Month: May 2023

Revolut launches business offering in Australia, seeks banking license

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Crypto-friendly fintech firm Revolut has launched international payments-focused business accounts for clients in Australia, as it reportedly works to secure a banking license down under. The London-based firm offers a range of fiat payment services for clients in Europe and Australia. It also offers crypto services, including the buying and selling of a number of crypto assets including Bitcoin (BTC), Ripple (XRP) and Ether (ETH). In certain regions, it also provides access to crypto-staking. Speaking with The Australian on May 17, the CEO of Revolut’s Australian unit, Matt Baxby suggested…

There’s a growing case for allowing crypto firms to bypass banks

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Within 11 days in March, four banks in the United States and one in Switzerland collapsed. First Republic Bank followed in May. Three of the four largest-ever U.S. bank failures occurred in those two months. It was a painful reminder that banks bear significant risks that can quickly spill over to other industries. Ironically, despite a heavy focus on how the crypto-asset sector could introduce risks to traditional finance, we instead experienced bank failures becoming a critical stability risk to the crypto-asset industry. Financial regulation should aim to mitigate financial…

Binance Australia suspends AUD fiat services, citing issues with third party

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Cryptocurrency exchange Binance Australia has informed users it has suspended Australian dollar services as its local payment services provider has seemingly stopped support for the exchange. On May 18, Binance Australia tweeted that AUD PayID deposits were suspended and bank transfer withdrawals will also be impacted “due to a decision made by our third-party payment service provider.” “We understand from our third party payment service provider that Bank Transfer withdrawals will also be impacted and we will advise users on timeline when this is confirmed,” it added. Fellow Binancians, We…

Australia marks first FX transaction using a CBDC as eAUD pilot continues

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Australia has successfully made its first foreign exchange transaction using eAUD as part of a live pilot for the country’s potential central bank digital currency (CBDC). It comes amid a rising interest from countries around the world to learn about or launch central bank-issued digital currencies. In a statement, blockchain infrastructure provider Canvas said on May 17 local time, crypto fund managers DigitalX and TAF Capital traded eAUD against the stablecoin USD Coin (USDC). Canvas reported the transaction was settled instantly and touted it as a success over what it…

Biden’s Tough Talk, USDT’s BTC Bet Not Moving Crypto

Bitcoin (BTC) continued to drift downward, slipping just below $27,000 as investors keep close attention on the debt ceiling negotiations in Washington. Defiance ETFs CEO Sylvia Jablonski and Galaxy Digital global head of trading Jason Urban shared their insights on the current state of the crypto markets. Plus, Pudgy Penguins CEO Luca Netz discussed the NFT brand’s latest $9 million funding round. Also, New York University Professor Emeritus Gary Marcus shared his thoughts on artificial intelligence guidelines, following a Senate hearing with OpenAI CEO Sam Altman among those testifying. Source

DRC20 Tokens Take Dogecoin Community by Storm, Driving Record-Breaking Daily Transactions on the Network

With the BRC20 token economy maintaining a market capitalization of nearly $500 million, the introduction of the DRC20 token standard has sparked a flurry of excitement within the Dogecoin community. The emerging token type has ignited a surge of activity, leading to a substantial increase in daily transactions on the Dogecoin blockchain. Specifically, on Wednesday, May 17, 2023, the network recorded a tally of over 820,000 confirmed transactions so far. Dogecoin’s DRC20 Token Standard Sparks Surge in Daily Transactions After witnessing the success of the Ordinal inscription and BRC20 trend…

Axie Infinity Origins Breaks Through Apple’s App Store Barrier, Now Accessible to Select iOS Users

Axie Infinity Origins, the blockchain-based, play-to-earn (P2E) game, has successfully cleared Apple’s rigorous App Store review process and the game’s app is now available for Apple iOS users. Sky Mavis, the creator behind Axie Infinity, has adopted a strategic approach by rolling out the game’s app in stages, with targeted release plans for various Latin American and Asian countries. Blockchain Game Axie Infinity Origins Clears Apple’s Review Following the phased release on the Google Play Store, Axie Infinity Origins is now available for Apple iOS users in select countries. The…

SEC warns Filecoin ‘meets definition of a security’ — Grayscale

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The United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) believes Filecoin’s native FIL token is a security, crypto asset manager Grayscale Investments has revealed. According to the May 17 announcement, Grayscale lodged an application with the regulator to launch a Filecoin Trust product on April 14, which would provide investors with indirect exposure to the underlying FIL token. In a comment letter from SEC staff on May 16, the regulator then warned Grayscale that FIL “meets the definition of a security” under federal law and asked them to withdraw their application…

Crypto Perpetuals Exchange DYdX Considering the Launch of More SubDAOs

Moreover, according to a different governance post by the dYdX Foundation, an independent not-for-profit organization aimed at fostering decentralized governance, the operations subDAO is set to expire on June 19. With the imminent launch of v4 and the expiration of its operations subDAO, the “dYdX ecosystem is approaching a critical juncture,” the foundation said. Source

Voyager bankruptcy plan approved, customers may recover 35.7% of claims initially

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Crypto brokerage Voyager’s bankruptcy plan was approved by the United States Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of New York on May 17, according to a Reuters report. Judge Michael Wiles’ order approving the procedure was published by the court a day earlier.  The so-called third bankruptcy plan was proposed on May 5 after Binance.US backed out of plans to buy $1 billion worth of Voyager assets on April 25. That deal had overcome resistance from the U.S. government before Binance.US’ last-minute reversal. Voyager will now liquidate — that is,…