| Hey Insider! Welcome to the week's first Inside Cryptocurrency newsletter! Today's issue covers several of the biggest stories from the crypto arena, including Coinbase's halt of the staking service in four U.S. states, Binance's Lightning Network integration, National Australia Bank's ban for payments to some high-risk crypto exchanges, and more. Enjoy your reading! Doğa
p/dogayurduneri | |
| 1 | | Coinbase, the largest U.S. crypto exchange by trading volume, has temporarily suspended its retail staking service in four U.S. states due to legal orders from local regulators. The states where users cannot stake cryptocurrencies through Coinbase are California, New Jersey, South Carolina, and Wisconsin. More: - Residents in these states will not be able to use Coinbase's staking service until further notice, or at least until the legal proceedings finalize.
- Cryptocurrencies staked before the local orders will not be affected by the move.
- The move came more than a month after the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) filed a lawsuit against Coinbase, labeling some tokens listed on the exchange and its staking service as unregistered securities.
- At the time, the local regulators from Alabama, California, Illinois, Kentucky, Maryland, New Jersey, South Carolina, Vermont, Washington, and Wisconsin also simultaneously issued an order against Coinbase, alleging the exchange of violating the securities laws through its staking service.
- Coinbase said it would fully comply with the preliminary state orders where required, though it strongly disagrees with any allegation that its staking services are securities.
- The firm also added that the other six states do not require a pause for the service.
Zoom Out: - In February, the SEC also forced crypto exchange Kraken to halt the operations of its crypto staking service for U.S. customers and to pay a $30M fine to settle, citing that the platform offered unregistered securities.
- At the time, Coinbase said its staking programs were fundamentally different from Kraken's.
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| 2 | | 
What the numbers say: A recent research from the crypto data website CoinGecko has revealed the top 10 countries in Europe by interest in crypto, analyzing 40 countries in the region based on their shares of crypto-related web page views from Jan. 1 to July 9, 2023. The study results have shown that the U.K. is leading Europe in crypto interest by a long way, with a 44.58% rate. In the top five, the U.K. was followed by the Netherlands, Poland, Germany, and Russia, respectively. Bitcoin (BTC), Ether (ETH), and Not Financial Advice (NFAI) have become the most popular cryptocurrencies in the U.K. so far this year. Relevance: The massive crypto interest in the U.K. was followed by the country's efforts to embrace the crypto regulations. Most recently, the U.K. passed the Financial Services and Markets Bill (FSMB), recognizing crypto as a regulated activity and bringing cryptocurrencies and stablecoins under the same rules applied to traditional financial assets. U.K. Prime Minister Rishi Sunak has also shown efforts to make the country a global crypto hub since his finance ministry. In June, the European Union (EU), where seven of the 27 member states made the list, officially signed its region-wide crypto regulations, the Markets in Crypto Assets (MiCA), into law, after three years of development. The move made the bloc the first major jurisdiction to regulate the crypto industry on such a scale. Brands that should care: The accelerated regulatory efforts forced many crypto exchanges, including Coinbase, Kraken, and Gemini, and stablecoin issuers, such as Circle and Tether, to comply with upcoming rules and register with the regulators in the European countries before the related provisions of the regulations come into force. | | | |
| 3 | | Binance, the largest crypto exchange by trading volume, has officially integrated Bitcoin's Layer-2 scaling solution, Lightning Network, into its platform. The integration will see Binance users utilizing the Layer-2 blockchain for Bitcoin (BTC) deposits and withdrawals. More: - Users can now see a "LIGHTNING" option while depositing or withdrawing BTC.
- Other options include Bitcoin's main blockchain, BNB Smart Chain (BEP-20), BNB Beacon Chain (BEP2), BTC (SegWit), and Ethereum ERC-20.
- The platform first announced its plans to integrate the Lightning Network in May after it had to temporarily pause BTC withdrawals due to the record-high number of unconfirmed transactions and the unprecedented congestion in the withdrawals.
- In June, several users also detected Binance's own Lightning nodes as a sign for the exchange working on the integration.
- The completed integration is expected to make Bitcoin transactions faster and cheaper on Binance.
Zoom Out: - Several other crypto exchanges, including Bitfinex, River Financial, OKX, Kraken, and CoinCorner, also previously integrated Bitcoin's Layer-2 scaling solution.
- In April, rival crypto exchange Coinbase's CEO, Brian Armstrong, similarly hinted at the platform's plans to integrate the Lightning Network.
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| 4 | | National Australia Bank (NAB), one of the four largest financial institutions in Australia, has banned certain payments to high-risk crypto exchanges, citing potential risks from scams. Through the move, the lender has joined the country's other biggest banks, including Westpac, Commonwealth Bank of Australia (CBA), and Australia & New Zealand Banking Group (ANZ), restricting their customers from making payments to crypto trading platforms. More: - Chris Sheehan, the executive for group investigations and fraud at NAB, said organized, transnational crime groups are increasingly using cryptocurrency platforms to send stolen funds from scams quickly and often overseas.
- NAB also stated that crypto scams cost Australians $151M last year alone as a fast-growing security threat.
- The bank has yet to specify the crypto exchanges impacted by the decision.
- In May, Westpac became the first Australian bank to block its clients from making payments to some crypto exchanges to reduce losses from scams.
- Last month, CBA, Australia's largest bank, also banned some payments to certain crypto exchanges as part of its new anti-scam policies.
- The Westpac and CBA's decisions were then followed by ANZ, which brought similar restrictions to crypto exchanges.
Zoom Out: - Aussie payments provider Cuscal also recently started imposing new banking restrictions on crypto exchanges in Australia through its partner Zepto.
- In June, Binance, the world's largest crypto exchange by trading volume, had to suspend Australian dollar (AUD) deposits and withdrawals through bank transfer since its local partners, Westpac and Zepto, halted support.
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| 5 | | Seychelles-based crypto exchange BitMEX has launched a new social space feature dubbed Guilds to allow traders on the platform to engage with each other. The feature was moved to the beta testing phase and has already gathered more than 230 beta testers. More: - Guilds can be used by all BitMEX users, letting them share ideas, talk about trading strategies, and convey insights.
- Each Guild serves as a private chat room, features a leader, and hosts up to 49 members.
- Only the verified BitMEX users with at least 10,000 BMEX tokens staked can become a leader.
- Once a Guild is established by a leader, other customers can join the room to discuss.
- BitMEX CEO Stephan Lutz said the Guilds aim to drive collaboration amongst the platform's community.
Zoom Out: - The Guilds feature was first announced at the end of June.
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| 6 | | Gnosis, an Ethereum Layer-2 solution, has launched a debit card in collaboration with the payment processing giant Visa during the Ethereum Community Conference. Gnosis Card will become the world's first debit card connected to an on-chain self-custodial wallet. More: - The move also marked the first integration of a decentralized payment network with a traditional processor.
- Gnosis Card will first be available in the U.K., the European Union (EU) countries, and the European Economic Area (EEA).
- The firm plans to expand the service to the U.S., Brazil, Mexico, Singapore, and Hong Kong in Q4.
- The debit card will allow holders to make payments using stablecoins and Visa's payment infrastructure during online purchases.
- At launch, the card will only support EURe, whose value is pegged to the euro, with plans for further expansion to the DAI stablecoin.
- As part of the service, the firm will offer a physical debit card and a web app where users can sign up for 30 EURe.
- The team behind the service is also actively working on an upcoming mobile app.
Zoom Out: - Over the last several years, many centralized crypto exchanges, including Bitso, Gemini, Binance, and Gate.io, collaborated with Visa and rival Mastercard to launch a debit card allowing their customers to pay for goods and services with crypto.
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| 7 | | Quick Hits: - It's true: there really is a once-in-a-lifetime IRS kickback available to 80% of businesses. Apply Now.*
- Binance, the largest crypto exchange by trading volume, has reportedly laid off more than a third of its headcount, representing over 1,000 employees worldwide, after facing regulatory hurdles in the U.S.
- In a research note, the U.S.-based banking giant J.P. Morgan has defined the recent XRP ruling in the court as a milestone victory for the crypto industry.
- Cathie Wood-led investment management firm ARK sold additional 478,356 shares of the crypto exchange Coinbase (COIN) as the firm's stock reached a 52-week high.
- Level up your AWS knowledge. Packed with tips and tricks, the Amazon Web Services Cookbook is a must-have resource for both novices and experts.*
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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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