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The Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) has reportedly approved the Singapore-based arm of the U.S. cryptocurrency exchange to offer crypto-related services in the country. Hassan Ahmed, CEO of Coinbase Singapore and the exchanges’ regional director for Southeast Asia, said it would seek to collaborate with the local platforms and offer Digital Payment Token services. Ahmed added that Coinbase is working with the local industry to facilitate communication with the authority and promote a pragmatic regulatory regime for digital assets. The CEO also revealed the exchanges’ plan to provide services throughout Southeast Asia.

Binance, the world’s largest crypto exchange, has reportedly suffered a loss of over $100 million in consequence of the hacker’s attack on its blockchain network. The company said the transactions and fund transfers were suspended immediately after detecting such exploitation. The CEO of the crypto exchange assured users that the issue was under control and their funds were safe. A similar incident occurred in August that caused the cryptocurrency service Nomad to lose $200 million in the hack.

The Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) proposes to present a new framework for enabling automatic information sharing on crypto-asset between countries to G20 Finance Ministers and Central Bank Governors Meeting. The Crypto-Asset Reporting Framework (CARF), announced on 10 October, aims to increase transparency concerning crypto-asset transactions to combat tax evasion. It requires entities or individuals that provide services effectuating exchange transactions in crypto-assets for, or on behalf of customers to report under the CARF. It is believed that the framework would facilitate exchanging of information on crypto-asset transactions between the 38 member countries of the OECD. https://cointelegraph.com

Kazakhstan’s AIFC Financial Services Authority has reportedly granted Binance a permanent license to manage a digital asset platform and offer custody services at the Astana International Financial Center. This decision comes after the parties have signed a series of memorandums of understanding and “in-principle” approval has been granted by the authority. Gleb Kostarev, the Asia regional head at Binance, said that the approval to operate in Kazakhstan is another step for Binance to become a compliance-focused exchange.

The European Union announced its decision to impose a new package of sanctions against Russia on 6 October, banning all crypto-asset wallets, accounts, or custody services, irrespective of the amount of the wallet. The new sanctions tightens the previous sanctions that limited the Russian payment to the EU wallet of up to 10,000 euro. This decision comes shortly after the Russian government approved the use of crypto for cross-border payment.

The government of Norway proposes to stop offering a discounted rate on electricity to the crypto data centres owing to the increased pressure on the power supply in the country. Announced on 6 October, the finance minister intended to put a halt to the scheme that has been introduced since 2016 aimed at reserving power for the community. He believed that charging the standard electricity rate on the Bitcoin miners could increase tax revenue by more than $14 million. Norway currently accounts for 0.74% of the global Bitcoin hash rate.

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.