Newsfeed

The Non-Bank Financial Institution Regulatory Authority (NBFIRA) of Botswana, has reportedly granted a virtual asset service provider (VASP) license to the African crypto exchange Yellow Card on 29 September, making it the first crypto exchange to obtain a VASP license in Africa. The exchange is authorized to enable its customer to buy and sell cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin, Ether and the Tether with the country’s fiat currency. Chris Maurice, the CEO and co-founder of Yellow Card, believes that the license could provide a greater opportunity for the company to expand its client base across Africa.

The amendment to the Financial Services and Markets Bill which was proposed to expand the law’s power to regulate the financial promotion and other activities of crypto assets has had its second reading in the House of Commons on 7 September. It is believed that the new bill could clarify the powers relating to financial promotion and regulated activities that can be relied on to regulate crypto assets and their related activities. Most crypto-related businesses currently fall outside of the UK’s regulatory perimeter, though they are required to apply for a license starting next year.

US-based cryptocurrency exchange Coinbase states that the adoption of USDC has been more conservative outside of the US. According to its research, there is currently 3 times more USDC bought with USD than non-USD currencies. The exchange attributes such a cautious attitude to the expense of converting the local currency into USDC. USDC is currently the second-largest stablecoin and the fourth-largest cryptocurrency in terms of market capitalization. The exchange aims to remove the barrier and increase the international adoption of USDC by waving commission fees for customers using any fiat currency to buy or sell USDC on its platform.

South African Financial Sector Conduct Authority (FSCA) has declared that the definition of the financial product under the Financial Advisory and Financial Intermediary Services Act, 2002 (FAIS) will be extended to crypto assets on 19 October. A Crypto asset is defined as a digital representation of value that is not issued by a central bank, but could be electronically traded, transferred and stored with the application of cryptographic techniques and the use of distributed ledger technology. The declaration means crypto asset service providers have to obtain licenses to provide crypto services in the country, which is described as an onerous procedure by the local press.

The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) has released its draft 2022 IRS tax forms, including a section for US taxpayers to report certain transactions of digital assets such as non-fungible tokens (NFTs) and virtual currencies. Digital assets are defined as any digital representations of value that are recorded on a cryptographically secured distributed ledger or any similar technology. Assets which fall under this category shall be considered for federal income tax purposes. The taxpayers are required to disclose activity on Digital Assets of Form 1040 or 1040-SR, including receiving as a reward, award or payment for property or services or sold, exchanged, gifted or disposed of a digital asset in 2022. Any disposal of digital asset held as capital asset in 2022 requires the person to calculate the capital gain or loss and report that gain or loss on Schedule D of the Form, while an individual receiving any digital asset as payment for services or selling digital assets to customers in a trade or business shall report the income in the same way as other income of the same type.

The Japanese Virtual Currency Exchange Association (JVCEA), the governing body of Japan’s cryptocurrency exchanges, has reportedly planned to relax the screening process for listing digital tokens by authorized exchanges, which could take effect as early as December. The new measure is not applicable to the tokens that are new to Japan’s market. According to Genki Oda, vice president of the association, the pre-screening process could even be abolished for coins new to the market, as well as the tokens issued through initial coin or exchange offerings by March 2024. It is believed that the latest measure will help revitalize Japan’s crypto assets market.

India has reportedly become the world’s third-largest country in terms of the size of the Web 3.0 workforce, which accounts for 11% of the world’s talents working in this field. Published by the National Association of Software and Services Companies (NASSCOM), the study believes that the figures will grow by more than 120% within the next two years. NASSCOM is confident of the future development of Web 3.0 in the country, stating that the country’s rapid adoption of new-age technologies, its growing startup ecosystem, and large-scale digitally skilled talent potential build a solid foundation in strengthening its position in the global Web3 landscape.

The UK Law Commission launches a law reform project to review the existing private international law surrounding cryptocurrencies, digital assets and electronic documentation on 18 October. Sponsored by the Ministry of Justice, the project aims to develop reform proposals based on the findings and consult the public by the second half of 2023. The Law Commission notes that many conflicts of law issues arise due to the rapid development of blockchain technology, including the choice of jurisdiction and choice of law issues to be determined in a dispute. It is hoped that the review could help to clarify the current international law in these areas.

Bitcoin energy consumption Year-on-Year has reportedly increased by 41% despite the improvement in its mining efficiency. The Q3 2022 report published by a Bitcoin mining company Bitcoin Mining Council shows that Bitcoin mining consumes 0.16% of global energy production and accounts for 0.10% of the world’s carbon emissions. It is believed that the rise in energy consumption is due to the increase in the network’s hashrate. The report also expresses concerns that a further increase in Bitcoin energy consumption may lead to tighter measures by regulators on Bitcoin mining activities.

The Electronic Trade Documents Bill, which seeks to recognize digital trade documents to eliminate “needless paperwork and bureaucracy”, has been introduced in the UK Parliament on 12 October. The Bill will allow businesses to provide digital trade documents such as promissory notes and warehouse receipts. In addition to the benefit of reducing carbon emissions, it is believed that the possible application of blockchain technology to digital documents would make it easier to trace records.

Blockchain.com has reportedly decided to withdraw its services to Russian nationals, following the latest EU‘s eighth package of sanctions against Russia that imposes a complete ban on cross-border crypto payment between the EU and Russians. The crypto wallet provider has reportedly notified its Russian users to withdraw their funds by 27 October. Any of their accounts will be blocked after the deadline. Other major crypto exchanges such as Crypto.com also plan to restrict their services for Russian nations to comply with the EU sanctions.

Mastercard announced Crypto Source, a new program that allows financial institutions to bring crypto trading capabilities and services to their customers on 17 October. It partners with Paxos Trust Company, a leading regulated blockchain infrastructure platform, which will provide crypto asset trading and custody services on behalf of the banks, while Mastercard will leverage its technology to integrate the crypto trading capabilities into banks’ interfaces. Mastercard also highlighted its New Payments Index this year which found that 29% of respondents globally hold crypto as an investment, with another 65% preferring their current trusted financial institution to provide crypto-related services. The program is reportedly expected to launch later this year. https://cointelegraph.com