Jerome Powell Highlights Oversight of Stablecoins as “Form of Money”
US Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell has stated that the regulator considers stablecoins to be a “form of money” and believes that central banks should oversee them. He made this statement during a hearing in response to Congresswoman Maxine Waters, who questioned whether stablecoin issuers should be regulated by the Fed: “ Leaving [the Fed] with a weak role in allowing too much private money creation at the state level would be a mistake ”. Stablecoin regulation could be discussed and pushed through Congress in the coming months.
Bitcoin Price Hits Highest in a Month Buoyed by ETF Expectations
Bitcoin (COIN:BTCUSD) price rose nearly 10% to $30,621.80, its highest level in over a month. The prospect of a bitcoin ETF following recent orders from companies such as BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) has excited investors. Despite the bad news in the crypto space, investors are bullish on the participation of large institutions. In addition to BlackRock, Invesco and WisdomTree have applied for spot bitcoin ETFs, while the EDX exchange has launched with backing from companies including Fidelity and Charles Schwab (NYSE:SCHW), as we announced yesterday. Even in the face of SEC regulation, TradFi continues to make headway in the cryptocurrency industry. At the time of publication, Bitcoin was just below the 30K mark at a last price of $29,991.12, with the high reduced to 6%.
Bitcoin Cash sees 22.20% jump after listing on EDX
Bitcoin Cash (COIN:BCHUSD) has seen a 22.20% jump over the past 24 hours to hit $134.43 after its recent listing on the EDX. BCH reached the $142 mark on June 21, its highest in 16 weeks. While BCH has faced a downtrend since February, it rebounded in March along with Bitcoin. The listing on EDX Markets further boosted the price. Other cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin, Ethereum and Litecoin (COIN:LTCUSD) also showed gains, but in smaller proportions.
Tether Expands Presence on Kava Blockchain to Drive DeFi Adoption
Tether (COIN:USDTUSD) is expanding its footprint across multiple blockchains by launching its USDT stablecoin on Kava, a Layer 1 blockchain built on the Cosmos network. With this integration, Kava joins a growing list of over a dozen blockchains hosting USDT. The goal is to drive DeFi adoption in partnership with Kava. Currently, USDT is widely used on Ethereum and Tron, being the largest stablecoin with a total supply of over 86 billion tokens.
CleanSpark Acquires Two Georgia BTC Mining Campuses for $9.3 Million
Bitcoin mining company CleanSpark has reached a definitive agreement to acquire two turnkey BTC mining campuses in Dalton, Georgia for $9.3 million in cash. The acquisition will increase CleanSpark’s hash rate by less than one exahash per second (EH/s) when completed. The new facility will house more than 6,000 Antminer S19 XPs and S19J Pro+, which were already ordered and fully paid for earlier in the year. CleanSpark’s goal is to reach a hash rate of 16 EH/s by the end of the year. The acquisition will help the company prepare for next year’s halving and is expected to generate revenue immediately. CleanSpark stock (NASDAQ:CLSK) on the Nasdaq are up over 12% and are trading at $4.94 at press time, reflecting the positive sentiment surrounding the crypto industry.
Core Scientific files for Chapter 11 bankruptcy plan for restructuring
Core Scientific (USOTC:CORZQ), a cryptocurrency miner, has filed a Chapter 11 bankruptcy filing, seeking to restructure its operations. The company is focused on renewing its business plan for a successful return, driven by increased liquidity and better market conditions. The plan aims to satisfy creditors and reorganize the company. Core Scientific was granted permission for a loan of up to $70 million to pay its debts.
MakerDAO buys $700 million in US Treasuries to shore up DAI reserve
MakerDAO (COIN:MKRUSD) bought $700 million in US Treasuries, bringing its DAI stablecoin reserve to $1.2 billion. This acquisition is part of Maker’s asset diversification strategy, aimed at increasing the role of traditional assets in the reserve. The platform also approved the integration of a new RWA vault and the withdrawal of USD 500 million in USDP (COIN:USDPUSD) and USD 390 million in GUSD (COIN:GUSDUSD) from the reserve.
Polygon launches Polygon Copilot artificial intelligence interface for developers
Polygon, a scalability solution for Ethereum, has released Polygon Copilot, a new artificial intelligence interface powered by OpenAI’s ChatGPT. This interface powered by the GPT-4 model provides analytics and insights for developers building decentralized applications on the Polygon network. The upgrade is part of “Polygon 2.0,” which includes a proposed upgrade to its main blockchain.
Casa expands support for Ethereum, providing self-custody services
Casa, a cryptocurrency self-custody company, has expanded its support to include Ethereum (COIN:ETHUSD), completing its expansion plan. Your app now offers private key management services for Bitcoin and Ethereum, with support for non-fungible tokens, ERC-20 tokens, and stablecoins. Casa highlights the importance of self-custody and control of private keys, providing a user-friendly solution.
Struct Finance launches interest rate vault and “tranching” mechanism for structured products
Struct Finance has launched its interest rate vault and “tranching” mechanism, allowing investors to trade custom structured finance products linked to crypto. The platform combines different tokens, tokenized derivatives and vaults in an unauthorized way to create products adapted to the risk profile of the investor. “ The new interest rate products allow anyone to split and repackage the risk of any yielding DeFi assets into different parts to suit their risk profile through an innovative process called ‘tranching’”, said the press release. This includes a fixed-return tranche for conservative investors and a variable-return tranche for risk-taking investors. Struct Finance aims to attract both institutions and retail investors by offering more stable returns in a crypto environment. The platform currently operates on the Avalanche protocol.
Canadian Securities Administrators warns of fictitious regulatory bodies used by cryptocurrency service providers
Cryptocurrency trading service providers are using fictitious regulatory bodies to boost their credibility. The Canadian Securities Administrators (CSA) has warned investors about companies falsely claiming authorization from non-existent regulatory organizations. The CSA identified 10 bogus regulatory or dispute resolution entities. Investors should carefully check the authenticity of these entities, many of which lack an online presence. The Financial Commission disputed the accusations, saying that there was a mistake and that their certifications were copied by scammers.
Amazon and DBS Bank test digital money based on standards proposed by the Monetary Authority of Singapore
The Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) has published a whitepaper outlining common standards for the use of digital money, demonstrating support for cryptography and the growing adoption of digital assets in Singapore. The whitepaper proposes a standard protocol for using digital money, including central bank digital currencies, tokenized bank deposits and stablecoins. The Purpose Bound Money (PBM) concept allows you to specify conditions when transferring digital money, and several institutions such as Amazon (NASDAQ:AMZN) and DBS Bank are conducting pilot tests to explore its potential. Collaboration between industry and policymakers has driven advances in settlement efficiency and the user experience of digital money.
Leon Marshall assumes role as Global Head of Sales at Galaxy Digital
Leon Marshall, a veteran of cryptocurrency trading, became the global head of sales for Mike Novogratz’s Galaxy Digital. Marshall, formerly at Genesis, expressed gratitude for the opportunity to drive adoption and promote growth in the crypto industry. Genesis struggled during the crypto credit crisis. Galaxy Digital is a well-established finance company operating in a variety of sectors of the cryptocurrency market, including investment and mining.
Fake Trezor wallet app removed from App Store
A malicious app pretending to be the Trezor hardware wallet has been removed from Apple’s App Store (NASDAQ:AAPL), but other copycat apps are still present. The security alert was issued after the discovery of a fake app that steals cryptocurrency. Although Apple removed the aforementioned app, there are still potentially dangerous ones in the store. Apple recommends downloading applications only from the manufacturer’s official website for greater security.
Binance Launches Regulated Digital Assets Platform in Kazakhstan
Binance launched a regulated digital asset platform in Kazakhstan, obtaining licensing from AFSA. The new platform offers fiat currency exchange, conversion, deposit, withdrawal and cryptocurrency custody services. Binance is collaborating with five regulatory bodies in the country and plans to expand its product lineup. Despite regulatory issues in several jurisdictions, the exchange is focusing its efforts on larger markets and has regulated entities in several European countries.
Neutron raises $10 million in round led by Binance Labs
Binance Labs led a $10 million funding round for Neutron, a cross-chain smart contract platform in the Cosmos ecosystem. CoinFund also participated in the funding. The proceeds will be used to advance Neutron’s blockchain software development and power its ecosystem. The Neutron platform provides interchain security and interoperability with 51 blockchains on the Cosmos network. Other investors include Delphi Ventures, LongHash Ventures, Semantic Ventures and Nomad Capital.
NUVO and Nebulai team up to revolutionize talent markets using Zero Knowledge Proofs and blockchain
NUVO and Nebulai announced a strategic partnership to revolutionize talent markets. NUVO brings its Nuvosphere platform, based on Zero Knowledge Proofs and blockchain technology, to empower individuals to control and monetize their data, while Nebulai offers its decentralized marketplace of solutions and talent to connect companies and individuals directly. Together, they seek to create a fair data economy and drive innovation across industries.
Atrium launches pilot of “Nouns: A Movie” series using NFTs as entertainment
Atrium, a network of Web3 artists, has launched the pilot series “Nouns: A Movie”, turning NFTs into entertainment. Led by former Pixar, Netflix (NASDAQ:NFLX) and Marvel animators, the film is funded by a DAO. Production is remote, fast and cost-effective. The NounsDAO community continues to fund creative projects such as a comic book series and a collection of NFTs. The film’s pilot can be watched on the Nouns Movie website.
Animoca Brands joins the Celo ecosystem to expand Web3 games on mobile devices
Animoca Brands has teamed up with the Celo ecosystem to expand web3 games on its mobile infrastructure. Celo is a blockchain ecosystem with social impact and climate action, and the partnership will allow Animoca Brands to develop entertainment and gaming projects using blockchain technology. Additionally, Animoca Brands will become a validator in the Celo network, as it discusses strategic partnerships with the Celo Foundation to drive social impact and climate action. The collaboration aims to integrate more users into Web3 and build trust in blockchain technology.