Bitcoin News and Finance: What You Need to Know

Crypto exchange Kraken has settled with the U.S. Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) over its apparent violations of sanctions against Iran. The cryptocurrency exchange has agreed to remit $362,159 to settle its potential civil liability and invest an additional $100,000 in certain sanctions compliance controls. Kraken Settles With OFAC The U.S. Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) announced Monday a settlement with Payward Inc. (d/b/a Kraken), a Delaware-incorporated crypto exchange. The announcement states: Kraken agreed to remit $362,158.70 to settle its potential civil liability for apparent violations of sanctions against Iran … As part of its settlement with OFAC, Kraken also has agreed to invest an additional $100,000 in certain sanctions compliance controls. According to the Treasury Department, between approximately Oct. 14, 2015, and June 29, 2019, “Kraken processed 826 transactions, totaling approximatel...

India’s central bank, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI), is launching its first retail digital rupee pilot on Dec. 1 with the participation of eight banks. The pilot will start in four cities and then expand to cover nine more cities across India. RBI Picks 8 Banks, 13 Cities to Test Retail Digital Currency The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) announced Tuesday that “the first pilot for retail digital rupee (e₹-R)” will launch on Dec. 1. This announcement followed the RBI’s wholesale central bank digital currency (CBDC) pilot which began on Nov. 1. Eight banks will participate in the retail digital currency pilot in two phases. State Bank of India, ICICI Bank, Yes Bank, and IDFC First Bank in four cities across India will participate in the first phase. Bank of Baroda, Union Bank of India, HDFC Bank, and Kotak Mahindra Bank will participate in the second phase. The Indian central bank detailed: The pilot would initially cover four cities, viz., Mumbai, New Delhi, Bengaluru, and Bhuban...

The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has revealed some initiatives involving crypto assets in its Strategic Plan for the fiscal years 2022-2026. The initiatives are intended to address the SEC’s top priorities over the next four years. SEC’s Strategic Plan for FY 2022-26 The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) published its “Strategic Plan” for the fiscal years 2022-2026 last week. The regulator stated that “the initiatives outlined in this Strategic Plan are intended to address its top priorities over the next four years.” One of the goals of the Strategic Plan is to “develop and implement a robust regulatory framework that keeps pace with evolving markets, business models, and technologies.” The securities regulator explained that an initiative aimed at achieving this goal is to “examine strategies to address systemic and infrastructure risks faced by our capital markets and our market participants.” Noting that “the rapid growth in crypto assets” also rep...

Tech giant Apple has threatened to withhold Twitter from its app store, according to Tesla CEO and Twitter chief Elon Musk. The billionaire added: “This is a battle for the future of civilization. If free speech is lost even in America, tyranny is all that lies ahead.” Apple’s Threat to Musk and Twitter The battle for free speech has escalated for Elon Musk and his newly acquired social media company as Apple has threatened to withhold Twitter from its app store, Tesla CEO and Twitter chief Elon Musk revealed Monday, noting that Apple will not say why. In a follow-up tweet, Musk confirmed that Apple is “making moderation demands.” According to reports, Apple was one of Twitter’s top advertisers, spending more than $100 million per year advertising on the social media platform. However, Musk tweeted Monday: Apple has mostly stopped advertising on Twitter. Do they hate free speech in America? Replying to Musk asking who else has been withheld by Apple, blockchain firm LBRY shar...

The collapse of Do Kwon’s Terra empire in May, and Sam Bankman-Fried’s FTX in early November 2022, will be remembered as two incidents that put the crypto industry on the back foot. It is now widely expected that regulators around the world will use the two incidents to justify the establishment of regulatory regimes that are likely to stifle further innovation. That notwithstanding, one Singapore-based blockchain payments company, Wadzpay, has partnered with Saudi Arabian fintech Geidea to provide financial solutions for pilgrims on their way to Mecca. Providing a Cutting Edge Payment Experience to Visitors Faced with the inevitable, some players in the crypto industry assert that tougher regulations are not going to stop cryptos and their underlying technology — the blockchain. They point to how digital currencies have been instrumental in lowering the cost of remitting funds inside and beyond national borders. According to this view, the ease and speed of moving funds across bord...

The Spanish securities regulator (CNMV) has warned investors against putting funds in crypto-related companies. Montserrat Martinez Parera, vice president of the organization, stated that lack of control is one of the causes of the downfall of the crypto exchange FTX, and that anyone looking at crypto as an investment must be very careful due to the lack of regulation in the area. Spanish Securities Regulator CNMV Warns About Crypto-Related Investments The Spanish securities regulator, the CNMV, has given its opinion about the recent downfall of FTX, one of the top three crypto exchanges at a worldwide level. At the inauguration of a public congress on Nov. 25, Montserrat Martinez Parera, vice president of the institution, stated that one of the things that allowed the events involving FTX to develop was a lack of control exerted by some countries. Martinez Parera also warned investors against embarking on this kind of investment journey, and remarked that they should approach any ...

Bitcoin miners could catch a break in a week or so, on or around Dec. 5, 2022, as the next difficulty retarget is expected to see a significantly large reduction. Estimates show the next difficulty retarget could drop anywhere between 6.13% and 10% lower. Presently, the difficulty change looks as though it could be 2022’s largest reduction if it surpasses the 5.01% decline recorded on July 21. Bitcoin’s Next Difficulty Retarget Is Expected to Decrease, Data Suggests a Notable Drop in the Cards When the last Bitcoin difficulty change occurred on Nov. 20, 2022, at block height 764,064, it increased by a mere 0.51% that day. The increase did, however, propel the network’s difficulty to its lifetime high of 36.95 trillion. Since then, during the past week, the network’s average hashrate has been around 249.1 exahash per second (EH/s). The average Bitcoin network block time has been slower than usual as well, running between 10.2 minutes to 11.06 minutes on Monday evening (ET). The b...

Since people are once again talking about self-custody as one of crypto’s unique strengths, I would like to remind everyone about an equally important fundamental value proposition of crypto that, in the early days, was touted as the killer feature. I’m talking about censorship resistance. The following opinion editorial was written by Bitcoin.com CEO Dennis Jarvis. The Three Pillars of Censorship Resistance In the financial context, censorship resistance is the ability to carry out financial actions despite the wishes of any third party. In crypto, the three pillars of censorship resistance are: The freedom to transact. This means third parties cannot prevent you from sending or receiving assets. The freedom from confiscation. Third parties cannot take away or freeze your assets. The immutability of transactions. It is impossible for third parties to change or revert transactions after the fact. Troubling actions increasingly taken by centralized entities in the public a...

The billionaire owner of the NBA team Dallas Mavericks and a Stark Tank star, Mark Cuban, says that if he were the former FTX CEO Sam Bankman-Fried, he would be afraid of going to jail for a long time. “I talked to the guy and thought he was smart … I had no idea he was going to take other people’s money and put it to his personal use,” Cuban said. Mark Cuban on Sam Bankman-Fried and FTX’s Collapse Mark Cuban, a Shark Tank star and the owner of the NBA team Dallas Mavericks, talked about the collapsed crypto exchange FTX and its former CEO Sam Bankman-Fried (SBF) in an interview with TMZ Sports, published Saturday. Despite the FTX meltdown, Cuban still sees value in cryptocurrency. He opined: There’s been a lot of people making a lot of mistakes, but it doesn’t change the underlying value. FTX filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy on Nov. 11 and Bankman-Fried stepped down as the CEO. The crypto exchange is currently being probed in several jurisdictions. In the U.S., several authori...

JPMorgan has outlined key changes it expects in the crypto industry and its regulation following the collapse of crypto exchange FTX. The global investment bank envisages several new regulatory initiatives, including those focusing on custody, customer asset protection, and transparency. JPMorgan Expects Major Changes in Crypto Industry Post FTX Meltdown Global investment bank JPMorgan published a report Thursday outlining major changes it expects to happen in the crypto industry following the collapse of cryptocurrency exchange FTX. Global strategist Nikolaos Panigirtzoglou explained that “Not only has the collapse of FTX and its sister company Alameda Research created a cascade of crypto entity collapse and suspension of withdrawals,” but it is also “likely to increase investor and regulatory pressure on crypto entities to disclose more information about their balance sheets.” Panigirtzoglou proceeded to list the main changes JPMorgan expects after the FTX meltdown. Firstly, he ...

As it reels from the effects of what it termed a global economic downturn, the Nigerian digital asset exchange platform, Quidax, recently said it had laid off employees who constituted 20% of its workforce. Despite the layoffs, Quidax reportedly told its customers it is ‘not going anywhere, anytime soon.” ‘No Relationship With FTX’ The Nigerian cryptocurrency exchange, Quidax, reportedly claimed that the ensuing global economic downturn had forced it to let go 20% of the platform’s “exceptionally talented people.” The exchange insisted the lay-offs were not linked to the FTX collapse-fueled turmoil in crypto markets and that Quidax itself had “no relationship with FTX” Before the global economic downturn, Quidax, which sponsored Nigeria’s biggest reality television show Big Brother Naija, had better prospects. According to a report by Nairametrics, the crypto exchange even “made several plans and growth projections.” Severance Packages for Laid-off Workers However, the economic ...

According to the CEO of Wemade, Henry Chang, the South Korean cryptocurrency exchange Upbit was the brains behind the Digital Asset Exchange Joint Consultative Body (DAXA)’s decision to delist WEMIX. The Wemade CEO accused Upbit of applying different standards and of failing to furnish his company with the token supply guidelines. Wemade Not Formally Notified About the Delisting Decision Just days after an association of South Korean crypto exchanges announced the delisting of the WEMIX token, Henry Chang, the CEO of Wemade — the token issuer — accused the Upbit crypto exchange of orchestrating the token’s removal. Speaking at an online press briefing, Chang also claimed to not have been formally notified about the decision to delist the token. As reported by Bitcoin.com News, South Korea’s Digital Asset Exchange Joint Consultative Body (DAXA) said the WEMIX token will be delisted in December. Justifying the decision, DAXA claimed the token information provided by Wemade — a gamin...

The troubled and now-bankrupt crypto exchange FTX is the subject of “an active and ongoing investigation,” Bahamian attorney general Ryan Pinder told the press on Sunday. Pinder also stressed that putting the blame on the Bahamas “because FTX is headquartered here would be a gross oversimplification of reality.” Bahamian Attorney General Says the ‘Bahamas Will Emerge, Held in Even Higher Esteem’ On Sunday, the attorney general of the Bahamas discussed the collapse of FTX Digital Markets, and he insisted that Bahamian authorities are investigating FTX. Ryan Pinder started his speech by contending that “the Bahamas is a place of laws, the rule of law, and the exercise of due process characterizes the integrity of our jurisdiction.” The attorney general declared that the Bahamas Securities Commission (BSC) is the main Bahamian agency in charge of dealing with the FTX situation. Pinder explained that while FTX was located in the Bahamas, the government understands that the aftermath h...

Mayor of New York City Eric Adams took a supportive, if somewhat veiled, stance on the partial crypto mining ban imposed in the state. A law signed by fellow Democrat and New York Governor Kathy Hochul temporarily limits the minting of digital currencies using fossil fuels. New York Mayor and Bitcoin Supporter Eric Adams to Seek Balance With Environmental Goals Cryptocurrency proponent and New York City Mayor Eric Adams has spoken in a supportive tone about the state’s two-year moratorium on certain crypto mining operations relying on carbon-based energy resources. The partial ban, which will prevent companies involved in proof-of-work (PoW) mining from expanding, renewing, or obtaining new permits, will be enforced with a law signed by Governor Kathy Hochul on Tuesday. Quoted by the New York Daily News, Adams insisted he is still focused on establishing New York as a hub for crypto. At the same time, he emphasized that a balance can be found between this goal and the efforts to r...

Alameda Research reportedly withdrew the most funds from FTX US, the U.S. arm of FTX, days before the crypto exchange filed for bankruptcy. The majority of the withdrawn cryptocurrencies were sent to wallets owned by FTX International, “suggesting that Alameda may have been operating to bridge between the two entities,” crypto intelligence firm Arkham said. Alameda’s Withdrawal Analysis From FTX US exchange Crypto intelligence firm Arkham shared an analysis Friday showing that Alameda Research withdrew the most funds from FTX US, the U.S. arm of FTX, days before the crypto exchange collapsed. Arkham tweeted: Arkham analyzed flows from FTX US in the final few days before the collapse, finding that Alameda withdrew the most funds, at $204M. Arkham added that it has identified eight different addresses where Alameda Research transferred the crypto assets it withdrew. The crypto intelligence firm noted that of the $204 million: $142.4M (69.8% of the total) was sent to wallets ow...

Billionaire Bill Ackman has warned that the crypto industry needs to self-police or it risks being shut down. He added that regulators need more resources to police the bad actors in the crypto space and will likely take years to catch up. Bill Ackman on Crypto Regulation and the Need for Industry to Self-Police Billionaire Bill Ackman shared his thoughts on a variety of crypto-related topics, including crypto regulation, in a series of tweets Saturday. Ackman is the CEO and portfolio manager of Pershing Square Capital Management, a registered investment adviser with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). His current net worth is about $3.5 billion. Regarding cryptocurrency regulation, he said: “I am not sure we need new rules. Much of the fraud that is taking place is old-fashioned pump and dump schemes, and failures of custodians to protect customer assets.” The executive continued: “I suspect that existing anti-fraud and other laws already govern these violations. ...

The Central Bank of Nigeria governor, Godwin Emefiele, has said the newly designed naira banknotes are set to enhance the effectiveness of the organization’s monetary policy and bolster the financial inclusion cause. Forcing Currency Hoarders to Return to the Banking System According to the Nigerian central bank governor, Godwin Emefiele , the recently launched naira banknotes are expected to force currency dealers to return “hoarded currency [back] into the banking system.” In a speech delivered at the new naira banknotes unveiling ceremony, Emefiele claimed that the new banknotes could potentially enhance the effectiveness of the country’s monetary policy. Besides helping return the older banknotes into circulation, the CBN governor insisted the redesigned naira banknotes are likely to bolster the bank’s financial inclusion cause. Emefiele explained: We believe that this exercise would help in increasing financial inclusion, moving towards a more cashless economy, and ensuring...

According to directives issued by Samuel A. Jinapor, the Ghanaian minister for lands and natural resources, large-scale gold mining companies will be required to “sell 20% of all refined gold at their refineries to the Bank of Ghana.” A gold-for-oil scheme is part of the Ghanaian government’s plan to stop the further dwindling of the country’s foreign exchange reserves. Bank of Ghana to Use Cedi to Pay for Gold Following the revelation that Ghana plans to buy oil products using gold, Samuel A. Jinapor, the country’s minister for lands and natural resources, announced on Nov. 25 that starting in 2023, large-scale mining companies “shall sell twenty per cent (20%) of all refined gold at their refineries to the Bank of Ghana.” Payments for the gold will be made using the local currency — the cedi — and will be “at spot price with no discounts.” According to a Facebook post shared by Ghanaian vice president Mahamudu Bawumia, the Bank of Ghana (BOG) and the Precious Minerals Marketing ...

Cryptocurrencies like bitcoin and ether cannot be classified as securities or investment instruments, according to a communication issued by the financial watchdog in Belgium. The authority has tried to clarify the matter, noting that the digital coins may be subject to other regulations. FSMA: Securities Laws Do Not Apply to Bitcoin and Other Decentralized Cryptocurrencies In response to multiple requests for clarification from citizens and businesses, Belgium’s Financial Services and Markets Authority ( FSMA ) has explained why it believes bitcoin, ether and other similar cryptocurrencies cannot be considered securities or investment instruments. According to its position published on Thursday, the country’s securities laws do not apply to such digital assets, which have no issuer and are created by a computer code as opposed to the execution of an agreement between an issuer and an investor. However, the regulatory body pointed out that if these crypto assets have a payment or...