Which Regulators Are Shaping U.S. Crypto Policy?

Agencies like the Securities and Exchange Commission and Commodities Futures Trading Commission play an important role in financial regulation in the United States. In this feature, we explain the countrys key regulatory agencies the impact they have on the crypto space.  Key Crypto Regulators in the U.S.  For as long as crypto has existed, enthusiasts and onlookers alike have pondered how regulators will deal with the asset class. Its become a more pertinent question as the space has grown and regulators worldwide have made it clear that they are watching the space. In 2021, a boom in the crypto market proved that the technology had gone mainstream. With interest in Bitcoin, DeFi, and stablecoins rising, regulatory agencies are increasingly looking into how to manage the space.  Its difficult to talk about global cryptocurrency policy without discussing the influence of regulatory agencies in the United States. Over the last decade, several institutions, federal agencies, and bureaus of the U.S. government have been keeping a close eye on the digital assets space. The Securities and Exchange Commission, Commodities Future Trading Commission, Office of the Comptroller of the Currency, Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, Treasury Department, Federal Reserve, and Financial Crimes Enforcement Network have all made inputs

2022-02-21Deep Dive

Fireblocks to Acquire Crypto Payment Platform for a Reported $100 Million

Fireblocks $8 Billion Valuation  Fireblocks, a digital asset custody firm, is set to acquire the stablecoin payment platform First Digital for $100 million, a report has said. The acquisition, when consummated, will enable Fireblocks to bolster the capabilities of its current payment platform.  According to a report by Calcalist, Fireblocks will be able to do this by enabling payment service providers (PSPs) and acquirers to accept crypto payments and to make payouts in digital currencies as well.  The custody firms purchase of the Israeli fintech startup comes a few weeks after Fireblocks was reported to have raised $550 million in Series E funding. Following this funding series, which brought the total value of funds raised to $1 billion, Fireblocks saw its valuation rise to a reported $8 billion.Fireblocks Not Focused on Further Acquisitions  Meanwhile, the report quotes Fireblocks CEO, Michael Shaulov, who lists some of the reasons for this acquisition. He said:  They built one of the strongest teams when it comes to crypto, payments, and product and they will complement our capabilities. Firsts significant advantage is that like Fireblocks, they built a technological platform that easily connects to the different payment providers and allows them to easily receive payments in cryptocurrencies.  While the acquisition is

2022-02-21Deep Dive

Play-to-Earn Blockchain Game Axie Infinity Surpasses $4 Billion in All-Time NFT Sales

The Sky Mavis Crafted Blockchain Game Axie Infinity Records More Than $4 Billion in Lifetime NFT Sales  The Ethereum-based video game Axie Infinity has been very popular during the last 12 months as the P2E pet training world has seen significant demand. The games native digital currency axie infinity (AXS) has increased by 2,544% against the U.S. dollar over the last year.  On the other hand, smooth love potion (SLP), hasn‘t been so lucky and is down 70% in value year-to-date. Metrics indicate that there’s 53,502 AXS token holders today and out of 166,870 Axies there are 45,276 Axie owners.  This week, NFT metrics show, the project developed by Sky Mavis captured more than $4 billion worth of all-time NFT sales. Today, the average Axie Infinity sale price is $198.77 and the project has seen 1,905,222 traders, according to lifetime statistics.  The top five NFT projects in terms of all-time sales according to dappradar.com statistics.  With approximately $4.14 billion in all-time sales recorded at the time of writing, Axie Infinity is the third-largest NFT project in terms of all-time sales. The game‘s NFT sales are below Opensea’s $21.85 billion and Looksrares reported $16.85 billion.Despite the All-Time Sales Milestone, Axie Nft sales Are Down 40.58% During

2022-02-21Deep Dive

US Senate Passing New Legislation To Monitor Risks Associated With El Salvador’s Bitcoin Adoption

Bipartisan senators present a bill to combat the risks facing America as a result of El Salvadors Bitcoin Law.  The bill highlights concerns over how it affects US sanctions and money laundering.  Bukele has expressed his annoyance with the new bill on Twitter.  A new bill aimed at assessing the risks to America from El Salvador‘s bitcoin adoption has been brought to the senate. El Salvador’s president, Nayib Bukele, does not appear to be pleased with the situation.  El Salvadors Bitcoin Law: A Threat To US Interests  A bipartisan group of senators introduced the bill in the US Senate to effectively respond to any potential risks posed by El Salvadors adoption of Bitcoin as legal tender. The bill titled the “Accountability for Cryptocurrency in El Salvador Act,” or “ACES Act,” was brought to the house by Republican Senators Jim Risch and Bill Cassidy and signed on by Democrat Senator Bob Menendez.  Senator Jim Risch revealed that El Salvador‘s adoption of Bitcoin raised concerns over the nation’s economic stability and financial integrity. He added that El Salvador‘s Bitcoin adoption “has the potential to weaken U.S. sanctions policy, empowering malign actors like organized criminal organizations. Our bipartisan legislation seeks greater clarity on El Salvador’s policy and requires the

2022-02-21Deep Dive

Report: Blockchain and Crypto VC Investments Grew Almost Tenfold During 2021 in Latam

A new report issued by LAVCA, the Association for Private Capital Investment in Latin America, has found that the venture capital (VC) investment in the region has grown immensely compared to the previous years numbers. In general, the region registered investments of more than $15 billion, more than three times the amount registered in 2020. However, crypto and blockchain investments grew almost tenfold.  Crypto Outpaces Conventional VC Investments in Latam  A new report issued by LAVCA, the Association for Private Capital Investment in Latin America, details the growth of the venture capital (VC) movement in the region and highlights the interest that these companies took in crypto in 2021. The report found that the region experienced notable growth when it comes to venture capital investments, more than tripling the numbers registered the previous year. In 2020, LAVCA registered $4.14 billion in VC investments, in the midst of the coronavirus pandemic. Last year, this influx reached $15.7 billion.  Investments made in defi, blockchain, and cryptocurrency sectors vastly outgrew the investment growth rates in more conventional sectors. According to numbers registered in the report, these investments reached $653 million in 2021, growing almost ten times more than the number that the sector registered in 2020

2022-02-21Deep Dive

Fed Bans Senior Officials From Cryptocurrency Investing

The Federal Reserve has banned its senior officials from investing in cryptocurrency. “Officials covered by the new rules will have 12 months from the effective date of the rules to dispose of all impermissible holdings,” said the Federal Open Market Committee.  Senior Federal Reserve Officials Prohibited From Investing in Cryptocurrency  The Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) announced Friday that it has “unanimously formally adopted comprehensive new rules for the investment and trading activity of senior officials.”  The FOMC is a committee within the U.S. Federal Reserve System charged with overseeing the nations open market operations.  The rules were first announced in October last year to strengthen “the impartiality and integrity of the Committees work by guarding against even the appearance of any conflict of interest,” the announcement details, elaborating:  “Under the new rules, senior Federal Reserve officials are prohibited from … holding investments in individual bonds, agency securities, cryptocurrencies, commodities, or foreign currencies.”  In addition, they are also banned from “purchasing individual stocks or sector funds,” “entering into derivatives contracts,” and “engaging in short sales or purchasing securities on margin.” Cryptocurrency was not included in the October announcement.  The new rules apply to Reserve Bank presidents, board members, first vice-president, research directors, FOMC staff officers, the manager

2022-02-21Deep Dive

Elon Musk Says Tesla To Accept Dogecoin As Payment At Supercharging Stations

Tesla will soon accept cryptocurrency Dogecoin as a mode of payment at its supercharging stations located in Santa Monica, tweeted by Elon Musk, chief executive officer (CEO) of Tesla, on Saturday morning, February 19, 2022. After this announcement, prices of Dogecoin started rising upward.   Rayan Zohoury, the founder of Tesla Console, confirmed in the tweet that soon after ten minutes the offer to accept Dogecoin, the supercharging stations located in Santa Monica got fully occupied by customers. Musk replied to this offer and provided details about the plans to open dinner or drive-in the theater at the supercharging stations. Customers can surely make payments in the shape of Dogecoins against both preplanned facilities.   DOGE made a move upward by 2.7% today | Source: DOGE/USD Chart on Tradingview.com  When it comes to cryptocurrency, there are many different types of coins and tokens. One example is Dogecoin which was created in 2013 by software engineers Billy Markus and Jackson Palmer as a faster but “fun” alternative to Bitcoin with features such as accessible mining code (for those newbies). This crypto took off soon after its launch; people loved that they could get involved without having too much knowledge about technology! The logo also

2022-02-20Deep Dive

Meta Working On Deal With Brazil To Trademark Crypto

Meta is currently awaiting a final green light for an application registration deal done with Brazil and Brazilian authorities that will shake up the game and allow them to expand into a new market.  Meta published the application for registration in late January, and is currently awaiting opposition prior to INPI approval in Brazil; as Meta hopes to bridge a gap for Bitcoin and other crypto with its new hardware development that looks to change the game, could the company help add Brazil to the list of crypto destinations?Meta once done, the move could open up the gates and raise up the awareness for crypto in Brazil.  Facebook: Meta doest have a stand alone coin, and is continuing to find its way in the crypto market despite historical struggles. | FB-USD on TradingView.com  Meta published the application for registration in recent weeks, and is currently awaiting opposition prior INPI approval. According to the filing, Metas initial trademark filing order was placed on October 5 last year.Meta: A New Place With An Old Trick…  Meta has done quite a bit of rebranding recently, especially around crypto and blockchain tech, and around it‘s broader Facebook product in particular, with the intent to better align with the

2022-02-20Deep Dive

Solana Based Exotic Markets To Launch First Dual Currency Notes and Accumulators on Defi

Exotic Markets is eager to bring its flexible structured products protocol to the Solana blockchain. The team will perform an alpha version of the protocol via a DevNet platform launch on Friday, February 18, 2022, at noon UTC.   Exotic Markets brings never-before-seen products to the DeFi industry, including accumulators, dual-currency products, and worst-of options. The team prioritizes introducing the most flexible structured products to decentralized finance enthusiasts. As a result, protocol users can access the widest range of payoffs in DeFi today through this approach.   With dual-currency notes, users can deposit their token and be paid a return linked to the performance of the deposited token. For those who prefer to diversify their portfolio, the Accumulator feature may prove worthwhile, as it offers the option to buy a token at a lower price.   Exotic Markets users can invest in these products through the five DevNet tokens that the team will issue once the platform goes live.   An extra feature to explore is the ability to swap tokens when needed. It is a crucial aspect of the Exotic Markets vision, as five tokens will be supported initially: BTC, SOL, SRM, RAY, and USDC. These tokens are DevNet assets, allowing users to

2022-02-20Deep Dive

Web3 in 2022: Defining a Concept & Developing a New Paradigm

Web3 is the logical consequence of crypto. In a world where digital currencies and blockchain networks have allowed for the decentralization of money and financial services, it was all but inevitable that the decentralization of the Web would follow.  But while the concept of Web3 certainly took much of the technology sector by storm in 2021, it hasnt developed into a fully-fledged sector, defined by concrete examples of platforms, products, and services making a substantial difference to our lives. However, numerous industry figures say that it will experience considerable growth in 2022, with an expanding number of startups, organizations, and companies creating valuable products that help to popularize it.  However, commenters also affirm that, rather than being a distinct, standalone area of the crypto sector, Web3 is more of a paradigm for the sector as a whole, a way of conceptualizing the development of crypto as it integrates a variety of different strands. This includes NFTs, DeFi, and the metaverse, which will all combine to ensure that Web3 has a very strong year indeed.Web3! Yes, but what is it?  “‘Web3’ seems to be the buzzword taking over ‘crypto’ in 2022, but we believe its just a different way to describe the industry; and

2022-02-20Deep Dive
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