Singapore’s Monetary Authority (MAS) has granted a major payment institution (MPI) license to crypto exchange Blockchain.com, making it the twelfth digital payment token service provider in the country.
The license, received on August 1, enables Blockchain.com to offer digital payment token services to institutional and accredited investors.
This approval comes after the exchange received in-principle approval from MAS in September of the previous year.
Other providers in the country offering similar services include Circle, Independent Reserve, Paxos, Revolut, and DBS Vickers.
The growing number of licensed crypto service providers demonstrates Singapore’s commitment to becoming a prominent crypto hub.
MAS has been actively supporting the fintech sector in the country, pledging $112 million to further strengthen the financial technology industry, including Web3 entities.
In July, the regulator introduced new regulations aimed at enhancing customer protections.
These rules include a requirement for crypto service providers to hold customer funds in a statutory trust by the end of the year.
Moreover, additional proposals are being developed to prevent crypto providers from facilitating lending or staking of retail customer assets.
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Singapore’s efforts to bolster its crypto industry have been showing results.
According to a report by Galaxy Digital in July, while the United States still led in crypto startup funding in Q2 2022, Singapore-based crypto firms secured the third position, trailing only the United Kingdom.
Notably, Blockchain.com’s license comes in the wake of MAS granting an in-principle approval for a similar MPI license to Ripple, a blockchain-based payments firm, in June.
These developments signal the government’s commitment to fostering a favorable environment for the crypto industry’s growth in Singapore.
With robust funding commitments and updated industry regulations focusing on customer protection, the country aims to solidify its position as a leading global hub for cryptocurrencies and related services.
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Despite a positive court ruling, XRP’s price failed to reach the anticipated levels, disappointing some investors, including pro-XRP lawyer John Deaton.
The cryptocurrency experienced a brief rally, but it did not surpass the $1 resistance level that many had hoped for.
This comes after several weeks since Judge Analisa Torres declared XRP as not being considered a security under certain circumstances, leading to a surge in the cryptocurrency’s price within the broader Web3 ecosystem.
Addressing a post from a user named Moon Lambo on social media, Deaton acknowledged that XRP had grown by 85% this year, suggesting an overall positive trend.
However, he attributed some users’ disappointment to unrealistic expectations.
While Deaton didn’t expect XRP to reach a new all-time high after the court ruling, he did hope for it to break the $1 resistance level, which ultimately did not happen.
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Instead, the token experienced a significant surge of over 70% following the ruling, reaching $0.84.
XRP’s all-time high occurred over six years ago at $3.84, and while surpassing that price level may be overly ambitious, Deaton remains optimistic about reaching the $1 mark.
However, he cautions that XRP’s price is closely linked to the performance of Bitcoin (BTC).
Deaton, not being a market analyst, expressed his belief that unless BTC retests its all-time high, it is unlikely to see significant bullish momentum in the price of XRP.
As of now, XRP is trading at $0.6283. Despite the recent court ruling, it seems that reaching the anticipated price targets for XRP remains uncertain, heavily influenced by the performance of the broader cryptocurrency market, particularly Bitcoin.
Investors and enthusiasts continue to monitor the situation closely to gauge the future prospects of XRP and its potential for price growth.
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Tech entrepreneur Ilya Lichtensteind, a dual Russian-American citizen, has confessed to perpetrating the original 2016 Bitfinex hack, according to CNBC.
Along with his wife, Heather Morgan, the couple admitted to attempting to launder a staggering $4.5 billion worth of Bitcoin stolen from Bitfinex.
Until Thursday’s admission, the identity of the hacker responsible for the 2016 cryptocurrency heist had remained undisclosed.
Interestingly, while the couple confessed to attempting to launder the stolen funds, they were not charged with the actual hacking incident itself.
Heather Morgan, also known by the alias “Razzlekhan,” added an unusual twist to their criminal escapade by venturing into the realms of rap music and tech entrepreneurship while evading law enforcement.
Her music videos and rap lyrics depicted her as a “bad-ass money maker” and a “crocodile of Wall Street,” while Forbes articles portrayed her as a successful tech magnate, economist, serial entrepreneur, software investor, and rapper.
The duo’s sophisticated money laundering operation involved meticulously dividing the stolen Bitcoins into smaller amounts and routing them through thousands of different crypto wallets using false identities.
They further intertwined these funds with other criminal cryptocurrency proceeds on the darknet marketplace Alphabay, purchased gold coins, and channeled them through shell companies to legitimize their ill-gotten gains.
However, investigators managed to trace the couple’s criminal proceeds back to the Bitfinex hack when they discovered a trail leading to Walmart gift cards purchased with stolen funds. The veil of anonymity the couple hoped for through complex transactions between various exchanges and cryptocurrencies began to unravel.
A breakthrough came when law enforcement raided the couple’s Manhattan residence, uncovering a wealth of incriminating evidence, including mobile phones hidden in hollowed-out books, disposable handsets, USB drives, and $40,000 in cash.
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Decrypting a meticulously crafted spreadsheet revealed their intricate web of money laundering strategies, leading to the recovery of almost the entire stolen amount.
Communication records exposed the couple’s plans to flee to Russia, Ilya Lichtenstein’s country of birth, to avoid arrest.
Thankfully, law enforcement thwarted their escape, potentially preventing them from evading justice.
The 2016 hack had severely impacted Bitfinex customers, resulting in a collective loss of 36% of their holdings on the crypto exchange.
By 2019, the exchange managed to reimburse the affected customers, offering hope for a financial recovery once the recovered Bitcoins were returned to the rightful owners.
As legal proceedings unfold, Ilya Lichtenstein faces a maximum 20-year prison sentence, while Heather Morgan could be sentenced to up to 10 years behind bars.
The U.S. Department of Justice reported seizing an additional approximately $475 million tied to the hack since the couple’s arrest in February 2022, indicating the ongoing efforts to recover the stolen funds.
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Decentralized finance pioneer MakerDAO has come under fire for its recent decision to block users accessing its newly launched lending platform, Spark Protocol, through virtual private networks (VPNs).
Attempting to access the Spark Protocol website using VPNs triggers an error message stating that VPN access is not allowed.
The move seems to be an effort by MakerDAO to restrict United States users from accessing the platform, as indicated in a May 9 update to Spark Protocol’s terms of service that explicitly discourages the use of VPNs to circumvent this restriction.
The platform’s terms of service also prohibit U.S. users from using VPNs to conceal their residency.
This decision has been met with strong criticism from DeFi analyst Chris Blec and others, who argue that the ban on VPNs affects users worldwide, not just those in the U.S. Blec, a vocal advocate for decentralization and privacy, expressed his dismay on Twitter, stating that this action is essentially a global assault on user privacy.
Blec further criticized MakerDAO’s creator, Rune Christensen, and the company’s developers for prioritizing profits over user privacy.
He accused them of prioritizing their financial interests above the principles of privacy and individual rights.
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Cointelegraph, a cryptocurrency news outlet, reached out to MakerDAO for a comment on the matter but did not receive an immediate response.
Spark Protocol, launched in May, offers users the opportunity to earn up to 8% in annual returns by lending DAI.
The platform was created as a soft fork of Aave v3 by Phoenix Labs, a blockchain research and development firm backed by the Maker Foundation.
Before engaging in cryptocurrency lending on the Spark Protocol platform, users are required to explicitly agree that they are not using VPNs.
The platform also utilizes TRM’s blockchain intelligence services to prevent wallets engaged in legally prohibited activities from accessing Spark Protocol.
The decision to block VPN users has sparked a heated debate about privacy, user rights, and the potential impact on global users of decentralized finance platforms.
As the situation unfolds, stakeholders in the cryptocurrency community are closely monitoring developments and awaiting further responses from MakerDAO.
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CoinGecko has recently introduced a new index, the “Top Alleged Securities Coins,” which tracks the largest crypto tokens perceived as securities by the United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).
This index organizes the selection of crypto assets based on their market capitalization.
Topping the list is BNB with a market cap of $243, followed by Cardano (ADA) at $0.292, Solana (SOL) at $23, and TRON (TRX) at $0.0765.
A spokesperson from CoinGecko informed Cointelegraph that the index was launched in early August.
It was created by compiling a list of the most prominent tokens that the SEC had classified as securities in previous legal battles.
Although the SEC currently identifies 68 tokens as securities in recent lawsuits against crypto exchange giants Coinbase and Binance, CoinGecko’s index lists only 24 of them.
According to CoinGecko’s data, the top tokens included in the SEC’s litigated remit account for approximately $84.9 billion of the entire crypto market, which represents around 7.5% of the total crypto market capitalization of $1.21 trillion.
SEC Chair Gary Gensler has been assertive in stating that the majority of crypto assets should be considered securities.
He previously expressed that “everything other than Bitcoin” falls under the SEC’s regulatory purview.
If Gensler’s stance is upheld, it would imply that nearly all of the approximately 25,500 cryptocurrencies listed on CoinMarketCap’s platform would come under the SEC’s regulation.
As regulatory scrutiny intensifies in the crypto space, CoinGecko’s new index sheds light on the tokens considered as securities by the SEC.
This development also raises concerns among crypto enthusiasts and market participants about the potential implications of broader regulation on the industry.
While the SEC aims to protect investors and ensure market integrity, the evolving regulatory landscape poses challenges and uncertainties for crypto projects and investors alike.
Market participants will closely monitor how this space evolves and how it impacts the future of cryptocurrencies as a whole.
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Crypto lending platform Hodlnaut is making strides toward exiting bankruptcy with a potential white knight investor stepping in to offer a lifeline.
OPNX exchange has reportedly proposed to acquire 75% of the struggling company, subject to creditor approval.
The deal involves injecting approximately $30 million worth of FLEX tokens into Hodlnaut, which would partially cover creditors’ claims and outstanding payments.
FLEX tokens, the native currency of CoinFLEX exchange, were valued at $7.16 at the time of the report.
The restructuring process is currently being overseen by a Singapore court.
If accepted by the creditors, OPNX would gain a 75% stake in Hodlnaut post-capital infusion. Creditors, on the other hand, would receive either 30% of their claims in FLEX and other tokens or up to 95% of the available corporate assets pool on a pro-rata basis, depending on whichever option proves more lucrative.
These details were found in documents reviewed by Bloomberg.
Lam, a representative of OPNX, expressed optimism about the potential collaboration with Hodlnaut, praising the platform’s promise.
However, the final decision rests with the creditors, and the outcome remains uncertain. Back in April, the majority of Hodlnaut’s creditors had expressed their preference for liquidation over restructuring.
In a letter from the interim judicial manager (IJM), it was revealed that 55.38% of creditors, with claims totaling around 228.3 million Singapore dollars (approximately $170 million), were in favor of liquidation due to the absence of any fresh capital at the time.
Hodlnaut encountered a liquidity crisis in August 2022, prompting the suspension of withdrawals. To shield itself from legal actions, the platform was placed under judicial management under Singaporean law.
Hodlnaut had expressed its intention to avoid forced liquidation to prevent selling users’ cryptocurrencies, such as BTC, ETH, and WBTC, at a time when asset prices were significantly depressed.
OPNX, the potential savior, was founded by Mark Lamb and Sudhu Arumugam, who are also co-founders of CoinFLEX exchange.
The platform is powered by the FLEX token and includes other co-founders, such as Su Zhu and Kyle Davies, founders of the now-bankrupt hedge fund Three Arrows Capital. Zhu and Davies have been facing creditor pursuit in the United States concerning their bankruptcy proceedings.
The fate of Hodlnaut now hangs in the balance, with creditors having to decide whether to accept the deal proposed by OPNX or pursue liquidation as previously suggested.
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Bitcoin (BTC) appears to be gearing up for a full-fledged bull phase, according to market analyst Cole Garner.
Despite its current price stagnation at around $29,033, many experts believe that this cycle will follow the classic pattern of previous bull runs.
One of the key indicators of optimism is the activity among the largest-volume cohort of Bitcoin investors, known as whales.
Garner considers whale accumulation trends to be the backbone of a bull market.
Analytics team Jarvis Labs also reported an ongoing “multi-month buying frenzy” among whales, as well as smaller investors (referred to as fish) increasing their BTC exposure.
The behavior of whales during this cycle has been notable, with some experts calling them “diamond hands” for holding onto their BTC positions rather than selling aggressively like they did in the previous cycle.
This shift in whale behavior is seen as a positive sign for the market.
Another significant factor in predicting a potential BTC price breakout is the Bitcoin-to-stablecoin ratio on Bitfinex, which has historically preceded major bull runs.
Garner emphasizes that Bitfinex is considered the “smart money exchange” and that the behavior of its whale traders can strongly influence short-to-medium-term price action in the crypto market.
While Garner expects a bullish breakout in the third quarter, he acknowledges that summer seasonality could potentially cause a shakeout before that.
Nonetheless, he believes that the markets still have several weeks to run before any potential downturn.
To invalidate the bullish outlook, Bitcoin would need to close below its 200-week simple moving average (SMA), which currently stands at $27,235.
As long as BTC remains above this level, the positive momentum is likely to continue.
Overall, analysts like Garner remain optimistic about the future of Bitcoin and the broader crypto market.
With whale accumulation and investor behavior supporting the bullish thesis, many in the crypto community are anticipating significant upside potential for Bitcoin in the coming months.
However, as with any market, unpredictability and potential risks remain, and traders should approach the situation with caution.
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Crypto asset manager Grayscale has expressed the belief that the next U.S. President will be supportive of central bank digital currencies (CBDCs), as stated in a recent blog post.
Grayscale highlights that the current frontrunners of both major political parties, Joe Biden and Donald Trump, have shown a willingness to explore CBDCs, though they are less enthusiastic about Bitcoin.
Trump has publicly called Bitcoin a “scam,” once tweeting his discontent with the cryptocurrency, criticizing its volatile value.
Similarly, Biden’s stance towards Bitcoin can be deduced from his support for a 30% tax on Bitcoin mining, a move that could negatively impact the U.S. mining industry.
Grayscale also pointed out Trump’s favorability towards non-fungible tokens (NFTs), with Trump having launched and sold two NFT collections.
Biden’s support for digital assets can be inferred from his “Executive Order on Ensuring Responsible Development of Digital Assets,” although the 2023 Economic Report of the President did not share the same enthusiasm for cryptocurrencies.
Other crypto-friendly candidates include Robert Kennedy Jr. and Ron DeSantis, both of whom rank second in their respective party’s polls.
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Kennedy recently bought two Bitcoins for each of his seven children and endorsed Bitcoin as a “bulwark” against government intrusion at the Miami Bitcoin Conference.
He promised, if elected, to preserve the right to hold and use Bitcoin.
In contrast, both Kennedy and DeSantis have expressed opposition to CBDCs. DeSantis even signed a bill prohibiting the use of CBDCs in his state and encouraged other states to follow suit.
Among the Republican contenders, more pro-crypto candidates are emerging. Vivek Ramaswamy, with a 7% support level compared to Trump’s 63%, is viewed as pro-Bitcoin and anti-CBDC.
Republican Miami Mayor Francis Suarez, a vocal supporter of crypto technology, has been labeled the most ardent crypto advocate among all candidates.
In summary, Grayscale’s analysis indicates a complex and varied landscape in the 2024 presidential race regarding digital currencies.
While there is a consensus among leading candidates on the exploration of CBDCs, their stance on cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin varies widely.
The emergence of more crypto-friendly candidates further adds to this multifaceted picture.
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Digital Currency Group (DCG) is facing scrutiny over financial transactions involving its subsidiary, Genesis Global Capital.
According to Bloomberg, New York Attorney General Letitia James is conducting an investigation into the matter, with federal prosecutors and the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission also seeking interviews with potential witnesses related to Genesis and DCG.
The investigation centers on loans and other transactions carried out between the two companies. DCG disclosed that it received approximately $575 million in loans from Genesis last year.
Authorities are also examining a letter from DCG’s founder and CEO, Barry Silbert, in which he mentioned a $1.1 billion promissory note resulting from DCG assuming liabilities connected to the collapse of the hedge fund Three Arrows Capital (3AC).
The disclosure of the promissory note to investors has become a significant point of interest for investigators. DCG is being represented in the case by former acting U.S. Attorney Seth DuCharme.
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It is uncertain whether the investigations will lead to formal complaints. DCG stated that it is cooperating with regulatory bodies and investigative agencies as required.
The company emphasized that transactions between Genesis and DCG were conducted on an arm’s length basis and priced at prevailing market interest rates.
In January, Genesis filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy due to liquidity issues amid the bear market and the collapse of other prominent crypto firms, including 3AC and FTX, a crypto exchange.
The filing estimated liabilities ranging from $1 billion to $10 billion, with corresponding assets.
Genesis is the largest unsecured creditor of FTX and its affiliates, with $226 million owed. However, the companies recently reached an agreement to settle the dispute.
DCG’s venture capital portfolio encompasses Grayscale, Genesis, CoinDesk, and around 200 other crypto-related companies.
Additionally, the company holds equity in other firms such as the crypto exchange Luno and advisory firm Foundry.
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Bitcoin (BTC) appears to be gearing up for a powerful bull phase, according to market analyst Cole Garner. Despite the current stagnant BTC price action, Garner believes that the cryptocurrency market is on the verge of a significant upward trend reminiscent of past cycles.
Garner draws his optimism from the behavior of major Bitcoin investors, often referred to as “whales.” He emphasizes that whale accumulation trends are a crucial indicator of a bull market.
Jarvis Labs, an analytics team, corroborates this sentiment, reporting an ongoing “multi-month buying frenzy” among whales.
Notably, smaller investors, referred to as “fish,” have also been increasing their exposure to Bitcoin. This trend, coupled with whales’ unwavering positions, leads popular technical analyst CryptoCon to label the whales as “diamond hands” during the current cycle.
In contrast to the relentless selling by whales in Bitcoin’s last cycle, the current situation portrays a stark difference.
Retail investors were the ones selling during the bear market, while whales stood their ground.
This phenomenon contributes to the conviction that the current cycle is different and that the market is poised for substantial growth.
One critical factor on which the entire bullish scenario hinges is the Bitcoin-to-stablecoin ratio on Bitfinex, known as the Bitfinex Whale.
This ratio has historically preceded major Bitcoin bull runs. Garner emphasizes the significance of this metric, considering Bitfinex the “smart money exchange” and a key driver of short-to-medium-term price movements in the crypto market.
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While Garner favors a potential bullish breakout in the third quarter, he acknowledges the potential counter-argument of summer seasonality.
Nevertheless, he believes that any shakeout is likely to occur in September, giving the markets more time to rally.
To invalidate the bullish outlook, Garner highlights the importance of the 200-week simple moving average (SMA) for Bitcoin’s price.
A weekly close below this level, currently at $27,235, would be a critical sign that the bullish phase might not materialize.
In conclusion, Garner’s analysis indicates a strong belief in a forthcoming bull market for Bitcoin and the broader crypto market.
The increasing accumulation by whales and smaller investors, coupled with the historical significance of certain metrics like the Bitfinex Whale, provides an optimistic outlook for BTC’s future price trajectory.
Nonetheless, the 200-week SMA remains a crucial level to watch for potential bearish developments.
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