The U.S. securities watchdog has launched a probe into crypto exchange Binance’s relationship with two trading firms with ties to founder Changpeng Zhao, the Wall Street Journal reported. Fast facts The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) is examining whether Binance’s U.S. arm properly discloses to users its links to two trading firms — Sigma Chain…
Russia’s Ministry of Economic Development proposed to greenlight crypto mining in regions with steady electricity surplus, local media reported on Tuesday, days before Friday’s expected crypto regulation draft. Fast facts The ministry also suggested introducing taxes for realized profits on liquidated cryptocurrencies earned through mining. Last week, Russia’s central government agencies reached an agreement to…
State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) governor Reza Baqir said in this year’s MASIC Annual Investment Forum that cryptocurrency risks far outweigh their benefits and threaten financial and monetary stability for developing countries. Fast facts The SBP recommended a ban on cryptocurrencies last month, with one of the nation’s largest banks quickly heeding the advice by…
A new NFT gallery owned by the People’s Daily online arm is airdropping this week its first batch of “digital collectibles” minted on Tencent’s blockchain since the gallery’s opening last January. Fast facts Digital collectibles is a phrase now commonly used by Chinese companies to avoid the term “NFT” since Chinese state media began denouncing…
South Korean crypto exchange GOPAX revealed Tuesday it has partnered with Jeonbuk Bank to provide clients with real-name withdrawal and deposit accounts, qualifying the exchange to offer cash-to-crypto services. Fast facts After registering its new partnership with Korea’s Financial Intelligence Unit (FIU), GOPAX is set to become the fifth digital asset exchange that offers Korean…
Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway purchased US$1 billion of Brazilian neobank Nubank Class A stock in Q4 2021 while selling billions of dollars of stock in Mastercard and Visa. Fast facts Buffett’s holding company dumped US$1.3 billion and US$1.8 billion from Mastercard and Visa, respectively, according to a Feb. 14 filing with the U.S. Securities and…
China’s state-backed Blockchain-based Service Network (BSN) announced the addition of Neo’s Jiuquan Chain to its open permissioned blockchain ecosystem to support the legal issuance of non-fungible tokens (NFTs) in the mainland. Fast facts Jiuquan Chain, powered by China-based Neo, will run as one of the 10 BSN open permissioned blockchains, as part of the BSN…
T Rabi Shankar, the deputy governor of the Reserve Bank of India, the country’s central bank, proposed an outright ban on cryptocurrencies on Monday, assuring the central bank’s position to prohibit digital assets has not changed since the 30% tax on crypto income was announced. Fast facts Shankar said he found no merit in the…