Policy News

BitMEX founder Arthur Hayes published a new blog post exploring the impact of dollar liquidity on the crypto market. Arthur believes that the real dollar total, that is, dollar liquidity, is a more direct factor affecting the price of the crypto market than the dollar interest rate.

Arthur mentioned that in addition to US dollar interest, the reverse repurchase (RRP) held by the New York Fed and the general account of the US Treasury (TGA) are also means of regulating the total dollar volume. Although the Fed has been raising interest rates recently, the latter two indicators It shows that the other hand is increasing dollar liquidity.

Arthur speculates that with the midterm elections approaching, the ruling body has an incentive to promote short-term economic conditions, on the one hand, maintaining interest rate hikes to create an image of fighting inflation to ordinary voters, and at the same time no longer tightening liquidity to protect the interests of supporters behind the election.

Cryptocurrency platform Crypto.com has announced that it has signed a pre-registration commitment with the Ontario Securities Commission (OSC) in Canada.

Crypto.com becomes the first global cryptocurrency platform currently operating in Canada. Under the terms of the relevant agreement, Crypto.com has agreed to cooperate with OSC to provide various products and services that are fully compliant with relevant Canadian regulations.

Crypto.com CEO Kris Marszalek noted: “Compliance underscores everything we do at Crypto.com. The North American market, and Canada in particular, represents an important potential growth area for the cryptocurrency market.”

Recently, the Dubai Digital Economy Chamber announced the establishment of the Dubai Digital Assets Business Group (D2A2). According to the Emirates News Agency (WAM), the group will focus on strengthening the role of the digital asset industry in the economic development of the United Arab Emirates and the entire Middle East region.

Its mandate also includes strengthening the commercial infrastructure to support the development of digital assets in the emirate of Dubai.

Omar bin Sultan Al Olama, UAE Minister of State for Artificial Intelligence, Digital Economy and Teleworking Applications, commented that the establishment of D2A2 is in line with the Dubai Digital Economy Chamber’s strategy to accelerate the growth of the emirate’s digital economy.

Unionbank of the Philippines has announced that it will soon launch a cryptocurrency service for its clients.

The financial institution will offer select users of its mobile app the option to exchange bitcoin and other digital currencies without the need for a third-party wallet. Union Bank of the Philippines is working to become the first universal bank in the country to facilitate cryptocurrency exchanges in its mobile app.

“We recognize that cryptocurrency is already one of the services that many customers are looking for, especially the younger generation, and this demand has been accelerated by the pandemic,” said Cathy Casas, head of the bank.

Additionally, Union Bank said the new transaction functionality will initially be available to randomly pre-selected users of the banking app, but it aims to roll out more broadly in the near future.

The Indian law enforcement agency (Enforcement Directorate, ED) is conducting anti-money laundering investigations into at least 10 cryptocurrency exchanges involving about $130 million, according to people familiar with the matter.

People familiar with the matter said that when law enforcement agencies investigated the WazirX case, they found similar suspicious transactions on other trading platforms, that is, many KYC information on the trading platform was suspected of being fake.

South Korea’s ruling party and financial authorities will hold a Korea-US-EU Global Policy Conference on Digital Assets with U.S. and European Union officials on Aug. 11 at the South Korean National Assembly to discuss crypto-asset-related legislation.

Sung Il-jong, Chairman of the National Power Policy Committee of the ruling party of South Korea, Kim Yong-duo, Director of the Digital Finance Innovation Bureau of the Korea Financial Supervisory Service, Caroline Palm, a permanent member of the CFTC of the United States, and Peter Culstons, an advisor to the European Commission, will attend the meeting.

It is reported that South Korea currently has 13 bills related to virtual assets pending in the National Assembly. Earlier yesterday, Kim Joo-hyun, chairman of the Korean Financial Services Commission, announced that the Financial Services Institute (FIU) of the Korean Financial Services Commission will strengthen the inspection and supervision of virtual asset (cryptocurrency) operators.

U.S. House Financial Services Committee Chair Maxine Waters, along with other congressmen including Joyce Beatty, sent a letter to 20 U.S. cryptocurrency companies urging them to provide more information on their inclusion practices.

The letter to the companies included a questionnaire asking crypto companies to describe what diversity and inclusion practices they had implemented in the last year.

It is reported that the 20 cryptocurrency companies include Coinbase, FTX, Binance.US, AAVE, etc. The deadline to reply to this letter is September 2.

The Central Bank of Honduras issued a press release aimed at clarifying the agency’s stance on the use of cryptocurrencies in the country. Even if such tools gain popularity in other countries, cryptocurrencies are not backed by any form and are also subject to high volatility, the group said.

“Any transaction with them will be at the responsibility and risk of the person who executes the transaction.” In addition, the organization informed that under the country’s law, the only institution authorized to issue currency and guarantee the existence of an effective payment system is the Central Bank of Honduras. Earlier news, Honduras established a bitcoin center to promote the use of Bitcoin.

According to a report published by the European Central Bank, regulators should limit the use of the digital euro by Europeans to prevent capital flight from deposits in commercial banks. The report was written by a team of experts led by ECB economist Frank Smets.

The authors believe that the optimal amount of digital euros in circulation should be between 15% and 45% of the euro area’s quarterly real gross domestic product (GDP). This is similar to a previous proposal.

European Central Bank board member Fabio Panetta has pointed out that keeping digital euro holdings between 1 and 1.5 trillion euros helps avoid potential negative effects on the European financial system and monetary policy. He also noted that this total is comparable to the current holdings of banknotes in circulation. As the population of euro zone countries is currently around 340 million, this would allow for holdings of 3,000 to 4,000 digital euros per person.

A U.S. bill aimed at boosting computer chip manufacturing is headed to President Biden that would also create a crypto advisory role within his administration.

After a House vote on Thursday, bipartisan legislation passed both houses of Congress to create a new advisor on blockchain and cryptocurrency issues who will work in the Office of Technology Policy.

Congressional Blockchain Caucus co-chair, cryptocurrency proponent, Rep. Darren Soto said, “I’m proud to enact the policies necessary to ensure our government continues to shape innovation.

The White House Office of Science, directed by the President’s executive order on encryption, analyzes the impact of digital assets on climate change and will submit a report later this year. The office sought public comment on the report in March.

The Monetary Authority of Singapore stated that the stability and integrity of the cryptocurrency market are the focus of market supervision. It also said there are no plans to retail central bank digital currencies.

Huobi has received provisional approval from the Dubai Virtual Assets Authority. The provisional approval allows Huobi to offer virtual asset trading products and services to pre-qualified investors and professional financial service providers.

U.S. Senate candidate Bryan Solstin said on social media that central bank talking points: Deflation is bad, inflation reality, homelessness is increasing.

We can eliminate inflation with Bitcoin, he said.

Money markets are scrambling to bet that the ECB’s tightening will end by the end of the year, but Danske Bank’s chief strategist sees the possibility that the ECB will stop raising interest rates after September.

Perhaps the European Central Bank realized it might not have a long window to raise rates, the strategist said in an analysis of Thursday’s surprise 50 basis point rate hike, prompting the ECB to raise rates sharply ahead of schedule.

There is even a risk that the ECB will raise rates by another 50 basis points in September before pausing. Swap contracts linked to the date of the ECB meeting showed traders betting on a 47 basis point rate hike by the European Central Bank in September and a cumulative 113 basis points by the end of the year, while expectations for a 25 basis point hike in 2023 have not yet been priced in. middle.

The Republican Party platform in Texas calls for a provision in the state’s bill of rights that would allow citizens to own, hold and use any medium of exchange of their choice, including digital currencies.

Many Republican officials in the state are eager to secure Texas’ status as a cryptocurrency hub, even as some lawmakers worry that the industry could overburden an already strained grid.

Republican Senator Tom Emmer of Minnesota released a video showing his remarks before the House Financial Services Committee, accusing the SEC of politicizing regulation. He went on to cross-examine SEC Enforcement Director Gurbir Grewal about the SEC’s unethical industry sweep of cryptocurrency companies.

Grewal admitted to taking enforcement action against companies outside his jurisdiction. Emmer said the SEC is using its law enforcement arm to unconstitutionally expand its crypto jurisdiction.

Emmer also accused SEC Chairman Garry Gensler of luring and threatening companies, saying: “Under Chairman Gensler, the SEC has become a power-hungry regulator, politicizing enforcement, enticing companies to ‘come in and talk to the committee’ and then take Enforcement action hits them and hinders good faith cooperation.”

The new UK Chancellor of the Exchequer Nadhim Zahawi said the government will explore blockchain for government bonds. Plans to explore blockchain were first mentioned in April, when the U.K. published documents on the use of DLT for securities and stablecoin regulation.

Bonds are one of the top asset classes where DLT is being deployed or explored. And, this applies not only to regular bonds, but also to green bonds, where the use of bond proceeds can be tracked and verified using blockchain.

The Bank for International Settlements (BIS) Innovation Centre is working with the Hong Kong Monetary Authority to explore the use of blockchain for green bonds.

Kazakhstan’s President Kazakhstan Kassym-Jomart Tokayev has signed a bill to amend the country’s tax code to impose higher tax rates on crypto miners.

The amount of the tax will depend on the amount of electricity used and the average electricity price when mining digital currencies such as Bitcoin.

Patrick Hansen, a crypto venture capital advisor at Presight Capital, said on social media that the ECB is inviting technologists for technical talks.

Discuss design options for CBDC, with the focus on the application of privacy-enhancing technologies in retail payment settlements. The application deadline is July 20.

The UK asset management industry is pushing the government to create a new category of funds using blockchain technology.

The Investment Association, an industry body representing Britain’s asset management industry, called on the government and City of London regulators on Thursday to expedite approval of blockchain-traded funds that issue digital tokens to investors rather than traditional fund shares.

It is reported that the investment association oversees nearly 10 trillion pounds (17.5 trillion US dollars) of assets for clients around the world.

The Seoul Bankruptcy Court in South Korea said after determining the amount of losses for individual bankrupts.

Even if the price of the stock or token held turns a profit, this will not be reflected in the debt repayment amount, but will continue to provide debt relief.

In a statement to the Singapore Parliament, the Monetary Authority of Singapore said cryptocurrencies are not suitable for retail investors to invest in. Most cryptocurrencies are subject to speculative price swings. This risk has been vividly demonstrated in recent events, with the prices of several cryptocurrencies falling sharply.

In January, the MAS went further than most other regulators, including restricting the marketing and advertising of cryptocurrency services in the public domain and banning downplaying the risks of cryptocurrency trading.

The Monetary Authority of Singapore has been seriously considering introducing more consumer protections, which could include restrictions on retail investor participation and rules on the use of leverage when trading cryptocurrencies.

There is also a need for regulatory coordination and cooperation on a global scale. The MAS reiterated that cryptocurrencies are high risk and not suitable for the retail public market.

Members of the European Parliament said in a proposed amendment published on Monday that NFT trading platforms should comply with EU anti-money laundering (AML) laws. Lawmakers representing the Green Party and socialism also appear to be in favor of including self-managed crypto wallets and decentralized finance under the proposed money laundering regulations.

Just last week, the European Union tentatively agreed to a new law designed to license crypto companies, the so-called Market Regulation in Crypto Assets (MiCA), and subject transactions to identity checks.

But the European Commission is keen to leave detailed money-laundering procedures to broader reforms that also cover sectors such as banking.

With U.S. inflation likely to slow, the Federal Reserve is likely to slow the pace of rate hikes, which could provide some support for the euro.

Matthew Ryan, head of market strategy at Ebury, said another 75 basis point Fed rate hike is now seen as unlikely, which is at least a modest positive for the euro and risk assets in general, especially given expectations for the July 27 FOMC meeting There is about a three-quarters chance of a rate hike by this amount.

Inflation is likely to ease in the coming months as food and energy prices stop rising, and in some cases even fall.

The Brazilian Federal District Prosecutor’s Office announced the establishment of a crypto-exclusive crime investigation team, whose main responsibility is to help prosecutors handle cryptocurrency cases, and to warn and educate consumers of crypto products on the safe use of crypto assets.

Brazilian prosecutor Frederico Meinberg said that the agency’s employees must receive professional training while actively interacting with the market, because the best training for dealing with digital assets is practice in the market.

Indian exchanges have seen a sharp drop in crypto trading volume since the implementation of India’s 1% source withholding tax rule (TDS) on digital assets on July 1, with daily trading volumes on exchanges ZebPay, WazirX, CoinDCX, Giottus down 60% % to 87%.

Binance-backed Indian exchange WazirX traded $3.8 million on July 2, the day after the TDS tax went into effect, compared with less than two hours in early July last year, CoinGecko data shows. can achieve this goal.

Rajagopal Menon, vice president of WazirX, said that while long-term cryptocurrency holders are still buying and selling, market makers and high-frequency traders have disappeared. Traders are also doing more peer-to-peer trading and migrating to decentralized exchanges.

Czech presidential candidate Karel Janeček has announced that he will launch his 2023 campaign in Somnium Space, a metaverse powered by the Polygon blockchain network.

Karel Janeček worked as a math analyst at hedge fund Market Research Ltd before starting RSJ algorithmic trading.

From 2007 to 2013, Janeček taught at the Faculty of Mathematics and Physics, Charles University in Prague, focusing on optimal control in mathematical finance.

The European Central Bank will highlight the need for harmonized cryptocurrency rules at a regulatory board meeting on Tuesday.

Since there is currently no pan-European framework for cryptocurrency regulation, the European Central Bank has expressed concern over the issue of reviewing applications for banks’ cryptocurrency licenses. People familiar with the matter believe the issue is as much about timing as it is about coordination of rules.

Romania’s National Institute for Informatics Research and Development (ICI) has announced a new national program that uses blockchain technology to access, transfer and store its citizens’ official documents.

Dubbed the “Romanian State-Issued Personal Documents and Assets System” (NSIDA), the ultimate goal of the project is to improve the ease of access and management of basic government documents such as birth certificates, driver’s licenses, and land and property deeds.

NFTs will be the medium for storing such documents, and this work will also include the launch of an exclusive and secure NFT app where citizens will be able to obtain verified government documents without having to travel to official offices to collect them in person.

Heng Swee Keat, Deputy Prime Minister and Coordinating Minister for Economic Policy of Singapore, said that the cryptocurrency market has recently suffered from market volatility, but the blockchain technology related to cryptocurrencies still has great potential for development, which can help improve the efficiency and convenience of cross-border transactions, and Reduce transaction costs.

Crypto assets have been in the spotlight lately with a lot of negative news, however this does not reflect the greatest value that blockchain and digital assets exist.

In the case of cryptocurrencies, their prices can be very volatile and subject to speculation, making them unsuitable for retail investment. But blockchain technology for cryptocurrencies has the potential to improve cross-border wholesale transactions.

India’s crypto advocacy body Blockchain and Crypto Assets Council (BACC) has written to the National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI), calling on it to restore Unified Payments Interface (UPI) services to Indian crypto exchanges.

The BACC proposed that it hold a meeting with the interbank retail payments and settlement agency to discuss and understand its concerns about cryptocurrency trading.

In the letter, the BACC told NPCI that some crypto exchanges strictly abide by user KYC and other NPCI protocols, and asked them to restore UPI services for such businesses.

It is reported that BACC is a non-profit advocacy organization under the Internet and Mobile Association of India (IAMAI), and its members include local cryptocurrency exchanges CoinSwitch Kuber, CoinDCX, WazirX, etc.

Amsterdam plans to launch its own digital currency within the next four years. The currency can only be used by local entrepreneurs in Amsterdam whose idea is to boost the economy of the community.

“It ensures that money really continues to flow through the city,” GroenLinks councillor Elisabeth IJmker told TV station AT5.

Amsterdam is still working out the exact explanatory copy, for example, how consumers will get the token, what it will be associated with, and who will be able to participate.

Solana Eco Wallet Solflare has announced support for the Keystone hardware wallet. Keystone’s hardware allows users to transfer money using QR codes.

And effectively prevent users from “blind signature” phishing attacks.