The Kingdom of Tonga may adopt bitcoin as legal tender, according to a former member of Tonga’s parliament, Lord Fusitu’a, who tweeted about a possible timeline for this event to occur. Fusitu’a believes that by next fall a bill will be passed by Tonga’s parliament and bitcoin could be legal tender in the region by […]

The credit rating agency believes El Salvador’s Bitcoin experiment has elevated the country’s risk profile and could limit its access to foreign debt markets.

Tesla now accepts dogecoin for some merchandise on its website. CEO Elon Musk delivered on the promise he made in December that his electric car company will accept DOGE. Meanwhile, Tesla still has not resumed accepting bitcoin. Dogecoin Now Accepted for Select Tesla Merchandise Elon Musk’s electric car company, Tesla, has begun accepting dogecoin payments […]

The Swiss National Bank has successfully employed a wholesale CBDC to settle transactions with five commercial banks, the monetary authority announced. The tests are part of an experiment carried out together with the Bank for International Settlements and Switzerland’s financial services provider SIX. Swiss Central Bank Tests Integration of Wholesale CBDC Settlement With Private Banks […]

The Indian Enforcement Directorate took strict actions against the crimes involving cryptocurrencies; it is a department under the Indian Ministry of Finance. The police in one of the states filed an FIR that instigated a series of investigations. The department has taken hold of assets worth $5 million in the crypto scam. The act has

The post India Seizes $5 Million Worth Assets in $162M Morris Coin Crypto Ponzi Scheme appeared first on CoinGape.

A group of U.S.-based banks is launching their own stablecoin, USDF. The stablecoin will be issued by the USDF Consortium, which will allow its members (financial and banking institutions) to issue USDF. The proposed stablecoin will be the first currency of its kind to be minted by FDIC-insured institutions and compliant with the recommendations on […]

On Thursday, the Near Foundation announced the project has raised $150 million from strategic investors such as Three-Arrows Capital, a16z, Mechanism Capital, Dragonfly Capital, and Circle Ventures. Following the announcement, the Near protocol’s native crypto asset jumped more than 7% against the U.S. dollar. Near Foundation Gets a $150 Million Capital Injection The team behind […]

Following the charged-up debut of the Proshares bitcoin exchange-traded fund (ETF), Valkyrie’s bitcoin futures ETF and the Vaneck bitcoin strategy ETF, interest in these types of funds seems to have faded a great deal. After the Proshares bitcoin ETF BITO reached an all-time high on November 10, the ETF is down 39% over the last […]

PRESS RELEASE. United Kingdom — January 13th, 2022 – Kepithor Studios has announced a set of innovative new GameFi mechanics coming to its turn-based NFT battle game, Kingdom Karnage. The game will introduce new play-to-earn opportunities for its players, powered by its upcoming KKT token, which has received investment from Animoca Brands, Kriptomat, ExNetwork, MyMetaverse, […]

The State Bank of Pakistan (SBP), the country’s central bank, has reportedly come to a decision to ban the use of all cryptocurrencies within the country. The central bank has also asked the Sindh High Court to ban “unauthorized operations” of crypto exchanges and impose penalties on them. Pakistani Interministerial Committee Recommends Banning Cryptocurrency and […]

Nasdaq-listed cryptocurrency exchange Coinbase has acquired a regulated derivatives trading platform. Coinbase plans to make the derivatives market more approachable to millions of its retail customers. Coinbase Plans to Offer Crypto Derivatives to All US Customers Nasdaq-listed crypto exchange operator Coinbase announced Wednesday that it has acquired Fairx, a regulated derivatives trading platform. Fairx is […]

Bipartisan lawmakers from the U.S. House and Senate Agriculture Committees have requested clear information from the chair of the Commodities Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) about the crypto industry and their role in monitoring it and taking enforcement actions. The CFTC chair Rostin Behnam intends to expand the regulator’s authority over the crypto market. Democrats and Republicans from the Senate and House Agriculture Committees agreed that the agency plays a “critical role“. In a letter that Bloomberg described as “a rare show of bipartisanship in a divided Congress”, the lawmakers asked chair Benham to answer several questions in order “To understand the scope and size of digital asset markets, the benefits and risks presented by these emerging technologies” and “the role of the Commission with respect to these markets”. “The CFTC has a critical role to play to ensure the integrity of digital asset markets. While some of these technologies have the potential to modernize the financial system, it is imperative that customers are protected from fraud and abuse and that these markets are fair and transparent.” The lawmakers approached the risks of the crypto industry and called for the CFTC to widen their engagement to protect consumers from losses and scams. The letter details alleged risks from the industry and reiterated that the CFTC is enabled by the Commodity Exchange Act to take enforcement actions for violations coming from digital asset marketplaces. “Despite the CFTC’s responsible engagement, this industry is still subject to risks of abuse, including consumer fraud and cybercrime. Consumers reported losing nearly $82 million to 2 cryptocurrency scams between the fourth quarter of 2020 and first quarter of 2021, more than 10 times the amount from the same six-month period a year earlier.” The lawmakers are also concerned about risks in the DeFi space and “any DeFi protocols offering derivatives contracts on unregistered exchanges”. However, they noted that “there are still questions about who is responsible for monitoring DeFi markets for fraud and manipulation, safeguarding customer funds, and ensuring parties meet their obligations to one another.” Related Reading | Did US Regulators Began Offensive Against Crypto Platforms? CFTC Fines Kraken Authority Of The CFTC In October 2021, during chair Rostin Behnam’s confirmation hearing, he appealed to Congress looking to expand the CFTC’s regulatory authority and stated that the entity is ready to be the “primary cop on the beat” “the total size of the digital asset market was US$2.7 trillion and among that $2.7 trillion, nearly 60% were commodities. So with that in mind, I think it’s important for this committee to reconsider and consider expanding authority for the CFTC,” Behnam’s statement seemed to contradict Gary Gensler’s, chair of the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), who sees most cryptocurrencies as equity. This has seemingly turned into a race amongst regulators to gain more authority. The SEC’s view on how to define Ether has become unclear. If the two largest cryptocurrencies by market cap (BTC and ETH) are not securities, then the SEC has a large size of the market out of regulatory reach. However, the lawmaker’s letter defined both Bitcoin and Ether as commodities, which would mean that both of these assets fall under the CFTC’s jurisdiction. “The CFTC has long considered certain digital assets to be commodities and courts have agreed. In fact, the two largest digital assets by market capitalization are commodities: Bitcoin and Ether. These two digital assets alone make up approximately 60% of the $2.7 trillion market. Futures contracts on Bitcoin and Ether are currently traded on CFTC-registered derivatives exchanges.” Related Reading | How the CFTC fine on Coinbase could affect future crypto company listing