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UAE Minister of Economy Abdulla bin Touq Al Marri announced a new virtual headquarters to be launched in the Metaverse during the Dubai Metaverse Assembly to expand its digital services, along with two existing offices located in Abu Dhabi and Dubai. The new office enables visitors to sign legally binding documents, which obviates the need for them to be physically presented to provide their signatures. The new headquarters also contains facilities like auditorium and meeting rooms.

The UK Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) has reportedly approved Revolut, the cryptocurrency-friendly financial app to continue its digital assets business in the country after granting it a temporary registration status in March. Revolut was the last company on the list of FCA’s temporary cryptocurrency licensing programme to receive the outcome of the assessment based on company’s internal control against money laundering and terrorist financing. Revolut welcomed the decision and said it was delighted to have received full registration from the authority.

The Japanese government is reportedly proposing to introduce an amendment to the Act on Prevention of Transfer of Criminal Proceeds in the National Diet on 3 October to implement the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) travel rules on money transfers of crypto. The exchange operators are required to gather customer information in transactions involving cryptocurrency and stablecoins under the new rules. The Foreign Exchange and Foreign Trade Act and the International Terrorist Asset-Freezing Act will also be updated accordingly to achieve consistency. The rules are expected to take effect in May 2023.

Argentinian Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) fighter Guido Cannetti, has reportedly become the first martial arts athlete in the country to have all of his salary paid in USDC stablecoin. Cannetti explained his decision in a statement released by a crypto payroll company called Bitwage, saying that the payment method is safer for his future and could protect him against fluctuation and devaluation of the local currency. The official government figures revealed that the country has recorded a 78.5% inflation rate in the 12 months through August. The high inflation rate is reportedly the main reason for people to purchase cryptocurrencies in the country, which accounted for 51% of the population.

Russian President Vladimir Putin has reportedly granted citizenship to Edward Snowden, turning his legal status from permanent resident to citizen of Russia. The former U.S. National Security Agency intelligence contractor fled to Russia and has lived in the country since 2013 after leaking thousands of classified documents to journalists. Snowden has often mentioned the benefit of cryptocurrencies and said that he actively participated in creating the privacy token Zcash(ZEC). His view on cryptocurrencies seems to clash with those of Putin, who just imposed a ban on the use of digital assets for payment in July.

The tech giant has reportedly allowed the sale and purchase of the Non-fungible tokens through apps listed on its App Store, despite its commission rate being described as “grotesquely overpriced”, compared to the standard NFT marketplace commission of around 2.5%. The 30% cut on NFT sales is Apple’s current standard commission on in-app purchases. Some NFT application developers are dissatisfied with Apple’s decision. Magic Eden, one of the popular Solana NFT markets, has reportedly withdrawn its service from Apple’s marketplace. Other NFT marketplaces have also reportedly restricted the functionality in response to the high commission.

Veritaseum Capital, a blockchain-based software company has brought a lawsuit against the U.S.-based crypto exchange for infringing its cryptocurrency payment transfer technology patent on 22 September in the U.S. District Court in Delaware. The law firm representing Veritaseum claimed that the crypto exchange had been put on notice of the patent as early as 3 July. A letter had been sent by Veritaseum in the same month notifying Coinbase of its infringement. The software company alleged that Coinbase used the patent for various blockchain infrastructure services and gained substantial profits from it.

Russian President Vladimir Putin has reportedly granted citizenship to Edward Snowden, turning his legal status from permanent resident to citizen of Russia. The former U.S. National Security Agency intelligence contractor fled to Russia and has lived in the country since 2013 after leaking thousands of classified documents to journalists. Snowden has often mentioned the benefit of cryptocurrencies and said that he actively participated in creating the privacy token Zcash(ZEC). His view on cryptocurrencies seems to clash with those of Putin, who just imposed a ban on the use of digital assets for payment in July.

The tech giant has reportedly allowed the sale and purchase of the Non-fungible tokens through apps listed on its App Store, despite its commission rate being described as “grotesquely overpriced”, compared to the standard NFT marketplace commission of around 2.5%. The 30% cut on NFT sales is Apple’s current standard commission on in-app purchases. Some NFT application developers are dissatisfied with Apple’s decision. Magic Eden, one of the popular Solana NFT markets, has reportedly withdrawn its service from Apple’s marketplace. Other NFT marketplaces have also reportedly restricted the functionality in response to the high commission. https://cointelegraph.com

Veritaseum Capital, a blockchain-based software company has brought a lawsuit against the U.S.-based crypto exchange for infringing its cryptocurrency payment transfer technology patent on 22 September in the U.S. District Court in Delaware. The law firm representing Veritaseum claimed that the crypto exchange had been put on notice of the patent as early as 3 July. A letter had been sent by Veritaseum in the same month notifying Coinbase of its infringement. The software company alleged that Coinbase used the patent for various blockchain infrastructure services and gained substantial profits from it. https://cointelegraph.com

Since the implementation of regulations empowering the authorities to confiscate digital currencies for non-payment of tax last year, the South Korean government has seized over 260 billion Korean won worth of cryptocurrencies, which is equivalent to 180 million US dollar to recover tax arrears. The law enables the authorities to sell those seized digital currencies at market value. The digital currencies market in South Korea has grown to $45.9 billion last year, which prompted the crypto-friendly president to promise to “overhaul regulations that are far from reality and unreasonable” in crypto sector of the country.

The US-based cryptocurrency exchange Coinbase has reportedly received regulatory approval from De Nederlandsche Bank (DNB), the central bank of the Netherlands, which allows it to provide its retail and institutional crypto products in the country. The move is seen as part of the plan of the exchange’s ambitious expansion in Europe. After securing the Crypto Asset Service Provider Approval in Italy in July, Coinbase plans to register countries like Spain and France. The exchange is reportedly serving customers across almost 40 European countries at the moment.