- Crypto.com Receives Digital Token License in Singapore
Cryptocurrency exchange Crypto.com has completed its licensing process in Singapore after having obtained in-principle approval in the city state last June.
Crypto.com has now received its Major Payment Institution (MPI) licence for Digital Payment Token (DPT) services from the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS), the exchange announced on Thursday.
The Singapore-based exchange’s CEO Kris Marszalek said: “The Monetary Authority of Singapore is recognized globally as a regulator that ensures responsible innovation of the digital assets sector.”
https://www.coindesk.com/policy/2023/06/01/cryptocom-receives-digital-token-license-in-singapore/
- Binance Buying Bank Not Solution for Banking Problems, Says CEO Changpeng Zhao
Binance has looked into the potential acquisition of a traditional bank but found that’s not an ultimate solution to its own and the crypto industry’s issues with banking. Changpeng Zhao (CZ), the exchange’s founder and chief executive, commented on the matter on the Bankless podcast this week.
“You buy one bank, it only works in one country, and you still have to deal with the bank regulators of that country,” the crypto entrepreneur said, answering a question from Twitter user @DegenSpartan, who asked him: “Can you please, buy a bank and make it crypto-friendly?”
“It doesn’t mean you buy a bank and you can do whatever you want to do. If the banking regulators say ‘You can’t work with crypto,’ they are going to take your license away if you do. So buying a bank doesn’t prevent the regulators telling you ‘No, you can’t touch crypto’,” he elaborated.
- Winklevoss’ Crypto Exchange Gemini Eyes UAE Expansion
Cryptocurrency exchange Gemini continues its global expansion, initiating the process to acquire a crypto license in the United Arab Emirates (UAE).
“By applying for a license, we will be taking another step towards making Gemini a truly global company and advancing our mission to unlock the next era of financial, personal, and creative freedom for all,” Gemini said in a blog post late Friday night. The license allows crypto firms to begin serving customers in the region.
Earlier this week, the Gemini team landed in the UAE to meet “stakeholders throughout the region,” seeking to gather more information about local regulatory requirements and the needs of UAE crypto investors.
https://decrypt.co/143071/winklevoss-crypto-exchange-gemini-eyes-uae-expansion
- Satoshi Nak-AI-moto: Bitcoin’s creator has become an AI chatbot
Satoshi Nakamoto may have effectively disappeared over 12 years ago, but two artificial intelligence dabblers are seeking to revive the ability to chat with the famed Bitcoin BTC $26,867 creator.
On May 31, Bitcoin FilmFest co-organizer Pierre Corbin and co-developer Hugo Ferrer released “Talk2Satoshi,” an AI chatbot that aims to answer questions about Bitcoin and economics as if they came from Nakamoto.
The model, essentially, is OpenAI’s ChatGPT trained on a limited data set, including Nakamoto’s public emails and forum posts. It also draws from other sources, including Saifedean Ammous’ book The Bitcoin Standard, Jeff Booth’s book The Price of Tomorrow and Corbin’s film The Great Reset and the Rise of Bitcoin, with more sources on the way.
In testing, the chatbot generates responses that are typically uncertain of the future of fiat currencies and hopeful about Bitcoin, although it can provide conflicting answers depending on how it’s prompted.
https://cointelegraph.com/news/ai-chatbot-chatgpt-satoshi-nakamoto-bitcoin-creator
- Tether Expands Reach in Georgia Through Investment in CityPay.io
Stablecoin issuer Tether announced on May 31 that it is expanding its presence in the Republic of Georgia through a strategic investment in CityPay.io, a payment processing company that operates across more than 600 locations in the country.
Tether expands its presence in Georgia We have invested in https://t.co/14g9wt7PCC, a leading local payment processing company. You can now pay with #USDt and #Bitcoin in over 600 shops, hotels, and restaurants.
— Tether (@Tether_to) May 31, 2023
CityPay.io provides payment services to a wide range of customers, including major names like Wendy’s and Radisson Hotels, among numerous others. With its strategic investment in CityPay.io, Tether intends to enhance the payment industry in Georgia by improving efficiency and convenience.
https://www.binance.com/en/news/flash/7586409
- First Digital Unveils USD Stablecoin as Hong Kong Crypto Rules Kick In
First Digital Group announced today that it’s launching a USD stablecoin, FDUSD.
The stablecoin is issued on Ethereum and BNB, a spokesperson told CoinDesk, saying that First Digital is in discussions with all major exchanges for a listing.
First Digital says FDUSD is backed by “high-quality reserves” of cash and cash equivalents in regulated financial institutions around Asia, and will be issued by First Digital Trust, a trust company registered under Hong Kong’s Trust Ordinance.
Part of the requirements of Hong Kong’s Trust Ordinance is to keep all reserves in segregated accounts, which prevents co-mingling of assets.
“The launch of this stablecoin represents a major stride forward in our mission to provide a secure and efficient digital currency that can be seamlessly integrated into everyday transactions,” Vincent Chok, CEO of First Digital, said in a release.
- Crypto Exchange Binance to Remove Privacy Coins From 4 European Markets
Binance has recently informed its customers in France, Spain, Italy, and Poland via email that it intends to remove 12 distinct privacy coins from these markets. Among the privacy coins set to be delisted are dash (DASH), verge (XVG), beam (BEAM), monero (XMR), navcoin (NAV), firo (FIRO), horizen (ZEN), secret (SCRT), zcash (ZEC), pivx (PIVX), decred (DCR), and mobilecoin (MOB).
“Due to local regulatory requirements, Binance is no longer able to offer privacy-enhanced cryptocurrencies in France,” an email to French customers details. “Starting from June 26, 2023, users residing in France will no longer be able to buy or sell the [specific] privacy coins on our platform,” the notice adds.
On Wednesday, the leading privacy coins experienced a 3.2% decline in value against the U.S. dollar. The combined market capitalization of all existing privacy coins currently sits at approximately $5.73 billion, with monero (XMR) taking the lead. XMR has experienced a 2.4% loss today, while the second-largest privacy coin by market capitalization, DASH, has seen a drop of 3.5%. However, despite these losses, the top five privacy coins, based on market capitalization, are displaying positive performance according to seven-day statistics.
https://news.bitcoin.com/crypto-exchange-binance-to-remove-privacy-coins-from-4-european-markets/
- ‘Bitcoin Millionaire’ Found Dead a Week After Going Missing
An ER doctor and crypto entrepreneur has been found dead in Arkansas—more than a week after he went missing in Missouri.
Dr. John Forsyth was the founder of Onfo, which promised to offer users decentralized cryptocurrency that could be earned through network mining.
And back in 2020, a Forbes profile named him as a “Bitcoin millionaire” who had found fortune as an early adopter during his math degree—holding on to his crypto through multiple halvings.
Dr. Forsyth’s day job was working in the emergency room of Mercy Hospital in Cassville, Mo., but loved ones raised the alarm after he had failed to turn up for a shift on May 21.
His younger brother Richard—who was also involved in Onfo—told The Daily Beast: “He wouldn’t miss a shift even if his eyeballs were hanging out of their sockets. It was an immediate red flag.”
https://decrypt.co/143059/bitcoin-millionaire-found-dead-a-week-after-going-missing
- TradFi Giant TP ICAP Brings Crypto Spot Trading to Institutional Investors
TP ICAP, the world’s largest interdealer-broker, announced last week that its Fusion Digital Assets marketplace for spot crypto trading had gone live with its first trade. The traditional finance giant is bringing crypto to more institutional investors during a prolonged bear market and after a number of headline-grabbing scandals rocked the industry.
“While the crypto-native landscape still feels a little somber, when we look at our traditional client base and we look at the relationships we’ve been developing, it actually feels reasonably optimistic,” Simon Forster, global co-head of Digital Assets at TP ICAP Group, told CoinDesk. “There’s a lot of people building interesting things. And it feels like 2022 is this watershed moment where the crypto landscape has changed we think probably forever.”
https://www.binance.com/en/news/flash/7586478
- EU officials sign Markets in Crypto-Assets framework into law
Officials with the European Union have signed the Markets in Crypto-Assets, or MiCA, bill into law following final approval from finance ministers.
On May 31, Sweden’s minister for rural affairs, Peter Kullgren, and European Parliament President Roberta Metsola signed the long-anticipated cryptocurrency regulatory framework into law roughly three years after the European Commission introduced the measure. Lawmakers in the EU had batted the MiCA framework from legislative body to body, with different aspects of the bill subject to debate, before reaching final approval in 2023.
MiCA aims to create a consistent regulatory framework for crypto assets among the EU member states. After the signing ceremony today, the framework is expected to go into effect following publication in the Official Journal of the European Union, with many of MiCA’s regulations on crypto firms likely starting sometime in 2024.
https://cointelegraph.com/news/eu-officials-sign-markets-in-crypto-assets-framework-into-law
