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The Singapore-based crypto exchange company Crypto.com has reportedly obtained approval from the French stock market regulator Autorité des Marchés Financiers to register as a Digital Asset Service Provider after receiving clearance from the financial regulator in the country. The latest approval is part of the company’s plan to expand its service in Europe. The digital asset platform aims at getting more than half a dozen regulatory approvals this year. The company was approved by the UK regulators to conduct certain crypto activities in the country last month.

The weekly trading volume of non-fungible tokens (NFTs) has reportedly reduced to $114.4 million, which falls as much as 98% when compared to the $6.2 billion recorded at the end of January. The trading volume peaked at $146.3 billion in early April before the start of the crypto bear market. The average selling price of NFTs, which is influenced by the plunge in the price of a common cryptocurrency Ether, has also fallen sharply. However, the number of wallets owning at least one of those digital collectibles rises from 3.36 million at the end of January to 6.14 million at the moment.

Meta, the parent company of Facebook and Instagram, announces a new feature that enables users across 100 countries to connect their digital wallets and cross-post their digital collectibles across both Facebook and Instagram. The feature includes automatic tagging of both the creator and collector and crossing-posting digital collectibles between the social media sites without any charge. There are however concerns about the safety and privacy of the data transmitted when the digital wallets are connected to the platforms. Meta was embarrassed in a data leakage incident in April last year that involved more than half a billion Facebook users.

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