DD
MM
YYYY

CATEGORIES

PAGES

DD
MM
YYYY

spot_img

CATEGORIES

PAGES

Home Blog Page 4108

SEC Chair Gensler, Coinbase Price, MetaMask, and other Crypto News

By
Paul Ugbede Godwin
-
0
WASHINGTON, DC - OCTOBER 03: Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) Chair Gary Gensler listens during a meeting with the Treasury Department's Financial Stability Oversight Council at the U.S. Treasury Department on October 03, 2022 in Washington, DC. The council held the meeting to discuss a range of topics including climate-related financial risk and the recent Treasury report on the adoption of cloud services in the financial sector. (Photo by Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images)

SEC Chair Gensler has not commented on whether he will grant an appeal to Grayscale Investments, the largest digital asset manager in the world, as the clock ticks down to the midnight deadline. Grayscale has been seeking approval from the SEC to convert its popular Bitcoin Trust into an exchange-traded fund (ETF), a move that could boost investor confidence and liquidity in the crypto market.

However, the SEC has been reluctant to approve any crypto ETFs, citing concerns over market manipulation, fraud and investor protection. Grayscale has argued that its trust meets the SEC’s standards and that denying its request would harm innovation and competition in the industry.

Coinbase, one of the largest cryptocurrency exchanges in the world, has expressed its “serious concerns” about the proposed tax rules by the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) that would require crypto businesses to report transactions over $10,000 to the agency. In a blog post published on October 13, Coinbase said that the rules are “unworkable” and “would have a negative impact on the crypto industry and its users”.

Coinbase argued that the rules are based on outdated assumptions about how crypto transactions work, and that they would impose an unreasonable burden on crypto businesses and customers. Coinbase said that the rules would require crypto businesses to collect and verify personal information from every counterparty in a transaction, even if they are not customers of the business. This would create privacy and security risks, as well as increase costs and complexity for both businesses and users.

Coinbase also said that the rules would create a competitive disadvantage for U.S. crypto businesses, as they would not apply to foreign competitors. Coinbase said that this would drive innovation and investment away from the U.S., and harm the growth of the crypto industry. Coinbase urged the IRS to reconsider its approach and engage with the crypto industry to develop more sensible and effective tax rules.

The cryptocurrency market saw a boost on Friday as the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) did not file an appeal against a court decision that granted Grayscale Investments the right to offer a Bitcoin exchange-traded fund (ETF). The ruling, which was issued on September 30, marked the first time that the SEC approved a Bitcoin ETF in the U.S., opening the door for more institutional investors to enter the crypto space.

Bitcoin, the largest and most popular digital asset, rose by more than 5% on Friday, reaching a high of $27,000. Analysts expect the bullish momentum to continue as more investors seek exposure to Bitcoin through the Grayscale ETF, which has lower fees and higher liquidity than other crypto products.

The cryptocurrency market is showing signs of weakness as Bitcoin struggles to stay above the $27,000 mark. The leading digital coin has lost more than 10% of its value in the past week, amid regulatory uncertainty and increased volatility. The SEC is expected to announce its decision on whether to approve or reject a Bitcoin exchange-traded fund (ETF) by November 14, which could have a significant impact on the market sentiment and liquidity.

Some analysts believe that the SEC will deny the ETF application, citing concerns over market manipulation and investor protection. If that happens, Bitcoin could face further downward pressure and test the $25,000 support level.

Social finance platforms are trying out new features to attract more users and challenge the dominance of FriendTech, the leading social network that also offers financial services. Some of these platforms, such as MoneyMate and CashClub, are even aiming to compete with X, the global digital currency that has disrupted the traditional banking system.

These platforms claim to offer more transparency, security and convenience than their rivals, as well as better rewards and incentives for their users. They hope to appeal to a growing segment of consumers who are looking for alternative ways to manage their money and socialize online.

MetaMask, the popular Ethereum wallet and browser extension, seems to have disappeared from the Apple App Store as of today. This is a surprising and unfortunate development for the crypto community, as MetaMask has been a reliable and user-friendly tool for accessing decentralized applications (dApps) on the Ethereum network. The reason for the removal is not clear yet, but some speculate that it may be related to Apple’s policies on cryptocurrency apps, which have been inconsistent and restrictive in the past.

MetaMask has not issued any official statement on the matter, but we hope that they will be able to resolve the issue with Apple and restore their app to the store as soon as possible. In the meantime, users who have already downloaded MetaMask can continue to use it, but they may not receive any updates or bug fixes until the situation is resolved. Users who have not downloaded MetaMask yet can still use it on their desktop browsers or on Android devices. We will keep you updated on any further developments regarding this issue.

People living in Nigeria, India, Vietnam, Argentina and South Africa are the most optimistic about future of Bitcoin

By
Paul Ugbede Godwin
-
0

According to a recent survey conducted by Statista, people living in Nigeria, India, Vietnam, Argentina, and South Africa are the most optimistic about the future of bitcoin. The survey asked respondents from 74 countries whether they expected bitcoin to increase or decrease in value over the next year. The results showed that the five countries mentioned above had the highest percentage of people who expected bitcoin to increase in value, ranging from 76% in Nigeria to 66% in South Africa.

Bitcoin is a decentralized digital currency that has been gaining popularity and adoption around the world. But not all countries have the same level of enthusiasm and confidence in the future of this innovative technology.

This optimism reflects the growing adoption and interest in bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies in these regions, where many people face economic challenges, currency instability, and limited access to financial services. Bitcoin offers them an alternative way to store and transfer value, hedge against inflation, and participate in the global digital economy.

Moreover, bitcoin enables them to access innovative applications and platforms built on top of its decentralized network, such as decentralized finance (DeFi), non-fungible tokens (NFTs), and social media.

Why are these countries so bullish on Bitcoin? There are several possible factors that could explain their high expectations. One of them is the economic and political instability that many of these countries face, which makes them seek alternative ways to store and transfer value that are not controlled by central authorities or subject to inflation and devaluation. Bitcoin offers them a way to preserve their purchasing power and access global markets without intermediaries or censorship.

Another factor is the high level of innovation and entrepreneurship that these countries exhibit, especially in the field of fintech and blockchain. Many of these countries have vibrant startup ecosystems and supportive regulatory environments that foster the development and adoption of new technologies that can improve the lives of millions of people.

Bitcoin is one of these technologies that has the potential to create new opportunities and solutions for various sectors and challenges, such as remittances, financial inclusion, e-commerce, education, health, and more.

Finally, another factor is the cultural and social affinity that these countries have with Bitcoin. Many of these countries have young and tech-savvy populations that are eager to learn and experiment with new ideas and trends. They also have strong communities and networks that share information and resources about Bitcoin and support each other in their journey. They see Bitcoin as a way to express their identity and values, as well as a tool to empower themselves and their communities.

These are some of the reasons why people living in Nigeria, India, Vietnam, Argentina, and South Africa are the most optimistic about the future of Bitcoin. They have a vision and a hope that Bitcoin can make a positive impact on their lives and their societies. They are not alone in this belief, as more and more people around the world are joining the Bitcoin movement every day.

Nigeria’s National Broadcasting Commission in Talks With Google And TikTok Over Proposed Social Media Regulation Bill

By
Ojukwu Emmanuel
-
0

The National Broadcasting Commission (NBC) has revealed that it is currently in discussions with tech companies Google and TikTok, concerning a proposed social media regulation bill.

The Director of NBC Francisca Aiyetan, highlighted the commission’s plan to regulate social media, to prevent it from misguiding young Nigerians, amongst other issues.

In her words,

“Every country is making efforts to regulate social media, and Nigeria also is making efforts because we know that there are a lot of things to harness from it. But if not regulated, it can also be a platform that will misguide our young people.

“The level we are now is discussing with stakeholders so to agree that, yes, we need to regulate social media and at that level, there should be legislation; there should be strengthening of the law to factor in all the things that are new in the broadcasting and content-sharing space.

“And then, when you have the power and the enablement by law to do such things, then we can now look at, do we have the way to do it technology-wise? Nevertheless, presently what we do is that we engage the platform owners as a regulator, we engage Google YouTube, and TikTok, so we know the faces behind these platforms.”

NBC is expressing concerns related to social media usage in Nigeria, especially regarding issues like fake news, hate speech, and the dissemination of harmful or inappropriate content.

Recall that earlier, the Director-General of the NBC, Balarabe Ilelah disclosed that the commission had sent a regulation bill to the National Assembly. He described the ills of social media as a “monster”, lamenting that the current law does not give the commission the right to control social media.

Therefore, NBC’s discussions with Google and TikTok may involve exploring the legal and regulatory frameworks governing social media platforms in Nigeria.

The proposed bill might include provisions that impact the operations of these tech companies, and NBC could be seeking their compliance and support in adhering to these regulations.

Content moderation is a critical aspect of social media regulation, hence, NBC may be in talks with Google and TikTok about implementing more robust content moderation and reporting mechanisms to ensure that content shared on their platform aligns with Nigerian laws and regulations.

Overall, the engagement between the NBC and these tech giants represents a significant step in addressing the complex issues surrounding social media regulation, which will foster cooperation, and ensure responsible and safe social media usage in Nigeria.

Wale Edun Confirms Nigeria’s Close to Securing $1.5bn World Bank Loan

By
Samuel Nwite
-
0

The Minister of Finance and Coordinating Minister for the Economy, Wale Edun, said on Saturday that discussions are underway with the World Bank regarding a $1.5 billion concessionary loan to bolster budgetary provisions.

The loan is expected to materialize soon amid concerns over Nigeria’s rising debt profile.

Edun, who is saddled with mammoth responsibility of revitalizing the economy, confrims the development during a press briefing at the annual meetings of the World Bank and International Monetary Fund (IMF). He said that talk about the loan has been going on for long and would be a topic of discussion when the Federal Executive Council (FEC) convenes on Monday.

Nigeria’s public debt stock, which accelerated in the last eight years under former President Muhammadu Buhari, has risen to N87.38 trillion as at June 30, 2023, according to the Debt Management Office. The DMO which describes the debt stock as unsustainable and a threat, said in June that Nigeria’s debt service-to-revenue ratio in 2023 stands at 73.5 percent.

However, Edun who stated that discussions regarding the loan request have been underway for a considerable period, assured that the loan would come with a near-zero interest rate, alleviating concerns about escalating debt service commitments.

“Talks with the World Bank on $1.5 billion budget support, is correct. The World Bank is the number one multilateral development bank for helping developing countries fund own projects and programs. It has free money through International Development Association (IDA),” he said.

“It has this for the poorer countries and right now I think we qualify as one of the countries that are almost in the normal window of the World Bank funding but also some concessionary IDA funding.”

He clarified that this essentially implies an interest rate of zero. Consequently, there would be no negative connotations associated with obtaining World Bank funding to support developmental projects.

“In this particular case, its long been in the pipeline, and we are hoping that that funding will come through soon. A lot of hard work is being done. There’s a Federal Executive Council meeting on Monday that should be able to discuss this as well as other initiatives for financing of reasonable term.

“We’ve talked about the high costs of money, but the World Bank money is the cheapest,” he said.

Abebe Aemro Selassie, the Director of the African Department at the IMF, said on Friday that Nigeria’s current debt situation is sustainable. He also clarified that the country is not in discussions with the IMF about debt restructuring.

This suggests that Nigeria is not in debt trouble for now. However, Selassie advised the government to reduce the burden of servicing and acquiring debts, emphasizing the need to implement tax reforms to enhance revenue generation,

Nigeria has earlier obtained a $3.4 billion emergency financial assistance facility from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) through its Rapid Financing Instrument.

Mastercard Wraps up CBDC pilot with Reserve Bank of Australia; GMX receives largest share of $40M Arbitrum STIP grants

By
Paul Ugbede Godwin
-
0

Mastercard, the global payment technology company, has announced the completion of a central bank digital currency (CBDC) pilot project in collaboration with the Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) and other partners. The pilot tested the feasibility and functionality of using CBDCs for cross-border transactions between different digital currency platforms.

The pilot involved the issuance and exchange of two CBDCs, one denominated in Australian dollars and the other in Singapore dollars, using Mastercard’s distributed ledger technology (DLT) platform. The participants included banks, fintechs, and regulators from Australia, Singapore, and other regions. The pilot aimed to demonstrate how CBDCs can enhance efficiency, transparency, and interoperability in the global payment system.

According to Mastercard, the pilot achieved several key outcomes, such as:

Enabling seamless and secure conversion and transfer of CBDCs between different DLT platforms, without the need for intermediaries or centralized infrastructure.

Supporting various use cases for CBDCs, such as wholesale settlement, cross-border remittance, trade finance, and foreign exchange.

Providing end-to-end visibility and traceability of CBDC transactions, as well as compliance with anti-money laundering (AML) and counter-terrorism financing (CTF) regulations.

Offering flexibility and scalability for CBDC issuance and management, as well as compatibility with existing payment systems and standards.

Mastercard said that the pilot was part of its ongoing efforts to support central banks and governments in exploring and developing CBDCs, which are expected to play a key role in the future of money and digital economy. Mastercard also said that it will continue to work with the RBA and other partners to further test and refine the CBDC solutions.

Raj Dhamodharan, Executive Vice President of Digital Asset and Blockchain Products and Partnerships at Mastercard, said: “We are proud to have successfully completed this pilot with the RBA and our partners. This is a significant milestone for the advancement of CBDCs in Asia Pacific and globally.

We have demonstrated that it is possible to create a robust and interoperable CBDC ecosystem that can deliver real benefits for consumers, businesses, and governments. Mastercard is committed to being a trusted partner for central banks and governments in their journey towards digital currency innovation.”

The cryptocurrency market has grown exponentially in the past decade, reaching a market capitalization of over $2 trillion in 2021. This has attracted the attention of many traditional financial institutions, who see the potential of crypto as a new source of revenue, innovation and customer satisfaction.

According to a recent survey by KPMG, more than 60% of global banks are either already offering or planning to offer crypto services in the next two years. These services include custody, trading, lending, payments and advisory. Some of the leading banks in this space are JP Morgan, Goldman Sachs, BNY Mellon and Standard Chartered.

The benefits of offering crypto services are manifold. For banks, it can help them diversify their portfolio, increase their fee income, enhance their brand image and attract new customers. For customers, it can provide them with more choice, convenience, security and access to the emerging digital economy.

However, offering crypto services also comes with significant challenges and risks. Banks need to comply with complex and evolving regulatory frameworks, ensure adequate cybersecurity and anti-money laundering measures, manage volatility and liquidity issues, and educate their staff and customers about the benefits and risks of crypto.

To overcome these challenges and succeed in the crypto space, banks need to adopt a strategic and holistic approach. They need to partner with reputable and reliable crypto service providers, leverage their existing infrastructure and expertise, invest in innovation and research, and foster a culture of learning and collaboration. By doing so, banks can position themselves as leaders in the crypto industry and gain a competitive edge in the rapidly changing financial landscape.

Mastercard has completed a central bank digital currency pilot with the Reserve Bank of Australia and the Digital Finance Cooperative Research Centre. The project tested how authorized parties, who have gone through know-your-customer protocols, could hold, use and redeem CBDCs.

GMX receives largest share of $40M Arbitrum STIP grants amid Tether Appointing new CEO

GMX, a decentralized exchange (DEX) that supports leveraged trading of perpetual contracts, has announced that it has received the largest share of the $40 million Strategic Treasury Investment Program (STIP) grants from Arbitrum, a layer-2 scaling solution for Ethereum.

According to a blog post published on October 13, GMX received $10 million worth of grants from Arbitrum, which will be used to bootstrap liquidity and incentivize users on its platform. GMX claims to be the first DEX to offer up to 30x leverage on perpetual contracts, as well as the first to support cross-margin trading with stablecoins and wrapped tokens.

GMX said that it chose Arbitrum as its layer-2 solution because of its compatibility with Ethereum, its fast and cheap transactions, and its growing ecosystem of projects and users. GMX also praised Arbitrum for its transparent and fair grant allocation process, which was based on objective criteria such as user growth, TVL (total value locked), and social engagement.

The STIP grants are part of Arbitrum’s initiative to support the development and adoption of its layer-2 network, which launched on mainnet in late August. Arbitrum aims to distribute $40 million worth of grants to projects that build on its platform over the next year, with the first batch of recipients announced on October 12.

Among the other projects that received grants from Arbitrum are Uniswap, SushiSwap, Balancer, Curve, Aave, Compound, MakerDAO, Synthetix, Chainlink, The Graph, and Etherscan. However, one notable project that missed out on the grants was Lido, a decentralized staking protocol that allows users to earn rewards on their staked ETH without locking it up.

Lido’s omission from the grant recipients sparked some controversy in the crypto community, as some users questioned Arbitrum’s criteria and decision-making process. Lido is one of the largest projects in the Ethereum ecosystem, with over $8 billion worth of ETH staked through its protocol. Lido also recently launched its stETH token on Arbitrum, which represents staked ETH on layer 2.

Lido’s team expressed their disappointment and confusion over Arbitrum’s decision on Twitter, saying that they had applied for the grants and had been in contact with Arbitrum’s team. They also said that they had received positive feedback from Arbitrum’s users and that they were looking forward to collaborating with them in the future.

Arbitrum’s team responded by saying that they had received over 400 applications for the grants and that they had to make some tough choices. They also said that they appreciated Lido’s work and that they hoped to work with them in the future. They added that the STIP grants are not a one-time event and that they will continue to distribute grants to more projects in the coming months.

Tether promotes Paolo Ardoino to CEO Role

Tether, the company behind the world’s largest stablecoin, has announced that Paolo Ardoino has been appointed as its new chief executive officer. Ardoino, who has been serving as the chief technology officer of Tether and its sister company Bitfinex since 2015, will take over the leadership role from Jean-Louis van der Velde, who will remain as a board member and advisor.

Ardoino is a veteran in the cryptocurrency industry, having joined Bitfinex as a senior software developer in 2014. He has been instrumental in developing and maintaining the technology platforms of both Bitfinex and Tether, as well as overseeing the integration of Tether with various blockchain networks, such as Ethereum, Tron, Algorand, and Solana. He is also a vocal advocate for innovation and transparency in the crypto space, often engaging with the community on social media and podcasts.

In a press release, Ardoino said that he is honored and excited to lead Tether into its next phase of growth and development. He added that he will continue to work closely with van der Velde and the rest of the team to ensure that Tether remains the most trusted and widely used stablecoin in the world.

Van der Velde, who has been the CEO of Tether since 2016, said that he is proud of what Tether has achieved under his tenure, especially in terms of expanding its market capitalization, user base, and network support. He also praised Ardoino for his technical expertise, vision, and leadership skills, saying that he is confident that he will take Tether to new heights of success.

Tether was launched in 2014 as a digital token pegged to the US dollar, aiming to provide a stable and transparent alternative to fiat currencies in the crypto ecosystem. Since then, Tether has grown to become the dominant stablecoin in terms of market capitalization, liquidity, and adoption, with over $70 billion worth of tokens in circulation across various blockchains. Tether claims that every token is backed by a corresponding reserve of fiat or other assets and publishes regular attestations from independent auditors to verify its reserves.

1...4,1074,1084,109...8,586Page 4,108 of 8,586

© Tekedia. All rights reserved.

Term & Privacy

© Tekedia. All rights reserved.

Term & Privacy