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| Take a look at the hits from today's Inside Cryptocurrency briefing: - ❌ Yuga Labs' decision to end its support for NFT marketplaces that do not enforce royalty payments,
- 🏛️ Kraken's new institutional unit,
- 📈 A 12% daily price jump in Bitcoin, and more.
Enjoy your reading! Doğa
p/dogayurduneri | |
| 1 | | Five U.S. senators have recently introduced a new bill, titled the CBDC Anti-Surveillance State Act, to ban the Federal Reserve (Fed), the U.S. central banking system, from developing and issuing a central bank digital currency (CBDC), the third time such a bill has been introduced. In the proposal, the senators cited their concerns that U.S. President Joe Biden's administration would use a potential CBDC to surveil citizens and violate their rights. More: - The senators filing the proposed legislation include Ted Cruz (R-Texas), Bill Hagerty (R-Tenn.), Rick Scott (R-Fla.), Ted Budd (R-N.C.), and Mike Braun (R-Ind.).
- The bill was also co-sponsored by five associations, including Heritage Action for America (HAFA), the Blockchain Association, the American Bankers Association (ABA), the Independent Community Bankers Association (ICBA), and the Club for Growth (CFG).
- In the proposed bill, Cruz requested the U.S. Congress to clarify that the Fed has no authority to issue a CBDC or use it for monetary policy, introducing authorizing legislation and ensuring that the agency cannot transform into a retail bank.
- Scott and Budd also said the financial privacy of U.S. citizens should be protected, adding that a CBDC would open the door for the government to surveil and control the spending habits of Americans.
- Cruz defined a potential CBDC as government-controlled programmable money that can collect personal details about citizens and potentially track and freeze their funds for any reason.
- Cruz introduced similar legislation in 2022 and March 2023 as well.
- In July last year, the Fed stated that it has yet to decide whether to issue a CBDC, and the issuance could be only possible with an authorizing law.
Zoom Out: - In 2022, Biden signed an executive order for the federal government to explore the potential use cases and risks of a CBDC, paving the way for a growing criticism of state-backed digital currencies among U.S. lawmakers.
- Several politicians, including Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, Rep. Alex Mooney (R-W.Va.), Rep. Tom Emmer (R-Minn.), and Rep. Warren Davidson (R-Ohio), have also previously argued that the CBDCs could be used as a direct surveillance tool by the government and violate the privacy rights of American citizens.
- However, some politicians like Rep. Stephen Lynch (D-Mass.) urged the U.S. government to launch a digital dollar pilot, citing nearly 130 other countries working on a CBDC, such as Russia and China.
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What the numbers say: The price of Bitcoin (BTC), the largest cryptocurrency by market cap, surpassed the $57,000 mark on Tuesday, hitting another 26-month high. The last time the popular cryptocurrency touched this level was in December 2021. The token's value jumped by 12% in a day to as much as $57,416, up from the $51,000 level a day earlier. The latest price rally also brought Bitcoin's value gain since the beginning of the year to 32%. In addition, the upward trend in the leading cryptocurrency pushed the total crypto market cap above $2T for the first time in almost two years. Relevance: The 12% price increase in Bitcoin was mainly triggered by the massive investor interest in the spot Bitcoin exchange-traded funds (ETFs), which received the green light from the regulators in the U.S. last month. The spot Bitcoin ETFs in the U.S. reached a record $2.4B daily trading volume on Feb. 26, a day before Bitcoin hit $57,000. The new investment products' cumulative trading volume since Jan. 11, the day they began trading, also recently surpassed the key $50B level. The spot Bitcoin ETFs allow retail and institutional investors to get exposure to Bitcoin through traditional brokerage accounts without directly holding it and dealing with crypto-native platforms that have come under scrutiny by regulators over the past years. The Bitcoin ETF issuers in the U.S. include some of the largest traditional financial services firms, such as Fidelity, Franklin Templeton, Valkyrie, Ark Invest, Grayscale, BlackRock, WisdomTree, and Invesco Galaxy. Brands that should care: The U.S.-based business intelligence firm MicroStrategy's recent Bitcoin purchase has also contributed to Bitcoin's latest price jump. The jump came a day after the firm disclosed that it recently bought an additional 3,000 Bitcoins for $155.4M, bringing its total Bitcoin reserves to 193,000 BTC. The purchase also brought the total value of the firm's Bitcoin holdings above $10B. MicroStrategy is currently the largest corporate Bitcoin holder. The firm began its Bitcoin purchases in 2020 and boosted its reserves, especially last year. | | | |
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| 3 | | The U.S.-based crypto exchange Kraken has launched a new unit dubbed Kraken Institutional that would specifically cater to the corporate clients of the platform. The new unit will target institutions, asset managers, hedge funds, and high-net-worth individuals. More: - Kraken Institutional will be a one-stop shop to meet the unique needs of institutional clients, gathering Kraken's products and services already used by corporate investors, including spot trading and staking, under its roof.
- The platform said the new unit will also offer reliable, scalable, and easy-to-integrate solutions for institutions seeking to get exposure to crypto assets.
- Kraken underlined that the institutional unit's offerings will be protected by world-leading cybersecurity solutions and supported by an award-winning account management team.
- The global head of the new unit will be Tim Ogilvie, who joined Kraken after the exchange acquired Staked, a staking platform for institutions, in 2021.
- Ogilvie stated that institutional crypto adoption has started growing rapidly, especially after approvals of spot Bitcoin (BTC) exchange-traded funds (ETFs) in the U.S.
Zoom Out: - Some rival crypto exchanges, such as Coinbase, Gemini, and Binance, also actively offer crypto-related services to institutional clients, specifically targeting their needs through a dedicated service or unit.
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| 4 | | Yuga Labs, the firm behind the popular Bored Ape Yacht Club (BAYC) and CryptoPunks NFTs, has announced that it will no longer support marketplaces that do not enforce NFT royalty fees for all creators. The firm underlined that the decision would not be valid for its BAYC and Mutant Ape Yacht Club (MAYC) collections. More: - The announcement came a day before the launch of Magic Eden's new Ethereum-based NFT marketplace mandating royalty fees contractually.
- The new platform was developed in collaboration with Yuga Labs.
- The move will see Yuga Labs' NFT collections, except for BAYC and MAYC, being traded only on marketplaces enforcing royalty payments.
- However, the decision was considered a symbolic move since it excludes the two collections accounting for the vast majority of Yuga Labs' trading volumes and income.
- Last year, Yuga Labs also announced that it would gradually halt its use of OpenSea's SeaPort smart contract, which is used for the sales of Ethereum-based NFTs, as a response to the platform's lift of the royalty enforcement tool, Operator Filter.
- The Operator Filter tool allowed creators to prevent their NFT collections from being sold on rival platforms where the royalty fees are optional.
Zoom Out: - NFT royalties refer to the payments made to the original creator of an NFT for every secondary sale of the digital collectible, and they usually account for a certain percentage of the sales amount, typically 2.5% to 10%.
- Over the past year, these fees have become a source of tension between marketplaces and NFT creators, as the leading trading platforms like OpenSea and Blur have adopted policies that make creator payouts optional for collectors.
- In September last year, NFT aggregator platform Rarible also stopped aggregating orders from NFT marketplaces OpenSea, LooksRare, and X2Y2 shortly after OpenSea lifted the Operator Filter tool.
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| 5 | | Seychelles-based crypto exchange HTX's Hong Kong subsidiary, HBGL Hong Kong Limited, has re-applied for a license in Hong Kong to operate a virtual asset trading platform dubbed Huobi HK in the region several days after withdrawing its earlier application. The move was disclosed in an applicant list published by Hong Kong's Securities and Futures Commission (SFC). More: - Earlier in February, the firm's Hong Kong arm withdrew its initial license application without explanation only three days after submitting it.
- At the time, an HTX spokesperson said HBGL Hong Kong Limited operates independently from HTX, denying to comment on the reason behind the withdrawal.
- HTX's plans to apply for a license in Hong Kong were first announced by the firm's adviser, Justin Sun, in February 2023.
- In the announcement, Sun said the company would launch a crypto exchange in the region in compliance with the new local regulations, predicting that they would receive a license in Hong Kong in six to 12 months.
- The SFC currently reviews 18 license applications, including the ones from Bybit, OKX, and Crypto.com.
- The regulator will continue to accept applications from virtual asset service providers until Feb. 29.
- Those failing to apply for a license will have to halt their operations in Hong Kong by May 31.
Zoom Out: - Hong Kong's regulators officially approved a new licensing regime for crypto exchanges in May 2023 to turn the region into a crypto hub, allowing retail investors to trade major tokens such as Bitcoin (BTC) and Ether (ETH) on licensed platforms.
- The SFC has been accepting applications from crypto exchanges as part of the new regime since June last year.
- HashKey and OSL are currently the only two licensed crypto exchanges in Hong Kong.
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| 6 | | Seychelles-based crypto exchange OKX has announced the launch of OKX TR, a localized version of its crypto exchange in Turkey. In an official statement, OKX President Hong Fang said Turkey is a very important and special market for them, citing a high level of crypto adoption and crypto transaction volume in the country. More: - The new platform will offer deposit and withdrawal services directly through the Turkish Lira (TRY) in collaboration with local banks, including Fibabanka, VakıfBank, Ziraat Bankası, İş Bankası, Şekerbank, and Türkiye Finans.
- The platform will also have support for both the Turkish and English languages.
- Turkish users will be able to trade Tether (USDT), Bitcoin (BTC), and Ether (ETH) against TRY.
- OKX's noncustodial Web3 wallet, OKX Wallet, will be available for local users seeking to use their crypto funds in decentralized finance (DeFi), NFT, and decentralized app (dApp) platforms.
- OKX has also opened an office in Turkey, hiring a local team.
- The firm's plans to expand its operations to Turkey were first announced in May 2023.
- Fang stated that Turkey represents a very dynamic and promising market for the crypto industry, with its crypto adoption rate closing to 50%.
Zoom Out: - OKX's launch in Turkey came shortly after the exchange expanded its crypto exchange and Web3 wallet operations to Brazil and Argentina.
- The platform is also operational in Hong Kong, the United Arab Emirates (UAE), the Bahamas, and France.
- Last month, Turkey's Minister of Treasury and Finance, Mehmet Şimşek, announced that the country's crypto regulations are in the final stages.
- The upcoming regulations will mandate crypto platforms to obtain a license from Turkey's Capital Markets Board to operate in the country and legally define some market-related terms, such as crypto assets, crypto wallets, crypto asset service providers, crypto asset custody service, and crypto asset buying and selling platforms.
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| 7 | | Quick Hits: - Discover the trends shaping 2024 and learn how trust will be the key to business success. Shape your strategy and get ahead with this latest report.*
- Lawyers for Do Kwon, the co-founder of the collapsed Terra ecosystem, have stated that their client will probably miss the beginning of the trial related to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission's lawsuit against him due to a delay in his extradition from Montenegro.
- The Financial Stability Board (FSB), an international body monitoring the global financial system and making recommendations accordingly, has revealed that crypto assets, tokenization, and AI would remain its priorities.
- Blockchain project Avail has raised $27M in funding in a financing round co-led by venture capital (VC) firms Founders Fund and Dragonfly.
- Visa and Mastercard have come to a historic $5B settlement, marking a pivotal moment for small business owners. If your business accepts Visa/MC, claim your share today.*
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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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