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| Here's your daily Inside Cryptocurrency briefing: - 👮 The Binance executives being under detention in Nigeria against their will for two weeks,
- 💳 MetaMask's plans to launch a new crypto payment card in collaboration with Mastercard and Baanx,
- 📋 Poland's tightened crypto rules, and more.
Enjoy your reading! Doğa
p/dogayurduneri | |
| 1 | | Two executives of Binance, the largest crypto exchange by trading volume, have been detained in Nigeria after flying to the country's capital, Abuja, to meet officials and settle their accusations against the exchange. Sources pointed out that Binance's head of financial crime compliance, Tigran Gambaryan, and regional manager for Africa, Nadeem Anjarwalla, have been under custody in a guarded house for the past two weeks against their will, though they have not been charged with any crimes. More: - Gambaryan and Anjarwalla initially went to Nigeria at the invitation of government officials for meetings without any knowledge about potential detention.
- However, a Nigerian court issued a detention order, allowing the country's Economic and Financial Crimes Commission to detain the two executives for two weeks pending an investigation, whose details have yet to be disclosed.
- The two executives met the officials from Nigeria's central bank, securities regulator, national security agency, and financial intelligence agency within the next day after they flew to the country.
- The meetings lasted around two hours, and Gambaryan and Anjarwalla reportedly thought they had made progress in resolving the ongoing accusations.
- However, right after the meetings, the Binance executives were escorted back to their hotel, asked to pack their stuff, and taken to a guarded house without giving any reason while their passports were seized.
- At the house, Gambaryan and Anjarwalla are sometimes allowed to use their phones to talk to their families under the supervision of guards, watch TV, and go to a balcony to smoke.
- A Binance spokesperson said the firm is working collaboratively with Nigerian authorities to bring Gambaryan and Anjarwalla back home safely to their families, underlining that they believe there will be a swift resolution.
Zoom Out: - Binance first came under scrutiny in Nigeria last year after the country's securities regulator said a local Binance entity was operating illegally, ordering it to halt its operations.
- The scrutiny further heightened in February this year when some governmental officials blamed Binance for devaluing the country's official currency, the naira, stating that the platform establishes unofficial market prices for the currency by hijacking the central bank's role as the main currency rate setter.
- The governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Olayemi Cardoso, also recently raised concerns about suspicious fund flows on Binance in 2023.
- The Nigerian Communications Commission ordered telecommunications companies to restrict access to the websites of Binance, Kraken, and Coinbase.
- Last week, Binance halted all its services involving the naira to ease Nigerian authorities' ongoing crackdown on its platform.
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| 2 | | 
What the numbers say: Investing.com's historical data has shown that Bitcoin (BTC), the largest cryptocurrency by market cap, increased by 258% in value since Oct. 27, 2022, the day Elon Musk completed a $44B acquisition deal to buy Twitter, currently known as X. The popular cryptocurrency's price surged to as much as $72,771 since then, renewing its all-time high consecutively. The recent price rally in Bitcoin was mainly triggered by the massive investor interest in the recently launched spot Bitcoin exchange-traded funds (ETFs) in the U.S. and the hype around the upcoming halving event on the Bitcoin network. Relevance: Musk first announced that he would buy Twitter with a $44B acquisition deal on April 14, 2022. He concluded the acquisition on Oct. 27, 2022, making all the required payments and completing the purchase under the terms and conditions of the agreement. When he completed the transaction, Bitcoin was worth $20,292 per coin, and Musk could have purchased 2.16 million Bitcoin tokens for $44B at the time. However, the popular cryptocurrency has increased its value by 258% since then, meaning the famous CEO would have an additional $157B if he bought Bitcoin rather than Twitter. Such an amount would have nearly doubled Musk's wealth, worth around $195B, to $351B, making him the world's richest man once more and consolidating this position. In comparison, Twitter's, or X's, market cap currently stands at around $41B. Brands that should care: Musk's companies, Tesla and SpaceX, still hold a significant amount of Bitcoin in their portfolio, even though the CEO substantially cut business ties with the popular cryptocurrency in 2021 due to the token's adverse environmental impacts amid the concerns around the use of fossil fuels for Bitcoin mining and transactions. Most recently, blockchain data analysis platform Arkham Intelligence disclosed that Tesla and SpaceX have 11,510 and 8,920 Bitcoin across 68 and 28 addresses, respectively. | | | |
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| 3 | | Blockchain startup Digital Asset Holdings has announced that it completed a series of pilot tests of a blockchain dubbed Canton Network in collaboration with some of the most well-known traditional financial firms (TradFi), including Goldman Sachs, Cboe Global Markets, and BNY Mellon. During the tests, participants executed more than 350 simulated transactions on the blockchain. More: - Canton Network mainly aims to connect different blockchain systems built by various organizations and allow those systems to work together while maintaining each entity's privacy and control.
- The pilot phase explored the benefits of the network, including optimizing capital and reducing counterparty and settlement risks.
- The test participants included 15 asset managers, 13 banks, four custodians, three exchanges, and a stablecoin issuer.
- Microsoft, Deloitte, BNP Paribas, Nomura, Standard Chartered, Visa, Wellington Management, ASX, Deutsche Boerse Group, Moody's, Paxos Trust, and SBI Digital Asset Holdings were all among the leading firms backing the project.
- Digital Asset Holdings' co-founder and CEO, Yuval Rooz, said one of the most popular future use cases would be bringing collaterals into the network for firms seeking to move collaterals 24/7 in real-time.
- Another co-founder, Eric Saraniecki, also stated that each blockchain application on the network acts as a website while the network itself serves as the internet, allowing all the applications to be updated simultaneously.
Zoom Out: - Canton Network was first announced in May last year.
- At the time, the project participants said the Canton Network would offer better privacy, controls, standards, and scalability for financial institutions than currently available ones, defining the blockchain as a network of networks.
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| 4 | | Self-custody software crypto wallet provider MetaMask has started testing a crypto payment card operating on payment processing giant Mastercard's network. The card will be issued by the U.K.-based crypto payments services firm Baanx. More: - The new product's marketing documents pointed out that the card will be the first ever truly decentralized Web3 payment solution and the first entirely on-chain card.
- The blockchain-powered card will allow users to spend their crypto funds on daily purchases anywhere Mastercard cards are accepted.
- MetaMask's self-custody wallets let users manage their private keys, which are the passwords used to access crypto assets, providing complete control of their assets and reducing personal financial risks from a potential collapse.
- The firm's solutions currently have more than 30 million monthly active users.
- The new payment card solution came nearly five months after Mastercard revealed its plans to partner with self-custody wallet manufacturers like MetaMask and Ledger to jointly issue payment cards.
- At the time, the payment processing giant pointed out that such collaborations would help wallet providers increase their user number while creating loyalty and additional revenue streams.
Zoom Out: - Mastercard is the second-largest payment processing company behind Visa.
- The two rivals previously partnered with many crypto exchanges, including Bitso, Gemini, Binance, KuCoin, Gate.io, and Crypto.com, to launch joint crypto cards and make crypto mainstream.
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| 5 | | Poland has tightened its rules governing the local crypto market, giving the Polish Financial Supervision Authority (PFSA), the country's financial market regulator, more power over citizens' crypto accounts. The new rules have authorized the agency to independently block access to a crypto account for up to 96 hours in case of suspected criminal activity related to the funds in the account. More: - Under the tightened regulations, the PFSA will also be able to freeze crypto funds for up to six months with the permission of Polish prosecutors if it suspects that the funds are linked to criminal activity.
- The Polish government and the PFSA said the updated rules conform with the European Union's (EU) upcoming crypto regulations, Markets in Crypto Assets (MiCA).
- However, the MiCA does not allow the authorities to block access to crypto accounts, though it requires crypto exchanges to report information on transactions regardless of the amount.
- On the other hand, Poland has become an attractive destination for crypto firms looking for a gateway into the EU before the MiCA takes effect across the bloc, mainly due to the affordable registration costs required to set up a crypto business in the country.
- A minimum registration cost in Poland currently stands at nearly $164.
- There were almost 1,000 active crypto firms in the country as of September 2023.
Zoom Out: - The MiCA was approved by the European Parliament (EP), the legislative body of the EU, with a final vote in April 2023 after three years of development.
- The law's provisions related to stablecoins will come into effect as of July 2024 in all 27 member states of the EU, including Poland, while other aspects regarding the crypto asset service providers will enter into force as of January 2025.
- The legislation requires crypto firms to obtain a license in at least one member state by June 2024 to offer their services in the EU, registering with a national financial regulator.
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| 6 | | Famous Canadian rapper Drake has recently shared a short video of Michael Saylor, the U.S.-based business intelligence firm MicroStrategy's crypto advocate co-founder and executive chairman, talking about Bitcoin (BTC) on his official Instagram account. In the clip, Saylor told CNBC that Bitcoin would eventually eat gold since it is a superior asset. More: - In the part shared by Drake, Saylor specifically spoke about Bitcoin's use case as a store of value rather than a medium of exchange.
- The clip was originally shared by another account with the username "bitcoin_memes_daily."
- However, the post ended up on Drake's official Instagram account after the rapper shared it.
- Drake's Instagram account currently has more than 146 million followers.
- Drake also previously demonstrated his Bitcoin-friendly approach several times, including when he became an ambassador for the largest crypto-gambling site, Stake, and placed bets for the Super Bowl using Bitcoin in 2022.
Zoom Out: - MicroStrategy is currently the largest corporate Bitcoin holder, with its reserve of 205,000 tokens worth over $14B at current prices.
- The firm began its Bitcoin purchases in 2020 and boosted its reserves, especially last year.
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- Blockchain developer Eclipse Labs has raised $50M in funding in a financing round co-led by venture capital (VC) firms Placeholder and Hack VC ahead of its main network launch.
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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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