Despite being a relatively new space, DeFi has quickly grown to become more appealing. What’s more, projects like Solana and Polygon have grown to compete with Ethereum. Recently, Cardano also brought DeFi smart contracts onto its platform after an Alonzo hard fork event. According to Founder Charles Hoskinson, however, DeFi is in an economic cycleContinue reading “Cardano’s Hoskinson believes these two factors can spur next-gen DeFi”

According to recent reports, El Salvador’s Court of Accounts is bucking up for an investigation into the government’s Bitcoin purchases following a complaint. The probe will reportedly also look into the purchases of automated teller machines (ATM) and construction of Chivo kiosks by President Bukele’s Regime. El Salvador recently became the first country in theContinue reading “El Salvador’s Court of Accounts to probe Bitcoin roll-out”

Skepticism towards cryptocurrencies isn’t new, especially from the likes of regulators and financial agencies. The ECB is no exception. In a recent interview with Bloomberg, President of the European Central Bank (ECB) Christine Lagarde categorically said, ”Cryptos are not currencies, full stop.” Like other regulators, Lagarde shares the view that cryptos are “highly speculative” andContinue reading “ECB’s Lagarde fires latest salvo with ‘cryptos are not currencies, full stop’”

“We have come to realize that we need a centralized entity to work well with regulators.” In a recent interview with South China Morning Post, Changpeng Zhao – Founder and CEO of Binance –agreed to restructure the exchange with a centralized headquarters. Interestingly, this will be completely contrary to CZ’s long-standing belief that the “futureContinue reading “No more decentralization for Binance, but will it work for the ‘wild west’”

According to local reports, India’s State Bank of India (SBI) has disabled its UPI payment facility for crypto-merchants. This is big news, especially since this is sure to impede access to the sector, something that has for long been a barrier to entry for many. At press time, Indian crypto-exchange WazirX was still offering UPIContinue reading “India’s biggest lender disables UPI payments facility for crypto-merchants”

Brevan Howard Asset Management LLP made two major announcements today, pointing towards its future crypto expansion plans. Firstly, the hedge fund hired Colleen Sullivan to lead its crypto vertical. Second, it is launching a new vertical for digital asset investments.  These are significant announcements to streamline its private and venture investment activities in cryptocurrencies.  CEOContinue reading “London-based investment firm launches new vertical for digital asset investments”

The Russian central bank released a new report for banking institutions to limit “shady” transactions. While the guidelines were for the purpose of controlling illicit money transfers, it also reportedly brought crypto ‘”exchangers” under its purview. Banks and credit institutions were asked to note suspicious transactions executed by individuals into or out of their electronicContinue reading “Why liquidating one Bitcoin can land you in trouble in Russia”

As Cardano readies for the Alonzo hardfork, it has already beaten its competition with the most average commits per month (CPM) in the past year. Outlier Ventures’ report pointed out a 24% growth in Cardano’s commits compared to the previous 12-month period. While it ranked number one on average commits, Cardano was also “555% moreContinue reading “Cardano tops ‘commits leader-board’ prior to upcoming Alonzo hardfork”

The People’s Bank of China, in its Financial Stability Report 2021, had pointed out that its clampdown on virtual currencies was complete. Days after the release of the report, Zhou Xiaochuan, former governor of the Chinese central bank, commented on conventional tools of supervision. He said that the traditional regulatory methods were no longer sufficientContinue reading “Crypto-related money laundering next on China’s policy framework”

The United States Securities Exchange Commission (SEC), served Coinbase with what is known as a “Wells Notice,” for its “Lend” program. Due to this, “Lend” is now off the market “indefinitely.” In a recent blogpost, Coinbase CLO Paul Grewal expressed surprise at the notice, stating, “The SEC told us they consider Lend to involve aContinue reading “Do SEC claims against Coinbase ‘crypto-lending’ product hold water”

Days after El Salvador became the world’s first country to adopt Bitcoin as legal tender, it hasn’t garnered an endorsement from many crypto proponents. In a recent podcast, business and policy reporter of the New York Times, Ephrat Livni, discussed issues around the rollout by President Nayib Bukele.  She argued that Bitcoin’s adoption as legalContinue reading “Is Bitcoin’s legal tender status causing ‘currency chaos’ in El Salvador”

“Cryptocurrencies developed quite fast, but the laws of many countries are not up to date with this type of activity” Seychelles’ finance ministry and capital market regulator are now working on a crypto-policy framework, according to local reports. The island nation is on its way to either prohibit or license crypto-trading platforms as registered internationalContinue reading “Seychelles faces big decision on legal status of crypto-trading platforms”