Crypto.com Receives License as a Payment Institution in Brazil

“Brazil and the entire Latin America market is a significant region in the pursuit of our vision of cryptocurrency in every wallet,” Crypto.com CEO Kris Marszalek said in a statement. Marcos Jarne, general manager and head of legal for Latin America at Crypto.com, added that “Latin America is a major driver in crypto adoption and regulators have also been playing a key role to foster this.” Source

US Government Wants to ‘Send a Message’ to Crypto With SBF’s Arrest, Says Former US Prosecutor

Mariotti said it is likely Bankman-Fried will be used as an example for why the digital asset industry needs more oversight. He said it is unlikely there will be any crypto-friendly regulation in the immediate future. Instead, he said, the industry may find itself facing “a lot of enforcement actions” in the short term, particularly from the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). Source

Binance CEO Says the World’s Largest Crypto Exchange by Volume Holds Customer Assets One-to-One

Binance CEO Changpeng “CZ” Zhao is fighting fear, uncertainty and doubt, saying assets held on the world’s largest exchange are one-to-one backed. In a new interview with CNBC Squawk Box host Aaron Sorkin, Zhao says they would not have a liquidity crunch covering any amount of customers’ withdrawals. “People can withdraw 100% of the assets they have on Binance. We will not have an issue on any given day. So 100% of users withdraw 100% of assets, we’d be fine. This is very different for traditional financial people to understand…

Amber Group acquires cryptocurrency platform Sparrow exchange: report

Cryptocurrency trading firm Amber Group, which had roughly 10% of its trading capital stuck on FTX at the time of the exchange’s collapse, has reportedly acquired cryptocurrency platform, Sparrow Holdings according to an announcement on Dec. 14. The Singaporean crypto platform Sparrow Holdings, which offers digital assets products and solutions, acquired its payments license from the Monetary Authority of Singapore in August, to provide Digital Payment Token (DPT) services in Singapore, under the Payment Services Act (PSA). Founded in 2018, Sparrow works with financial institutions and family offices in designing…

Changpeng Zhao Won’t Rescue Binance by Selling out Crypto Self-Custody

Centralized crypto exchanges reintroduce an element of trust that trustless protocols like Bitcoin and Ethereum remove from finance. Users take on the risks, even if rare, of hacks, frozen withdrawals and other business failures, Casa’s Nick Neuman said recently. And so, amid a period of uncertainty, Zhao’s primary responsibility is to reestablish confidence in his exchange. Source

US Trustee names Wintermute on creditor committee in FTX bankruptcy case

A United States Trustee has announced nine creditors to the committee responsible for part of crypto exchange FTX’s bankruptcy proceedings. According to court documents filed Dec. 15, U.S. Trustee Andrew Vara named crypto market maker Wintermute Asia among those on the ‘Committee of Unsecured Creditors’. Other creditors included individual investors, crypto hedge fund Coincident Capital, GGC International — an affiliate of lending platform Genesis — Pulsar Global, Wincent Investment Fund, and Octopus Information. The committee would play a role in representing creditors who lost funds or were otherwise affected by…