- Binance founder and CEO Changpeng Zhao attempted to shut down the crypto exchange's U.S. offshoot earlier this year.
- The decision to liquidate the company was put to a vote by the Binance.US board of directors, but it did not receive unanimous support.
- Binance.US CEO Brian Shroder opposed the decision, expressing concerns about the potential negative impact on customers.
- The attempted shutdown highlights the lengths Zhao was willing to go to protect the larger global exchange amid increasing regulatory scrutiny.
- Binance.US had received a $4.5 billion valuation from investors last year.
- Binance founder and CEO Changpeng Zhao attempted to shut down the crypto exchange's U.S. offshoot earlier this year.
- The decision to liquidate the company was put to a vote by the Binance.US board of directors, but it did not receive unanimous support.
- Binance.US CEO Brian Shroder opposed the decision, expressing concerns about the potential negative impact on customers.
- The attempted shutdown highlights the lengths Zhao was willing to go to protect the larger global exchange amid increasing regulatory scrutiny.
- Binance.US had received a $4.5 billion valuation from investors last year.
Cryptocurrency exchange Coinbase is acquiring a minority stake in Circle Internet Financial, dissolving their partnership and bringing the stablecoin USD Coin fully in-house, while also adding native support for USDC on six additional blockchains, bringing the total to 15.
Binance, the world's largest cryptocurrency exchange, caused confusion by mistakenly announcing on social media that euro transactions were no longer available, but it was clarified that euro transactions will continue until September 25th with Binance's banking partner in the region. However, the exchange is currently facing legal troubles and difficulties in various countries, making it challenging to find alternatives.
Binance US is reportedly reconsidering its decision to discontinue fiat on- and off-ramp services and is working on integrating new US dollar on-ramp solutions, potentially partnering with payment provider MoonPay to allow users to buy and sell cryptocurrencies in dollars.
Coinbase may be misrepresenting itself as an exchange and could be violating state money transmitter licenses, according to allegations made by ChainArgos' CEO and General Counsel. The company argues that Coinbase is legally an over-the-counter (OTC) broker rather than an exchange operator, and it may be in violation of its licenses with its Ethereum platform, Base.
Summary: USD Coin (USDC) will be supported on six additional blockchains, including Cosmos, NEAR, Optimism, Polkadot, and Polygon PoS, as Circle aims to boost adoption for the stablecoin and differentiate it from its competitors.
Coinbase Assets will suspend trading for six cryptocurrencies, including BarnBridge, DerivaDAO, Jupiter, Multichain, Ooki, and Voyager, due to falling short of the exchange's listing standards, resulting in price plunges for the delisted assets.
Coinbase is in talks with major Canadian banks to gain support for the crypto industry in Canada as it faces regulatory uncertainty in its home country, aiming to have the banks participate in the crypto economy in the near future.
Mastercard and Visa will end their partnerships with crypto exchange Binance, discontinuing their crypto card offerings in several countries by September 2022.
Coinbase has announced its plans to list PayPal's stablecoin, PYUSD, becoming the second major U.S.-based exchange to embrace the digital asset and signaling the rapid mainstream acceptance of the stablecoin.
Ethereum mixer Tornado Cash co-founders Roman Storm and Roman Semenov have been charged with money laundering over $1 billion in criminal proceeds, while FTX-affiliated Farmington State Bank has been shut down for attempting to create a stablecoin without proper approval. Prime Trust has filed for bankruptcy after losing $6 million of customer money in Terra-Luna gambling, and Binance has lost its UK payment processor Checkout.com over money laundering concerns. Furthermore, Sam Bankman-Fried plans to blame FTX's lawyers for his decision-making in his legal defense. The SEC has sued Titan for promising unrealistic investment returns, Coinbase has suspended certain stablecoins for Canadian users, and the Centre consortium that issued the USDC stablecoin is being dissolved.
Circle's USD Coin (USDC) has experienced a significant drop in market cap due to factors such as the depegging event earlier this year, rising interest rates, and differences in issuance models compared to Tether's USDT stablecoin, which recently reached a new high in market cap at $83 billion.
Tether (USDT) is the world's largest stablecoin with over $66 billion in market capitalization, despite controversies surrounding its collateral and reserve holdings.
Solana Pay has integrated with Shopify, allowing businesses on the platform to use Solana Pay as a payment option, initially accepting USDC payments and potentially expanding to other crypto-assets in the future, offering benefits such as immediate settlement, reduced fees, and Web3-enabled commerce experiences. Additionally, Solana blockchain has achieved six months without any outages since implementing upgrades to improve network capacity.
Circle will soon launch a native version of its USD Coin (USDC) on the Base network, eliminating the need for the bridged version currently used by users.
Crypto exchange Binance has announced plans to gradually wind down support for its Binance USD (BUSD) stablecoin, encouraging users to convert their holdings into other assets, including a newly listed stablecoin, First Digital USD (FDUSD). This decision aligns with Paxos' plans to end BUSD redemption by February 2024.
Global payments firm Visa has expanded its stablecoin settlement capability to include USD Coin (USDC) tokens issued on the Solana blockchain, allowing for faster and more efficient cross-border settlements.
Circle, the company behind the stablecoin USDC, faced a crisis when $3.3 billion of its reserves were stuck at Silicon Valley Bank, causing USDC to lose its $1 peg and lose market share to rival stablecoin Tether, revealing the challenges and shortcomings of Circle's ambitions to reshape the financial system with its dollar-backed token.
The Tokenized Asset Coalition, consisting of industry leaders such as Coinbase and Circle, aims to promote the tokenization of traditional financial assets on a blockchain to bring the "next trillion dollars of assets" on-chain through education, advocacy, and fostering adoption of public blockchains and decentralized finance.
Crypto exchange Binance is expanding its zero-fee trading promotion to include Argentine, Brazilian, and South African currency spot trading pairs, allowing users to trade bitcoin, ether, and Tether's USDT stablecoin without paying maker fees.
Crypto exchange Coinbase plans to focus on non-U.S. markets, including the European Union, the United Kingdom, Canada, Brazil, Singapore, and Australia, due to their clearer crypto laws, as it seeks to expand its operations and establish partnerships with global and local banks and payment providers while ensuring compliance with governance systems. The company also aims to intensify its lobbying and visibility efforts ahead of the EU elections and engage with the G20 to create global crypto standards.
Coinbase Global is expanding its digital asset lending services, which could have implications for its stock and the crypto economy.
The lack of clear crypto regulations in the US has caused significant issues for the industry, leading to collapses and a weakening of America's position as a financial hub, according to Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong. He emphasizes the need for clear rules that recognize the innovation potential of the technology while protecting consumers. Armstrong also highlights the potential benefits of Bitcoin exchange-traded funds (ETFs) and Coinbase's role as custodian in many ETF applications.
Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong revealed in an interview that the exchange is interested in developing the next generation of stablecoins, including the concept of flatcoin, which would be backed by the Consumer Price Index (CPI) or purchasing power rather than a fiat currency.
Circle, the issuer of the USDC stablecoin, is focusing on Asia as it sees stablecoins as a way to improve cross-border payments for businesses in the region.
Bitcoin's rise may lead to leverage liquidations and price rallies for shorted alternative cryptocurrencies like Solana, while upbeat Chinese data signals continued gains for leading cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin Cash, Maker DAO's MKR, XRP, Ether, SOL, Tron's TRX, and Dogecoin. Binance.US faces accusations of non-cooperation in a probe by the Securities and Exchange Commission, and Deutsche Bank is partnering with Taurus for cryptocurrency custody and tokenization services.
Bitcoin (BTC) and Ethereum (ETH) experienced stable prices over the week, while Bitcoin Cash (BCH) and Toncoin (TON) saw notable price increases, and Stellar (XLM) suffered a decrease; Sony is developing a blockchain network in collaboration with Startale Labs, PayPal launched crypto to USD off-ramps, and Deutsche Bank partnered with Taurus for custody and tokenization services.
Blockchain trackers have flagged a $1 billion authorization of Tether (USDT) in Tether's Treasury, which will be used to replenish the Tron network for issuance requests and chain swaps.
Tether, the firm behind stablecoin USDT, has made a strategic investment in crypto miner Northern Data Group in support of artificial intelligence initiatives and potential collaborations involving AI, P2P communications, and data storage solutions.
