Kategorie: Crypto Markets

• The recent failures of Silvergate and Signature Bank left Binance.US without banking services.
• Binance.US is looking for a new bank partner to serve as a fiat on-ramp and off-ramp for its clients in the US.
• A WSJ report has however indicated that the exchange is facing challenges in identifying the bank partner.

Binance.US, the United States arm of global crypto exchange Binance, is in the process of identifying a new bank partner that will serve as a fiat on-ramp and off-ramp. The crypto exchange was left with a bank partner after the collapse of the Silvergate and Signature Bank.

However, according to a report published by the WSJ on April 8, Binance.US has been facing challenges in establishing a new bank partner. According to the report, the exchange has been depending on middleman banks to store funds.

Currently, Binance.US is holding customer funds through the financial technology firm Prime Trust’s banking partners.

Regulatory crackdown on banks with crypto clients

Binance.US has had a number of attempts in establishing a direct banking relationship with the likes of Cross River Bank and Customers Bancorp, but they have all failed.

The regulatory crackdown in the US on banks with cryptocurrency clients is seen as a major factor contributing to the struggles the exchange is facing in identifying a new banking partner.

Binance has been the focus of the US Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) investigation since 2021. The CFTC sued Binance Holdings and its CEO, Changpeng “CZ” Zhao, last month for alleged trading violations. And although CZ issued a statement refuting CFTC’s allegations, the lawsuit has had a significant effect on the exchange including leading to a drop in the exchange’s crypto market share.

The absence of a direct bank has greatly affected Binance.US customers, especially after Binance said that some US dollar deposit services would be temporarily affected as it transitions to new banking and payment service providers over the next few weeks.

The post Report showing Binance.US unable to find bank partners in the US appeared first on CoinJournal.

• Crypto projects are seeking non-US jurisdictions
• There has been a surge in crypto-targeted crackdowns by authorities in the US.
• On the contrary, East Asian countries have been making strides to promote crypto in the last few months.

Seychelles-based crypto exchange Bitget has launched a new $100 million Asia-Focused Web3 Fund. The cryptocurrency exchange aims to take advantage of the recent strides by a majority of Asian countries to promote cryptocurrencies over the last months as opposed to the recent crypto crackdowns in the United States according to recent crypto news.

The exchange seems to follow in the footsteps of the Huobi cryptocurrency exchange, which IN February intends to expand into Hong Kong by seeking a license to operate in the country.

Hong Kong is seemingly easing its crypto regulations while Japan recently approved a whitepaper for Web3 development.

In a statement sent to media outlets, Gracy Chen, the Managing Director of Bitget, said:

“Despite the bear run, Bitget has always been supporting promising and innovative projects and the development of the Web3 environment with a focus on BUIDL. The launch of Bitget Web3 Fund is a continuation of our ongoing efforts to drive the adoption of crypto and Web3, reflecting our ‘Go beyond derivative’ strategy in 2023.”

A self-funded fund

According to a spokesperson at Bitget, the newly unveiled fund will be self-funded. The spokesperson said:

“Bitget is debt-free with adequate cash flow, thanks to its steady development and fast-growing business.”

Bitget exchange seems to be on an investing spree since the launch of this fund comes days after the exchange made another $30 million investment into the decentralized multi-chain wallet BitKeep.

The post Bitget starts a new $100M fund targeting Asian Web3 startups appeared first on CoinJournal.

• The ASIC has been conducting a targeted review of Binance’s businesses in Australia.
• Binance Australia is an arm of Binance.
• Australian users will no longer be able to trade derivatives on Binance.

The Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) on Thursday issued a press release announcing the cancellation of Binance Australia’s derivatives license.

Binance Australia is an arm of the world’s largest cryptocurrency exchange by trading volume Binance.

Targeted review of Binance

The ASIC issued a notice of hearing on March 29 to consider whether the AFS license should be cancelled or suspended.

The press release by ASIC states that it:

“has been conducting a targeted review of Binance financial services business in Australia, including its classification of retail and wholesale clients.”

ASIC Chair Joe Longo said:

“It is critically important that AFS licensees classify retail and wholesale clients in accordance with the law. Retail clients trading in crypto derivatives are afforded important rights and consumer protections under financial services laws in Australia, including access to external dispute resolution through the Australian Financial Complaints Authority… Our targeted review of these matters is ongoing, including focus on the extent of consumer harms.”

Customers are to close positions by April 21

According to the ASIC press release, Australian users will no longer be able to increase derivatives positions or open new positions on Binance from April 14, 2023.

The crypto exchange requested action asking their clients to close any existing derivatives positions before April 21. Any remaining open positions will be closed by the exchange.

Binance Australia’s derivatives trading license was held by Oztures Trading Pty Ltd.

The post Binance Australia’s derivatives license cancelled appeared first on CoinJournal.

• Bitfinex Derivatives launched perpetuals for HS50, NI225, and XJO.
• The derivatives platform’s services are not available to the U.S. users.
• The new perpetual contracts went live today at 06:30 a.m. ET.

Bitfinex Derivatives now allows trading products you’ll typically find on a traditional financial exchange and that too with no restrictions in terms of the trading hours (certain limitations apply).

Bitfinex Derivatives adds to its perpetuals portfolio

On Wednesday, the derivatives platform launched perpetual contracts for three of the prominent Asian equity indices. In the press release, CTO Paolo Ardoino said:

We are delighted to add the HONG KONG 50, JAPAN 225, and AUSTRALIA 200 perpetual swaps to our portfolio of derivatives products.

The said contracts went live today at 06:30 AM ET. Bitfinex recently said the total number of bitcoin wallets with non-zero BTC balance climbed to a record 45.388 million.

New perpetual contracts are not open for U.S. users

Remember that Bitfinex Derivatives and the range of its services are not available to U.S. clients. Even in the allowed jurisdictions, its open only to verified users.

The perpetual contracts this platform announced today allow leverage of up to 100 times and work pretty much the same way as the rest of its perpetual trading portfolio – all transactions are settled in USDt or U.S. dollar denominated Tether tokens. Ardoino added:

These equity indices are strong indicators of how the Asian economy is performing. We’re proud to give Bitfinex Derivatives traders freedom to trade these contracts at any time of the day and week.

The post Bitfinex Derivatives launches perpetual contracts for Asian equity indices appeared first on CoinJournal.

• Trust Wallet has announced a crypto-to-fiat off-ramp.
• The Binance non-custodial wallet has partnered MoonPay and Ramp 
• TWT price jumped 9% after the news to hit above $1.31 before selling saw it drop to $1.25 as of writing.

Trust Wallet Token (TWT), the native token of Trust Wallet, saw its price jump more than 9% to hit $1.31 after news the non-custodial crypto wallet provider had launched a crypto-to-fiat off-ramp.

The partnership with Web3 payments platform MoonPay and non-custodial fiat-to-crypto infrastructure provider Ramp will allow Trust Wallet users to seamlessly convert crypto to fiat without having to touch a centralized crypto exchange. Users will transact directly from within the Trust Wallet app, the firms noted.

TWT price outlook after Trust Wallet partnerships

As noted above, Trust Wallet’s integration with MoonPay and Ramp means users can now enjoy seamless withdrawals when handling crypto-to-fiat transactions. The news of the development, which will see the non-custodial wallet’s users tap into frictionless crypto market transactions, also means full control of the stored funds.

While potential profit taking could push TWT/USD to immediate support levels below $1.20, new upside momentum could put bulls on track to retest the resistance around the $1.40 area. A move to $1.76 or higher would open up should the broader market flip bullish.

TWT was trading around $1.25 at the time of writing, with its price up 6% in the past 24 hours.

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