| Here is a look at the hits from today's Inside Cryptocurrency newsletter: - South Korean regulators' proposal to ban purchasing crypto with credit cards,
- Coinbase's upcoming risk-acknowledgment measures in the U.K.,
- Visa's new Web3 loyalty and customer engagement solution for brands, and more.
Enjoy your reading! Doğa
p/dogayurduneri | |
| 1 | | Coinbase, the largest U.S. crypto exchange, has announced that it would require its users in the U.K. to fill out two risk-acknowledgment forms as part of its efforts to comply with the new regulatory requirements of the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA), the U.K.'s financial market regulator. Those failing to complete both tasks will become unable to continue using their Coinbase accounts. More: - The first task will ask users to explain what type of investor they are.
- The second task will cover completing a form to allow users to confirm that they understand the high risks associated with investing in crypto assets.
- Coinbase's new measures came several days after Seychelles-based crypto exchange OKX also announced that it would require U.K. customers to complete two investor questionnaires to meet the updated regulatory requirements of the FCA.
- Both Coinbase and OKX work with England-based crypto exchange Archax to get their financial promotions approved.
- The FCA put its new rules on crypto promotions into force on Oct. 8, though it later postponed the deadline to Jan. 8 by giving crypto firms an additional four months to make their offerings compliant with the new rules.
- The new regulations classify crypto as restricted mass market investments, a category for high-risk investment products.
- The tightened rules also require crypto ads to contain clear risk warnings, prohibit incentives such as referrals and new joiner bonuses for crypto firms, and introduce a 24-hour cooling-off period that delays placing orders for investors engaging in crypto for the first time.
Zoom Out: - The FCA's new rules forced some crypto-related platforms, including Bybit, PayPal, Luno, CoinCorner, Binance, and Revolut, to restrict or halt their crypto trading services in the U.K.
|     | |
| 2 | | 
What the numbers say: The governance token of the Ethereum Name Service (ENS) has recently experienced a significant jump in its value. The token's price increased to as much as $15.43 within the day, up from the $8.50 level a day earlier. The surge represents an 81% jump. The token also saw an almost 2,000% increase in its 24-hour trading volume, drawing attention from investors. What it means: Governance tokens refer to cryptocurrencies that give their holders voting rights over proposed revisions and changes in a blockchain-based smart contract. Relevance: On the other hand, the jump in ENS's price came shortly after the Ethereum blockchain network's co-founder, Vitalik Buterin, praised the domain platform to which the ENS token linked. In a recent post on X, formerly known as Twitter, Buterin said the Ethereum Name Service is super important and should remain accessible to all users of the Ethereum network. The service mainly allows users to purchase a ".eth" domain operating on Ethereum. This domain name replaces the complex and randomly generated letters and numbers of a standard Ethereum wallet address, converting them into more easily recognizable words. The process aims to make it easier to transfer and receive funds between two parties on the Ethereum network. Brands that should care: In his tweet, Buterin also pointed out that all Layer-2 blockchain networks, including Optimism, Arbitrum, and Polygon, should register ENS addresses to improve their ease of use. | | | |
| 3 | | South Korea's financial market regulator, the Financial Services Commission (FSC), has proposed an amendment to the credit finance laws to prohibit citizens from buying cryptocurrencies with credit cards. While explaining the proposal, the agency cited concerns about the illegal outflow of domestic funds, money laundering, and the encouragement of speculative behaviors. More: - The regulator will collect public feedback on the proposal until Feb. 13.
- Then, the proposed amendment will go through a review and vote on whether to be implemented.
- The FSC aims to put the amendment into force in H1 2024.
- The proposal mainly aims to restrict South Korean crypto traders from purchasing crypto on foreign exchanges using credit cards.
- The relevant provisions of the current laws do not apply to overseas crypto trading platforms, though they partly prevent citizens from purchasing crypto with credit card payments.
Zoom Out: - Under current laws, South Korean crypto exchanges only allow users to trade with withdrawal and deposit accounts that verify customers with their real identity.
- Besides, local exchanges must meet rigorous licensing requirements to offer fiat-to-crypto services.
| | | |
| 4 | | The payment processing giant Visa has launched a new Web3 loyalty and customer engagement solution that uses digital assets as its core reward, differentiating from traditional point-based loyalty programs. The solution will allow brands to develop custom crypto wallets, paving the way for brand-affiliated Web3 wallets. More: - The solution will also allow brands to issue digital objects and experiences based on card transactions.
- Then, customers will be able to earn, collect, and redeem digital assets as rewards in exchange for their loyalty to or engagement with brands.
- These digital assets will later be able to be used in interactive experiences across various industries, including tourism and sports.
- The solution will offer a range of rewards in the form of digital assets for customer engagement, such as digital event tickets, sweepstakes, NFT-gated experiences, tokens usable in hunts, and digital coupons.
- In this way, brands will be able to customize their loyalty program approach based on their goals and the demands of their audiences.
- The enterprise platform will be easy to use for brands, eliminating the need for Web3 developers and increasing the brands' access to digital asset-related services.
| | | |
| 5 | | India's central bank digital currency (CBDC), or the digital rupee, hit 1 million daily transactions in December, according to a recent Reuters report citing three sources familiar with the matter. The jump in the daily transaction number was triggered by the local banks that distributed some employee benefits with the digital rupee to help the Reserve Bank of India (RBI), the country's central bank, achieve its target of 1 million by the end of 2023. More: - The average daily transaction number stood at 25,000 at the end of October 2023.
- However, it reached as much as 1 million last month after some state-run and private local banks distributed certain parts of employee benefits directly to their employees' CBDC wallets rather than their salary accounts.
- The local lenders participating in the procedure include HDFC Bank, Kotak Mahindra Bank, Axis Bank, Canara Bank, and IDFC First Bank.
- A source pointed out that the digital rupee's user number also increased to nearly 4 million, up from 3 million in December.
- The co-founder of India Blockchain Forum, Sharat Chandra, said other use cases, such as toll tax collection, can also be included in the digital rupee pilot to increase the adoption further.
Zoom Out: - The RBI launched its digital rupee pilot in December 2022.
- The CBDC aims to create a digital alternative on blockchain to the country's official physical currency, rupee.
| | | |
| 6 | | South Korean crypto exchange Huobi Korea has announced that it would halt its operations and shut down its platform as of Jan. 29, citing the difficult business environment in the country. The platform said users will be able to withdraw their funds on the exchange after the closure. More: - Huobi Korea was established in 2017 as the South Korean arm of the Seychelles-based crypto exchange HTX, formerly known as Huobi.
- However, the platform cut its ties with HTX in January 2023.
- With the latest decision, Huobi Korea joined several other local crypto exchanges, such as Cashierest, Coinbit, and CoreDAX, shutting down or suspending their services.
- The top five crypto exchanges in South Korea, including Upbit, Bithumb, Coinone, Korbit, and Gopax, made up 99.6% of the country's total crypto trading volume at the end of last June.
- These five exchanges are the only crypto trading platforms successfully registered with the local financial market regulators.
- Huobi Korea also failed to partner with a local bank to offer fiat-to-crypto services to citizens, having to limit its services to crypto-to-crypto transactions, along with 20 other exchanges.
Zoom Out: - On the other hand, South Korean regulators increased their crackdown on the crypto industry and their legislative efforts for the market over the past year, making offering crypto services harder for digital asset firms.
- The country's National Assembly passed legislation dubbed the Virtual Asset User Protection Act in June 2023, authorizing the Financial Services Commission (FSC) and the Bank of Korea to supervise the crypto service providers and virtual asset custodians and to enforce penalties in case of a potential violation.
| | | |
| 7 | | Quick Hits: - Need to close more deals faster? See 6 tips on how Calendly helps sales & marketing teams automate the meeting lifecycle and grow revenue. Read the blog.*
- Crypto asset manager Grayscale Investments has started talks with some traditional financial firms, including JPMorgan and Goldman Sachs, to make one of them an authorized participant in its proposed spot Bitcoin exchange-traded fund (ETF).
- The founders of two NFT collections have recently announced that they would give free company equity to NFT holders.
- The USD Coin (USDC) stablecoin briefly lost its peg to the U.S. dollar (USD) on the crypto exchange Binance, retreating to as low as $0.74.
- Chelsea Football Club has signed a $12.6M sponsorship deal with the crypto exchange BingX, whose logo will appear on the front of the team's training kits throughout the upcoming English Premier League season.
*This is a sponsored post. | | | |
| Upcoming Events | | JAN
30 | | Join TruEra for an expert discussion about the impact of the EU AI Act on US and Canadian firms | | | | | | * This is a sponsored event | | | |
 | 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 | |
| |
| |
Comments
Post a Comment