Get your daily, bite-sized digest of cryptoasset and blockchain-related news – investigating the stories flying under the radar of today’s crypto news.
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Investments news
- Australian clearing house ASX Clear now has sufficient clearers to allow a bitcoin (BTC) exchange-traded fund (ETF) on an exchange trading venue, with the only bitcoin ETF product in front of the clearing house at the moment being the Cosmos Asset Management bitcoin ETF, which can start trading on the Cboe on April 27, Financial Review reported. The Cosmos product is essentially a fund of funds because it invests in the CAD 1.4bn (USD 1.11bn) Purpose Bitcoin ETF listed in Toronto, Canada, they added.
- Trading app Robinhood said it has signed a deal to acquire the UK-based electronic money institution and crypto firm Ziglu Limited, subject to regulatory approvals and other customary closing conditions. Longer-term, the team we’ll integrate Ziglu more fully into Robinhood, bring the Robinhood brand overseas, and work to expand operations beyond the UK into Europe, they said.
- Non-fungible token (NFT) company Animoca Brands announced that it will acquire Australian digital marketing agency Be Media to focus on opportunities in that country centered around blockchain development. Be Media says it has begun “an aggressive hiring process” in the fields of blockchain development and project management to handle the upcoming projects from Animoca.
- The digital currency customers of the Silvergate Bank grew to 1,503, per data on March 31, 2022, compared to 1,381 seen on December 31, 2021, and 1,104 on March 31, 2021. Additionally, their net income for the quarter was USD 27.4m, compared to USD 21.4m for the fourth quarter of 2021, and USD 12.7m for the first quarter of 2021.
- Ethereum-powered metaverse The Sandbox (SAND) is considering raising fresh funds at a valuation of more than USD 4bn, Bloomberg reported, citing people familiar with the matter. The company is looking to raise about USD 400m from both new and existing investors and is in talks with potential investors for the funding round, it added.
- Thailand’s private power producer Gulf Energy Development Public Company Limited invested an undisclosed amount in Binance.US through BAM Trading Services Inc., the operator of the exchange.
- Crypto exchange Binance’s BNB Chain will burn over BNB 1.8m in its first burn this quarter, data from trackers show. Binance CEO Changpeng Zhao confirmed in a tweet that around USD 741.8m would be burned.
- Blockchain-as-a-Service (BaaS) company BlockApps raised USD 41m in a new, oversubscribed funding round led by Liberty City Ventures, TechCrunch reported, citing the company’s President and CEO Kieren James-Lubin. The new funds will be used to add to its go-to-market strategy, grow its team, and help businesses expand in its blockchain ecosystem, they added.
- Buyout firm Apollo Global Management is considering participating in a bid for the social network Twitter after billionaire Elon Musk placed his own bid, the Wall Street Journal reported, citing sources familiar with the matter.
Regulation news
- More than 40 crypto business leaders have asked the European Union not to require crypto firms to disclose transaction details and dial down attempts to bring to heel rapidly growing decentralized finance (DeFi) platforms, Reuters reported, citing a letter they have seen. The letter writers state that the proposals “will put every digital asset owner at risk” and reduce crypto holders’ privacy and safety.
- The Financial Task Action Force (FATF), the international anti-money laundering watchdog, stated in a report that more than half (54%) of virtual asset service providers (VASPs) from 120 assessed jurisdictions are either compliant or largely compliant with the watchdog’s preventive measures. 37% of the assessed VASPs are only partially compliant, while 9% of them were deemed non-compliant.
Politics news
- Political parties in Ireland will be banned from accepting financial donations through cryptoassets under new political integrity rules being drafted, local news outlet Independent reported, citing Local Government Minister Darragh O’Brien. The rules are aiming to reduce foreign interference in Irish elections, they added.
Security news
- The US Federal Bureau of Investigation, the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency, and the Treasury Department have issued a joint warning against TraderTraitor, a North Korean advanced persistent threat group which is targeting blockchain firms. The group encourages victims to download trojanized crypto apps, which they use to gain access to the victim’s computer, propagate malware across the victim’s network environment, and steal private keys or exploit other security gaps.
CBDCs news
- The Bank of Japan (BOJ) will explore the design issues of a central bank digital currency (CBDC) in steps like Sweden rather than pressing ahead with large-scale pilot tests like China, according to Bloomberg, who cited Kazushige Kamiyama, the head of the BOJ’s payment system department.
Mining news
- Bitcoin miner Core Scientific announced it has begun daily reporting of self-mined Bitcoin production on its corporate website, updated at 12:00pm EST daily. At the 14:27 UTC on Tuesday, the company’s website showed they had BTC 36.9 mined in a day.
- Basil Seggos, head of the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation, continues to have “significant concerns” whether crypto miner Greenidge Generation’s new facility will be compliant with the state’s statutory climate goals under the Climate Leadership and Community Protection Act (CLCPA), per local outlet WSKG. He added that this facility will “have an uphill battle complying with the law” in his opinion.
Career news
- Mexican crypto platform Bitso announced it has appointed Thales Araújo de Freitas, who has previously worked in major banks such as Citibank and HSBC, as its new manager for Brazil, per Fintechs Brasil. He will be responsible for the platform’s strategy within the country, they added.
Legal news
- Andrew Spinella, Renee Spinella, and Richard Paul pleaded guilty in US federal court to wire fraud, having opened and operated accounts at financial institutions as personal accounts in their names or as business accounts in the names of churches in order to allow their co-defendant, Ian Freeman, to use them to sell virtual currency between 2016 and 2021.
Source: Cryptonews
