Newsfeed

Visa and Mastercard have reportedly decided to delay launching new partnerships with crypto companies until there is more clarity in the regulatory framework and the market conditions improve. The spokesperson at Visa stated that the recent high-profile failures in the crypto industry served as an important reminder that there was still a significant amount of work to be done before crypto could be widely adopted as a part of mainstream payments and financial services. However, Visa’s head of product, Cuy Sheffield, disputed the accuracy of the recent report, affirming that Visa remains committed to partnering with crypto companies to improve fiat on/off ramps and develop new products to facilitate stablecoin payments that are secure, compliant, and user-friendly.

Binance’s stablecoin, Binance USD, has experienced a significant outflow of almost $6 billion following a recent US regulatory crackdown on its issuer Paxos Trust Company. The US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has previously alleged that the token was not registered as a security, and there was a possibility of action being taken against the issuer. New York’s chief financial regulator also ordered Paxos to stop creating the token, accusing the company of violating its obligations for risk assessments and due diligence checks on Binance and Binance USD customers.

Ras Al Khaimah, one of the seven Emirates of the UAE, will reportedly launch the world’s first free zone dedicated solely to companies operating in the crypto industry. The RAK Digital Assets Oasis (RAK DAO) allows entrepreneurs to have complete ownership of their businesses and have their own tax and regulatory frameworks, except for the criminal law of the UAE. The free zone offers a platform for VASPs in emerging technologies such as blockchain, metaverse, nonfungible tokens (NFTs), decentralized applications (DApps), and other Web3-related businesses. Applications to operate businesses in the free zone will open in the second quarter of 2023.

Nishad Singh, a former FTX’s engineering director, has reportedly pleaded guilty to six counts of criminal charges and agreed to cooperate with prosecutors to investigate the crypto exchange founder Sam Bankman-Fried. Singh admitted that he knew Alameda Research, which was Bankman-Fried’s hedge fund, was borrowing FTX customer funds without their knowledge. Singh is the third Bankman-Fried close associate to plead guilty and assist the probe. He is also facing civil lawsuits filed by the US Securities and Exchange Commission and the Commodity Futures Trading Commission.

Hong Kong’s Financial Secretary Paul Chan announced during the 2023-24 Budget Speech that he would establish and lead a task force on virtual asset development to enhance the city’s position in the industry. The task force will reportedly be overseen by the Digital Economy Development Committee and will receive recommendations from relevant government bodies, regulators, and market participants on the sustainable and responsible development of the industry.

US Securities Exchange Commission (SEC) has voted 4-1 in favour of a proposal to amend the Custody Rule under the Advisers Act. Under the new proposed amendments, the requirement for advisers and qualified custodians to segregate investors’ assets will be expanded to all assets, including crypto. It also proposed to explicitly include a requirement that foreign financial institutions serving as qualified custodians must provide segregation and bankruptcy remoteness. Advisers and qualified custodians must also enter into written agreements with each other that include certain provisions to ensure the custodians’ protection. These provisions require qualified custodians to undergo annual evaluations from public accountants, provide account statements, and make records available upon request. The SEC Chairman Gary Gensler said crypto firms may not be qualified custodians based on the way they generally operate.

Judge Lewis Kaplan said the court could revoke the bail of the FTX founder Sam Bankman-Fried in the court hearing on 16 February as there was probable cause to believe he may have attempted to tamper with witnesses. It was suggested by the prosecutor a day before the hearing that his device usage should be further restricted and monitored with limited exceptions, though the judge found it naive to believe that it would prevent SBF from using the internet. The FTX’s founder has been suspended to use certain messaging apps starting from 9 February and was prohibited from using a VPN after he was allegedly using it on two occasions on 29 January and 12 February.

The Hong Kong government announced on 16 February that it had successfully issued the world’s first government-issued tokenized green bond worth HK$800 million under the Government Green Bond Programme (GGBP). The yield of the one-year Hong Kong dollar-denominated tokenized green bond is 4.05% and it is cleared and settled through the Central Moneymarkets Unit (CMU) of the Hong Kong Monetary Authority (HKMA). Hong Kong’s Financial Secretary Paul Chan said the successful offering of the bond marked an important milestone as it demonstrated Hong Kong’s strengths in combining the bond market, green and sustainable finance as well as fintech.

The US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has filed a complaint against Singapore-based Terraform Labs and its founder Do Hyeong Kwon in the US District Court for the Southern District of New York for orchestrating a multi-billion dollar crypto asset securities fraud involving an algorithmic stablecoin and other crypto asset securities. In the statement released on 16 February, the SEC alleged that Terraform and Kwon raised billions of dollars from investors by selling an inter-linked suite of crypto asset securities, many of which were not registered transactions. The regulator also alleged that they failed to provide the public with full, fair, and truthful disclosure, especially for Terra and TerraUSD.

The Central Bank of the United Arab Emirates (CBUAE) is reportedly planning to launch a Central Bank Digital Currency (CBDC) for cross-border payments and domestic usage, which is aimed to address the problems and inefficiency of cross-border payments and help drive innovation for domestic payments. It is part of the first stage of the Financial Infrastructure Transformation Program introduced by the country’s central bank to support financial services sectors. In addition to the issuance of CBDC, the government also intends to launch a unified card payment platform and an instant payments platform at first stage of the program.

CEO of crypto exchange Binance Changpeng Zhao expressed his view on Twitter Spaces regarding the possibly increasing popularity of non-dollar stablecoin in the crypto industry in the future. He submitted that dollar stablecoins were still important as most people were still using dollars to calculate their investment returns. However, he noted that the US government’s recent crackdown on dollar-pegged stablecoin will likely result in global crypto industry relying more on euro-based or other Japanese yen, Singapore dollar-based stablecoins. He also anticipated that algorithmic stablecoins may gain more importance in the crypto ecosystem going forward despite the inherent risks associated with them.

Nasdaq-listed automated global electronic broker Interactive Brokers announced on 14 February that it would collaborate with OSL Digital Securities to launch crypto trading services for institutional clients in Hong Kong. Investors, who are Hong Kong residents, and with more than 8 million HKD in investable assets or institutions with assets over 40 million HKD, can now trade Bitcoin and Ethereum as well as stocks, options, futures, bonds, event contracts, mutual funds, and ETFs on its single unified platform.