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National Australia Bank (NAB) has claimed the first-ever cross-border stablecoin transfer by a major financial institution on a layer 1 public blockchain. NAB’s fully backed AUDN stablecoin, pegged to the Australian dollar, was used for the intrabank transfer. The transaction was carried out on the Ethereum blockchain and used smart contracts for seven currencies, including AUD, NZD, SGD, USD, EUR, JPY and GBP. The technology demonstrated the potential to reduce transaction times from days to minutes, and it is part of the bank’s focus on simplifying international banking protocols. The bank aims to support corporate and institutional clients in digital asset transactions by the end of the year.

Crypto exchange Binance will reportedly suspend sterling deposits and withdrawals after being informed by its partner Paysafe that the service will be halted from 22 May. The move will affect all Binance customers, and sterling transfers for new users have already been stopped on 13 March. While a spokesperson for Binance stated that the change would affect less than 1% of its users, the exchange did not provide information on the actual number of affected clients. Binance previously halted all dollar bank transfers in response to increased regulatory scrutiny in the US. Additionally, the exchange is currently under investigation by the Justice Department for possible money laundering and sanctions violations.

South Korea's Ministry of Science and ICT has invested 24 billion Korean won (US$18.1 million) in a fund aimed at driving metaverse initiatives in the country. The fund will support mergers and acquisitions of companies in the metaverse ecosystem and assist local metaverse-related companies to compete with global counterparts, given the challenges in raising capital through private investment. This investment comes as major tech companies show increased interest in the metaverse. South Korea launched a digital replica of Seoul in the metaverse in January, with an investment of around 2 billion won (US$1.6 million) for the first phase of the project. Source: https://cointelegraph.com

Signature Bank, a crypto-friendly bank based in New York, has been closed down and taken over by the New York Department of Financial Services (NYDFS). The NYDFS has appointed the US Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) to handle the insurance process. The Federal Reserve said the decision to shut down the bank was made with the FDIC to safeguard the country’s economy and bolster public trust in the banking system. While all depositors of Signature Bank will be reimbursed, shareholders and certain unsecured debt holders will not be protected. The bank held $88.6 billion in deposits as of 31 December 2022.

Bitcoin surged by 5.3% to reach US$21,582, the highest gain in almost a month after the US Federal Reserve announced measures to protect depositors’ money and provide easier terms for short-term loans to help cash-strapped banks. The move came after the collapse of Silicon Valley Bank and the closure of the Signature Bank by the New York state financial regulator. Rachel Lin, co-founder of SynFutures, stated that the Federal Reserve’s rescue plan had boosted market confidence and eased concerns about the potential of further collapses. Other cryptocurrencies, including Cardano, Litecoin, Tron, and Avalanche, also experienced gains.

Bank messaging platform, SWIFT announced positive results from a pilot test of linking different central bank digital currencies (CBDCs) on 9 March. The 12-week testing period saw the simulation of almost 5,000 transactions between two blockchain networks and existing fiat payment systems, with over 18 financial institutions worldwide participating. SWIFT found that its experimental interlinking solution could meet the needs of central and commercial banks for CBDCs interoperability. It has outlined its plans to conduct a second phase of CBDC sandbox and further develop its "CBDC interlinking solution” into a beta version for payments with enhanced atomicity. Source: https://cointelegraph.com

The Indian government has announced that crypto transactions will be subject to the country’s Anti-Money Laundering regulations under the Prevention of Money-Laundering Act (PLMA) 2002. The regulations will affect various types of crypto transactions, including exchanges, transfers, safekeeping, and administration of virtual assets. The PMLA mandates financial institutions to maintain transaction records for the last ten years, provide them to officials upon request, and verify client identities. The notification, which comes amidst global efforts to tighten AML standards for crypto, is expected to complicate the operations of Indian crypto firms.

Bitcoin stabilized near its lowest point since mid-February 2023 on 9 March following the announcement by crypto-focused bank Silvergate Capital Corp that it plans to voluntarily liquidate. The California-based bank has been struggling after investors withdrew around $8 billion of deposits after the collapse of the crypto exchange FTX last year. While Silvergate is seen as an important bridge between the crypto industry and the traditional financial world, its closure is expected to have a limited impact on the market as it was widely anticipated.

US Senators Kirsten Gillibrand and Cynthia Lummis plan to unveil a new draft of the bipartisan cryptocurrency bill to the new Congress after it was deferred in 2022. Speaking at a Senate Agriculture Committee hearing on oversight of the Commodity Futures Trading Commission(CFTC), Senator Gillibrand stated that the next draft of the bill will be available in mid-April. If passed into law, the legislation is intended to provide regulatory clarity for many crypto projects, including determining which assets would fall under the purview of the SEC and CFTC.

French market regulator AMF announced that Axa Investment Managers has become a registered cryptocurrency service provider in France. This follows a trend of financial companies such as Binance, Bitstamp, and Societe Generale receiving regulatory approvals in the country. Cryptocompanies are now required to obtain a licence and have customer safeguards in place to sell digital tokens in the EU. Companies operating in an EU state have until January 2024 to acquire a licence without service disruption.

Crypto Bank Silvergate Capital Corp announced plans on 9 March to cease operations and voluntarily liquidate, citing recent industry and regulatory developments. The decision comes after the bank suffered substantial losses following the collapse of the cryptocurrency exchange FTX. Silvergate warned last week that it was evaluating its ability to continue operating, disclosing that it had sold additional debt securities at a loss and that further losses could leave the bank “less than well capitalized.” The bank added that its decision to wind down operations included full repayment of deposits.

Crypto exchange Bybit will reportedly launch its new debit card, which will permit users to conduct fiat-based transactions by using their cryptocurrency holdings. Operating on the Mastercard network, the Bybit card enables the debiting of cryptocurrency balances to facilitate payments for goods and services, as well as cash withdrawals. Initially available as a free virtual card for online purchases, physical debit cards are expected to be launched in April 2023. The card will support Bitcoin, Ether, Tether, USD Coin and XRP, and will automatically convert balances into euros or pounds based on the user’s country of residence.