Top stories

Kraken to Shut US Crypto-Staking Service

Crypto exchange Kraken will “immediately” end its crypto staking-as-a-service platform for U.S. customers and pay $30 million to settle Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) charges it offered unregistered securities.

3AC Co-Founders Launch Marketplace to Trade Crypto Claims

Open Exchange (OPNX) said there is “a $20 billion market of claimants” desperately searching for a marketplace to monetize their claims against bankrupt crypto firms like FTX, Voyager, Celsius, Genesis, BlockFi, Mt Gox, HodlNaut, 3AC, and many others.

Huobi To Expand in Hong Kong As It Bets on China

Sun, an advisor to Huobi who bought a 60% stake in the company last year, said the increased focus on the Hong Kong market is due to its status as “one of the experiment zones for crypto development in China.”

PayPal Pauses Stablecoin Project Amid Paxos Probe

PayPal's putting work on its stablecoin on ice amid increasing regulatory scrutiny. The news came a day after a report that New York regulator was investigating Paxos, which PayPal had been working with on its stablecoin effort.

Microsoft Kills Its Industrial Metaverse Team After 4 Months

The group’s roughly 100 employees have all been laid off. Microsoft created its Industrial Metaverse Core team in October to help build software interfaces for operating the control systems behind electrical power plants, industrial robotics and transportation networks.

DCG Is Selling Holdings in Grayscale

Grayscale operates the Grayscale Bitcoin Trust (GBTC), which has $10 billion-plus in assets under management and was late last year trading at a record discount to net asset value, although that discount has fluctuated recently. Grayscale, Genesis and CoinDesk share the same parent company in DCG.

Global regulations

Dubai Prohibits Privacy Coins Under New Crypto Rules

The new rules define anonymity-enhancing crypto as "a type of Virtual Asset which prevents the tracing of transactions or record of ownership through distributed public ledgers and for which the [Virtual Asset Service Provider] has no mitigating technologies or mechanisms to allow traceability or identification of ownership."

South Korean Regulator Provides Guidance on Security Tokens

This law considers securities as financial investments where investors are not required to make additional payments after their original investments. In addition, the FSC also provided examples of which digital assets will most likely be classified as securities.

China to Set up National Blockchain Technology Research Center

The centre will be led by the Beijing Academy of Blockchain and Edge Computing (BABEC), a research institution backed by the Beijing government and one of the developers of Chang’an Chain (ChainMaker).

Kazakhstan Law Limiting Crypto Miners’ Consumption of Electricity Enters Into Force

The main purpose of the new legislation, approved together with amendments to other legal acts like the Tax Code, is to regulate activities related to the issuance and circulation of these assets, most notably mining.

UK Crypto Firms Could Be Jailed for 2 Years for Violating Advertising Laws

The UK Financial Conduct Authority revealed in a 6 February statement that if the Parliament approves the proposed “financial promotions regime,” all crypto firms in the country and abroad will be required to follow certain requirements when they advertise their crypto services to customers in the U.K.

Crypto weekly price action

Research and technology

Proof of Reserves for Policymakers 

Proof of Reserves (PoR) is increasingly making its way into legislation and policy. At the same time, PoR is widely misunderstood and sometimes derided, both in the crypto space, and among policymakers. Nic Carter, co-founder Castle Island Ventures, discussed proof of reserves to help allay some of these concerns.

8 Ways to Check if It’s a Token Scam 

It pays to know if the token you’re holding is part of an elaborate scam to separate you from your hard-earned cash. There are eight straightforward ways of carrying out your due diligence to avoid fraudsters and con artists.

How Darknet Markets and Fraud Shops Fought for Users in the Wake of Hydra’s Collapse

Four of the top five highest-earning darknet markets in 2022 were conventional, drug-focused darknet markets, while just one, Brian Dumps, was a fraud shop.

Build Cryptocurrency Exchange Like Coinbase

Coinbase clone platform provides a way for businesses to enter the cryptocurrency market and offer similar services as Coinbase, with the added advantage of customization and unique features.

Fundraising and investment

Egyptian Fintech MNT-Halan Secures $400 Million in Funding

At the completion of this funding round, MNT-Halan’s valuation will subsequently rise to over $1 billion.

Crypto Lender SALT Raises $64.4M to Resume Operations

SALT Lending has closed a $64.4 million Series A funding round from a share sale to accredited investors less than three months after its planned sale fell through due to the implosion of centralized crypto exchange FTX. 

UK Blockchain Carbon Offset Platform Raises $45M in Seed Funding

The nine founder banks are BBVA, BNP Paribas, CIBC, Itaú Unibanco, National Australia Bank, NatWest, Standard Chartered, SMBC, and UBS. 

Crypto Protection Firm Coincover Raises $30M

Fund will go toward hiring, product updates and pursuing partnerships. The round was led by Silicon Valley investment firm Foundation Capital

Capitual Gets €15 Million Investment From Azimut

The deal would allow Capitual to start operating in Mexico, where Azimut has significant presence and operations.

Viral Quotes

“Metaverse is tough. You can put on some of the most amazing experiences in the world. But after an hour, I’ve had enough. I see it as entertainment.”

— Steve Wozniak, the Apple cofounder

“Crypto assets are highly volatile […] They’re more of an asset for speculation, so they’re not particularly in use as a means of payment. It’s more of a speculative asset. It’s essentially a substitute for gold rather than for the dollar.”

— Federal Reserve Bank of New York

“I think it's as likely, and would have the same impact, as if Uber was made illegal.”

— Ethereum co-founder Joseph Lubin is confident that Ether (ETH) won’t be classified as a security

“Cryptos may be facing their first real recession, which typically means lower asset prices and higher volatility.”

— Mike McGlone, senior commodity strategist at Bloomberg Intelligence