| 1 | | The U.S.-based crypto exchange Gemini's twin founders, Cameron and Tyler Winklevoss, have announced that they selected Ireland as their European base. The new headquarters in Ireland's capital Dublin will oversee the operations in Europe and grow the platform's services in the region. More: - Gemini's founders cited the country's powerful regulatory system, wide talent pool, and well-established technology community while explaining the decision.
- The pair also met with the country's Prime Minister, Leo Varadkar, before the announcement.
- Cameron Winklevoss defined Ireland as the company's entry point to the European Union (EU).
- Gemini already has an office in Dublin with 12 employees.
- The firm plans to increase the headcount in the office after the newly-passed European crypto regulations, the Markets in Crypto Assets (MiCA), comes into effect.
- The popular crypto exchange obtained a license from the Central Bank of Ireland in July 2022 to operate as a virtual asset service provider in the country, becoming Ireland's first registered crypto firm.
- Several other crypto exchanges, including Binance, Coinbase, and Kraken, also have offices in Ireland.
Zoom Out: - Amid the heightened tension around the crypto regulations and increased scrutiny towards the crypto exchanges in the U.S., Gemini has made many attempts to consolidate its roots outside its native country.
- In January, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) accused Gemini of selling unregistered securities.
- The company recently announced its plans to establish a new engineering hub in India as its second-largest hub after the one in the U.S., along with the plans to expand its business team in Singapore to boost the growth in the Asia-Pacific (APAC) region.
- Earlier in May, the firm also launched a crypto derivatives platform dubbed Gemini Foundation that only caters to users outside the U.S.
- Further, Cameron and Tyler Winklevoss recently met with the U.K.'s Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) and the Bank of England (BoE), the country's financial regulator and central bank, to discuss a potential move to London.
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What the numbers say: A recent report from crypto data website CoinGecko has shown that virtual land prices in the top five metaverse platforms are currently quite far from the peaks in 2022. Otherdeeds NFTs, which are used to hold a virtual land in Yuga Labs' Otherside metaverse, are currently traded at 1.09 Ether (ETH), down from the last year's peak price of 5 ETH. Somnium's virtual lands saw the biggest difference with the current 0.37 ETH price, much lower than the peak price of 6.05 ETH in 2022. On the other hand, the virtual land prices in The Sandbox, Decentraland, and Voxels retreated under 1 ETH, with a significant drop from their peaks last year. Details: The report has also pointed out that Otherside currently hosts the most expensive virtual lands, with a 1.09 ETH price. In the top five, Otherdeeds virtual land NFTs are respectively followed by Decentraland, The Sandbox, Somnium, and Voxels. Relevance: Earlier this year, Web3 data platform DappRadar's report also revealed that both virtual land sales and trading volumes saw a significant increase in Q1 despite the price decline. The number of virtual land trades hit nearly 147,000 in the metaverse platforms during the specified period, reaching a new all-time high. The quarter also witnessed the metaverse users buying nearly $311M of virtual land NFTs. The Otherside metaverse dominated the virtual land sales in Q1, with Otherdeed NFTs reaching $222M in trading volume, 237% up from the previous quarter. Brands that should care: Createra Genesis Land and Axie Infinity became other virtual worlds reaching high amounts in trading volumes last quarter, though they are currently not among the top five metaverse platforms with the highest virtual land prices. | | | |
| 3 | | The U.S.-based crypto conglomerate Digital Currency Group (DCG), also the parent company of the bankrupt crypto lender Genesis, has announced that it would halt the operations of its institutional trading platform, TradeBlock. The shutdown will be effective as of May 31. More: - The unit offered trade execution, pricing, and prime brokerage services to its corporate customers.
- The firm cited the state of the broader economy, the prolonged crypto winter, and the challenging regulatory environment for digital assets in the U.S. while explaining the decision.
- TradeBlock was initially acquired by DCG's crypto-related media and events company, CoinDesk Inc., in 2020.
- The division was led by Breanne Madigan, who also previously spent years at Goldman Sachs and Ripple.
Zoom Out: - DCG's crypto lending business, Genesis Global, filed for bankruptcy in January this year after freezing withdrawals in November 2022, mainly due to its exposure to the collapse of the major crypto exchange FTX.
- In January, DCG also had to shut down its wealth management division.
- Earlier this year, the firm reported an over $1.1B financial loss for 2022 due to the crypto market downturn.
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| 4 | | Gulf Binance, a joint venture between the largest crypto exchange Binance and Thailander private power producers Gulf Energy Development's fintech arm Gulf Innova, has obtained a new license from Thailand's Securities and Exchange Commission. The approval marked Binance's first license in Southeast Asia and the Thailander regulator's seventh exchange and brokerage license. More: - The license will allow the firm to operate as a registered digital asset exchange and to offer crypto brokerage services in the country.
- The joint venture will start operations in Q4 of this year.
- Binance is expected to change the power balance in Thailand's digital asset market.
- Local crypto exchange Bitkub currently has market dominance, with around a 75.4% share.
- Richard Teng, Binance's regional head of Asia, said the Thailanders would be able to access a trusted and regulated exchange and brokerage service prioritizing customer security and compliance with local regulations.
Zoom Out: - Gulf Innova and Binance first signed a deal to launch a joint venture in 2022.
- At the time, Gulf Energy Development invested $20M in Binance's U.S. arm, Binance.US, for a 0.4% stake.
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| 5 | | Norges Bank, Norway's central bank, has recently stated that Norwegian authorities should not wait for European regulations or potential global legislation on crypto assets to come into effect to establish a national regulatory framework. The bank said Norway should move faster on crypto regulations than the rest of the world. More: - In the report, the central bank still underlined that an international regulatory framework is crucial.
- The bank pointed out that the potential regulations would include ways of managing the risks associated with decentralized finance (DeFi).
- The report also proposed that the national framework could be valid until a common European regulatory framework enters into force.
- In April, the European Parliament (EP), the legislative body of the European Union (EU), approved the first EU-wide crypto regulations, the Markets in Crypto Assets (MiCA), with a final vote after three years of development.
- Earlier in May, the regulation was also approved by the EU's Economic and Financial Affairs Council, which includes member states' finance ministers.
- The MiCA's provisions related to stablecoins will come into effect as of July 2024, while other aspects regarding the crypto asset service providers will enter into force as of January 2025.
- Norway is currently not among the 27 member states of the EU, though the new EU-wide regulations are expected to apply to the country since it is a member of the European Free Trade Association (EFTA).
Zoom Out: - International securities watchdog, the International Organization of Securities Commissions (IOSCO), also recently proposed global standards for the crypto industry, marking the first global attempt to regulate crypto assets.
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| 6 | | Brazil's central bank, Banco Central do Brasil, has published the final list of its central bank digital currency (CBDC), or the digital real, pilot project participants. The list, consisting of 14 participants, includes giant firms like payments services giant Visa and tech giant Microsoft. More: - The bank received 36 bids from more than 100 institutions seeking to join the country's CBDC pilot program.
- Santander, Brazilian banking institutions Itaú Unibanco, BTG Pactual, Nubank, and Banco Bradesco, the largest public Brazilian bank Banco do Brasil, and the local stock exchange B3 are all included in the 14-participant list.
- Microsoft made the list with the Brazil-based bank Banco Inter and the digital technology company 7COMm, as some participants consist of groups of companies.
- The country's central bank will start adding participants to the Digital Real Pilot platform in mid-June this year.
- The first phase will test the privacy and programmability features of the platform through a single use case with federal public securities.
Zoom Out: - Brazil's CBDC pilot program was first officially announced in 2022.
- The CBDC will be pegged to the country's national fiat currency, the Brazilian real.
- The central bank will launch its CBDC with a fixed supply and mint more later on.
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- The U.S.-based Stably has launched the first stablecoin on the Bitcoin network, Stably USD.
- Crypto card and trading platform Unbanked has halted its operations, citing that the current regulatory environment in the U.S. prevented it from raising funds.
- Formula 1's leading ticket issuer, Platinium Group, has started releasing NFT tickets minted on the Polygon blockchain for races in collaboration with the blockchain infrastructure provider Elemint and Web3 firm Bary.
- The Chinese city of Zhengzhou has released policy proposals to support metaverse companies operating within its borders.
- French lawmakers have unanimously passed new regulations to restrict social media influencers from promoting products of crypto firms that are not registered with the French financial regulator.
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 | Staff Writer | | Doga is a tech and science editor who has been writing news for nearly 10 years. She worked for leading tech platforms and mainstrem media channels as an editor and presenter throughout his career. Then, she carried her know-how to more than one platform. She is a part-time cat lover and binge-watcher, and also fond of science, space, and emerging tech. She always has a story to tell. She is a bit addict to the laughter and -unfortunately- the '90s culture. | | This newsletter was edited by Aaron Crutchfield | |
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