Crypto CliffsNotes
Digital currencies, such as central bank digital currencies (CBDCs) and stablecoins, are the natural evolution of money and payments, Bank of America said in a research report on Tuesday. “CBDCs do not change the definition of money, but will likely change how and when value is transferred over the next 15 years,” analysts led by Alkesh Shah wrote, adding that central bank digital currencies have “the potential to revolutionize global financial systems and may be the most significant technological advancement in the history of money.”
The Seoul Metropolitan Government has launched its Metaverse Seoul project, allowing residents of the South Korean capital city to access city services in a virtual environment. In a Jan. 16 press briefing, Seoul Mayor Oh Se-hoon announced the launch of the first phase of Metaverse Seoul following beta testing of the project. According to the mayor, the online environment will be a “place of communication for citizens” of the capital city, allowing them to virtually visit many of Seoul’s attractions, access official documents, file certain complaints and receive answers to questions on filing municipal taxes.
Circle, the company behind the USDC stablecoin, released its “state of the USDC economy” report, in which it emphasized the importance of dollar-backed cryptos and attempted to ease worries about the state of its reserves. “Our history of pioneering transparency underscores our commitment to providing USDC holders and the general public with open, timely reporting on how we minimize risk and maintain liquidity in the USDC reserve,” Circle said in the report, released Tuesday.
Crypto lender Nexo has sued the Cayman Islands Monetary Authority to get the regulator to reverse its rejection of Nexo's application to register as a virtual asset services provider (VASP), according to a court document filed last week. The regulator initially refused the company's Dec. 20 application, citing "insufficient documentation on customer risk assessment and enterprise risk assessment" plus deficiencies in anti-money laundering procedures as several of the reasons. However, Nexo argued in the court document that the grounds of the application were that the reasons were not "satisfactory" nor "sufficiently detailed."
CoinFLEX is justifying its new potential venture “GTX” with Three Arrows Capital (3AC), saying the plans represent an evolution of its own goals. A pitch deck leaked on Jan. 16 showed CoinFLEX plans to team up with 3AC co-founders Kyle Davies and Su Zhu to create a new crypto exchange. They expect it to be a place where creditors of insolvent firms like FTX would be able to trade their claims. Users will have the ability to transfer their claims to GTX and immediately receive a credit via a new token called USDG.
Voting has once again been delayed on the European Union’s proposals to align crypto rules across its 27 member states. The delay, which is the second since the vote was pushed back from an initial date in December, is down to hold-ups in the translation of relevant materials. While the full text of the regulation was finalized in October last year, EU laws and regulations must be translated into all 24 official languages of the bloc.
Crypto bank Silvergate Capital (SI) reported a net loss of $1 billion for the fourth quarter on Tuesday, compared with a net income of $40.6 million for the third quarter and net income of $18 million for the same period a year earlier. For all of 2022, the company posted a loss of $949 million, compared with net income of $75.5 million in 2021.
Block CEO Jack Dorsey funds Bitcoin education program in El Salvador.
