Day: February 14, 2023

Southeast Asia’s Largest Bank DBS Unveils Plan to Expand Crypto Services in Hong Kong – Featured Bitcoin News

DBS, the largest bank in Southeast Asia, has unveiled its plan to expand its crypto services in Hong Kong. “We are planning to apply for a license in Hong Kong so that the bank could sell digital assets to our Hong Kong customers,” said an executive of the bank. DBS Bank to Apply for Digital Asset License in Hong Kong DBS Group Holdings has unveiled its plan to expand its services in Hong Kong. The Straits Times reported Monday that the bank plans to apply for a license to offer…

Circle squashes rumors of planned SEC enforcement action

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USD Coin (USDC) issuer Circle has denied rumors that it received a “Wells Notice” over its United States dollar-pegged stablecoin. On Feb. 14, a now-deleted tweet from Fox Business reporter Eleanor Terrett claimed Circle had been ordered by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) to cease the sale of USDC — due to the stablecoin being an unregistered security.  However, the rumor was swiftly rebuffed by Dante Disparte, Chief Strategy Officer and Head of Global Policy at Circle Pay on Twitter just 15 minutes after Terrett’s tweet, noting his…

Fewer Than Half of New Ethereum Blocks Over the Past 24 Hours Are OFAC Compliant

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South Sudan Government Bans US Dollar Transactions – Africa Bitcoin News

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The government of South Sudan has reportedly prohibited U.S. dollar-based transactions and has directed that all local payments be settled in the local currency. The Salva Kiir Mayardit government reportedly said it also wants all signed commercial contracts to be based on the local currency. South Sudan’s Economic Meltdown As part of initiatives aimed at reviving South Sudan’s war-torn economy, the government of Salva Kiir Mayardit recently outlawed U.S. dollar-based transactions, a report has said. In place of the greenback, the government reportedly directed that all local payments be settled…

Charity tied to former FTX exec made $150M from insider trading: Report

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Polaris Ventures, a charity created by former FTX and Alameda chief of staff Ruairi Donnelly, reportedly wants to access roughly $150 million earned from insider trading on the bankrupt exchange’s tokens. According to a Feb. 14 Wall Street Journal report, Donnelly received roughly $562,000 in salary during his time at FTX, which was converted into FTX Tokens (FTT) at a rate not yet available to the public — $0.05. The former executive reportedly ‘donated’ the tokens to Polaris Ventures, selling them in 2019 and 2020 after public trading opened at…

crypto industry will probably move to non-dollar stablecoins

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The crypto industry will “probably” start using euro, yen, or Singapore dollar based stablecoins in the future, reducing its reliance on US dollar based stablecoins, according to a Feb. 14 statement on Twitter Spaces by Binance CEO Changpeng Zhao, also known as “CZ.” CZ gave the statement in answer to a question about the crypto industry using gold as a standard of value instead of the US Dollar. CZ agreed that it “makes sense” to use gold. However, “most people’s costs are still in fiat currencies.” For this reason, most…

Ethereum’s $1.5K support weakens as ETH traders turn slightly bearish

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The price of Ether (ETH) declined 10.2% between Jan. 8 and Jan. 10, and has since been range trading near the $1,500 level. More importantly, on a broader time frame, Ether is down 52.5% in twelve months, which partially explains why derivatives metrics were somewhat neutral after Ether’s failed attempt to break $1,700 on Feb. 8. Currently, investors’ biggest concerns are the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission’s (SEC) lawsuits and enforcement actions against crypto firms, which included Kraken’s tanking of its-as-a-service program and PayPal reportedly pausing its stablecoin project due…

Blockchain Association files amicus brief in Wahi case, says SEC exceeded authority

The Blockchain Association filed an amicus brief Feb. 13 in the United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) case against former Coinbase Global product manager Ishan Wahi and his associates. The advocacy group expressed its support for the defendants’ argument for dismissal, where they claimed the SEC had exceeded its authority in the case. The case alleging unregistered securities sales of nine tokens is being heard in the U.S. District Court of Western Washington. Calling the case “the latest salvo in the SEC’s apparent ongoing strategy of regulation by enforcement…

Siemens issues €60M digital bond on a public blockchain

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German engineering and technology giant Siemens has become one of the first companies in Germany to issue a digital bond on a public blockchain, worth €60 million, with a maturity of one year, in accordance with Germany’s Electronic Securities Act. According to the announcement, the bond was sold directly to investors such as DekaBank, DZ Bank, and Union Investment, without the need for central clearing and paper-based global certificates. Siemens noted that the process enabled transactions to be executed much faster and more efficiently than traditional bond-issuing methods.  Siemens emphasized the…

Bitcoin BTC Price Rebounds Above $22K After Tepid Inflation Readings

Joe DiPasquale, CEO of crypto fund manager BitBull Capital, told CoinDesk that he wouldn’t be surprised to see post-CPI-release gains dissipate by the end of this week. DiPasquale highlighted that crypto prices have typically risen after past CPI releases in the past “only to fall in the days after.” He said he will be looking for BTC and ETH to test $20,000 and $1,250, respectively. Source