Autor Cointelegraph By Jesse Coghlan

Draft US stablecoin bill would ban new algo stablecoins for 2 years

Draft US stablecoin bill would ban new algo stablecoins for 2 years

Uverejnil používateľ | sep 21, 2022 |

Draft legislation in the United States House of Representatives would place a two-year ban on new algorithmic stablecoins such as TerraClassicUSD (USTC) which de-pegged from the US dollar earlier this year causing widespread crypto market contagion.The bill would criminalize the creation or issuance of new “endogenously collateralized stablecoins,” according to a current draft of the legislation obtained by Bloomberg. However the legislation includes a grace period of two-years for existing algorithmic stablecoin providers to change their models and collateralize their offering differently.The definition would reportedly cover stablecoins which depend on the value of another virtual asset from the same creator to maintain its price and is marketed as having the ability to be converted, repurchased or otherwise redeemed for a fixed price.The bill raises concerns over whether stablecoins such as Synthetix USD (SUSD) would be captured by the definition, as it is currently collateralized with the native asset of the same protocol in the SNX token. Other algo-stablecoins with a similar structure include BitUSD which is backed by BitShares (BTS).Those well-educated on crypto understand that Terra doesn’t represent all stablecoins, Celsius wasn’t DeFi, 3AC had nothing to do with the technology, etc.But as in all things, it’s a lot harder to engage with those nuances than to simply say “crypto bad, regulate it to death.”— Jake Chervinsky (@jchervinsky) September 19, 2022The draft bill also mandates the U.S. Treasury to undertake a study on algorithmic stablecoins and consult with the Federal Reserve, the Securities and Exchange Commission, the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, and the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency.It’s possible the panel could vote on the bill as early as next week, Bloomberg reports people familiar with the legislation state Democratic Representative Maxine Waters and Republican Patrick McHenry have been working to reach an agreement on the legislation, although it’s unknown if McHenry approved the latest draft.Related: The crypto industry can trust Cynthia Lummis to get regulation rightWaters Chairs the House Financial Services Committee, of which McHenry is a Ranking Member, both heard testimony at a hearing Tuesday that U.S. dollar-backed stablecoins could enhance national security due to the perceived prestige and reliability of the dollar.TerraClassicUSD (USTC), formerly known as TerraUSD (UST) is an algorithmic stablecoin which lost its 1:1 peg with the U.S. dollar in early May hitting an all-time low of $0.006 in mid-June which resulted in tens of billions of dollars worth of losses.

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DeFi platform sees strong interest in halal-approved crypto products

DeFi platform sees strong interest in halal-approved crypto products

Uverejnil používateľ | sep 20, 2022 |

Australian-based crypto platform Marhaba DeFi says there has been a strong take-up of Halal-approved cryptocurrency products on its platform, with aims to release a suite of new products which align with Islamic law by the end of 2022.Launched in 2020, the platform is focused on adhering to the rules of “Islamic finance” which refers to how businesses and individuals raise capital in accordance with Sharia, or Islamic law. Speaking to Cointelegraph, Marhaba DeFi founder and CEO Naquib Mohammed said active users of their non-custodial multichain “Sahal Wallet” have grown to around 40,000 since its launch, stating:“People need a platform where they can trust every token they interact with, so we don’t have to go hunting on different platforms, tapping into different [Islamic] scholars or experts asking ‘can I invest in this protocol, this token, this strategy?’”“You just download a wallet, and it will give you everything that’s halal in the crypto ecosystem,” he adds.Marhaba, meaning “welcome” in Arabic, also has four more Islamic law aligned crypto products releasing this year, something Mohammed says will be an “end-to-end halal ecosystem” for those excluded from the market due to the lack of Sharia compliance.The first is TijarX, what he says is the first halal decentralized exchange (DEX) for commodity-backed tokens, a halal DeFi staking solution, a liquidity harvesting platform, and a new version of its existing halal non-fungible token (NFT) marketplace.“The fundamental property of blockchain is its transparent, it’s immutable, so bringing Islamic finance onto the blockchain makes perfect sense. Because of that transparency blockchain is the perfect puzzle piece that fits this gap.”The first cryptos launching this month on the TijarX DEX will be tokenized silver and gold backed by real and audited bullion reserves. Mohammed says there’s more to be added to the platform such as tokenized wheat, barley, soya, and cocoa.Mohammed says discussions are already underway but nothing is added to the platform without a vetting process which ensures not only that the provider has enough liquidity to handle the volume but also is complying with Islamic laws.“If the business is not Sharia compliant, if it’s not halal, then we can’t list it on the platform. All of this is a very time-consuming and intensive process, but we are absolutely fine with it.”It’s this process which meant its M.I.R.O. staking platform took eight months to build “because of the difficulty of addressing the Shariah compliance within the space.”The staking platform is based on the Islamic concept of Ju’ala, something Mohammed describes as “rewards for working”. Users earn a “commission”, part of a share of the platforms’ revenue for doing work within the platform such as participating in governance and voting on proposals.Marhaba’s liquidity harvester works on a separate Islamic financial profit and loss sharing arrangement called “Mudarabah” where on one party provides the capital while the other provides labor and both share in the profits and loss.Mohammed explains charging or earning interest in Islam is considered exploitative, and the liquidity harvester will be a “game changer” for those barred from accepting interest due to their beliefs as they’ll gain exposure to a similar style product.Related: NFT and Islamic education: A new frontier to teach religion?Marhaba is also providing solutions for Islamic businesses using NFTs, the second version of its NFT marketplace will be tailored to businesses, Mohammed revealed it’s already partnered with five organizations that will be utilizing NFTs.In April, Marhaba issued the first NFT Halal certification and Mohammed expressed this was an area he wants to personally ensure finds usability and adoption as it will give consumers greater transparency over the validity of a business’ Halal certification.“This NFT certification is a way to authorize, authenticate and ensure that the certification is valid, and is not expired, that the business has renewed their certification.”“We were appreciated greatly within the community for that,” he added.TijarX is set to go live on Sept. 27, with the revamped NFT market set for late October, M.I.R.O. and the Liquidity Harvester are slated for the first weeks of November and December respectively.

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Sports sponsorship is helping legitimize crypto in Australia — Coinjar exec

Sports sponsorship is helping legitimize crypto in Australia — Coinjar exec

Uverejnil používateľ | sep 19, 2022 |

The sponsorship of high-profile sports and teams may be key to legitimizing the crypto industry to the general masses, according to Luke Ryan, Head of Content at Australian crypto exchange CoinJar.In May 2021, the exchange became the first crypto company in Australia to sponsor an Australian Football League (AFL) club by partnering with the Melbourne Demons.Speaking to Cointelegraph at the Australian Crypto Convention on Sept. 18, Ryan remarked the AFL partnership changed the discussion around cryptocurrency in the country and that “it gives cryptocurrency a bigger sense of permanence.”“Perhaps prior to this real punch into the sporting mainstream it was very easy for a lot of people to think ‘oh, this cryptocurrency thing, it’s going to fade away, or it has already faded away,’” he said.“There’s a real declaration of intent by the industry, not necessarily about ‘we sponsor this team, and then we got X number of new users’, it’s more about we sponsor this team because we want to show the world we’re companies with consequences, with plans and long term visions, and a way of showing that is to align ourselves with a really established presence.”Ryan believes sports partnerships also give the opportunity for crypto companies to break new ground in terms of their user base and adoption.He noted that part of what drew CoinJar to partner with an AFL team was the idea of promoting crypto and the exchange “outside of the established true believers who already have their favored platforms.”“At a certain point, you’re all just hacking into the same market,” he added.“It’s a real ongoing question for cryptocurrency as a whole, how do we move out from this 5 to 10% that we now talk to, to the 20 to 50%, and we’ve started to think a bit more about what it might look like to start getting more actively involved in sponsorship.”The partnership between CoinJar and the Melbourne Demons has also meant other teams and the AFL itself have learned more about crypto, which Ryan supposes has made the asset more normalized to the organization. “It’s meant they’ve had the space to ask questions and look into it a bit more and be like ‘ah, that’s quite interesting, we could really use that to better create a relationship with the fans.’”“I think it’s leading to a much more open attitude towards things like non-fungible tokens (NFTs) and how they can be harnessed, it’s all still primordial in the AFL sphere, but I certainly know there are very active discussions the AFL has got going.”Related: 3 barriers preventing Web3 mass adoption — Trust Wallet CEORyan says the speculative nature of crypto is “undeniably what has gotten a lot of people into it” but isn’t what will make for a sustainable future entity. He added that “at some point, there has to be this transition towards actual products that people want to use.”The AFL first 3,800 strong NFT collection in August sold out in under 12 hours raising an estimated $130,000 or more USD Coin (USDC). The AFL has already stated plans to expand its crypto offering to game day events, tickets and the chance to meet players in the Metaverse.

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Terra co-founder Do Kwon says he’s not ‘on the run’

Terra co-founder Do Kwon says he’s not ‘on the run’

Uverejnil používateľ | sep 19, 2022 |

Do Kwon, the co-founder of the Terra ecosystem, took to Twitter on Saturday asserting he’s “not ‘on the run’ or anything similar” after the Singapore Police Force (SPF) said Kwon wasn’t in the city-state.On Sept. 14, South Korean authorities issued an arrest warrant for Kwon and five other associates for alleged violations of the country’s capital markets laws. All were known to be in Singapore at the time, with prosecutors also attempting to revoke their passports a day later on Sept. 15.“For any government agency that has shown interest to communicate, we are in full cooperation and we don’t have anything to hide,” Kwon tweeted.I am not “on the run” or anything similar – for any government agency that has shown interest to communicate, we are in full cooperation and we don’t have anything to hide— Do Kwon (@stablekwon) September 17, 2022Kwon did not reveal where he was, saying crypto Twitter has “no business knowing my GPS coordinates.” He added they are defending themselves in “multiple jurisdictions” and look forward to “clarifying the truth over the next few months.”We are in the process of defending ourselves in multiple jurisdictions – we have held ourselves to an extremely high bar of integrity, and look forward to clarifying the truth over the next few months— Do Kwon (@stablekwon) September 17, 2022

Singapore does not have an extradition treaty with South Korea, but the SPF stated it will assist Korean authorities within the scope of its domestic laws and international obligations and didn’t provide any further details.In May, the Terra ecosystem Kwon co-founded arguably had the biggest crash in cryptocurrency history after its algorithmic stablecoin TerraUSD Classic (USTC), originally TerraUSD (UST) lost its US dollar peg to hit a low of $0.006 in June.Its sister asset, now known as Terra Luna Classic (LUNC) met a similar fate with an all-time low of $0.0000009 in May after hitting its all-time high of over $119 the month prior. The twin collapses caused panic among traders, with selling pressure leading to a wider collapse in the digital asset market.Related: Collapse of Terra blockchain ecosystem forces talent migrationPreviously, South Korean prosecutors banned Terra employees from leaving the country in June to stop the possibility of them fleeing to avoid investigation, Do Kwon was already residing in Singapore at the time.In July, South Korean authorities raided 15 firms including seven crypto exchanges connected to the collapse of Terra reportedly gaining access to data related to USTC and LUNC transactions.

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US expansion for Huobi a step closer after it secures a FinCEN license

US expansion for Huobi a step closer after it secures a FinCEN license

Uverejnil používateľ | júl 6, 2022 |

A subsidiary of the Huobi cryptocurrency exchange called HBIT Inc has received its Money Services Business (MSB) license from the United States Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN).The Seychelles based Huobi said on July 5 that the license creates a foundation for it to carry out crypto-related business in the U.S. in the future, as part of its strategic goals of “globalization and compliance”. The exchange is a major player, with more than $1 billion in volume in the past 24 hours according to CoinGecko.Before the great crypto crackdown by Chinese authorities most Huobi users came from China, but according to the latest figures from Statista, most users in February 2022 originated from Russia and Ukraine.The MSB license allows Huobi’s subsidiary to transmit money and operate as a fiat currency exchange, a required step by U.S. regulators to ensure FinCEN can monitor financial crimes such as money laundering. However, it does not allow it to provide crypto-exchange services — which would require a money transmitter license. It says in the future it expects to provide U.S. users with a compliant digital asset service.Huobi said its subsidiaries in Hong Kong have also received asset management and securities advising licenses from the country’s Securities and Futures Commission.The subsidiaries are also in the process of applying for a license to provide automated trading services and securities trading to become a fully compliant crypto-exchange in Hong Kong.Huobi has been on a streak of licensing wins. On June 21 the exchange won licenses in New Zealand and the United Arab Emirates. The latter was an Innovation License which, while not a trading license, allows it to access the local tech industry and get special tax treatment.At the time, Huobi Group chief financial officer Lily Zhang told Cointelegraph it plans to receive its license to offer its full suite of crypto exchange services under Dubai’s Virtual Assets Regulatory Authority (VARA).It hasn’t been all good news though, with the exchange’s Thai license revoked on June 16 after it reportedly failed to comply with local regulations. There are also rumors of significant staff layoffs and that its founder might be looking to exit the businessHong Kong based crypto reporter Colin Wu reported on June 28 that Huboi intended to lay off up to 30% of its staff, with a later update on July 2 reporting rumors that Huboi founder Li Lin is looking to sell his 50% stake.EXCLUSIVE: Huobi founder Li Lin is looking to sell his stake in Huobi. Li Lin currently holds more than 50% of the shares. The second largest shareholder of Huobi is Sequoia China. Huobi’s revenue plummeted after it wiped out all Chinese users and is laying off staff. https://t.co/67KOlW9aT9— Wu Blockchain (@WuBlockchain) July 1, 2022Related: How crypto is attracting some institutional investors — Huobi Global sales headThe exchange reportedly lost around 30% of its revenue due to losing its Chinese based users due to the country’s restrictions on crypto trading.To date, Huobi has not publicly responded to the speculation.

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