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G20 Discusses Crypto Regulations Under India Presidency

by Blockchain NewsFebruary 27, 2023

During the time that India presided over the G20, the first meeting of its kind for the group’s Finance Ministers and Central Bank Governors (FMCBG) was conducted. At this meeting, key issues pertaining to financial stability and regulatory oversight were discussed. India has urged the other member nations to acknowledge the macro-financial consequences of crypto assets and has advocated the development of a coordinated worldwide strategy. In addition, India has proposed the formation of a global strategy coordination group.

In light of the fact that cryptographic assets are traded all over the globe, Nirmala Sitharaman, India’s Finance Minister, has in the past voiced her support for the establishment of crypto regulations in collaboration with other countries. This story is now being told as part of the discussions that are being held in the mainstream while India holds the presidency of the G20.

During the 24th and 25th of February, members of the G20 gathered with the FMCBG to discuss the prospects of technological advances while placing a focus on finding a balance between the risks associated with such developments. Among the most significant subjects that were discussed during the G20 meeting were the significance of financial stability and regulatory goals, policy measures for boosting financial inclusion, and productivity increases.

Sitharaman expressed appreciation to individuals who supported efforts to modify rules pertaining to crypto assets in her closing remarks. To be more specific, the Minister of Finance asked for a concerted effort “for creating and comprehending the macro-financial ramifications,” which could be used to change crypto legislation on a global scale. Specifically, the Minister of Finance asked for a concerted effort “for creating and comprehending the macro-financial ramifications.”

She then continued by expressing her appreciation to the International Monetary Fund (IMF) for producing a thorough paper on the implications that crypto assets will have on the overall macroeconomic system. In her final comments, Sitharaman underlined the need of cooperation between the nations that are members of the G20 “to foster responsible technological breakthroughs and protect the stability of the financial system.”

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The DeFi space is on a path of steady recovery as good actors

by Blockchain NewsFebruary 8, 2023

The harm that was inflicted by the collapse of major cryptocurrency ecosystems in the previous year is on its way to making a gradual comeback as positive actors take aggressive initiatives to reestablish investors’ faith. Principal participants from the ecosystem of decentralized finance (DeFi) got together to discuss the benefits of running trustless, interoperable, and permissionless systems.

Over thirty DeFi protocols participated in an endeavor to “permissionlessly” distribute tweets from other protocols for a period of twenty-four hours, beginning on February 6 and continuing until February 7. This served to showcase the permissionless and interoperable nature of Web3.

This campaign has contributions from a number of different projects, some of which include Yearn.finance, MakerDAO, SushiSwap, and Aave.

Despite the fact that DeFi has gained widespread recognition and big institutions have made their entry into the field, its image is still fragile owing to the numerous exploits that it has participated in.

The chief marketing officer of MakerDAO, Mamun Rashid, said that in order to fulfill the “full potential” of DeFi, there has to be a partnership between the ideas and the talent that is present in the field.

“By working together, we will be able to push the limits of conventional banking and create a financial system that is more welcoming and accessible thanks to decentralized money.”

The “spirit” of DeFi was characterized as a more collaborative environment, rather than a more competitive one, by the projects that were working together on the campaign.

According to Jared Grey, CEO of SushiSwap, the goal of the construction of DeFi is to disrupt the status quo of recognized financial frameworks, which have traditionally been known to impose hurdles and decrease economic freedom.

“By using the modularity of this cutting-edge technology, we are able to democratize the financial industry and provide tools and services that are more egalitarian, safer, and more transparent to an audience on a global scale.”

According to what Grey stated, the obligation to represent the genuine meaning of Defiantly Fiction begins in the space itself. Therefore, the initiative taken by more than 30 builders inside the area and the unity shown by those builders came at a crucial moment.

The DeFi domain has been a primary focus of adventures throughout the course of the last year. According to a study that was compiled by Beosin in 2022, the greatest number of assaults were launched against DeFi-based initiatives.

This weakness was the root cause of a 47.4% increase in security losses in 2022 when compared to the previous year’s total of $3.64 billion in losses, which came to a total.

Additional research from the industry has shown that it is reasonable to anticipate that the current trend of DeFi exploits will continue into this year owing to the introduction of new products to the market and the development of more skilled cybercriminals.

According to a research published by DappRadar, despite this, the industry saw strong growth to begin the year. To encourage more people to use DeFi and Cosmos, the company Injective established a new ecosystem fund in the amount of $150 million in January.

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Tagged : #AAVE / Adoption / Decentralization / DeFi / Finance / MAKERDAO / News / SushiSwap

UK Watchdog Proposes Tougher Advertising Rules

by Blockchain NewsFebruary 7, 2023

According to the United Kingdom’s financial watchdog, newly proposed advertising rules in the United Kingdom could potentially see executives of crypto firms facing up to two years in prison for failing to meet certain requirements around promotion. These executives would be in violation of the rules if they failed to meet any of the aforementioned requirements.

The United Kingdom’s Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) issued a statement on February 6 in which it revealed that if the proposed “financial promotions regime” is approved by Parliament, then all crypto firms within the country as well as those located outside of it would be required to adhere to certain requirements when advertising their crypto services to customers in the United Kingdom.

According to the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA), “cryptoasset enterprises selling to UK customers, including those operating abroad, must be ready for this regime.”

“Taking immediate action will assist guarantee that they can continue to lawfully advertise their products to customers in the United Kingdom.” As a part of their preparations, we strongly advise businesses to get any and all guidance that may be required,” the statement said.

If the FCA’s proposed regulatory framework is implemented, companies dealing in cryptocurrencies would be required to get prior authorisation from the FCA before advertising their services, unless they qualified for an exemption under the Financial Promotion Order.

According to the governing body, a “cryptoasset firm” in the United Kingdom may only advertise and sell its products and services to clients via one of the following four channels:

According to the regulatory body, any marketing that is carried out outside of these channels would be in violation of the Financial Services and Markets Act of 2000 (FSMA), which has a criminal penalty of up to two years in jail for each offence.

“We will take tough action where we detect companies advertising cryptoassets to UK consumers in contravention of the rules of the financial promotions regime,” the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) stated in a statement. “We will take action against firms that promote cryptoassets to UK consumers.”

Companies found to be in violation of the new regime risk having their websites taken down, receiving public warnings, and being subjected to further enforcement measures. In addition to the possibility of serving time in jail for its executives.

The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) has said that they would wait until “necessary legislation” is passed before publishing “our final guidelines for crypto asset promotions.” This might perhaps indicate that the financial promotions regime will undergo upgrades or adjustments in the future.

According to the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA), “Subject to any changes in circumstances, we plan to adopt a similar approach to crypto assets to that outlined in our new regulations, which will be in force from February 1 2023 for other high-risk investments.”

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Tagged : Altcoin / Bitcoin / Blockchain / Business / Cryptocurrencies / Finance / Financial Services / Government / News / Uk Government

Secret Network Validator Smart Stake to Shut Down Nodes

by Blockchain NewsJanuary 30, 2023

One of the most important validators for the privacy smart contract layer-1 blockchain. The Secret Network has declared that it would no longer provide the network with nodes or assistance after making this announcement.

On the 29th of January, the main validator Smart Stake made the announcement that it will turn down its Secret Network validator nodes on the 21st of February.

As justification for the discontinuation of its services, Smart Stake claimed “complicated and stressful validator operations, the expense and effort of validator operations, and recent events.”

Staking and validator services are provided by Smart Stake, which is a provider that works with many networks, including Crypto.com, Polygon, and Cosmos, as well as Secret Network up until very recently.

The decision was made in the wake of discoveries about the Secret Foundation’s lack of financial openness made by the founder of Secret Labs, Guy Zyskind.

On January 28, Zyskind made public allegations that the foundation and its founder and CEO, Tor Bair, “sold a substantial amount of USD worth of SCRT” in late 2021. SCRT is the native token for the Secret Network. Zyskind’s allegations are based on the fact that SCRT is the native token for the Secret Network.

In his allegations, he said that “Tor cashed out a considerable percentage of these revenues.”

In the report for the foundation’s fourth quarter in 2021, Zyskind also stated an inflow of four million dollars, but he did not disclose the withdrawal.

This activity was not revealed in any financial reports that were released to the community by the Foundation, which on several times was presented by Tor as a charitable entity.

On the other hand, Bair shared his perspective of the events on the Secret government forum the very same day. He claimed that the withdrawals were a portion of the vested tokens that were rightfully his.

“Instead of paying me out my vested tokens in December 2021, I changed my vested part of tokens to USD at the OTC price, and Secret Foundation distributed these cash as a dividend,” the author writes. “

He went on to say that “this information is verified in our 2021 tax filings,” adding that “Labs has already seen these files, and I have previously shared this information to them.”

At least one network validator provider and the community of the ecosystem have been unsettled by the continuing disagreement inside the leadership of the organisation.

Since the beginning of this week, SCRT prices have been unaffected by the internal kerfuffle and have been stabilising around the $0.80 level. However, the coin is now trading at a price that is 92% lower than its all-time high of $10.38 reached in October 2021 and Bair’s original price of $7.

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Tagged : Blockchain / Business / Finance / News / Transparency

Binance CEO Warns Traditional Institutions Against Reducing Exposure to Crypto

by Blockchain NewsJanuary 28, 2023

Binance CEO Changpeng “CZ” Zhao is of the opinion that a proactive reduction in exposure to cryptocurrencies by traditional institutions as a reaction to ecosystem collapses in 2022 could potentially have a negative impact on traditional financial players. This is because “CZ” Zhao believes that ecosystem collapses will occur in 2022. This idea originates from Zhao’s conviction that such a decrease may have a detrimental effect on the conventional participants in the financial sector. Zhao’s view that such a decline may have an adverse impact on the traditional players in the financial sector is whence he got the notion that a fall of this magnitude should be considered. He received the idea that a drop of this scale should be evaluated from Zhao’s viewpoint, which is that such a decrease may have a negative influence on the conventional players in the financial industry. Zhao believes that this decline might have a negative impact on the traditional players. This activity takes place at a time when well-established institutions are reacting to this action by reducing their exposure to cryptocurrency markets.

Investor confidence in the cryptocurrency industry as a whole has drastically declined as a direct consequence of the failure of important cryptocurrency businesses such as FTX and Terraform Labs. Traditional markets have been compelled to reconsider the methods that they had intended to employ in order to infiltrate the ecology of bitcoin as a direct result of this failure. Traditional markets had planned to utilise these techniques in order to penetrate the bitcoin ecosystem. CZ is of the opinion that this choice may prove to be ineffective in the twenty years that are to come, which is a possibility despite the fact that the reluctance of conventional participants creates a barrier to the widespread use of cryptocurrencies in the near future. CZ is of the opinion that this choice may prove to be ineffective in the twenty years that are to come. CZ is of the opinion that if one were to wait twenty years and then make this decision, it may end up being counterproductive.

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Tagged : Adoption / Binance / Business / Changpeng Zhao / Finance / News

Starling Bank prohibits crypto purchases and deposits citing danger

by Blockchain NewsNovember 25, 2022

The digital bank Starling, which is situated in the United Kingdom, is the most recent financial institution to prohibit its cardholders from engaging in any transactions or activities linked to cryptocurrencies.

Customers of Starling will no longer be able to make purchases of cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin (BTC) or receive inbound transfers from crypto exchanges or shops accepting Bitcoin as payment.

The online bank made the announcement to its clients as well as on Twitter, citing the high perceived risks associated with cryptocurrency trading as the reason for the decision.

The bank took these steps in the midst of an ongoing crisis in the cryptocurrency business involving FTX, one of the largest crypto exchanges in the world, which is accused of misappropriating customer cash together with its sister company, Alameda.

According to the documents filed by FTX in its bankruptcy proceeding, the company owes more than $3 billion to its 50 largest creditors, and the total number of investors who are creditors is apparently above 1 million.

This is not the first time that Starling has implemented limits on activities linked to cryptocurrencies and blockchain technology.

In May 2021, the bank temporarily blocked payments to cryptocurrency exchanges due to similar concerns. The bank cited “high levels of suspected financial crime with payments to some cryptocurrency exchanges.” as the reason for the temporary stoppage.

The ban comes only a few weeks after Santander UK restricted client contributions to cryptocurrency exchanges to a maximum of 1,000 British pounds ($1,196) per transaction and 3,000 British pounds ($3,588) overall per month.

According to recent reports, a number of other British banks have fully barred transactions relating to cryptocurrencies.

In June of 2017, TSB bank restricted the ability of its 5.4 million clients to purchase bitcoin.

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Tagged : Finance / STARLING BANK / United Kingdom

Thoma Bravo Contributes $70m for Blockchain Intelligence Firm TRM Labs

by Blockchain NewsNovember 10, 2022

Thoma Bravo, one of the largest private equity firms that manage more than $122 billion in assets, has contributed $70 million in funding to Blockchain-based intelligence company TRM Labs’s series B funding round, totalling the amount raised to $130 million.

Other participants in this round of fundraising included Goldman Sachs, Paypal Ventures, Amex Ventures, and Citi Ventures. The round follows TRM’s $60 Million Series B raise in December 2021 led by Tiger Global.

TRM Labs products focus mainly on allowing the trace of cryptocurrency transactions, risk assessment of other crypto businesses, and transaction monitoring for anti-money laundering compliance.

The blockchain firm claims its products are used by law enforcement agencies, tax authorities, regulatory bodies, and financial intelligence units worldwide to investigate and analyze crypto-related fraud and financial crimes.

According to the company, the funds raised would be used to develop more strategic investments in product development, create accessible tools to counter illicit finance and fraud in the crypto space, and meet the demand for its incident response services and training programs.

Esteban Castaño, co-founder and CEO of TRM, noted:

“Demand has never been stronger for solutions that help protect crypto users, impede illicit actors, and support blockchain-based innovation. As the industry continues to mature, TRM is setting the standard for data, products, and training that equip enterprises and governments to combat fraud and financial crime, even as new threats emerge.”

Since the initial Series B round in December last year, TRM Labs has acquired CSITech, a UK-based investigations and training firm, launched Chainsbuse, a free community-powered scam reporting platform, as well as integrated with reputable blockchains such as Solana, Polygon, and Avalanche to continue providing more insights of blockchain-based activity.

Notably, TRM Labs was established in 2018, and ever since, the company claims to have registered year-over-year revenue growth of 490%. Its members include former law enforcement officers from the United Kingdom’s National Crime Agency, INTERPOL, Australian Federal Police, the United States Internal Revenue Service’s Criminal Investigation division, the U.S. Secret Service, and the U.S. Department of the Treasury, among others.

Speaking of TRM Labs, the blockchain firm recently appointed Sujit Raman, a former Associate Deputy Attorney General at the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) and the chairman of the task force that authored the 2020 DOJ Cryptocurrency Enforcement Framework, as its General Counsel.

As reported by Blockchain.News Raman’s responsibility includes managing the company’s legal affairs, supporting global compliance and coordinating investigations and law enforcement activities.

Image source: Shutterstock

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Tagged : Blockchain / Finance / Fundraise / THOMAFUNDING / TRM

Digital Assets Outfit Archax Raises $28M in Series A Funding Round

by Blockchain NewsNovember 9, 2022

London-based digital assets exchange, Archax has announced the conclusion of its Series A funding round in which it pulled the sum of $28 million from investors.

As announced by the firm, the funding round was led by abrdn and enjoined participation from Bitrock Capital, Blockchain Coinvestors, CE Innovation Capital, Keiretsu Capital, Lingfeng Capital, Mathrix AG, SGH Capital, and The Tezos Foundation.

Archax comes off as the only blockchain-based trading outfit licensed by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) to trade all kinds of digital assets including crypto and securities. That the company could pull such massive funding at a time when the cryptocurrency ecosystem and the global economic outfit, in general, are reeling from bankruptcies across the board.

“We are extremely pleased to have been able to complete a round of this size during the turbulent crypto and traditional financial market conditions of the last few months. It is also fantastic to have such credible and strategic partner investors involved in the raise too – led by abrdn. We look forward to the next phase of the Archax journey as we scale up for launch and beyond with these partnerships in place,” said Graham Rodford, CEO and co-founder of Archax.

With the implosion of FTX Derivatives Exchange, the attractiveness of crypto trading platforms has remained bleak over the past year, however, Archax’s proposition is one that extends to cover all aspects of digital evolution.

The trading outfit said it will use the new capital to fasttrack its platform launch and to scale its already defined product offerings.

As one of the few licensed entities by the FCA, Archax seeks to launch a wide range of Exchange Traded Products (ETPs), an offering it claims will soon be made available. With the trust it received from its investors, Archax is optimistic to deploy the funds to meet all of its targets as it looks to showcase how robust the United Kingdom is with respect to digital evolution.

Image source: Shutterstock

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Tagged : ABRDN / ARCHAX / Finance / Funding Round / THE TEZOS FOUNDATION

Avalanche Foundation Announces $4m Incentive Program for Trading Platform GMX

by Blockchain NewsNovember 8, 2022

Avalanche Foundation has announced it will grant a $4 million incentive in AVAX tokens for the growth of the decentralized trading platform GMX.

The million-dollar incentive is deducted from the Avalanche Rush, a liquidity mining incentive program by Avalanche Foundation aimed to boost the Avalanche DeFi ecosystem.

According to Avalanche, the $4 million incentive will be issued over a multi-month duration alongside its collaboration platforms building on the GMX protocol. The collaborators include TraderJoe, YieldYak, Dopex, and Yeti Finance.

Launched on Avalanche in January, GMX is a decentralized exchange platform that enables users to trade spot and perpetual futures contracts on the Avalanche blockchain while also offering on-chain trading and deep liquidity.

The platform eliminates the risk of impermanent loss by allowing liquidity providers to risk the loss of their capital if GMX traders are profitable. Meanwhile, if traders lose their money instead, fees generated are rewarded to liquidity providers. In contrast, if the traders are being profitable, liquidity providers take responsibility.

The incentive program cancels some of the risk correlated with providing liquidity on GMX. It allows the collaborators of the protocol to build new types of products on top of the revenue model used by GMX. Alongside the $4 million, which will be allocated over a few months, users would be able to provide liquidity on the GMX platform and make use of the new products the platform collaborators develop.

Notably, the incentive program Avalanche Rush has been a part of the rapid growth of the Avalanche DeFi ecosystem since its launch in 2021. As the smart contract platform stated, ”the incentive program boosted its DeFi total value locked (TVL) by 900% within just a month of its launch.’’

GMX is not the only platform utilizing the Avalanche blockchain amid the extreme market condition. In September, New York-based global investment firm KKR & Co. Inc announced that it had put some part of its private equity funds on the Avalanche blockchain.

Image source: Shutterstock

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Tagged : Avalanche / AVAX / Blockchain / DeFi / Exchange / Finance / GMX

Bakkt Has Agreed to Acquire Apex Crypto for $200M

by Blockchain NewsNovember 3, 2022

Publicly listed Bitcoin firm Bakkt has agreed to pay the sum of $200 million as it looks to acquire Apex Crypto LLC, a subsidiary of Apex FinTech Solutions Inc.

By being a part of the Bakkt brand, Apex Crypto will help to bolster the business operations of the parent firm, drawing on its unique infrastructure to help bridge the gap between companies in the mainstream sector and those in crypto.

According to the terms of the deal, Bakkt will be paying the sum of $55 million in cash outright while paying $45 million when Apex Crypto meets its financial targets for the end of the Fourth Quarter (Q4) this year.

“We found a unique asset in Apex Crypto, which will expand our crypto client base, provide us with faster speed to market for new crypto capabilities, and serve as an additional avenue for continued sales to a crypto-savvy audience through Apex Fintech Solutions,” said Gavin Michael, CEO of Bakkt.

“With the addition of this complementary business, we believe we are poised to be a crypto provider of choice for financial institutions, fintechs, merchants or loyalty programs that want to offer seamless crypto experiences to their customers. It’s also expected to enable us to unlock more innovative opportunities that appeal to the next generation of consumers such as crypto rewards and NFTs.”

Bakkt went public on the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) back in October last year, setting a whole new agenda for the company in the Web3.0 world. The company has not sat on its oars over the past few years, launching innovative products to serve both its institutional and retail customers.

From partnering with Starbucks to floating a crypto product with Galaxy Digital, Bakkt has ingrained its footprint across the length and breadth of the digital currency ecosystem. The deal with Apex Crypto will contribute to bolstering these footprints when it closes following regulatory approvals.

Image source: Shutterstock

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Tagged : APEX CRYPTO / Bakkt / Finance / M & A