Gemini and Nexo have joined crypto exchanges Coinbase, Binance, and Crypto.com in getting regulatory approval from Italy’s Organismo Agenti e Mediatori (OAM).
KEY TAKEAWAYS
Both Nexo and Gemini can now offer virtual asset services to Italian citizens.
Nexo also plans to use expected EU laws on crypto to passport their license across member states.
Besides Italy, Gemini has also received registration approval in Greece.
In Italy registration with the OAM’s Registry is considered mandatory for all Virtual Asset Service Providers (VASPs) looking to offer services to Italian citizens. The OAM is the one that manages the country’s list of registered financial agents and credit brokers.
Being a European-based firm, Nexo plans to legally issue cryptocurrency lending services to Italian citizens as it expands its services across EU member states.
In a statement after getting the regulatory approval, the co-founder and managing partner of Nexo, Antoni Trenchev, said:
“This registration in Italy is part of our master plan to strengthen our presence in the country and improve the robustness of our compliance across Europe.”
Gemini gets registered in Italy and Greece
Gemini has landed regulatory approval in both Italy and Greece as it aims to get closer to becoming a global crypto company.
In July 2019, the New York Department of Financial Services (NYDFS) gave an opinion letter after Gemini applied for a BitLicense saying that “Gemini does not meet the definition of a virtual currency business as defined by Section 225(c)(1)(B)(iii) of the Federal Reserve Act.” this is because according to the department, Gemini “does not engage in activities that involve exchanging cash or other instruments for virtual currency; instead, they only serve as a payment processor with no other role within their operations.”
Both Gemini and Nexo aim at tapping into one of the largest regions for cryptocurrency and blockchain products by gaining access to the European market.
Crypto exchange Binance has reentered the Japanese market after acquiring a 100% stake in Sakura Exchange BitCoin (SEBC), a regulated cryptocurrency exchange in Japan.
KEY TAKEAWAYS
SEBC is a Japan Financial Services Agency (JFSA) regulated entity.
By acquiring SEBC, Binance aims to offer Japanese-regulated services through the exchange.
At the time of the Binance acquisition, the Tokyo-based exchange supported 11 trading pairs; mainly cryptocurrency-Japanese Yuan pairs.
Despite the tense situation in the crypto market following the collapse of FTX which seems to be taking other crypto entities like BlockFi down with it, Binance seems to be spreading its wing further and further. The SEBC acquisition comes weeks after Binance pulled out of its planned FTX rescue plan citing issues with FTX’s financial book.
Expanding into Japan
In the past few years, Binance has been expanding its business across various countries as it stamps its authority within the crypto space. So far, the crypto exchange has secured regulatory approvals in France, Italy, Spain, Bahrain, Abu Dhabi, Dubai, New Zealand, Kazakhstan, Poland, Lithuania, and Cyprus.
The acquisition of Sakura Exchange BitCoin marks the exchange’s first entry into East Asia. Most importantly, SEBC is already a regulated entity which means Binance will be able to offer regulated services in Japan, which is a major economy in East Asia.
In a press release announcing the acquisition of the Japanese exchange, the general manager of Binance Japan, Takeshi Chino, said:
“The Japanese market will play a key role in the future of cryptocurrency adoption. As one of the world’s leading economies with a highly-developed tech ecosystem, it’s already poised for strong blockchain uptake. We will actively work with regulators to develop our combined exchange in a compliant way for local users. We are eager to help Japan take a leading role in crypto.”
At the time of the acquisition, SEBC offered customer consultation services and crypto brokerage services supporting 11 crypto-Japanese Yuan trading pairs. The trading pairs include BTC/JPY, ETH/JPY, BCH/JPY, XRP/JPY, LTC/JPY, ETC/JPY, XEM/JPY, MONA/JPY, ADA/JPY, XYM/JPY, and COT/JPY.
UNI and SUS are native tokens of the leading decentralised exchanges and have been performing well today.
BNB is underperforming today but could rally higher over the coming days.
The total crypto market cap could reach the $900 billion mark in the near term.
The cryptocurrency market is trading in the green zone for the second consecutive day this week. The total market cap stands above $850 billion and could rally higher over the next few hours.
With most cryptocurrencies performing well this week, we will focus on exchange-based tokens and look at the top five you can buy before the end of the week.
Top five exchange tokens to buy this week
Uniswap (UNI)
UNI, the native token of the Uniswap decentralised exchange, is one of the best-performing exchange tokens this week. The token has added more than 4% to its value in the last 24 hours. At press time, the price of Uniswap stands at $5.73 per token.
UNI is an excellent choice because Uniswap remains the number one decentralised exchange in the world, processing over $700 million in daily trading volume.
Where to buy Uniswap now
eToro
eToro is a global social investment brokerage company which offers over 75 cryptocurrencies to invest in. It offers crypto trading commission-free and users on the platform have the option to manually invest or socially invest. eToro even has a unique CopyTrader system which allows users to automatically copy the trades of popular investors.
OKX is a top cryptocurrency exchange which offers over 140 cryptocurrencies to invest in. OKX takes customer security very seriously, they store almost all of their clients‘ funds in cold storage, and the exchange is yet to be hacked. On top of this, the exchange offers very low fees and customers can even use their crypto as collateral for loans on the platform.
Sushiswap is the second decentralised exchange to make this list. SUS powers the Sushiswap exchange and has been performing well over the last 24 hours. The token is up by more than 4% in the last 24 hours and is now trading at $1.41.
Uniswap remains ahead of Sushiswap, with Sushiswap processing roughly $20 million in daily trading volume. However, its SUS token is still a leading exchange coin.
Where to buy Sushiswap now
eToro
eToro is a global social investment brokerage company which offers over 75 cryptocurrencies to invest in. It offers crypto trading commission-free and users on the platform have the option to manually invest or socially invest. eToro even has a unique CopyTrader system which allows users to automatically copy the trades of popular investors.
OKX is a top cryptocurrency exchange which offers over 140 cryptocurrencies to invest in. OKX takes customer security very seriously, they store almost all of their clients‘ funds in cold storage, and the exchange is yet to be hacked. On top of this, the exchange offers very low fees and customers can even use their crypto as collateral for loans on the platform.
The native coin of the Crypto.com cryptocurrency exchange is also trading in the green zone today. Cronos is up by less than 1% in the last 24 hours but could rally higher over the coming hours and days.
At press time, CRO is trading at $0.06447. Crypto.com is one of the top 20 cryptocurrency exchanges by trading volume and processes more than $220 million daily.
Where to buy Cronos now
Skilling
Skilling is a Scandinavian based cryptocurrency broker which has a desktop website as well as apps for iOS and Android devices. It supports over 50 cryptocurrencies and it has a demo account to allow users to gain familiarity with the platform. Skilling has no hidden fees, it is an officially regulated broker and it supports a wide range of payment methods.
Founded in December 2017, CoinEx is a global and professional cryptocurrency exchange service provider. CoinEx supports multiple languages and are providing global trading services in nearly 100 countries/regions.
BNB, the native coin of the Binance cryptocurrency exchange, is also one of the exchange tokens to consider. At press time, the price of Binance Coin stands at $300.19, down by 1% in the last 24 hours.
Binance is the world’s leading crypto exchange. Earlier today, the exchange announced that it had acquired the Japanese-regulated Sakura Exchange BitCoin. Thus, allowing Binance to operate legally in Japan following its exit from the country four years ago.
#Binance Acquires JFSA Registered Sakura Exchange BitCoin, Committed to Enter Japan Under Regulatory Compliancehttps://t.co/xfdnaY2hiO
eToro is a global social investment brokerage company which offers over 75 cryptocurrencies to invest in. It offers crypto trading commission-free and users on the platform have the option to manually invest or socially invest. eToro even has a unique CopyTrader system which allows users to automatically copy the trades of popular investors.
Binance is one of the largest cryptocurrency exchanges in the world. It is better suited to more experienced investors and it offers a large number of cryptocurrencies to choose from, at over 600. Binance is also known for having low trading fees and a multiple of trading options that its users can benefit from, such as; peer-to-peer trading, margin trading and spot trading.
The last token on this list is the KuCoin Token (KCS). Similar to BNB, KCS has been underperforming so far today. However, it could recover and rally higher in the coming hours or days.
KCS is currently trading at $6.71 per coin. KuCoin is the fourth-largest crypto exchange and processes nearly $500 million in daily trading volume.
Where to buy KuCoin Token now
Skilling
Skilling is a Scandinavian based cryptocurrency broker which has a desktop website as well as apps for iOS and Android devices. It supports over 50 cryptocurrencies and it has a demo account to allow users to gain familiarity with the platform. Skilling has no hidden fees, it is an officially regulated broker and it supports a wide range of payment methods.