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| Here is a look at the hits from the week's first Inside Cryptocurrency newsletter: - U.K. government's plans to toughen regulations for crypto asset activities,
- Kraken's decision to suspend trading for five tokens in Canada,
- Grammy-nominated Steve Aoki's new NFT sneaker collection on Stepn, and more.
Enjoy your reading! Doğa
p/dogayurduneri | |
| 1 | | U.K. Treasury has recently confirmed its plans to toughen the regulations for crypto asset activities by implementing changes in 2024. The amended rules will make digital assets subject to the same regime as traditional financial services. More: - The legislation will force crypto exchanges to prepare comprehensive guidelines for admission procedures and disclosures for token issuers when listing new assets.
- The proposed rules also include stricter requirements for the custody of crypto assets.
- Besides, the Treasury plans to implement a market abuse regime in which illegal behaviors like insider dealing, market manipulation, and unlawful disclosure of insider information are strictly prohibited in the crypto industry.
- The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA), the U.K.'s financial market regulator, also recently toughened its rules for crypto promotions, classifying crypto as restricted mass market investments, a category for high-risk investment products.
- The updated regulations require crypto ads to contain clear risk warnings and prohibit incentives such as referrals and new joiner bonuses for crypto firms.
- 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.
- In June, King Charles III also officially approved legislation dubbed the Financial Services and Markets Bill (FSMB) that recognizes crypto as a regulated activity.
Zoom Out: - Over the past year, the U.K. has accelerated its efforts to regulate the crypto market as several other jurisdictions, including the European Union (EU), established their own regulatory framework for the industry.
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What the numbers say: The Q3 State of Crypto Report prepared by the U.S.-based crypto exchange Coinbase has revealed that younger generations, consisting of people at the age of 18 to 40, are not content with the current financial system in the U.S. Only a 25% portion has given responses presenting a positive outlook toward the traditional system in the survey by evaluating it as innovative, impartial, or speedy. However, the majority of respondents set forth a negative outlook toward the system, with evaluations like expensive, outdated, exclusionary, confusing, and slow. Also, the report pointed out that more than half of the poll participants plan to vote for crypto-friendly candidates in the 2024 elections. Relevance: Another survey conducted by crypto exchange Bitget also revealed that Gen Z was the age group most likely to care about crypto regulations while voting for political candidates. In the poll, 36% of Gen Z respondents said they saw promises regarding crypto as an important factor in elections. Besides, the survey showed that crypto ownership is most common among millennials, with a 46% rate. Gen X and Gen Z reported almost the same ownership rate, with 25% and 21%, respectively. Brands that should care: 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. While some lawmakers follow a crypto-friendly approach to receive support from the industry, a remarkable number of politicians declared war against the market. As part of the conflict, many crypto platforms, including Binance, Coinbase, Bittrex, Kraken, and Gemini, came under increased scrutiny by regulators in the country. | | | |
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| 3 | | A district court in South Korea has started trying Terraform Labs' co-founder, Daniel Shin, with charges of fraud, breach of duty, embezzlement, and violation of the South Korean Capital Markets Act. On his first day in court, Shin stated that he had nothing to do with the Terra ecosystem's collapse. More: - Shin had already pleaded not guilty to all the charges brought against him.
- The co-founder said he had departed his ways with Terraform Labs founder Do Kwon back in 2020.
- He also underlined that the Terra ecosystem mainly collapsed due to the unreasonable management of Terra-based protocol Anchor and external attacks carried out by Kwon himself.
- Shin voluntarily returned to his native South Korea and actively cooperated with authorities in the investigation.
- On the other hand, Kwon was arrested at the Podgorica Airport in Montenegro in March while trying to fly to Dubai carrying falsified traveling documents.
- Both the U.S. and Kwon's native South Korea seek his extradition, though they do not have a direct extradition treaty with Montenegro.
- The founder currently faces many lawsuits and investigations in several countries, such as South Korea, the U.S., and Montenegro, with allegations including tax fraud, deceiving investors, racket collecting, building a Ponzi scheme, and forgery.
Zoom Out: - The multibillion-dollar Terra ecosystem collapsed last year after the prices of its native tokens, Luna and TerraUSD, plummeted nearly to zero in May and lost all their value against the U.S. dollar (USD), triggering a prolonged crypto winter.
- The downfall caused over $60B to be wiped off the crypto market.
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| 4 | | The U.S.-based crypto exchange Kraken has announced that it would suspend trading services for five tokens in Canada as of November, citing recent regulatory changes in the country. The impacted tokens include Tether (USDT), Dai (DAI), Wrapped Bitcoin (WBTC), Wrapped Ether (WETH), and Wrapped Axelar (WAXL). More: - Canadian users will not be able to deposit and trade the five tokens as of Nov. 30.
- The platform will also suspend the withdrawal function for the affected tokens as of Dec. 4.
- After Dec. 5, any remaining token will be converted into U.S. dollars (USD) and transferred to the users' accounts.
- A Kraken spokesperson said they constantly monitor the assets on their platform to ensure they comply with the regulatory requirements.
- The spokesperson also added that Kraken would remain committed to providing Canadian users an exceptional trading experience.
- In February, the Canadian Securities Administrators (CSA) published a notice requiring crypto exchanges to sign legally binding commitments while waiting to be registered with the regulatory body and confronting them with the risk of potential enforcement action if they do not comply with the new rules.
- The rules include a new stablecoin regulation that bans crypto exchanges from allowing users to buy or deposit stablecoins, which it classifies as a security, in the country without obtaining prior approval from the CSA after passing the due diligence checks.
- The Ontario Securities Commission (OSC) also banned USDT in Canada in 2021 without explaining any reason.
Zoom Out: - Coinbase, the largest U.S. crypto exchange, similarly suspended trading for USDT, DAI, and RAI Reflex Index (RAI) stablecoins in Canada as of Aug. 31.
- The new regulatory framework in the country forced some crypto companies, including Bitstamp, Bybit, Binance, OKX, Deribit, Blockchain.com, dYdX, and Paxos, to withdraw from the Canadian market.
- However, Kraken was one of the crypto exchanges that signed the pre-registration undertaking with the Canadian regulators to continue operating in the country along with Coinbase.
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| 5 | | Grammy-nominated electronic musician Steve Aoki has launched a new digital sneaker collection in the form of an NFT on the Solana network in partnership with the mobile move-to-earn game Stepn. The collaboration was made as part of Aoki's NFT-based membership program, A0K1VERSE, which offers exclusive benefits to holders. More: - The collection will include 300 NFT sneakers in four designs: Walker, Jogger, Runner, and Trainer.
- Stepn will put 60 pieces of each design up for sale on the MOOAR marketplace from Oct. 31 to Nov. 4.
- Each NFT will have a price tag of around $695.
- The remaining 60 NFTs in the collection will be distributed to Aoki's fan community.
Zoom Out: - Users buy NFT sneakers, connect them to their phones, and earn rewards for walking, jogging, and running on Stepn.
- The game currently has more than 2 million monthly active users.
- Aoki also previously launched NFT projects in partnership with several other giant brands, such as Gala Games and Nickelodeon.
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| 6 | | Thailand's second-largest bank, Kasikornbank, also known as KBank, has acquired the operator of a local crypto exchange dubbed Satang through its subsidiary Unita Capital for $102.8M. As part of the deal, KBank purchased 97% of the shares of Satang Corporation Co. Ltd. More: - Following the acquisition, KBank will rebrand the firm to Orbix Trade Co. Ltd.
- Unita Capital previously established three more crypto-focused subsidiaries under the names of Orbix Custodian, Orbix Invest, and Orbix Technology & Innovation Co. Ltd.
- The subsidiaries are designed to offer digital asset custody, fund management, and blockchain infrastructure development services, respectively.
Zoom Out: - The acquisition came around a month after KBank launched a $100M fund dubbed KXVC to invest in Web3 and AI startups through its tech arm, Kasikorn Business Technology Group.
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- The U.K.-based banking giant Standard Chartered's crypto custody arm, Zodia Custody, has expanded its services to Hong Kong.
- The U.S.-based crypto exchange Kraken has appointed Bivu Das as the new managing director of its operations in the U.K.
- Singaporean, Japanese, U.K., and Swiss regulators have announced that they would jointly test asset tokenization for fixed income, foreign exchange, and asset management products.
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INSIDE CRYPTOCURRENCY LEADERBOARD (30 DAYS) |
 | 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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