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The world’s largest crypto exchange Binance has reportedly laid off more than 1,000 employees. This follows the recent resignations of several top executives of the exchange, including Chief Strategy Officer Patrick Hillmann. Binance CEO Changpeng Zhao contested these figures, insisting that the company is still recruiting. Binance and Zhao are currently facing a lawsuit filed by the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) last month, which accused them of operating a “web of deception”. Source: https://www.reuters.com

Bitcoin reached its highest level since June 2022 on 14 July, nearing a 13-month peak at $31,818. This comes after a US judge ruled XRP was not a security and thus Ripple Labs did not breach securities law by selling the token on public exchanges. The verdict stimulated optimism among crypto investors, resulting in a 73% rise in XRP’s value on 13 July, and a resumption of its trading on several major exchanges like Coinbase and Bitstamp. However, investor excitement was tempered by news of layoffs at Binance and Coinbase limiting its staking service for retail customers in California, New Jersey, South Carolina and Wisconsin. Source: https://www.reuters.com

Cross-chain protocol Multichain announced on 14 July its decision to halt all operations, citing lack of alternative sources of information and corresponding operational funds. This follows an alarm raised by blockchain analytics company Chainalysis, pointing towards a possible insider “rug pull”. The Multichain team said it has been unable to reach its CEO, Zhaojun since his arrest by Chinese authorities in May 2023. With all operational funds and investments under Zhaojun's control, his detention prompts the decision to cease operations. Source: https://cointelegraph.com

US-based crypto startups account for 45% of all venture capital (VC) investments in the crypto industry in Q2 2023 despite the increasing regulatory scrutiny in the country, with startups in the “trading category” drawing more capital, a recent study by crypto investment firms Galaxy Digital reveals. The UK and Singapore attract 7.7% and 5.7% of the capital investment respectively. However, the overall VC investment in crypto and blockchain firms has seen a declining trend, hitting $720m in Q2 2023, which is the lowest since the onset of the pandemic in Q3 2020. Source: https://cointelegraph.com

Alex Mashinsky, the founder and ex-CEO of bankrupt crypto lending platform Celsius Network, entered a plea of not guilty to several fraud charges brought against him. Mashinsky faces accusations of misleading investors and manipulating the company’s propriety crypto token. The indictment includes charges such as securities, commodities, and wire fraud. He was released on a $40 million bond backed by his Manhattan residence. Source: https://www.reuters.com

South Korea’s Financial Services Commission (FSC) proposed a new bill on 11 July, requiring all firms that issue or hold crypto to disclose their holdings. The new rules, which are expected to come into effect on 1 January 2024, aim to increase transparency in crypto asset accounting and reporting, adhering to the supervision guidelines that mandate accounting for each crypto-related transaction. FSC will also revise accounting standards of mandatory disclosure of virtual asset transactions. The draft supervision guidelines currently cover fungible assets based on distributed ledger technology or a “similar technology”, or those issued using cryptography, security tokens or digitised securities under the Capital Markets Act. Source: https://cointelegraph.com

Following Ripple Labs’ partial victory over the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) on 13 July, Ripple (XRO) has ascended to become the fourth largest cryptocurrency by market capitalisation. The District Court for the Southern District of New York ruled that the offer and sale of XRP on digital asset exchanges did not constitute offers and sales of investment contracts. The ruling resulted in an immediate increase of Ripple’s market capitalisation by $21.2 billion, reaching a yearly high of $46.1 billion and surpassing Circle’s USD Coin and Binance’s BNB token. Ripple’s price also skyrocketed, rising by 98% and causing the Uphold exchange to briefly crash due to a sudden increase in volume. Source: https://cointelegraph.com

The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) is encouraging more lenders to participate in the pilot programs of its central bank digital currency, the e-rupee. The pilot program, which began last year, covered both the wholesale and retail markets. Some large state-owned and private lenders such as the State Bank of India, Bank of Baroda, ICICI Bank, HDFC Bank, Kotak Mahindra Bank, and Yes Bank have taken part in this project. RBI aims to achieve one million CBDC transactions daily by year-end and has asked smaller banks to either team up with fintech firms or develop their own systems to launch e-rupee pilots this year. Source: https://www.reuters.com

Japan’s second-largest lender, Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group, has entered the US consumer banking market with a new digital banking service. The digital banking arm has been established under Manufacturers Bank, a California state-chartered wholly owned by Sumitomo Mitsui for offering personal loans. With a starting team of 270, the digital banking venture targets a net profit of tens of billions of yen within a decade, says Daisuke Tanaka, an executive of the bank’s corporate development group. Further offerings, including a savings product, will be available in the upcoming months. Source: https://www.reuters.com

Crypto crime has seen a substantial decrease of 65% in the first half of 2023 compared to the same period last year, according to the latest data from blockchain analytics company Chainalysis. However, the figure does not account for transactions linked to entities subject to global sanctions or non-cryptocurrency-related crimes using crypto as payment. The firm also highlights a surge in crypto payments to ransomware attackers, which climbed to $449.1 million, a rise of nearly $176 million from the same period in 2022. If this trend persists, this year is set to record the second-highest total in ransomware payments. Source: https://www.reuters.com

The Virtual Assets Regulatory Authority (VARA) of Dubai has reportedly suspended the licence of crypto exchange BitOasis, citing unmet mandated conditions within the prescribed timeframes. BitOasis had been granted a conditional minimum viable product (MVP) operational licence on 12 April to offer broker-dealer services to Dubai’s institutional and retail investors, provided that they fulfilled specific requirements within 30 to 60-day timeframes. BitOasis’ license will remain non-operational until it meets the conditions. VARA said it would closely monitor BitOasis’ compliance efforts. Source: https://cointelegraph.com

Standard Chartered predicts Bitcoin’s value could climb to $50,000 in 2023 and to $120,000 by 2024-end. This marks a 20% increase from the bank’s previous forecast in April. The bank’s top FX analyst, Geoff Kendrick, suggests that the recent surge in Bitcoin price would encourage miners to limit its supply and thus drive up the price. As Bitcoin’s value crosses the $50,000 mark, it’s expected that miners will sell just 20-30% of their new coins. Notably, the total number of Bitcoins mined each day is slated to halve next April or May due to an inbuilt supply and issuance mechanism. Source: https://www.reuters.com