Crypto Guides, Knowledge & Insights

Colombia Takes First Steps Toward Regulating Cryptocurrency Exchanges

The Congress of Colombia has approved a bill that regulates the behavior of cryptocurrency exchanges in the country in its first discussion, taking the first steps to bring clarity to this issue. One of the creators of the bill, Mauricio Toro, a representative of the Green Party, stated that this bill is needed to protect users from Ponzi schemes, giving them security in the crypto world.　　Colombia Gets on the Crypto Regulation Road　　More and more countries in Latam are realizing the growth and influence crypto and crypto-related businesses are seeing in their territories. Colombia is one of them, and this is moving the government to accelerate the regulation of cryptocurrency exchanges to clarify the responsibilities and duties of these companies.　　In this sense, the Colombian Congress has taken steps in this direction by approving a bill that seeks to give more clarity and security to the operation of crypto exchanges in the country. One of the proponents of the bill, representative Mauricio Toro of the Green Party, gave his opinion about this development on social media. According to Toro:　　“Colombia has to move forward in regulating this business, which is legal and multi-million dollar, so that jobs and opportunities are created, but also

2022-06-10Deep Dive

Jamaica Becomes First Country to Make a CBDC Legal Tender

The Bank of Jamaica (BoJ) has legalized its CBDC in a move to provide an alternative to its cash-based economy.　　According to reports, the Jamaican senate has authorized the central bank to issue its CBDC, known as the Jamaica Digital Exchange, or Jam-Dex. According to Bank of Jamaica Governor Richard Byles, the Jam-Dex will officially launch for domestic use later this month.　　The digital Jamaican dollar “offers a more secure, convenient alternative to physical notes and coins, and can be used without a bank account,” Byles told Blockworks.　　The Jam-Dex has been in a pilot testing phase since Aug last year. BeInCrypto reported earlier this year that it would be rolled out in Q1, but delays have pushed it into the second quarter.　　New payments solutions　　CEO of CBDC technology provider eCurrency, Jonathan Dharmapalan, confirmed the move: “Legislators in Jamaica have all now unanimously moved a digital dollar forward in Jamaica. You can use this to settle any debt in Jamaica. It is the medium of exchange. It is the medium of account.”　　He stated that it was important for countries to start recognizing that their money can come in digital form, before adding: “Because it‘s digital, you don’t have to be in the same place

2022-06-10Deep Dive

Tether has announced that it will launch USDT on the Tezos network

Tether Operations Limited, the company behind Tether (USDT), the worlds largest stablecoin by market capitalization, has announced its plans to launch USDT on the Tezos (XTZ) blockchain. This announcement now means that USDT is available on 12 blockchain networks, including Ethereum (ETH), Tron (TRX), and Binance (BNB).　　The stablecoin was launched on the Tezos network to “power revolutionary applications across payments, DeFi, and more.” according to Tether.　　“Were excited to launch USD₮ on Tezos, offering its growing and vibrant community access to the most liquid, stable, and trusted stablecoin in the digital token space,” said Paolo Ardoino, CTO at Tether. “Tezos is coming fast onto the scene and we believe that this integration will be essential to its long-term growth.”　　Tether is currently the most widely used stablecoin with the most cryptocurrency pairs on exchanges, followed by USD Coin (USDC), the second most popular stabelcoin. By making Tether available on multiple blockchains, more users will be able to store their funds in non-volatile, USD-pegged cryptocurrencies. It also makes it easier for users to engage in Decentralized Finance (DeFi).　　“With the introduction of USD₮, on and off ramps into the Tezos DeFi ecosystem are simplified and efficient. Tezos is an exemplary system with features and

2022-06-10Deep Dive

CFTC may become main regulator for crypto industry

The Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) is garnering support to be the primary regulator for the crypto industry amongst stakeholders in the crypto industry and US lawmakers, Commissioner Summer Mersinger said during the Reuters Commodities Trading USA conference in Houston.　　The CFTC commissioner continued that the commission is also reviewing its potential roles in the crypto industry, especially in areas such as spot-market crypto trading. However, the reviews are still at the preliminary stage.　　In his words,　　“We are still a strong regulator, but our registrants have a lot of flexibility. They have been very interested in that approach versus the top-down way of some other financial regulators.”　　Several crypto exchanges have revealed their preference for the CFTC to be the principal regulator of the crypto space. The CEO and founder of FTX, Sam Bankman-Fried, has been lobbying the US Congress to give the CFTC a bigger role in overseeing the industry.　　Meanwhile, a newly proposed bipartisan bill by Senators Kirsten Gillibrand and Cynthia Lummis wants to regard cryptocurrencies as commodities that should be placed under the purview of the CFTC.　　 Who should regulate the crypto industry？ SEC or CFTC？　　With the newly proposed bill pushing CFTC to the forefront of crypto regulations, experts in the

2022-06-10Deep Dive

Crypto Trading Firm Wintermute to Launch DEX on Ethereum

Crypto market-making giant Wintermute is launching Bebop, a new decentralized exchange (DEX) set to go live on Ethereum this summer.　　Bebop will join the roster of existing DEXes on Ethereum, which includes Uniswap, Sushiswap and Curve.　　“I believe that Bebop can be…more than just a tool to route to the best venue for execution,” said Evgeny Gaevoy, founder of Wintermute. “Bebops ambition is to redefine user experience in DeFi, making the process of trading intuitive and hassle-free.”　　Decentralized exchanges allow users to trade crypto tokens without the usual know-your-customer (KYC) checks, making them a popular alternative to centralized exchanges such as Coinbase (COIN) and Binance.　　Unlike Uniswap and its various forks, the code base for Bebop is not open source, according to a Wintermute spokesperson.　　The announcement comes on the heels of the April launch of Wintermutes new zero-fee institutional trading platform, Wintermute Node.What makes Bebop different？　　One key feature of Bebop is its ability to swap one token for a portfolio of tokens and, conversely, swap a portfolio of tokens for one token, allowing traders to enter or exit multiple positions via a single trade.　　Bebop says this feature will be “especially important in fast markets” and save users in transaction costs.　　Unlike Uniswap or Binance Smart

2022-06-09Deep Dive

Best Crypto Wallet: The Top 8 Hardware Wallets

When it comes to storing cryptocurrencies safely, hardware wallets are widely considered to be the gold standard.　　Hardware wallets keep the private keys to your crypto stored in a secure offline environment—meaning that unlike software wallets, theyre completely immune to online attacks. The best hardware wallets are also resistant to physical tampering.　　Hardware wallets are ideal for anybody looking to safely store a substantial cryptocurrency portfolio, or carry their portfolio with them on the move. They are also an excellent choice for anybody looking to store their crypto assets long-term, with little need to access them regularly.　　There are currently dozens of options on the market, each with their own pros and cons, and target userbase; weve rounded up some of the leading contenders.1.1. Ledger Nano S Plus　　The most recent addition to Ledgers hardware wallet range, the Ledger Nano S Plus sits in-between the flagship Nano X and the base-level Nano S in the lineup.　　It sports the same large screen seen on the Nano X, as well as greater storage capacity than the Nano S, and charges using a USB-C cable rather than the old micro-USB seen on the Nano S. The only area where it loses out against the Nano X is

2022-06-09Deep Dive

Crypto Ratings Project DeFi Safety Downgrades Solana Amid Infrastructure Concerns

DeFi Safety, an independent DeFi rating organization, has ranked Solana as the second-worst according to the firms technical criteria. 　　Axie Infinitys, the popular play-to-earn gaming platform, Ronin blockchain has been ranked as the worst, according to DeFi Safety. Ronin was hacked for $600 million in March 2022.　　The Montreal-based agency has rated over 240 Decentralized Finance (DeFi) protocols and 15 different blockchains. 　　DeFi Safetys blockchain reviews include five-different criteria: node count and their diversity, supporting software, documentation, as well as testing and security, according to their blog post. 　　“DeFi Safety does not perform code audits,” explains Defi Safety on its about page. “Instead, we review the quality of process and documentation behind the code, of which audits are only a part.”Why is Solana rated low？　　DeFi Safety‘s primary reasons for such a low rating revolve around Solana’s poor node infrastructure and frequent downtimes.　　Other reasons include improper handling of archival node information, poorly designed block explorers, and unaudited node clients (software) with less diversity than competing blockchains.　　DeFi Safety raised concerns about the lack of details regarding the networks node archival, or the process of storing all of a blockchains data since its inception. 　　There is no clear documentation on node archival except a

2022-06-09Deep Dive

New Law Would Ban Crypto Pay in Russia (Again) as Miners Struggle to Convince Central Bank to Legali

Crypto advocates are still facing an uphill struggle in Russia – where MPs are expected to vote in favor of a proposal that would ban the use of “monetary surrogates” as a form of payment. And it appears that crypto miners are yet to persuade the influential Central Bank Governor Elvira Nabiullina that their industry should not be banned.　　A measure tabled by Anatoly Aksakov, the State Dumas Chairman of the Financial Markets Committee, will be debated in parliament in the coming days – and is expected to pass unhindered. The bill effectively seeks to clarify existing legislation from 2020 that forbids the use of crypto in payments and settlements.　　An explanatory document provided with the new draft law reads:　　“The ruble is the official [currency] of the Russian Federation. [This measure] introduces a prohibition against the introduction of other monetary [items] or monetary surrogates on Russian territory. […]. The draft law introduces changes aimed at eliminating the indicated risks of using [cryptoassets] as a monetary surrogate by establishing a direct ban on the transfer or acceptance of [cryptoassets] as a counter provision for goods transferred, work performed and/or services rendered.”　　Consultation on the bill ends tomorrow and MPs will begin debating the bill

2022-06-09Deep Dive

Indian Regulator: Crypto's Decentralized Nature Makes Regulation Challenging

Indias market regulator, the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI), says the decentralized nature of crypto assets makes consumer protection and regulatory enforcement challenging.　　SEBI on Crypto Regulation　　The Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) reportedly told the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Finance that the decentralized nature of crypto assets makes any consumer protection or regulatory enforcement of this asset class challenging.　　Noting that “crypto assets are maintained in decentralized distributed ledgers,” SEBI was quoted by local media as saying: There is a great likelihood of execution of unauthorized trades not in consonance with any regulatory framework.　　The market regulator emphasized the need for clarity about whether crypto assets are securities. “If crypto assets are not banned, then there is a need for feature-based characterization of the tokenized version of the assets, which may attract supervision of different sectoral regulators,” SEBI noted.　　The regulator explained that there could be more than one regulator for crypto, noting that different aspects of the crypto industry could be overseen by different regulators.　　SEBI detailed that consumer products should be protected through the Consumer Protection Act. The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) could also regulate crypto trading platforms under the Foreign Exchange Management Act (FEMA). SEBI further said:

2022-06-09Deep Dive

Binance US Adds Staking Services for 7 Different Crypto Assets

Binance US is now offering crypto staking services and the firm details that seven digital currencies are currently available with annual percentage yields (APYs) up to 18%. Customers can earn yields on proof-of-stake (PoS) cryptocurrencies that include binance coin, solana, avalanche, livepeer, graph, cosmos, and audius.　　Binance US Adds Staking Services　　On Twitter, Binance US explained the company is now joining the ranks of the variety of crypto exchanges that offer staking services. “Binance US has officially launched staking, empowering customers to do more with their money,” the company detailed on Tuesday. “Customers can now stake while generating an APY of up to 18%, the highest rate among U.S. crypto firms,” the exchange added.　　Currently, Binance US is offering staking services for seven different crypto assets, which include BNB, AUDIO, AVAX, SOL, ATOM, LPT, and GRT. Binance US shows that BNB currently offers an annual percentage yield (APY) of around 6.4% and LPTs staking reward is 18%. When an individual on Twitter asked Binance US if they can “expect more options in the future？” the exchange replied: “Yes. More to come.”　　With Binance US getting into the game of staking services, the firm joins competitors like Crypto.com, Kraken, Gemini, Coinbase, FTX, Tradestation, and other

2022-06-09Deep Dive

...

230232

...

736