Monat: September 2023

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Nomura Bank’s Laser Digital receives approval for operations in Abu Dhabi

Key takeaways

  • Laser Digital has become the latest digital asset firm to receive approval to operate in Abu Dhabi.

  • The firm is owned by Japanese banking giant Nomura Bank. 

Laser Digital can now operate in Abu Dhabi

Laser Digital, the digital assets arm of Japan’s Nomura Bank, has received in-principal approval to provide broker-dealer services and asset/fund management services in Abu Dhabi.

The approval was granted by the Abu Dhabi Global Market (ADGM), allowing Laser Digital to offer numerous services to users in the region. 

This latest cryptocurrency news means that Laser Digital stands a chance to receive full Financial Services Permission to operate in the region upon meeting the conditions specified in the current approval. However, the conditions to be met were not specified in the announcement.

While commenting on this latest development, Laser Digital CEO Jez Mohideen said of the ADGM said;

“Their comprehensive and clear regulatory framework is creating a global hub for digital assets that we are delighted to be joining.”

The ADGM continues to attract more companies around the world as it is an international financial free zone within Abu Dhabi, the capital of the United Arab Emirates (UAE).

The financial free zone occupies nearly 15 square kilometres across two islands and comprises a registration authority, regulatory authority and a court. 

Crypto companies continue to gain approval in Abu Dhabi

Laser Digital’s approval comes roughly three weeks after Standard Chartered-backed Zodia Markets received its approval to serve as a crypto broker in Abu Dhabi.

In June last year, Binance received in-principal approval to operate in the ADGM. the cryptocurrency exchange also received Financial Services Permission in November. Other companies that have received ADGM approval include Kraken, UAE-based M2 and Bahrain-based Rain. 

Laser Digital’s approval came after the firm received an operating license from Dubai’s Virtual Asset Regulatory Authority (VARA). The firm also launched its Bitcoin Adoption Fund last month. 

The post Nomura Bank’s Laser Digital receives approval for operations in Abu Dhabi appeared first on CoinJournal.

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SEC delays decision on ARK Invest Bitcoin ETF

  • The SEC has delayed its decision on the ARK 21Shares Bitcoin ETF decision to early 2024.
  • Also delayed is the Global X Bitcoin Trust application.
  • Analysts expect the regulator to delay other proposals amid the likelihood of a US government shutdown.

The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has yet again delayed a decision on the ARK 21Shares Bitcoin ETF application, pushing this to early 2024. The SEC also delayed the Global X Bitcoin Trust application to November 21.

News of the delays has elicited various reactions from the crypto industry, with many observing that the regulator will now likely delay all the other applications to next year. Bloomberg ETF analyst James Seyffart shared news of the SEC’s decision on X.

Other spot ETF applications could be delayed

In a filing detailing the delay, the SEC notes that it needs “sufficient time to consider the proposed rule change.”

But what’s notable about the Commission’s action is that the decision to delay has come much earlier than anticipated – this was not due until November 11. A host of other proposals, including those of BlackRock and Fidelity were due for a decision in mid-October, and the agency’s move appears to suggest they could postpone these too. 

“This may put the hammer down for any hopes of an ETF approval this year? If they went on Ark/21 shares already, we may see delays on all the other filings today too? BlackRock, Bitwise, VanEck, Invesco, Wisdomtree, Fidelity & Valkyrie [were] all due in mid Oct,” Seyffart opined in a post on X.

A looming US government shutdown makes the likelihood of this scenario unfolding highly possible. It’s one of the things SEC Chair Gary Gensler might have to elaborate on when he appears before the House Committee on Financial Services later today.

No spot Bitcoin ETF yet

The SEC’s notice came a few hours after a group of US lawmakers urged the regulator to “immediately” allow a spot bitcoin ETF. It follows last month’s delay on all the spot bitcoin ETF proposals, and a US court’s decision quashing the regulator’s rejection of the Grayscale Investments’ application to convert its Bitcoin Trust (GBTC) fund to a spot bitcoin ETF.

As CoinJournal highlighted here, August’s decision by the US Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit granted Grayscale’s petition for a review, with the SEC ordered to reconsider Grayscale’s application.  SEC had 45 days to seek an “en banc” appeal, which puts the deadline for such a move to October 13.

The post SEC delays decision on ARK Invest Bitcoin ETF appeared first on CoinJournal.

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Chase Bank announces an outright ban on crypto payments in the U.K.

  • Chase Bank will start to block crypto payments in U.K. from October 16th.
  • The retail bank says the ban is related to an increase in crypto frauds.
  • Chase Bank has an active user base of well over 1.0 million in the U.K.

Chase Bank – a subsidiary of JPMorgan has decided to ban crypto-related transactions in the United Kingdom.

Why is Chase Bank banning crypto transactions?

Payments via outgoing bank transfers or the debit card suspected to be linked to cryptocurrencies in any way will be blocked from October 16th, the bank told its customers in an email today.

Chase said it was moving to impose an outright ban because crypto scams are on the rise in the U.K.

We’ve seen an increase in the number of crypto scams targeting U.K. consumers. So, we’ve taken the decision to prevent the purchase of crypto assets.

The retail bank has an active user base of well over 1.0 million in the United Kingdom.

U.K. consumers have lost millions to crypto scams

Chase cited data from Action Fraud – a British fraud reporting agency that suggests consumers in the U.K. have lost more than £300 million to crypto frauds. Its spokesperson also wrote in the said email:

If we think you’re making a payment related to crypto assets, we’ll decline it … We’re committed to helping keep our customers’ money safe and secure.

Earlier this year, NatWest also restricted the sum of money a consumer can send to crypto companies per day and per month. HSBC announced similar limitations in March as well.

The announcement arrives on the same day when JPMorgan Chase & Co agreed to a $75 million settlement with U.S. Virgin Islands on a Jeffrey Epstein-related lawsuit.

The post Chase Bank announces an outright ban on crypto payments in the U.K. appeared first on CoinJournal.

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Bitcoin could dip below $26k as Memeinator’s presale commences in a few hours

Key takeaways

  • Bitcoin has been underperforming this week and could drop below the $26k level soon.

  • Memeinator’s presale is set to commence in less than 20 hours as investors show interest.

The cryptocurrency market has been underperforming this week, with prices of most coins and tokens in the red zone. Despite the bearish trend, investors continue to search for new and exciting projects to invest in. 

Bitcoin could drop below $26k soon

Bitcoin, the world’s leading cryptocurrency by market cap, has lost less than 1% of its value in the last 24 hours. At press time, the price of Bitcoin stands at $26,249, having lost more than 3% of its value in the past seven days.

With the bears still in control of the market, Bitcoin could drop below the $26k level soon. Bitcoin could test the next major support level at $25,882 in the coming hours if the bearish trend continues. 

What is Memeinator?

Despite the bearish trend in the crypto market, investors continue to show interest in new and exciting projects. One of the exciting projects that will soon launch in the crypto market is the Memeinator.

Memeinator is a project that is riding the meme coin wave and seeks to provide numerous utilities to users. The project seeks to destroy worthless memes and become one of the leading meme tokens in the crypto space. 

Although there are hundreds or even thousands of meme projects in the crypto space, a large percentage of them don’t have any use case and don’t offer real value to investors. 

Memeinator seeks to use AI technology to identify worthless memes, allowing investors to know them and steer clear of them. With the right level of adoption, Memeinator wants to reach a market cap of $1 billion in the medium to long term. 

The project’s roadmap details show how the team intends to achieve their aim, from launching to marketing and managing the communities. 

The Memeinator presale is set to begin in a few hours, offering investors the opportunity to purchase its native token for $0.01 per token. The price will rise to $0.0485 by the end of the presale, giving early-bird investors a whopping 132% ROI at listing, which is only the start of it.

Memeinator also plans to launch a Memeinator game at the presale’s conclusion, following the same theme. Players will have the opportunity to eliminate enemy memes in a good old-fashioned shoot-em-up. 

Why is the Memeinator presale garnering interest from investors?

Memeinator could be garnering interest from investors because of the desire by many to invest in quality meme projects. MMTR, the native token of the Memeinator ecosystem, is set to power several activities and make it easier for users to leverage the platform. 

Memeinator seeks to appeal to audiences from degens to crypto natives and speculators, giving it the opportunity to become a hit in the market. 

The project will use AI technology to analyse and evaluate memes across the vast expanse of the internet, identifying lower-quality memes that it aims to replace or “destroy.

The use of AI indicates how Memeinator intends to uplift meme culture and quality, championing the most imaginative and impactful content. 

In addition to that, Memeinator’s tokenomics are calculated to provide value for the holders and participants. The MMTR token has some exciting features, such as deflationary mechanisms and rewards for holders, incentivising the project for holders in the long term. 20% of the tokens are allocated for marketing, CEX listing and liquidity. 

Click here to read more about the Memeinator presale.

Is the Memeinator a good investment opportunity? 

The Memeinator is set to launch its presale in a few hours, and it could be an exciting project for investors to enter. As a meme coin that is leveraging AI, Memeinator could provide excellent value to investors in the medium and long term.

Memeinator is targeting a billion-dollar market cap, and early investors would be the biggest winners when that happens.

The meme coin market recently reached an all-time high of $36 billion, which is incredible for a market that was worth nearly $0 in 2020. 

So far, the project gained more than 1,000 sign-ups to its mailing list within the first 20 minutes the site went up, and over 5,000 people joined on Twitter and Telegram within a day. Hence indicating massive interest in the project. 

The post Bitcoin could dip below $26k as Memeinator’s presale commences in a few hours appeared first on CoinJournal.