A U.S. banking regulator during the Donald Trump administration took the position that banks could legally trade cryptocurrencies for their clients, according to a Politico article Friday.The determination was made by staff at the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC), according to the report, which cited unnamed sources. It could enable banks to have digital currencies as assets for trading.The determination, which was never made public, counters the aggressively anti-crypto stance of the former President, who in a June interview with Fox Business said that bitcoin seemed “like a scam.”Three weeks after the 2020 Presidential election, Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong even took to Twitter to blast rumored plans by the U.S. Treasury Department to attempt to track owners of self-… [Read More...]

The top lawyer for the U.S. arm of exchange giant Binance has departed after just seven months in the position.Christopher Robins, who held the title of general counsel, will be assuming a part-time role at the company. “Chris has been one of the driving forces in assembling our leading legal team, and we are grateful for his past and continuing efforts on behalf of Binance.US and our customers,” a Binance.US spokesperson said in a statement that it emailed to CoinDesk. Business Insider first reported the news.Binance, the world’s largest crypto exchange by trading volume, has faced a wave of regulatory backlash from financial watchdogs worldwide in recent months, forcing it to take a stronger, more proactive stance regarding compliance.Robins’ … [Read More...]

This episode is sponsored by NYDIG.Download this episodeOn this edition of “The Breakdown’s Weekly Recap,” NLW covers:The record-setting performance of the first bitcoin futures exchange-traded fund and what happens next as new ETFs come to marketA massive spate of fundraising, particularly for crypto-focused venture capital fundsNew institutional and mainstream adoption of crypto by $2 trillion asset manager PIMCO and WalmartSee also: Why a Bitcoin Futures ETF Is Bad for Investors“The Breakdown” is written, produced by and features NLW, with editing by Rob Mitchell and additional production support by Eleanor Pahl. Adam B. Levine is our executive producer and our theme music is “Countdown” by Neon Beach. The music you heard today behind our sponsor is “Only in Time” by Abloom. Image … [Read More...]

Add Reddit to the list of big brands entering the non-fungible token (NFT) market. The social media site intends to build an NFT platform for buying and selling crypto collectibles, the company tipped in a job posting.In the posting for a senior engineer, Reddit noted “a new and exciting, rapidly growing team that aims to build the largest creator economy on the internet, powered by independent creators, digital goods and NFTs. We are looking for strong engineers and leaders to help us seed the team, set its strategy and build for the future.”The initiative comes amid NFTs’ skyrocketing popularity that has spurred a wide array of companies to kickstart different initiatives. Earlier this month, crypto exchanges Coinbase and FTX.US have said that they … [Read More...]

The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) will launch its digital currency, the eNaira, on Monday, Bloomberg reported.The eNaira, which is intended to complement the physical Naira rather than replace it, will “make financial transactions easier and seamless for every strata of the society,” the CBN said in emailed statement on Saturday, according to the report.The launch had originally been set for Oct. 1 to Oct. 4 but was delayed in deference to the 61st anniversary of Nigerian independence on Oct. 1.Nigerian financial officials have struggled with cryptocurrency’s rising use in the country. Nigeria banned crypto transactions within the banking sector in February and four months later announced plans to introduce the eNaira.The eNaira will be accompanied by a wallet sanctioned by the CBN that users … [Read More...]

WASHINGTON, D.C. – A group of U.S. lawmakers say Facebook cannot be trusted to launch a digital currency.In a Tuesday missive, U.S. Senators Brian Schatz (D-Hawaii), Sherrod Brown (D-Ohio), Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.), Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) and Tina Smith (D-Minn.) ordered Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg to “immediately discontinue the company’s pilot of Novi” and end its work on the diem stablecoin project.The lawmakers said Facebook cannot be trusted to protect user data or manage a payments network, in an open letter Tuesday just hours after Facebook announced it was launching a pilot program for its Novi wallet subsidiary in the U.S. and Guatemala.Read more: Facebook’s Novi Taps Paxos, Coinbase Ahead of Diem RolloutUnder … [Read More...]

Two veterans of Riot Games have launched Patron, an early stage venture firm focusing on the convergence of games and consumer startups, a space the founders call the “Spectrum of Play.”Patron’s debut $90 million seed fund is backed by more than 100 limited partners, including Chris Dixon and Arianna Simpson of Andreessen Horowitz (a16z) Crypto.“It’s our conviction that games will shape the future. We believe that the biggest opportunities in games will converge into Web 3 (P2E [play-to-earn]/NFTs), and consumer categories like education, fitness, personal finance and more. It will be built for the gaming-natives who not only grew up with games such as Roblox and RuneScape, but also consumer apps like Discord, TikTok, Robinhood and digital assets like NFTs and … [Read More...]

Revolut, a fintech company with a $33 billion valuation that offers cryptocurrency buying as part of its services, is allowing U.S. customers to trade as much as $200,000 a month commission-free starting today.Among other free services announced by Revolut are out-of-network ATM withdrawals of up to $1,200 and 10 remittance payments. Users will also be able to send up to 10 international transfers per month fee-free to anyone with a bank account in 30 countries, including the U.K., France, the Philippines, Japan and Australia.“By breaking down fees, we’re empowering Revolut’s U.S. customers to achieve financial freedom and drive their own financial journey, whether that be opening their first banking account, trading in new financial markets or sending money to loved ones … [Read More...]

Galaxy Digital re-stocked its crypto-culture war chest earlier this year with a $325 million venture fund focused on digital entertainment.The fund, from Galaxy Interactive, which scouts gaming and arts startups for Mike Novogratz’s crypto conglomerate, has been investing in projects such as Art Blocks for months now, General Partner Sam Englebardt told CoinDesk.“What would you invest in if you believe that the younger generations, in particular, are moving en masse from the physical to the digital world?” Englebardt said in an interview, noting that Galaxy Interactive has showered $150 million on projects accordingly.If non-fungible tokens (NFTs) and other crypto tech are to form the backbone of this coming metaverse, then Galaxy wants its share of the spine. The same goes … [Read More...]

Grayscale Investments, the world’s largest digital currency asset manager, has filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) to convert its Grayscale Bitcoin Trust (GBTC) into a bitcoin spot ETF, the company announced in a press release Tuesday.The move comes just after the SEC cleared the way on Friday for bitcoin futures ETFs to trade, with ProShares Bitcoin Strategy ETF scheduled to start trading on the New York Stock Exchange on Tuesday.GBTC first launched in 2013 and has become the largest bitcoin investment vehicle in the world, with assets under management of close to $40 billion. It holds roughly 3.44% of all bitcoin in circulation, according to Grayscale.Grayscale has talked repeatedly about its plans to convert GBTC, as well as its 14 other crypto … [Read More...]

Facebook’s Novi wallet is ready to launch – but it won’t be launching with the Diem (formerly Libra) stablecoin.Novi, Facebook’s digital wallet subsidiary, will go live in the U.S. and Guatemala in a pilot program, allowing users to start trading the Paxos Dollar (USDP), the social media giant announced Tuesday. Crypto exchange Coinbase will provide custody services for the program.Users can purchase USDP through Novi, and Novi will deposit the funds with Coinbase, according to a Coinbase blog post.“This does not mean our support for Diem has changed,” the Facebook press release said. “We intend to launch Novi with Diem once it receives regulatory approval and goes live.”The pilot has already gone live, but is being rolled out slowly on the … [Read More...]

OSL, a Hong Kong-based digital asset trading platform, has started offering its exchange services to professional and institutional investors in Argentina, Brazil, Colombia and México, the company said in a statement on Tuesday. The company, part of BC Group, a public technology and digital asset company, will provide institutional customers with “access to a global liquidity pool,” the company said. Fernando Martinez, OSL’s head of Americas, told CoinDesk that the company was addressing the growing demand for crypto services among institutional investors in Latin America and will serve regional funds, family offices and private banks. “Until the end of the year, we have removed fees for professional investors and institutions that want to start interacting with our exchange,” Martinez said, adding that the exchange … [Read More...]

Multicoin Capital, an investment firm focused on cryptocurrency and blockchain companies, is planning to raise $250 million for a third crypto-focused venture fund, according to an article by The Information.The company, based in Austin, Texas, intends to complete the raise by the end of 2021, according to the story, which cited fundraising materials that the publication had seen.The initiative comes less than six months after Multicoin Capital raised $100 million for its second crypto venture fund.It is the latest in a series of large funds that major venture capital firms have created this year or are in the process of raising to focus on cryptocurrency and blockchain projects. In June, Andreessen Horowitz raised $2.2 billion for its third crypto fund. Paradigm, the cryptocurrency venture … [Read More...]

U.S.-based crypto exchange Gemini has launched its interest-bearing product for the people of Hong Kong.“Gemini Earn” enables customers to receive up to 8.05% annual percentage yield (APY), according to a press release on Tuesday.The exchange currently supports interest-bearing APY for up to 39 different assets with the highest provided by Gemini’s own stablecoin GUSD.Jeremy Ng, managing director of Gemini Asia Pacific, told CoinDesk via Telegram Tuesday that the move was part of the exchange’s expansion into Asia.“It’s important to provide our customers here with access to products and tools to help them along their crypto journey,” said Ng. “Gemini is committed to developing products that are customized and localized for our Asia-based customers.”Founded in 2014 by twin brothers … [Read More...]

Wormhole, a communication bridge between Solana and other top decentralized finance (DeFi) networks, has added user interface support for the Terra network.The move allows users to port digital assets between Terra, Solana, Ethereum and Binance Smart Chain (BSC) via a single unified interface without the need to double wrap Terra tokens.Like stablecoins whose values are pegged to fiat currencies or particular commodities, wrapped tokens fulfill a similar function by representing real-world assets on networks they aren’t native to. “Wrapping” refers to storing particular digital assets in a wrapper or digital vault so they may function on one blockchain even though they were issued on another.In order to allow assets to exchange value across multiple chains, tokens often need to be double wrapped – … [Read More...]

This episode is sponsored by NYDIG.Download this episodeOn this week’s “Long Reads Sunday,” NLW reads SEC Commissioner Hester Peirce’s recent speech: “Lawless in Austin.”See also: SEC Approves Bitcoin Futures ETF, Opening Crypto to Wider Investor Base“The Breakdown” is written, produced by and features NLW, with editing by Rob Mitchell and additional production support by Eleanor Pahl. Adam B. Levine is our executive producer and our theme music is “Countdown” by Neon Beach. The music you heard today behind our sponsor is “Tidal Wave” by BRASKO. Image credit: danm/Moment/Getty Images, modified by CoinDesk. [Read More...]

Grayscale Investments plans on applying to convert the world’s biggest bitcoin fund into a spot exchange-traded fund (ETF) early this week, according to a report by CNBC, citing a person with knowledge of the matter.While the exact timing of Grayscale’s intended filing may be new, the world’s largest digital asset manager has made no secret of its intent to seek approval for a spot bitcoin-based ETF once a futures-based one cleared the commission. That approval occurred on Friday.Grayscale’s ETF would be backed by actual units of the cryptocurrency, not simply linked it via derivatives contracts such as futures. Should the proposal gain approval, it would be a further expansion of the leading cryptocurrency as a recognized investible asset.Some analysts predict that … [Read More...]

Matis Mäeker, recently appointed head of Estonia’s anti-money laundering government agency, believes Estonia should scrap its current crypto regulations and start again, he said in an interview with the local news outlet Eesti Ekspress.Estonia has been known among crypto entrepreneurs as a friendly jurisdiction, and getting a license there has been easy. Now, that could change.Talking to journalists, the Financial Intelligence Unit (FIU) chief, appointed in May of this year, said crypto companies have made “tens of billions of euros per year,” and that most of that money ended up in other countries and didn’t help the Estonian economy, according to the translated version of the interview by ERR.“Their only goal is to get an Estonian license and use it to turn … [Read More...]

The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) released its 2022 Bank Supervision Operating Plan on Friday and for the first time, crypto made the cut.In its report, the federal banking regulator listed its 11 supervisory priorities for the fiscal year that ends next September, including cybersecurity, climate change and “fintech partnerships for potential cryptocurrency-related activities and other services.”Though this is the first time the OCC has directly mentioned crypto as a priority, the regulator has been studying crypto for at least three years. Last July, the OCC published an interpretive letter that allowed nationally chartered banks to offer crypto custody services.Many in the crypto community attributed the OCC’s crypto push to former Comptroller Brian Brooks, who left the OCC in January to briefly … [Read More...]

Fresh on the heels of Coinbase asking the U.S. government to create a new regulator to oversee the cryptocurrency industry, the exchange is seeking public input via GitHub.A repository published Thursday by the crypto giant is seeking suggestions from techno-savvy observers.“This framework represents our good-faith suggestions on a U.S. regulatory framework for digital assets,” Coinbase wrote. “We encourage your contributions to this discussion about the role of digital assets in our shared economic future.”A Coinbase spokesman confirmed it’s the first time the company has used GitHub to solicit feedback on policy matters. (The company’s engineering team has long used it for open-source code.)Read more: Coinbase Proposes US Create New Regulator to Oversee CryptoAs of press time, one … [Read More...]