result, they have objected to the acquisition. Additionally, they have requested additional information from Binance.US in order to determine whether or not the transaction is in compliance with the regulatory requirements.

Voyager Digital has suffered a significant setback as a result of the bankruptcy petition that was filed in July 2022, and the company has been making efforts to reorganize its finances ever since then. It is widely acknowledged that the selling of its assets on Coinbase is a key step for the company to acquire funds and remain operational. On the other hand, a number of industry professionals have voiced their worry over the effect that such a massive sell-off would have on the cryptocurrency market and the possible repercussions that it will have for investors.

It is not yet clear what lies ahead for Voyager Digital and whether or not the company will be able to emerge victorious from its current financial predicament. Despite this, the decision to sell assets on Coinbase is indicative of the company’s proactive actions to solve its financial issues and seek new opportunities for development.

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Bitcoin (BTC) $ 27,725.43 1.33%
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Bitcoin Cash (BCH) $ 232.07 0.24%