DPOS

Coinbase challenges SEC’s decision to reject new crypto rules

dpos@newsletter.paragraph.com (DPOS) — Sun, 17 Dec 2023 05:26:55 GMT

Coinbase Chief Legal Officer Paul Grewal said on Friday that the exchange is challenging the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission’s (SEC) decision to reject new digital asset regulatory rules. Earlier in the day, the SEC rejected Coinbase’s long-standing request for new rules, calling it “unnecessary.” Coinbase and the SEC have been at odds since it requested new rules in 2022. Grewal noted that Republican SEC Commissioners Hester Peirce and Mark Uyeda disagreed with the decision to reject new rules, noting the need for dialogue between regulators and the crypto industry.

The President of Brazil signs a cryptocurrency tax bill, which will tax citizens’ overseas income at 15% starting next year

dpos@newsletter.paragraph.com (DPOS) — Sat, 16 Dec 2023 02:04:35 GMT

Brazilian President Lula signed a law aimed at taxing crypto assets held overseas by Brazilian citizens. The law was signed on December 12 and published in the Official Gazette of the Federation the next day, and will enter into force on January 1, 2024. The new tax applies not only to cryptocurrencies but also to profits and dividends received by Brazilian taxpayers from overseas investment funds, platforms, real estate or trusts. The Brazilian government plans to raise approximately 20 billion reais (approximately $4 billion) in 2024 through this new tax.

There will be an early bird discount for those who pay the tax from 2023 onwards: in the case of installment payments, an 8% tax will be imposed on all income earned before 2023. Starting in 2024, the tax rate will be set at 15%. Under the bill, any citizen whose income exceeds $1,200 (BRL 6,000) from transactions outside Brazil will be taxed

SafeMoon officially files for Chapter 7 bankruptcy

dpos@newsletter.paragraph.com (DPOS) — Fri, 15 Dec 2023 06:13:02 GMT

Watcher.Guru tweeted that decentralized finance project SafeMoon has officially filed for Chapter 7 bankruptcy. According to previous news, in November this year, the U.S. Department of Justice and SEC accused SafeMoon executives of participating in a fraud scheme and unregistered issuance of crypto securities. According to the indictment, SafeMoon founders and executives Braden John Karony, Kyle Nagy and Thomas Smith were charged with conspiracy to commit securities fraud, wire fraud and money laundering. Prosecutors said the defendants intentionally diverted and misappropriated more than $200 million worth of tokens from liquidity pools and used them to purchase luxury cars, real estate and personal investments.

The front end of DeFi asset management protocol Zapper is suspected to have been hijacked

dpos@newsletter.paragraph.com (DPOS) — Fri, 15 Dec 2023 01:50:35 GMT

SlowMist Chief Information Security Officer 23pds forwarded a post posted by X account @g4sarah, which stated that the front end of the DeFi asset management protocol Zapper was suspected to have been hijacked.

In addition, Paidun said that the Sushi front-end has also been compromised. Earlier news, Sushi CTO warned not to interact with any dApp, and Ledger was suspected of having suspicious code.

CoinList reaches $1.2 million settlement with OFAC over sanctions violations

dpos@newsletter.paragraph.com (DPOS) — Thu, 14 Dec 2023 09:13:38 GMT

Crypto exchange CoinList has reached a settlement with the U.S. Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) over sanctions violations for approximately $1.2 million. It is reported that in the two years ending in May 2022, CoinList processed 989 transactions from users resident in Crimea, worth $1.25 million. OFAC called this a "clear violation" of its sanctions against Russia and Ukraine.

Dubai regulator grants virtual asset service provider license to crypto exchange CoinMENA

dpos@newsletter.paragraph.com (DPOS) — Thu, 14 Dec 2023 01:57:01 GMT

Bahrain-based cryptocurrency exchange CoinMENA has announced that its Dubai subsidiary CoinMENA FZE has been granted a Virtual Asset Service Provider (VASP) license by the Dubai Virtual Asset Regulatory Authority (VARA) to operate and provide services in the emirate.

The license also allows CoinMENA to offer retail and institutional clients in the United Arab Emirates the ability to deposit and withdraw money in UAE dirhams for faster transactions without foreign exchange considerations. A year ago, the platform received a provisional license from Dubai regulators.

Wombat Exchange will integrate the issuance of stable currency project Sable Finance

dpos@newsletter.paragraph.com (DPOS) — Wed, 13 Dec 2023 01:22:16 GMT

Decentralized stablecoin exchange Wombat Exchange announced an in-depth partnership with decentralized stablecoin project Sable Finance (USDS). The partnership integrates USDS as one of the key stablecoins into Wombat Exchange and issues Sable Finance’s native stablecoin USDS on the 10+ chains that Wombat Exchange is expanding to. There will also be deeper integration between WOM and SABLE in the near future.

Base ecological lending protocol Seamless Protocol will airdrop 400,000 SEAM

dpos@newsletter.paragraph.com (DPOS) — Tue, 12 Dec 2023 08:32:30 GMT

Seamless Protocol, a decentralized lending platform based on Base, announced that it will airdrop 400,000 SEAM tokens. The airdrop collection window will open at 4 a.m. on December 12, Beijing time. Eligible airdrop recipients can receive SEAM within 3 months. After the initial 3-month window, unclaimed tokens will be returned to a smart contract controlled by the Seamless community DAO. It is reported that more than 5,000 Seamless users are eligible for SEAM airdrops and are early supporters of the protocol. The snapshot was taken on December 8.

LayerX Capital has redeemed and transferred 10.57 million MATIC to Binance since March last year. MATIC investment is currently losing 47%.

dpos@newsletter.paragraph.com (DPOS) — Mon, 11 Dec 2023 01:55:42 GMT

LayerX Capital redeemed 3.61 million MATIC ($3.19 million) from the MATIC PoS pledge contract 10 hours ago and then transferred it to Binance. LayerX Capital received/bought 11.88 million MATIC ($28.33 million) from Binance and Wintermute at an average price of $2.38 near the historical high price of MATIC in December 2021 and deposited it for PoS pledge. Then starting from March 2022, MATIC will be redeemed and transferred to Binance one after another. So far, a total of 10.57 million MATIC (US$8.62 million) has been redeemed and transferred to Binance in more than a year, with an average price of US$0.815. At current prices, LayerX Capital’s MATIC investment is currently at a loss of $13.29 million (-47%).

Avalanche WebWallet will be retired and transitioned to new wallet Core on January 23

dpos@newsletter.paragraph.com (DPOS) — Sun, 10 Dec 2023 04:04:19 GMT

Ava Labs product related person Kieran McShane tweeted that the Avalanche wallet WebWallet will be deactivated on January 23 and transitioned to the new wallet Core. In addition, the WebWallet code will remain open source. Core is built to accommodate upcoming advanced AVAX staking features and functionality, supporting verification, delegation, x/p/c access, cross-chain transfers, portfolio export, and more.

UK Competition and Markets Authority seeks views on Microsoft and OpenAI partnership

dpos@newsletter.paragraph.com (DPOS) — Sat, 09 Dec 2023 07:59:09 GMT

The UK Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) is providing parties and relevant third parties with an early opportunity to comment on whether the partnership between Microsoft and OpenAI, including recent developments, has resulted in a relevant merger and, if so, the merger. May comment on the impact on competition in the UK. The call for comment is the first part of the Competition and Markets Authority's (CMA) information-gathering process, which is issued ahead of the formal launch of the first phase of its investigation.

Pando Asset has submitted an updated version of its Bitcoin spot ETF application to the SEC

dpos@newsletter.paragraph.com (DPOS) — Fri, 08 Dec 2023 06:04:07 GMT

According to a public document, Swiss asset management company Pando Asset has submitted an updated version of the Bitcoin Spot ETF Form S-1 to the U.S. SEC. According to previous news, Pando Asset submitted a Bitcoin spot ETF application to the SEC last week. The ETF will trade on the Cboe BZX exchange, with Coinbase serving as custodian. Bitcoin pricing will be based on CME’s CF Bitcoin Reference Rate.

Bonk’s market value surpassed FLOKI and became the third largest dog-themed token after DOGE and SHIB

dpos@newsletter.paragraph.com (DPOS) — Thu, 07 Dec 2023 00:36:38 GMT

Bonk is up more than 70% since Sunday, making it the third-largest dog-themed coin behind Dogecoin (DOGE) and Shiba Inu (SHIB). Its current market capitalization of $500 million is higher than FLOKI’s $400 million and BabyDogeCoin’s $350 million. Other dog-themed coins have also gained in the past 24 hours. DOGE surged 16% and SHIB gained 10%.

Coinbase wallet launches new feature to support sending money via shared links

dpos@newsletter.paragraph.com (DPOS) — Wed, 06 Dec 2023 12:59:57 GMT

Coinbase Wallet has launched a new feature that allows users to send money through any platform where a link can be shared, including instant messaging applications such as WhatsApp, iMessage, and Telegram, social media such as Facebook, Snapchat, TikTok, and Instagram, and email. When the recipient clicks on the shared link, they will be directed to download the Coinbase wallet app. If payment is not collected within two weeks, it will be automatically refunded to the sender.

NFTScan Labs announces the launch of Mint Blockchain, an Ethereum L2 network focused on NFTs

dpos@newsletter.paragraph.com (DPOS) — Wed, 06 Dec 2023 00:13:28 GMT

According to official news, NFT infrastructure service provider NFTScan development team NFTScan Labs announced the launch of the Ethereum L2 network: Mint Blockchain. Mint Blockchain was built based on the OP Stack solution in the early days and is currently in the internal testing stage.

According to Mint’s official description, Mint Blockchain is an L2 blockchain network focusing on the NFT field, and is committed to promoting the innovation of NFT asset protocol standards and the large-scale adoption of NFT assets in business scenarios.

South African regulators received 128 crypto license applications and plan to review 36 of them on December 12

dpos@newsletter.paragraph.com (DPOS) — Tue, 05 Dec 2023 00:31:35 GMT

South Africa’s regulator, the Financial Sector Conduct Authority (FSCA), said it had received 128 applications for cryptoasset service provider licenses as of November 30, 2023 (the application deadline). The FSCA plans to review representations from 36 licensees at a Licensing Executive Committee meeting on 12 December. Another 22 applications will be submitted on February 13. The last 14 applications must wait until March 12. The Authority did not specify the fate of all remaining applications, explaining its assessment methodology as a comprehensive assessment of know-your-customer onboarding, data protection, cyber risk management, conflict of interest management, complaints handling and credit counterparty risk management.

As previously reported, South Africa will require cryptocurrency exchanges to obtain licenses before the end of the year, which means that the FSCA may issue licenses to some cryptocurrency companies this month.

ArbitrumDAO will provide $23.54 million in funding to 26 projects that missed the first round of funding

dpos@newsletter.paragraph.com (DPOS) — Sun, 03 Dec 2023 23:41:22 GMT

ArbitrumDAO has approved an initiative for a one-time “standby fund” of 21.1 million ARB ($23.54 million) aimed at supporting 26 projects that missed out on the first round of funding. The initiative passed with a two-thirds vote in favor. Projects that will receive funding include Gains Network ($5 million), Stargate Finance ($2.2 million), Synapse ($2.2 million), and Wormhole ($2 million). With the approval of the proposal, the total budget of STIP (Short-term Incentive Program) has been increased to 7110 ARB. Under the proposal, additional funds would be distributed after a three-day waiting period.

Celsius Network deposited 5,000 ETH to Coinbase about 4 hours ago

dpos@newsletter.paragraph.com (DPOS) — Sun, 03 Dec 2023 00:42:53 GMT

According to Spot On Chain monitoring, Celsius Network deposited another 5,000 ETH ($10.46 million) to Coinbase at a price of $2,092 about 4 hours ago. Since November 14, 2023, Celsius Network has deposited 29,760 ETH ($60.94 million) to Coinbase, FalconX, and OK at an average price of $2,048.

Starknet Foundation: Deadline for air investment eligibility has been determined

dpos@newsletter.paragraph.com (DPOS) — Sat, 02 Dec 2023 01:59:42 GMT

The Starknet Foundation stated on the X platform that it is formulating plans to airdrop tokens to some users and contributors. The technical team will build and test different front ends, some will be adopted and some will not. Furthermore, the draft plan in yesterday’s screenshot is still under development, the deadline for the criteria used to determine who can receive the tokens or the number of tokens has been set, and any activity now will not have any impact on the price of the air investment. The Starknet Foundation will share details of finalized official standards and terms as they become available.

Circle: does not directly or indirectly fund Hamas and does not provide banking services to Justin Sun and his affiliates

dpos@newsletter.paragraph.com (DPOS) — Fri, 01 Dec 2023 08:21:58 GMT

Dante Disparte, chief strategy officer and head of global policy at Circle, sent a letter to U.S. Senators Sherrod Brown and Elizabeth Warren in response to the recent “accountability movement” against Circle. Circle said the company has a long history of combating illicit financial activity and does not directly or indirectly fund Hamas or any other bad actors. Second, Circle does not provide banking services to Justin Sun or any entities owned or controlled by Justin Sun, including the TRON Foundation or HTX. To date, the U.S. government has not explicitly designated Sun or his entities as Specially Designated Nationals. Nonetheless, Circle terminated all accounts held by Sun and its affiliates in February 2023. At the same time, Circle is a highly regulated financial services company. Subject to multiple regulatory regimes, including the Bank Secrecy Act (BSA) and applicable laws regarding anti-money laundering and counter-terrorism financing. In addition, Circle strongly advocates the establishment of a comprehensive federal framework in the United States to regulate stablecoins. Circle has been calling on the federal government to prudentially regulate stablecoins to ensure that each issuer must meet the highest standards of reserve, redemption, disclosure, liquidity and operational risk management.