European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA) Steps Closer to Finalizing Rules Under MiCA

The European Securities and Markets Authority’s (ESMA) report, which follows a consultation last year, includes proposals on information the regulator will require from firms for authorization under MiCA. The report also includes requirements for firms to establish intent to provide crypto services and intent to acquire crypto assets, along with how service providers should address complaints. Source

Nigeria Charges Binance, Detained Executives With Tax Evasion: Reports

The charges, which also name two Binance executives detained by the government, were announced by the Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS) and filed at the Federal High Court in Abuja, one outlet reported. The exchange is being charged with four counts of tax evasion, including “non-payment of Value-Added Tax (VAT), Company Income Tax, failure to tax returns, and complicity in aiding customers to evade taxes through its platform.” Source

U.S. SEC Asking for More Millions, Dozens of Lawyers to Beef Up Crypto Oversight

Executive branch budget proposals are gathered into a single push from the White House for its spending priorities, with more detail about how exactly the agencies want to spend the funds they’re requesting. Then Congress gets its turn, sometimes embracing some of the president’s wishes, and sometimes ignoring them. But even when lawmakers put together a plan for final consideration, the process can get derailed by politics, as the U.S. has seen in the current federal budget effort, which has flirted repeatedly with failure and government shutdowns. Congress is currently…

COIN’s Ancillary Businesses Will Help Drive Growth: JMP Securities

“Still, relative to the growth opportunity in the exchange and custody offerings, we see a just as exciting of an opportunity in the development of blockchain use cases today and expect Coinbase to participate in much of that continued evolution,” the authors wrote. Those opportunities include participation in the tokenization of real-world assets, such as its recently announced partnership with Blackrock (BLK), activities in payments such as its venture with stablecoin issuer Circle and Web3 development and decentralized apps (dapps), as well as staking, the report said. Coinbase can participate…