Day: May 23, 2023

US Crypto Influence in Balance amidst Regulatory Uncertainty 

The country recorded the lowest cryptocurrency trading volumes in over 12 months last week. Some analysts have linked this situation to the pullback in trading from Jump and Jane Street. The United States crypto influence looks to be slipping away with each passing day. The US has been a powerhouse in the crypto space for years now but is now at risk of losing that position to countries including Australia, the United Arab Emirates, Switzerland, and South Korea, according to Ark Invest analyst Yassine Elmandjra. The United Arab Emirates (UAE)…

Information Commissioner John Edwards’ opening remarks at the European Parliament’s Committee on Civil Liberties, Justice and Home Affairs (LIBE), delivered on 23 May 2023.

Kia ora kotou katoa. That’s a greeting in te reo Maori, the Maori language of my homeland, Aotearoa New Zealand. Thank you for the kind invitation from the Chair to speak before this Committee. I am pleased to be here as the UK’s regulator for data protection. My principal reason for being here is to provide you with reassurance that I take my responsibility of protecting Europeans data in the United Kingdom very seriously, and that I will continue to do so through the process of law reform, and beyond.…

Bitcoin and Crypto Under Threat as JPMorgan Warns of Debt Talks Going Wrong

All eyes are on whether the US government manages to increase the debt ceiling further. Any failure to do so will put significant pressure on risk assets. Since the beginning of the year 2023, Bitcoin and the broader crypto market have given a strong bounce after a brutal crypto winter in 2022. However, the party could be ending soon amid the current macro developments in the United States. Speaking during the bank’s investor day on Monday, May 22, JPMorgan CEO Jamie Dimon issued a stark warning to investors regarding the…

Payments Platform Strike Adds Support for Tether’s USDT, Eyes Global Expansion

Strike will be hoping to leverage Tether’s stability as a reliable store of value to appeal to more clients globally. Strike, a global payments platform built on Bitcoin‘s Lightning Network, has added support for Tether (USDT). By integrating the world’s largest stablecoin, users of the Strike app may now carry out USDT on-ramps, off-ramps, and settlements within the platform. According to Tether CTO Paolo Ardoino, work is still in progress regarding which blockchains will back the integration of USDT on the platform. However, he hints that “it will be a…

Number of Ether Staked Has Surged By 4.4 Million Since Shapella Upgrade

The recently enabled withdrawal flexibility in ETH staking, courtesy of the Shapella upgrade, mitigates its perceived risk for many investors,” Bitfinex’s analysts noted. “Prior to this upgrade, potential stakeholders may have been deterred from staking their ETH tokens due to concerns about their funds being locked for an unacceptably long duration.” Source

International Securities Regulator IOSCO Proposes Norms for Crypto Regulation, Invites Feedback

“As the G-7 Finance Ministers and Central Bank communiqué of 13 May has once again reminded us, the time has come to put an end to the regulatory uncertainty that characterizes crypto activities. Today’s consultation paper received unanimous support from the IOSCO Board and is the outcome of an intense period of regulatory risk analysis, information sharing and capacity building,” said Jean-Paul Servais, chairperson of IOSCO in a statement to the press. Source

Coinbase Launches TV Campaign in Washington DC to Educate Regulators Why America Needs Crypto

Coinbase shares edged 7.56 per cent higher on Monday to close the day trading at $61.07. The leading publicly traded crypto exchange by daily traded volume in the United States, Coinbase Global Inc (NASDAQ: COIN), has experienced astronomical growth in the past few years compared to the traditional banking sector. Moreover, four regional banks in the United States have collapsed this year, with most already absorbed by large banks. However, the United States government led by the Biden administration has pushed to regulate the cryptocurrency industry in a manner that…

Bitfinex Crypto Exchange Announces Listing of Pepe Meme Coin, PEPE Price Up 3.4% Today

Bitfinex joins a dozen of other centralized and decentralized exchanges that have supported Pepe meme coin through listings. Bitfinex, a veteran centralized cryptocurrency exchange established in 2012 with a 24-hour traded volume of about $67,175,170, has announced trading of a popular frog-themed meme coin Pepe (PEPE) will begin on May 24, 2023, at approximately 10 am UTC. The exchange began accepting PEPE deposits on May 22, with trading pairs announced in the United States dollar and Tether stablecoin (USDT). Following the announcement, the ERC-20 token gained as much as 6…