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Crypto exchange Binance announced on 6 February that it would temporarily suspend USD deposits and withdrawals using bank accounts starting from 8 February. The exchange spokesperson said only 0.01% of its monthly active users leverage USD bank transfers and the company will resume service as soon as possible. Binance US, which is a separate entity, is not affected by the suspension. Binance’s USD saw a net outflow of over $172 million for the day the suspension was announced.

The National Securities Commission (CNV) of Argentina is working on the regulation on crypto companies with its central focus on exchanges. CNV President Sebastian Negri revealed that the regulation will come into effect progressively after the congressional bill which grants the agency oversight authority of the crypto industry is approved, but he refused to comment on whether companies will be asked to submit proof of solvency. The government hopes to strengthen the rules before the evaluation conducted by Financial Action Task Force in September.

UK Financial Conduct Authority has issued a statement on 6 February following the government’s consultation response regarding the proposed regulations for cryptoasset financial promotions. If the new regime is approved by Parliament, all domestic and overseas crypto companies are required to comply with certain requirements when marketing their products to customers in the UK. The FCA lays down four possible routes for promotion to UK customers. The promotion shall either be communicated by an FCA-authorized person or an unauthorized person but approved by an FCA-authorized person. Some market participants could also be exempted to obtain the authorization under certain conditions. Failure to follow the above routes will be in breach of section 21 of the Financial Services and Markets Act 2000 (FSMA) and the responsible person could face up to 2 years in jail.

Virtual Asset Regulatory Authority (VARA), the regulator for virtual assets in Dubai, has issued Full Market Product Regulations covering four compulsory rulebooks and activity-specific rulebooks for virtual asset service providers operating within Dubai. The VARA mandates all VASPs to comply with the regulations for marketing, advertising and promotions. The regulations also highlight that traders with trading capital above $250 million must register with the authority and issuance of privacy coins is prohibited in the country. The rule does not apply to the market participants carrying out business activities in the Dubai International Financial Centre.

South Korea’s Financial Services Commission (FSC) published a press release on 6 February to provide guidance on classifying certain digital assets as security tokens. For instance, it includes a token that represents an equity interest in the business operation, gives holders the right to dividends and to claim distribution of the company’s remaining assets, or allocates the business’s profit to investors. Digital assets falling within the definition of security token would be subject to the country’s Capital Markets Act, while other assets will be governed by other upcoming regulations.

The UK Treasury and Bank of England are working on a possible launch of digital pound backed by the country’s central bank by the end of this decade. The digital pound issued will be backed by the Bank of England and stored in a digital wallet account operated by private sectors. The officials believe that the digital pound could help the central bank to maintain control of the core of the country’s financial system and ensure that digital payments would be widely available rather than kept within a closed network. A final decision on whether to roll out the digital currency in the country will be made around 2025.

Crypto exchange Binance announced on 3 February that it had acquired a majority stake in the South Korean crypto exchange Gopax. The acquisition is part of its Industry Recovery Initiative to support industry players negatively influenced by the crypto turmoil last year. Gopax halted the withdrawal of principal and interest payments in its decentralized finance service GoFi in November 2022 due to the upstream challenges faced by Genesis Global Capital. The deal is expected to allow Gopax’s customers to withdraw their assets from the account in full.

A class-action lawsuit against Coinbase Global Inc under federal securities law alleging the exchange sold unregistered securities and failed to register as a broker-dealer was dismissed by the US District Judge Paul Engelmayer on 1 February. The judge denied the customers’ claim that Coinbase was the actual seller of the disputed tokens and held that the exchange did not play a direct role in the transactions, though it had allegedly promoted tokens by mentioning their “purported value proposition” and participating in “airdrops”. The claims were dismissed with prejudice, which means the same claim could not be brought again.

Indonesia’s Trade Minister Zulkifli Hasan revealed the government’s plan to launch a national crypto exchange by June this year at the opening of Crypto Literacy Month held in Jakarta. The new target is later than the government’s initial plan to roll out the exchange by the end of last year. The government is reportedly reviewing which companies are eligible to become part of the exchange. There are currently five active crypto exchanges in the country and it is possible for the national exchange to encompass all of them. The exchange would perform the function of clearing house and custodian.

Finnish Fintech company Membrane Finance announced the launch of EUROe on 2 February, saying it is the Europe’s first EU-regulated full-reserve stablecoin. According to the blog post published by the company, EUROe is pegged to the EUR placed in a European financial institution or bank at a 1:1 ratio, ring-fenced from the company. The stablecoin will initially be transactable on Ethereum and the company plans to support more blockchains in the future. The company has previously obtained the license from the Finnish Financial Supervisory Authority (Fin-FSA).

JPMorgan has published its seventh e-Trading Edit to provide insight into predictions for this year. The survey collected the views of 835 institutional traders across 60 locations worldwide. It reveals that the vast majority of respondents lack confidence in trading crypto for the year ahead. 72% of the respondents indicated that they had no intention to trade crypto/digital coins in 2023, while only 8% of the traders said they were currently trading crypto/digital coins.

My Big Coin Inc founder Randall Crater was sentenced to more than eight years imprisonment and was ordered to forfeit nearly $7.7 million for committing wire fraud and making unlawful monetary transfer on 31 January. He was found misrepresenting the nature of a virtual currency called My Big Coin, claiming it was backed by gold and had a partnership with Mastercard, and defrauded investors millions of dollars. However, the prosecutor’s suggestion to impose a 13-year imprisonment was rejected by District Judge Denise Casper, saying the request went too far.