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| Take a look at the hits from today's Inside Cryptocurrency newsletter: - Robinhood's new commission-free crypto trading service in the European Union,
- JPMorgan CEO's attack on crypto,
- Legendary heavy metal band Megadeth's upcoming NFT collection, and more.
Enjoy your reading! Doğa
p/dogayurduneri | |
| 1 | | The U.S. House Committee on Energy and Commerce has unanimously passed a pro-blockchain bill dubbed the Deploying American Blockchains Act of 2023 with a 46-0 vote. The 13-page bill tasks U.S. Secretary of Commerce Gina Raimondo with taking necessary actions to promote blockchain deployment, support the country's competitiveness in the blockchain industry, and increase the use of blockchain technology across the country. More: - If it becomes law, the legislation will require the commerce secretary to determine best practices, policies, and recommendations for the public and the private sector to adopt while using blockchain technology.
- As part of the bill, the secretary will also need to create a Blockchain Deployment Program to support the use of blockchain.
- Besides, the bill will see government advisory committees established with federal agency representatives, blockchain industry stakeholders, and experts to promote blockchain adoption.
- The legislation further proposes conducting studies on federal agencies' current use of blockchain and their preparedness for potential adoption.
- Other proposals in the bill include promoting leadership in the blockchain industry and improving coordination for federal agencies seeking to use blockchain technology.
- If the legislation is passed in the vote of the U.S. House of Representatives, it will also need to be passed by the Senate and receive final congressional approval.
- Then, the pro-blockchain bill will be signed by the President to become law.
Zoom Out: - At least 50 pro-crypto bills have come by the U.S. Congress since 2022, though most of them were abandoned before coming to fruition.
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What the numbers say: Coinbase, the largest U.S. crypto exchange, has recently released its transparency report for 2023. The report has shown that the firm received 13,079 information requests from law enforcement agencies worldwide between Q4 2022 and Q3 this year, with a 6% annual increase. The U.S. has become the top country with the highest number of requests. Nearly 40% of the petitions, representing 5,140 of all requests, came from U.S. agencies. In the top five, the country was followed by Germany, the U.K., Spain, and France, respectively. Besides, Ukraine, Australia, Portugal, Romania, and Nigeria have become the top five countries where Coinbase experienced the highest rate of increase in information requests. Relevance: On the other hand, U.S. law enforcement agencies and regulators have increased their crackdown on the crypto industry over the past year. The heightened regulatory scrutiny caused many platforms, including Coinbase, to face a surge in the number of information requests. Coinbase shared the details of those requests with its customers several times. Most recently, the exchange disclosed that it was served a subpoena by the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC), which requested it to provide information about some of its users' accounts and transaction activity. The platform informed its users of the issue through an email, and the title of the email suggested that the subpoena is related to an ongoing investigation over Dubai-headquartered crypto exchange Bybit and its CEO, Ben Zhou. Brands that should care: Earlier in 2023, rival crypto exchange Kraken also hit the headlines with an information request from the Internal Revenue Service (IRS). The request was made for an investigation by the IRS over users who might be underreporting their tax liability. Following a legal dispute between the two parties, Kraken had to share certain user information with the agency in November. The shared data included profile information, transaction records, names, birthdates, tax ID numbers, addresses, and contact information of certain customers. | | | |
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| 3 | | JPMorgan Chase & Co. CEO Jamie Dimon has reiterated his critical approach to crypto assets once more at the U.S. Senate Banking Committee's annual Wall Street oversight hearing. During his appearance at the hearing, the bank executive said if he were a member of the government, he would close the crypto industry down. More: - The worldwide-known CEO added that the primary use case of crypto is exhibited by criminals involved in activities like drug trafficking, money laundering, and tax evasion.
- Dimon also previously defined digital currencies as Ponzi schemes and fraud materials.
- Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) used the hearing to team up with banking leaders to target the crypto industry.
- During the hearing, Warren said anti-money laundering (AML) rules followed by banks should be extended to digital assets, which was agreed by all of the CEOs.
- Warren is most famous for her strict anti-crypto approach, and earlier this year, she even revealed her plans to create an anti-crypto army in the U.S. as part of her electioneering.
- In December 2022, the U.S. Senator also proposed a bill with Sen. Roger Marshall (R-Kan.), which requires all decentralized entities and crypto-related firms to follow the same strict AML rules as traditional banks.
Zoom Out: - Despite its CEO's critical approach to crypto, JPMorgan Chase & Co., the largest U.S. bank by assets, is an active player in the blockchain industry.
- The bank has developed many high-profile projects so far, including JPM Coin and a separate blockchain-based deposit token, to bring blockchain technology to traditional finance.
- These attempts made the banking giant one of the few companies that managed to put its blockchain-based projects to commercial use among its rivals.
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| 4 | | The U.S.-based crypto and stock trading platform Robinhood has officially launched its crypto trading service in the European Union (EU), nearly a month after it announced its expansion plans to the region. The firm said it would not charge any commission fee for the service. More: - European customers will be able to purchase and sell more than 25 cryptocurrencies, including Bitcoin (BTC), Ether (ETH), and Solana (SOL), through Robinhood's app.
- The platform will give a certain portion of each user's trading volume back in Bitcoin each month, becoming the only custodial crypto platform in Europe to do so.
- Robinhood users in the EU will initially not be able to transfer their crypto holdings outside of the app.
- However, the firm plans to integrate a transfer feature, add more tokens, and launch staking services for European customers in 2024.
- The move came shortly after Robinhood revealed that it experienced a 75% monthly increase in its crypto trading volumes in November, marking a possible reversal for its crypto trading revenue that declined for the last three consecutive quarters.
Zoom Out: - Robinhood first launched its crypto trading service in 2018 and currently supports around 15 tokens in its home market, the U.S.
- The platform had to accelerate its global expansion plans this year with its debut in Europe and the U.K. after the U.S. regulators increased their crackdown on the crypto market.
- The heightened regulatory scrutiny has also forced several other U.S.-based crypto trading platforms, such as Coinbase, Gemini, and Kraken, to consolidate their presence outside their native.
NOTE: Inside.com founder and CEO Jason Calacanis is an investor in Robinhood. | | | |
| 5 | | Professional services firm Deloitte, also known as one of the Big Four accounting firms, has announced that it would use the Kilt protocol to offer blockchain-based logistics and supply chain services to the shipping industry. The company will launch a new logistics service dubbed KYX using Kilt in partnership with supply chain technology company Nexxiot for the new services. More: - Kilt is a Polkadot-based decentralized blockchain identity protocol.
- KYX will be a combination of Know Your Customer (KYC) and Know Your Cargo, the two processes used to identify and verify the clients' identities and their shipped goods.
- The system will be built on the Kilt protocol.
- Kilt's founder, Ingo Rube, said any entity could create a service built on blockchain without having to deal with cryptocurrencies or needing experience in blockchain technology using Kilt.
- Shipping giant Hapag-Lloyd and telecommunications giant Vodafone will be the first companies to implement the KYX process.
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| 6 | | Legendary heavy metal band Megadeth has announced that it would launch an NFT collection in late December. The announcement was made on Megadeth's official account on X, formerly known as Twitter, through a video featuring the band's frontman, Dave Mustaine. More: - The 5,000-piece collection will be released to the public on Dec. 22.
- The NFTs will feature Megadeth's digital mascot, Vic Rattlehead.
- The digital collectibles will also offer the holders exclusive access to physical and digital experiences in the metaverse.
- The experiences to be unlocked with the NFTs will include one-on-one conversations with the band members.
Zoom Out: - Another heavy metal group, Avenged Sevenfold, also recently released NFTs that unlocked tickets for the shows in their upcoming concert tour.
- The lead singer of the band, M. Shadows, has congratulated Megadeth on its entrance into the NFT space through a post on X, adding that he hopes to see more artists step into the market with their communities.
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| 7 | | Quick Hits: - Want to master Kubernetes? The Kubernetes Cookbook is a must-have guide to discover guidance on cloud architecture analytics, optimization, governance, and more.*
- Do Kwon, the co-founder of the collapsed Terra ecosystem, has officially appealed a decision by a Montenegrin court that approves his extradition to the U.S. or South Korea.
- Hong Kong-based crypto exchange Bitzlato's co-founder, Anatoly Legkodymov, has pleaded guilty to operating a money-transmitting business that processed $700M in illicit funds.
- The U.K.-headquartered banking giant Standard Chartered's crypto custody arm, Zodia Custody, has announced its plans to launch a new service dubbed Interchange Connect that links institutional clients.
- 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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