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| Take a look at the hits from today's Inside Cryptocurrency newsletter: - Crypto.com's new e-money institution license in the U.K.,
- A 75% monthly increase in Robinhood's crypto trading volume,
- The Stand With Crypto campaign's plans to hold a presidential campaign in the U.S., and more.
Enjoy your reading! Doğa
p/dogayurduneri | |
| 1 | | Stand With Crypto, a nonprofit campaign launched by Coinbase for crypto advocacy, has announced that it would hold a presidential forum in the U.S. on Dec. 11. The event will gather candidates for the 2024 U.S. presidential election in New Hampshire to discuss blockchain technology and digital assets. More: - The organization confirmed that Asa Hutchinson, Vivek Ramaswamy, and Dean Phillips will attend the forum in person.
- Donald Trump, Robert F. Kennedy Jr., Doug Burgum, Nikki Haley, Ron DeSantis, and Chris Christie have also been invited to the event.
- U.S. President Joe Biden was listed as neither a confirmed nor invited candidate on the website.
- The event will allow the public to hear from each presidential candidate while the candidates address the crypto and blockchain community, revealing their policies related to the issue.
- Coinbase, the largest U.S. crypto exchange, launched Stand With Crypto in August with several other industry members to advance pro-crypto policies.
- Users can easily reach out to policymakers and learn about politician's views toward crypto through the group's website, and the organization plans to use donations to grow its site's functions to influence crypto policies.
Zoom Out: - On the other hand, crypto has become an important material for election campaigns in the U.S. over the last several years due to its rising popularity and the lack of a regulatory framework for the market in the country.
- Some presidential candidates, including Ramaswamy and Kennedy, have made digital assets one of the key issues in their campaigns to receive support from the industry.
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| 2 | | 
What the numbers say: The data compiled by The Block has shown that NFT marketplace Blur came close to surpassing 80% in market share last week, with a rate much ahead of its rival OpenSea. At the beginning of this month, the platform increased its market share to 77.9%, up from 60.18% in early November. The massive increase in Blur's piece of the cake caused the rival OpenSea's market share to retreat under 20% as of Dec. 3. The figures mean that Blur hosted almost 80% of total trading volume in the Ethereum-based NFT market over the past week. Relevance: Blur was launched in October 2022 as a zero-fee NFT marketplace targeting professional traders who sought to make large-scale purchases. The platform surpassed OpenSea in trading volume for the first time in February, reaching $1.13B — nearly all of the entire NFT market's monthly gains at the time. In response, OpenSea launched a zero-fee marketplace dubbed OpenSea Pro with advanced features for professional NFT traders in April. The move caused OpenSea to outperform Blur in key statistics several times, taking over the latter's share in the market. However, Blur has started dominating the NFT market again, especially with the impact of a broader upward trend in the industry. Brands that should care: Other NFT marketplaces, including Magic Eden, LooksRare, NiftyGateway, and Rarible, have also experienced a decline in their market shares as Blur extended its share in the total volume. | | | |
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| 3 | | In a recent filing submitted to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), crypto and stock trading platform Robinhood has revealed that it experienced a sharp monthly increase in crypto trading volume in November. The filing pointed out that crypto trading volumes on Robinhood increased by 75% last month compared to October. More: - Robinhood CEO Vlad Tenev said the platform could eventually reach a nine-figure annual revenue at the end of the year.
- Speaking at a recent interview, the CEO also underlined that retail investors have started showing interest in crypto again.
- The rising interest was predicted to stem from the recent upward trend in the crypto market, which caused Bitcoin (BTC), the largest cryptocurrency by market cap, to hit a 19-month high and the total crypto market cap to reach $1.6T.
- The 75% increase in Robinhood's crypto trading volumes is also expected to mark a reversal for the crypto activity on the platform.
- The firm experienced a decline in its revenue from crypto trading for the last three consecutive quarters.
- The figure declined to $23M in Q3, with a 55% decrease from the same period last year.
Zoom Out: - Despite the downward trend in its crypto business, Robinhood has never withdrawn from the crypto industry.
- Most recently, the platform announced its plans to expand its crypto trading services to the European Union (EU) following the launch of its brokerage service in the U.K.
NOTE: Inside.com founder and CEO Jason Calacanis is an investor in Robinhood. | | | |
| 4 | | Singapore-based crypto exchange Crypto.com has obtained a license in the U.K. from the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA), the country's financial market regulator, as an e-money institution. The authorization will allow the firm to issue and manage electronic money and offer related products and services in the country. More: - The new authorization came more than a year after Crypto.com was registered as a crypto business with the FCA in August 2022.
- The registration only aims to ensure that the firms seeking to engage in crypto activities in the U.K. comply with the local anti-money laundering and terrorism financing rules.
- Crypto.com CEO Kris Marszalek said the U.K. remains a hugely important market for their business and the broader industry.
- The firm also has licenses in several other jurisdictions worldwide, including the U.S., Singapore, France, Spain, and Dubai.
- Some other rival crypto exchanges, such as Coinbase and Gemini, similarly received an e-money institution license in the U.K.
Zoom Out: - On the other hand, the FCA recently toughened its rules for crypto promotions and announced its plans to tighten its regulations for crypto asset activities in 2024.
- The tightened rules forced several crypto-related platforms, including Bybit, PayPal, Luno, CoinCorner, and Binance, to restrict their crypto trading operations in the U.K., citing recent regulatory developments in the country.
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| 5 | | Nayib Bukele, who recently stepped down as El Salvador's president to focus on his re-election campaign, has stated that the Central American country's Bitcoin (BTC) investments turned profitable. Bukele said the investments increased by 2.84%, bringing $3.6M in profit to the country. More: - The former president underlined that El Salvador has no intention to sell its Bitcoin holdings.
- The country's former finance minister, Alejandro Zelaya, also pointed out that the massive price increase in Bitcoin affirms the government's decisions.
- On the other hand, El Salvador's Bitcoin investments turned profitable following the recent price rally in the popular token.
- Bitcoin, the largest cryptocurrency by market cap, recently surpassed the $42,000 mark for the first time since April 2022, hitting a 19-month high.
- The popular cryptocurrency has also increased its value by over 150% since the beginning of the year.
Zoom Out: - El Salvador became the first country to accept Bitcoin as a legal tender in September 2021 under the leadership of crypto-advocate Nayib Bukele.
- If he wins the presidential election in February, Bukele will govern El Salvador for a second five-year term.
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| 6 | | The Italian-speaking Swiss city of Lugano has started accepting crypto payments for taxes, municipal services, and community fees. The crypto payment options in the city include Bitcoin (BTC) and Tether (USDT). More: - The residents will be able to make the payments using Bitcoin and Tether through an automated process on Bitcoin Suisse, a Swiss institutional-grade crypto platform.
- The process will cover all local invoices regardless of the nature of the service or the amount.
- The citizens will need to make the platform scan the QR code on the invoice and select a mobile wallet and a cryptocurrency option to complete the process.
- The new service is mainly a product of a partnership signed between Lugano and Tether in March 2022.
Zoom Out: - Lugano is not the only Swiss city that has adopted crypto for payments.
- In 2021, the Swiss canton of Zug also began allowing local companies and residents to pay their taxes with BTC and Ether (ETH).
- Zermatt, a municipality in the district in the canton of Valais, similarly added BTC to the tax payment options in 2020.
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| 7 | | Quick Hits: - The Kubernetes Cookbook is your comprehensive companion, equipping you with the knowledge and techniques to harness the full potential of Kubernetes.*
- Blockchain-based NFT lending protocol ParaSpace has rebranded to Parallel Finance to reflect its greater focus on the decentralized finance (DeFi) ecosystem.
- Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong has stated that he believes fiat currencies and cryptocurrencies will co-exist in the future, with each playing complementary roles within the global financial system.
- Chief of the Internal Revenue Service's criminal investigation division, Jim Lee, has pointed out that they saw a surge in cases involving tax evasion related to crypto.
- Toast to 2024: Key affiliate marketing trends to help your campaigns start off on the right foot in the new year. Get the free report.*
*This is a sponsored post. | | | |
 | 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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