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| 1 | | The European Union (EU) has officially signed its region-wide crypto regulations, the Markets in Crypto Assets (MiCA), into law nearly two months after it was approved by the European Parliament (EP). The move made the region one step closer to being the first major jurisdiction to regulate the crypto industry on such a scale. More: - The signatures were put by the European Parliament President Roberta Metsola and Swedish Rural Affairs Minister Peter Kullgren.
- The pair also signed a separate anti-money laundering rule, which mandates crypto service providers to confirm their customers' identity when they transfer funds.
- The MiCA will formally become an EU law after it is published in the Official Journal of the European Union, which is expected to happen within June.
- The law'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.
- Since all the provisions will be in effect 12 to 18 months later, the crypto firms will still have one to two years to comply with the new rules.
- The rules in MiCA will apply to all the 27 member states in the EU bloc.
- The MiCA's scope is also expected to see an expansion to cover crypto lending, staking, decentralized finance (DeFi), and NFTs.
Zoom Out: - The long-awaited MiCA was finally approved by the lawmakers at the EP, the legislative body of the EU, with a final vote on April 20 after three years of development.
- In May, the regulation was also approved by the EU's Economic and Financial Affairs Council, which includes member states' finance ministers.
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What the numbers say: The data compiled by The Block has shown that crypto exchanges retreated to the lowest monthly levels since 2020 in spot trading volume in May. The crypto trading platforms processed $439.42B of spot transactions last month, down from the three-year peak of $4.25T in May 2021. The previous low was seen in October 2020, when the spot trading volume only hit $222.7B. The decline was mainly attributed to the latest volatility trend in the crypto market that caused a risk perception in investors. Relevance: The Block's data has also pointed out that Binance still dominated the market in May despite the sharp decline in its market share after it lifted the zero-fee trading in March this year. The platform hosted 50% of all the spot trading last month, while its closest rival, OKX, was only able to receive a 7% share of the cake. The largest crypto exchange saw its market share decrease to 47.84% in April, retreating to 10-month lows. The figure accounted for a nearly 15% drop from the last 10 months' highest rates of 62% in February. Brands should care: The three-year spot trading volume data also revealed that the crypto exchanges historically experienced brief declines in spot trading volumes last year right after May 2022 and November 2022 when the multi-billion dollar Terra ecosystem collapsed, and previously third-largest crypto exchange FTX filed for bankruptcy, respectively. | | | |
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| 3 | | Binance, the largest crypto exchange by trading volume, has rejected the claims that the platform was preparing to make a mass layoff. In response to the rumors, the firm said it is reevaluating its staff at regular intervals, which could result in job cuts. More: - On Twitter, the independent journalist Colin Wu recently claimed that Binance was planning to reduce its 8,000 employees by about 20% in June due to the current market conditions and previous overhiring, citing multiple sources.
- In response, a Binance spokesperson stated that the company always conducts periodic staff evaluations to eliminate employees whose performance does not meet the firm's expectations or who do not match the company culture.
- The spokesperson added that this process could naturally end up with layoffs.
- Binance CEO Changpeng Zhao (CZ) similarly took to Twitter to reiterate the spokesperson's response, saying that the company operates a bottom-out program to assess staff fit.
- In addition, CZ said they constantly say goodbye to employees who are not strong fits with the company, and in many cases, this farewell has nothing to do with the individual's competence but with an unfit with the firm's culture or a specific situation.
- The company CEO also underlined that Binance maintained profitability on a daily, weekly, and monthly basis since October 2017, despite two crypto winters.
- CZ added that Binance is always looking for talented people and is still hiring.
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| 4 | | The U.S.-based crypto exchange Gemini has announced that it will soon apply for a crypto license in the United Arab Emirates (UAE). The firm said the license would be another step toward making Gemini a truly global company. More: - Gemini also met stakeholders in the UAE to be informed about local regulatory requirements to operate as a crypto service provider in the region.
- The company has yet to announce when it plans to start operations in the UAE.
- The move came shortly after the UAE's financial authorities began working on a national virtual asset regulation as the competition among crypto firms heightened in the Gulf region.
- Most recently, the Central Bank of the UAE released new guidelines regarding anti-money laundering and counter-terrorism financing for financial institutions dealing with virtual assets, including crypto and NFTs.
- The new guidance is expected to enter into force by July.
Zoom Out: - In January, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) accused Gemini of selling unregistered securities through its Earn product.
- The increased scrutiny and tightened regulatory environment towards the crypto industry in the U.S. forced Gemini, like many other crypto-related companies, to intensify its global expansion plans to consolidate its roots outside its native.
- The company's recent global expansion efforts include a European base in Ireland, a new engineering hub in India, the extension of the business team in Singapore, the launch of a crypto derivatives platform that only caters to users outside the U.S., and the founders' meeting with the U.K.'s regulatory authorities to discuss a potential move to London.
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| 5 | | Crypto exchange Crypto.com has obtained a major payment institution license for digital payment token services from the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS), the country's financial market regulator. The license has authorized the company to offer its digital asset services in Singapore. More: - The approval came exactly one year after the platform received an in-principle approval from the MAS.
- Following the announcement, Crypto.com CEO Kris Marszalek praised the Singaporean regulator for its approach that ensures responsible innovation in the digital assets industry.
- The license has added a new country to the regions where Singapore received in-principle approvals or permanent licenses for its crypto services, such as France, the U.K., the U.S., Dubai, South Korea, Australia, Italy, Greece, and Cyprus.
Zoom Out: - Several other crypto companies, including Coinbase and Blockchain.com, also received in-principle approval from the MAS.
- MAS is responsible for overseeing the financial industry in Singapore and implementing regulations related to money, banking, insurance, securities, and issuance currency.
- Last year, the MAS, famous for its strict stance on the crypto market and stingy attitude toward approving a license, pledged to be brutal and unrelentingly hard on bad conduct in the crypto industry.
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| 6 | | The popular Formula 1 team Oracle Red Bull Racing has signed a multiyear sponsorship deal with Mysten Labs, the firm behind the Layer-1 blockchain network Sui. As part of the agreement, Sui has become the official blockchain partner of Oracle Red Bull Racing. More: - The partnership will see the Sui logo appearing on both Oracle Red Bull Racing's cars and the jackets of drivers and pit crew.
- Mysten Labs will also develop a series of immersive digital experiences for fans on behalf of the team over the coming months.
- Oracle Red Bull Racing Team Principal and CEO Christian Horner said the team is an early adopter of blockchain technology and will enhance this experience by partnering with Sui.
- The famous Formula 1 team also previously signed deals with the open-source blockchain Tezos and Dubai-headquartered crypto exchange Bybit.
Zoom Out: - The Sui blockchain went live in May.
- Mysten Labs was founded by former executives of tech giant Meta's now-abandoned blockchain project, Diem, just like the Aptos project.
- Over the last several years, crypto gained massive popularity in Formula 1, with many crypto-related firms signing deals with racing teams, such as OKX, Kraken, and Crypto.com.
- Last year, all 10 Formula 1 teams had at least one sponsorship with crypto firms.
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- Crypto exchange Kraken has experienced a 25% rise in customer deposits in Canada as major rivals, including Binance, OKX, and Bybit, exit the Canadian market due to the new regulatory framework.
- Fintech giant PayPal's venture capital (VC) arm, PayPal Ventures, has led a $52M investment round for digital-wallet provider Magic.
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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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