Monat: November 2021

The top cryptocurrencies grabbed headlines this week following a market-wide market tumble that saw over $250 billion wiped off the sector

Bitcoin slid below $60,000 early on Tuesday and despites effort to bounce back, the crypto coin continued bleeding and is now trading around $58,000. Ether followed a similar path dropping to around $4,200. Both tokens are currently trading in the red and are 8.31% and 7.75% down in the last 7-days respectively.

Here is a breakdown of other exciting events outside the market.

India officials are bullish on a CBDC pilot program early next year

In a week where a parliamentary panel concluded that cryptocurrencies would not be banned but instead be regulated, it has also come out that India is planning to launch a CBDC pilot program early next year. On Monday, a group of crypto experts from various areas, including the IIM Ahmedabad, the Blockchain and Crypto Assets Council (BACC), and top crypto exchanges, met with the Parliamentary Standing Committee on finance.

The meeting led by BJP MP Jayanth Sinha discussed the crypto situation and concluded that crypto cannot be stopped but will rather be regulated. No specific body was however tasked to manage and oversee the sector.

On Thursday, reports confirmed that India could as soon as Q1 2022 launch a CBDC pilot program. P. Vasudevan, the chief general manager at the Department of Payment & Settlement of the Reserve Bank of India, was quoted saying this, adding that the central bank was also exploring “various issues and nuances related to CBDC.”

Speaking at an online event hosted by the Australian Strategic Policy Institute on Thursday, Prime Minister Modi took a combative approach when talking about crypto. He complained that crypto, more particularly Bitcoin was a threat to the younger population. This was not the first time the Prime Minister was expressing discontent. Just this month, he led a meeting that resolved that the youth should be protected from overpromising and false advertising on cryptocurrencies.

Winklevoss-founded Gemini raise $400 million to build a metaverse

Facebook’s ripple effect is still seemingly being felt in the crypto space. Towards the end of last month, the social networking firm paved the way for a spree of investments by several firms entering the metaverse. The announcement and resultant transformation saw startups raise more than $4 billion in an attempt to rival contemporary big tech in the idea of a metaverse.

For the first time, Gemini’s twin-brother owners received external capital into their company with the $400 million raise that saw the crypto exchange’s valuation rise to a significant $7.1 billion. The pair, Tyler and Cameron Winklevoss, will still retain a huge chunk (75%) of ownership of the firm. Morgan Creek Digital led the round, with other financiers, including the Commonwealth Bank of Australia, ParaFi, and Marcy Venture Partners also taking part.

A fraction of the funding will be aimed at investment into the metaverse with part being used to expand the company’s geographical reach. The Winklevoss brothers have popularly in the past challenged Facebook boss Mark Zuckerberg and will be seeking to go head-to-head with his company’s planned metaverse.

In a Forbes interview published yesterday, Tyler Winklevoss said that the firm’s strategy would be to spread itself across several metaverses. In addition to offering exchange services, Gemini also has $30 million of crypto assets under its custody. The exchange also runs an NFT marketplace and facilitates users to lend their crypto.

Paradigm’s reveals largest-ever VC crypto fund at $2.5 billion

This week saw a series of fundings by venture capital firms, and one of the highlights was Paradigm’s $2.5 billion raise. The investment firm unveiled the fund on Monday, and with the firm having a keen eye on Web3 applications and protocols of the future, it plans to put the money into supporting innovation and incubating ideas. The invested capital is expected to support the next generation of crypto companies.  

Elsewhere, the Anoma Foundation on Wednesday confirmed that it had raised $26 million at a $260 million valuation. The round was led by California-based Polychain with additional participation from Zola Capital, Maven 11 Capital, Electric Capital, Fifth Era, and others. The funding will help the firm acquire the services of Heliax – a group of developers – to help grow the protocol further.

On the same day, blockchain technology company, ConsenSys revealed via a blog post that it had raised $200 million at a $3.2 billion valuation. The firm plans to use the capital in making Web3 applications around Ethereum much more accessible and easier to use. The investors involved in the raise included HSBC, ParaFi, Coinbase Ventures, Animoca Brands, and Dragonfly Capital.

Binance is rooting for compliance in its 10 fundamental rights for Crypto users

This week, Binance published a detailed list of rights for cryptocurrency investors and users. The world’s largest crypto exchange set the rules in what was a remarkable turnaround. Binance was largely surrounded by regulators in various countries over the last few months.

The exchange pulled off what was its first-ever publication on traditional media – a full page of the fundamental rights on the Financial Times, complemented with a web posting. The rights touched on the idea that crypto was good for all, but it still needed to be worked on. Binance advocated for a more regulated crypto space to assure the ordinary user’s protection, which is something the regulators want to hear.

The document, 10 Fundamental Rights for Crypto Users, detailed what Binance believes to be the required market ideals and user rights. It reviewed economic independence, allocated responsibilities, called for user privacy, talked of the inevitability of crypto regulation, among other issues.

Binance CEO Changpeng Zhao, on his part, told Bloomberg that face-to-face meetings with regulators had helped change the regulatory view on his exchange. He further added that the exchange had been engaging with regulators about what is important in regulating crypto, and it was only now sharing the information with users.

The post Weekly Report: India looking to transform its crypto sector, potential CBDC trial run on the way appeared first on Coin Journal.

The exchange will, in the next few weeks, be working to secure a Major Payment Institution license

Singapore -based crypto exchange Coinhako confirmed on Tuesday that it had received in-principal approval from the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) under the Payment Services Act (PSA) to offer digital payment token (DPT) services. The approval makes Coinhako the first local non-bank exchange to get the license.

Coinhako’s Director of Corporate Development Collin Cheong applauded his team, saying it had worked so hard to ensure the business’ structure remained compliant in the years leading to this approval. He added that receiving the green light was a testament to their effort.

Consequently, Coinhako will be working leading into the next few weeks to satisfy the monetary authority’s requirements to gain a Major Payment Institution license in the country. With such authority, the exchange would be able to fully provide DPT services to its users.

Securing the coveted license is a priority for entities in the sector

The Major Payment Institution license is a requirement in the Asian country for firms seeking to transact any DPTs, including cryptocurrencies. Further, those seeking to facilitate users to exchange DPTs are also required to hold this license.

“Singapore has always been at the forefront of fintech innovation. The regulation of DPTs under the Payment Services Act is a clear indication of our nation’s readiness to nurture innovations in the digital assets and cryptocurrency space while balancing the need to protect consumer and social interests,” noted Yusho Liu, co-founder and chief executive of Coinhako.

Founded in 2014, Coinhako offers users the ability to trade in fiat-to-crypto and crypto-to-crypto. The exchange has recently seen some tremendous growth, recording a 1000% increase in the number of users in the first eight months of the year, compared to the whole of last year.  The exchange holds over 300,000 registered users, also recording 150,000 monthly active ones.

The growth that Coinhako has experienced isn’t what one would call secluded. In fact, the general Asia Pacific has generally seen quite the boom in users seeking to adopt cryptocurrencies. Findings of a recent MasterCard survey revealed that the region has 45% of consumers wanting to use crypto within the next year. This figure is 5% higher than the global average.

Other crypto-related moves Coinhako has been making

Supported by strong investors in the crypto sector, such as Boost VC and Tim Draper, Coinhako has launched a number of initiatives in the crypto sector. On October 19, the crypto exchange flagged off the Privé platform, intended to provide digital asset services to institution-grade clients and high-level markets. The exchange also recently played host to an event for Singapore’s first-ever large-scale NFT gallery.  The event, ‘Right Click + Save’, saw international interest attracting several parties.

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The Parliamentary Standing Committee wants government officials to appear before it to address existing concerns

In a meeting that was the first of its kind, the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Finance led by Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) MP Jayanth Sinha came to a consensus on Monday that cryptocurrencies in India cannot be stopped and should instead be regulated. The meeting was attended by professionals from the Blockchain and Crypto Assets Council (BACC), reps from top crypto exchanges, Indian Institute of Management Ahmedabad, among others.

„There was overall consensus among MPs that there should be regulation instead of banning it. Now there are two ways of looking at it. Either 90 per cent of it is banned, and 10 per cent is allowed or vice versa. That’s the trade-off discussion which has been pending. And for that, we have to go point-by-point,“ a source told Financial Express.

Uncertainties on who should lead the regulation

In the meeting, industry reps told the parliamentary panel that enforcing a ban might not help much with security concerns and the need to protect investors from financial crime. They suggested setting up regulations to cover the crypto sector, though no specific regulator was earmarked to be the watchdog on the digital assets.

It is expected that this meeting will be followed by others in the future, given the crypto situation in India. Digital assets have been a topic of controversy owing to some of their facets. One of the standout facets is the astronomical returns that crypto services are promising users.

Just a few days ago, Prime Minister Narendra Modi led a high-level meeting where crypto and related issues were discussed.  Among the top concerns flagged in the meeting were the over-promising and lack of transparency around the digital assets. A strong view was held that ‚misleading‘ information around crypto, which often targets gullible youth via false advertising and over-promises, needed to be handled.

India’s apex bank is cynical about cryptocurrencies

In the lead-up to the Monday consensus, Reserve Bank of India (RBI) governor Shaktikanta Das reiterated the government’s position on crypto last week. Das insisted that crypto presented a threat to any financial system’s macroeconomic and financial stability unless regulated.

The governor was also skeptical of the mammoth numbers being floated around that have been claimed to represent the market value of the assets. There has also been a lack of clarity on where the crypto situation in India lies in the past. March 2020 saw the Supreme Court nullify a ban on crypto issued via a circular from the RBI two years earlier. The April 2018 circular had prohibited banks and other regulated entities from providing services related to virtual currencies.

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