Regulators in Argentina are mulling the inclusion of stringent requirements in their next cryptocurrency regulatory framework. According to reports, institutions like the national securities regulator, the CNV, will be studying the inclusion of proof-of-solvency requirements for exchanges and custody institutions in Argentina, in the wake of the demise of leading cryptocurrency exchange FTX. Cryptocurrency Exchanges
Local Russian media outlets reported on Monday that Bitzlato co-founder Anton Shkurenko was detained in Moscow on Feb. 6 at the request of Interpol. However, according to a Feb. 10 report from CoinDesk, Shkurenko was stopped and detained by the local police for an identity check, then promptly let go after a conversation. Shkurenko said
The Central Bank of Brazil will focus its first digital real tests on determining the levels of privacy and security that can be achieved with the proposed central bank digital currency (CBDC) infrastructure. The tests will be conducted later this year and will set up a simplified operation to transact with a still-to-be-determined tokenized asset.
Ethereum’s native token, Ether (ETH), saw its worst daily performance of the year as the United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) stopped Kraken, a cryptocurrency exchange, from offering crypto staking services. On Feb. 9, Kraken agreed to pay $30 million to settle the SEC’s allegation that it broke securities rules by offering crypto staking
On Thursday, the fiat-to-crypto onramp business Moonpay announced a multi-year partnership with the non-fungible token (NFT) marketplace Looksrare. According to the deal, Looksrare will allow marketplace users to buy and sell crypto assets through Moonpay’s services. Moonpay and Looksrare Join Forces to Streamline NFT Transactions Moonpay, the fiat-to-crypto service founded in 2019, revealed that it
Paxos Trust Company — the New York-based stablecoin issuer behind Binance USD (BUSD) and Paxos Dollar (USDP) — is reportedly being investigated by the New York Department of Financial Services (NYDFS). A “person familiar with the matter” told Bloomberg in a Feb. 10 report that the exact motive behind the probe is currently unclear. An NYDFS
The Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe recently revealed that some 25,188 of its value-preserving gold coins were sold between July 2022 and Jan. 13. According to the central bank governor, John Mangudya, the gold coins “have proved to be an effective open market instrument for mopping up excess liquidity in the economy.” Gold Coins as Alternative
Brian Armstrong, CEO of Coinbase, expressed concern about rumors that the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) may eliminate cryptocurrency staking for retail customers in the United States. Armstrong insisted that “staking is not a security” and that the trend allows users to “participate directly in running open crypto networks.” Coinbase CEO Vocalizes Worry Over
The collapse of FTX and related developments did more to pull up or push down the price of Bitcoin (BTC) throughout Q4, compared to macroeconomic events such as rate hikes, according to research. In a “State of Bitcoin Q4 2022” report published on Feb. 10, Messari research analysts Sami Kassab and Chris Collar found that
French luxury brand Hermes has won a lawsuit against an artist who depicted its famous Birkin bags in a non-fungible token (NFT) collection. The artist argued that NFTs should be covered under the U.S. Constitution’s First Amendment but the jury disagreed. Hermes Wins Lawsuit Against ‘Metabirkins’ NFT Creator French luxury design house Hermes has won
Members of the crypto community are seemingly outraged over the recent charges laid against crypto exchange Kraken in relation to its staking-as-a-service program in the United States. On Feb. 9, the United States Securities Exchange Commission (SEC) announced it had settled charges with Kraken over “failing to register the offer and sale of their crypto
Bitcoin (BTC) mining firm CleanSpark is planning to continue its strategy of scooping up distressed mining company assets this year. The Bitcoin miner released its fiscal Q1 earnings presentation on Feb. 9, where the company said it remained optimistic about the coming year and continued growth. Chief Financial Officer, Gary Vecchiarelli, said CleanSpark has seen
A federal judge has reportedly rules against oral arguments proposing former FTX CEO Sam Bankman-Fried be allowed to use certain messaging apps. According to a Feb. 9 Reuters report, Judge Lewis Kaplan of the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York upheld his ruling that Bankman-Fried be restricted from using encrypted
Several Federal Reserve governors and presidents say that more interest rate hikes are needed to curb inflation. “We are not done yet with raising interest rates,” Fed Governor Lisa Cook said. “We need to raise rates aggressively to put a ceiling on inflation,” Minneapolis Federal Reserve President Neel Kashkari stressed. Fed Officials on Raising Interest
United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) commissioner Hester Pierce has publicly rebuked her own agency over the shut down of Kraken’s crypto staking program in the United States. The commissioner blasted her regulator in a Feb. 9 statement called “Kraken Down,” noting that regulation by enforcement “is not an efficient or fair way of
Aave Companies, the firm behind the decentralized finance (defi) project Aave, has announced the launch of a stablecoin called GHO on the Ethereum testnet network Goerli. The codebase is available on Github and has undergone audits by Open Zeppelin, Sigmaprime and ABDK. Aave Invites Programmers to Test GHO Before Mainnet Deployment On Thursday, Aave Companies
Ethereum co-founder and crypto entrepreneur Joseph Lubin is confident that Ether (ETH) won’t be classified as a security in the United States. Cointelegraph spoke with Lubin, Ethereum co-founder and founder of blockchain tech firm ConsenSys, in Tel Aviv at the Web3 event, Building Blocks 23. Asked if ETH could be classed as a security in
The bitcoin hardware wallet manufacturer Coinkite has announced the launch of a new product, the Coldcard Q1, which features a QWERTY keyboard and QR code scanner. Coinkite details that the battery-powered device utilizes the same security model as the Coldcard Mk4. Coinkite Introduces the Coldcard Q1 Over the past three months, companies have unveiled new
The American state of Mississippi is one step closer to protecting the rights of cryptocurrency miners after the state senate passed the Mississippi Digital Asset Mining Act on Feb. 8. There is a companion bill under consideration in the state house of representatives. The senate bill, authored by state Sen. Josh Harkins, legalizes home digital
According to data from DefiLlama, Ethereum staking service Rocket Pool reached $1 billion in total value locked (TVL) on Feb. 9. The move comes less than two years after the decentralized finance (DeFi) protocol launched its mainnet on Nov. 9, 2021. Dubbed a liquid staking solution for Ethereum, Rocket Pool allows users to join an