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The Nigerian government will reportedly pass the Investments and Securities Act 2007 (Amendment) Bill to recognize cryptocurrency and other digital funds as capital for investment. The law has come 2 years after the prohibition of all crypto activity in the country. Nigerian House of Representatives Committee on Capital Markets Chairman Babangida Ibrahim said such amendment was to keep the country up to date with global practices. He further clarified that the law was not about lifting the ban but a secondary review of the scope of the country’s Central Bank’s power. The regulatory roles of the country’s Central Bank and Securities Exchange Commission on matters regarding digital currencies will also be set out in the Bill.

The Singapore-based cryptocurrency exchange Crypto.com has reportedly received a Payment Institution License (EMI) from Banco Central do Brasil, the central bank of Brazil. The exchange CEO Kris Marszalek welcomed the decision, saying that Brazil and the entire LATAM market is an important region in pursuing the exchange’s vision of cryptocurrency in every wallet. The exchange has actively established its foothold in different countries over the past few months and has obtained approval from countries such as France, the United Kingdom and South Korea.

Binance.US has introduced a new feature called Pay that allows users to instantly settle payments by nearly 150 supported cryptocurrencies. It has come 22 months after the feature has first been introduced to users outside the US by the global exchange. The exchange said that all Pay transactions feature zero gas and zero transaction fees. However, the new feature is only available on mobile now and the company said a web version would be introduced in the future.

Microsoft has reportedly banned crypto mining from its online services. Its acceptable use policy has been updated on 1 December, which states that crypto mining is prohibited without prior approval of the company. Microsoft said it made the change to protect its user and mitigate the risk of disrupting or impairing services in the Microsoft Cloud. However, the company did not rule out the possibility of permitting crypto mining for Testing and Research for security detections. Other cloud computing providers like Google and Oracle also have a policy of restricting crypto mining without companies’ prior approval.

Hervé Maurey, a member of the French Senate’s finance commission has proposed an amendment to the existing regulation that allows crypto companies to operate without a full license until 2026 to the French Parliament. If the amendment is passed, those crypto companies will need to apply for a license from the Autorité des Marchés Financiers (AMF) from October 2023. Maurey said the collapse of FTX led to the consideration of tighter crypto regulation in the country. The amendment was adopted by the Senate on 13 December and will be deliberated in Parliament in January 2023.

Tech giant Apple has reportedly planned to allow European customers to download apps on iPhone and iPad from marketplaces other than its App Store to comply with the European Union’s Digital Markets Act, which demands tech companies’ full compliance by 2024. The proposed change means the user could avoid the charge of 30% commission on any in-app purchases of NFTs by installing apps from external sources. However, Apple is still considering if it will allow developers to set up their payment system within apps, which could possibly include payment by cryptocurrency.

The Thai Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has reportedly intended to tighten the guideline for the cryptocurrency industry with a particular focus on investor protection. The regulator highlighted the increasing use of “finfluencers” in crypto advertising, which it is one of the main areas it would work on. The amendment is deemed necessary after the collapse of FTX, Three Arrows Capital, the TerraUSD, Celsius Network and the local exchange, Zipmex. A committee has also been formed to evaluate and prepare the relevant amendments to existing regulations.

The Financial Stability Board (FSB), an international body that monitors and makes recommendations about the global financial system is expected to lay out steps to regulate the cryptocurrency industry in early 2023. The timeline for global regulators to implement its first recommendation on global crypto regulation will be released in the following months. The Board’s outgoing secretary-general Dietrich Domanski said the recent events such as the collapse of FTX and Terraform havd reinforced the recognition that it was indeed urgent to address risks associated with the cryptocurrency industry. He added that the board aimed to create a regime where crypto service providers would be subject to the same standard as banks if they provide the same services that banks provide.

FTX founder Sam Bankman-Fried has reportedly been arrested in the Bahamas. The arrest was followed by a request by the US government based on a sealed indictment filed by the Southern District of New York informing the authorities in the Bahamas that he has been charged with multiple criminal offences, including wire and securities fraud, conspiracy to commit wire and securities fraud and money laundering. Ryan Pinder, the Bahamas Attorney General and Minister of Legal Affairs said any extradition request would be processed promptly. The US Department of Justice was also investigating whether FTX had improperly transferred its assets when the exchange declared bankruptcy.

Marathon Digital Holdings CEO Fred Thiel said during the company’s third-quarter earnings call on 8 November that Marathon is now holding 11,300 Bitcoin, which is the world’s second-highest among listed companies. Thiel also added that the company has not disposed of any Bitcoin at the moment and would stick to this approach unless it deemed necessary to cover operating expenses or other expenses. However, the company recorded a net loss of $75.4 million in the third quarter, compared to a net loss of $22.2 million for the same period last year.

The Financial Action Task Force (FATF) is reportedly proposing to annually review countries’ enforcement of AML and CTF rules on crypto providers. While a country failing to comply with the FATF’s AML guidelines for cryptocurrencies would not automatically be put on its grey list to become “Jurisdictions under Increased Monitoring”, it could affect the country’s overall rating and is one of the factors considered by the watchdog. There are currently 23 countries on the list, including crypto hotspots such as the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and the Philippines.

Coinbase and Kraken reportedly experienced connectivity issues on 8 November, following the news of Binance that planned to acquire FTX. Coinbase said it was “experiencing network connection issues for Coinbase.com, Coinbase Pro, and Coinbase Prime” and users might have trouble signing in or experience slow loading across the web and the mobile app. The exchange attributes the issues to the overwhelming number of new users sign-ups and transfers to the platform on that day. Kraken, on the other hand, did not publicly address the issues.