Tag: Report

DeFi enjoys prolific start to 2023: DappRadar report

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Decentralized finance (DeFi) protocols experienced a boom in total value locked across different staking pools in January 2023. The market hit $74.6 billion worth of staked assets, increasing by 26% from December. In its latest monthly report, DappRadar outlined the growth of the DeFi sector alongside rejuvenated nonfungible token (NFT) markets that have also had upticks in trading volume and sales. Optimism emerges as the top DeFi performer, seeing a 57.44$ increase in total value locked (TVL) at $808 million. Blockchain Analyst Sara Gherghelas told Cointelegraph that Optimism’s transaction volumes…

Kraken shuts down Abu Dhabi office: Report

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Cryptocurrency exchange Kraken has reportedly closed its office in Abu Dhabi less than 12 months after receiving regulatory approval to operate in the region. According to a Feb. 2 report from Bloomberg, Kraken shut down its Abu Dhabi office, laying off roughly eight people on the team focused on the Middle East and North Africa, or MENA. The exchange had been licensed to offer services in the Abu Dhabi international financial center and Abu Dhabi Global Market since April 2022 — prior to the market downturn affecting many crypto firms.…

Bitzlato CEO arrested by Spanish police: Report

According to a Feb. 2 report by Turkish news agency Anadolu, Spanish authorities have arrested the CEO, sales executive and marketing director of Hong Kong cryptocurrency exchange Bitzlato. In total, six Russian and Ukrainian nationals related to the exchange were arrested in a joint effort between France, Portugal, Cyprus and United States law enforcement.  As told by Spanish police, the exchange’s anonymity allowed it to become the platform of choice for criminal organizations seeking to launder money via cryptocurrency. Authorities seized $19.8 million (18 million euros) in digital assets, luxury cars,…

Senate Banking Committee’s priorities for new Congress include crypto: Report

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Senator Tim Scott, the Republican ranking member on the United States Senate Banking Committee, reportedly plans to develop “a bipartisan regulatory framework” for cryptocurrencies. According to a Feb. 2 report from Politico, Scott included the crypto framework as one of his priorities for the 118th Congress. He reportedly was skeptical of some aspects of crypto, alluding to the collapse of exchanges like FTX — “high-profile failures resulted in lost consumer assets” — and potential uses for illicit finance. Scott recently took over the ranking member position from former Senator Pat…

Indian retail chain rolls out support for CBDC payments in stores: Report

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One of India’s biggest retail chains, Reliance Retail, announced that they have started accepting the digital rupee at one of its store lines and plans to extend the rollout to all its businesses.  In a report by Tech Crunch, the company said that CBDC support is already rolled out at Freshpik, its gourmet store line. In addition, the firm also noted that it will be expanding support for the digital rupee to all of its properties, a move that could potentially push adoption forward for the country’s CBDC. V Subramaniam,…

Ethereum-Based Decentralized Exchange Token Explodes 50% As Project Releases Yearly Report

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An Ethereum (ETH)-based decentralized exchange (DEX) token has shot up 50% in just a few days after the project released a new annual report. The dYdX (DYDX) Foundation released its “inaugural ecosystem annual report” on Monday, which outlined the decentralized finance (DeFi) DEX’s development in 2022. “Despite the challenging market conditions in 2022, stakeholders in the dYdX ecosystem persevered and continued to build toward the future of finance — one block at a time. In 2022, DeFi proved its resilience and demonstrated clear advantages over CeFi [centralized finance]. Market activity…