Market
Politics
US Congressmen urge SEC to keep definition of ‘qualified custodian’ unchanged
The Congressmen say limiting the definition could adversely affect investor protection and market competition, particularly in respect of digital asset custodians.
Legal
Lawsuit against US Treasury argues the government overreached by sanctioning Tornado Cash
The lawsuit backed by Coinbase claims the Treasury overstepped legal requirements and violated the First Amendment by banning Tornado Cash.
Adoption
Percentage of Americans holding, using crypto fell in 2022: Fed survey
The Fed concluded that use of crypto for transactions remained "very low" even among groups more likely to use them.
Exchanges
Hong Kong SFC eases requirements as exchanges face crypto talent crunch
Amid a shortage of responsible officers (RO), the SFC has revised its requirements so that exchanges now need 2 ROs instead of 4.
Exchanges
Binance regularly commingled customer funds with corporate revenue in 2020 and 2021: Reuters
Binance has denied the allegations in a new Reuters story claiming the exchange commingled corporate and user funds in its Silvergate accounts.
Technology
Vitalik Buterin says Ethereum’s consensus is ‘fragile’ and should not be stretched
Extending the "scope" of Ethereum validators to include additional functions could increase the risks of a fork, he argued.
Adoption
Tether-KriptonMarket partnership allows small Argentinian businesses to accept USDT
Tether's partnership with KriptonMarket will also help small businesses pay their bills and part of their employee salaries in USDT.
Exchanges
Australia’s oldest bank bans payments to Binance
Westpac, one of Australia's big four banks, will block payments to crypto exchanges it deems as "high-risk" in order to reduce scam losses.
AI
Ex-Ethereum developer calls OpenAI founder’s Worldcoin project ‘unrealistic and scary’
Former Ethereum developer Hudson Jameson thinks Worldcoin lacks transparency and finds its tokenomics "suspicious."
Regulation
EU finance ministers unanimously greenlight MiCA regulations
MiCA is expected to come into effect by mid-2024. The regulation will seek to protect investors by imposing requirements on crypto firms.
Exchanges
Only half of top 60 crypto companies have an external auditor
Despite revelations about FTX's lax business practices, some crypto firms continue to operate without transparency and accountability.
CBDCs
South Korea is researching offline CBDC payments via Samsung devices
Bank of Korea and Samsung will collaborate to enable offline CBDC payments using Galaxy smartphones and watches.