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☆ North Korean bank official charged in crypto laundering conspiracies
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-25 | by ( Hayden Field | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +3 min

On Monday, a Washington, D.C., district court unsealed two federal indictments charging a North Korean bank official for his alleged role in cryptocurrency laundering conspiracies. The alleged actions are in violation of current sanctions against North Korea by both the U.S. and United Nations. The recently unsealed indictments represent a broader pattern in recent years of North Korean workers using virtual private networks (VPNs) and other tools to illegally gain remote employment and redirect revenue to North Korea. Nearly every month so far this year, North Korea has run tests of its intercontinental ballistic missiles, the latest taking place in mid-April. "We will continue to work to disrupt and deter North Korean actors and those who aid them by following the money on the blockchain and shining a light on their conduct."

☆ How Anthropic cofounder Daniela Amodei plans to turn trust and safety into a feature, not a bug
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-24 | by ( Stephanie Palazzolo | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +7 min

Amodei chatted with Insider about her approach to trust and safety and what the future holds for AI. However, the majority of Anthropic cofounder and president Daniela Amodei's career has been spent trying to prove the opposite: that trust and safety is a feature, not a bug. "It's an organizational structure question, but it's also a mindset question," she told Insider. In 2020, Amodei and six other OpenAI employees, including her brother Dario Amodei, left the company to start rival AI lab Anthropic. Throughout Anthropic's growth, the company has kept an interdisciplinary culture, with employees whose experiences range from physics to computational biology to policywriting, Amodei told Insider.

☆ EU lawmakers approve world's first comprehensive framework for crypto regulation
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-20 | by ( Ryan Browne | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +1 min

Markets in Crypto-Assets (MiCA) is the first attempt at creating comprehensive regulation for digital assets in the EU. Lawmakers in the European Parliament have approved the world's first comprehensive package of rules aimed at regulating the cryptocurrency industry. In a vote Thursday, the EU Parliament voted 517 in favor and 38 against to pass the Markets in Crypto Act, or MiCA. The legislation, which seeks to reduce risks for consumers buying crypto assets, will mean providers can become liable if they lose investors' crypto-assets. The rules will impose a number of requirements on crypto platforms, token issuers and traders around transparency, disclosure, authorization, and supervision of transactions, the EU Parliament said in a statement Thursday.

REUTERS/Dado RuvicLONDON, April 19 (Reuters) - Crypto firms have been left scrambling to find banking partners after the collapse of three crypto-friendly lenders in the U.S. last month, creating a risk their business will become concentrated in smaller financial institutions. Mainstream banks have become increasingly wary of crypto clients following a series of high-profile collapses, including the bankruptcy of major exchange FTX in November last year, and a lack of regulation. "Crypto and Web3 start-ups are telling us they simply cannot get a business bank account," said Marcus Foster, head of crypto policy at Coadec, a body representing UK start-ups. A spokesperson for ING said the bank does not "target or focus actively on crypto firms" so its exposure is "very limited." But for smaller crypto start-ups, securing a banking partner could be more difficult, said Ricardo Mico, the U.S. CEO of Banxa (BNXA.V), a payment and compliance infrastructure provider for crypto.

☆ Crypto stablecoins might need limits to avoid disruptions to financial stability, warns Bank of England
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-17 | by ( Ryan Browne | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +3 min

Regulators may need to introduce limits on the use of stablecoins in payments to prevent potential threats to financial stability, an official at the Bank of England warned Monday. Stablecoins are cryptocurrency tokens that aim to mirror the value of traditional assets such as fiat currencies. Such assets could include deposits at the Bank of England "or very highly liquid securities," he added. The Bank of England said in February that it was "likely" Britain would need a central bank digital currency if current trends around the decline in cash use continue. The Bank of England, Treasury and industry are still debating concerns over how such currencies would be implemented, such as the privacy of people transacting with them and implications for financial stability.

☆ Junior doctor strike: Some of England's trainee doctors are paid less than fast-food workers. They've had enough
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-14 | by ( Anna Cooban | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +7 min

“For too long we have been undervalued,” Vivek Trivedi, co-chair of the BMA junior doctors committee, told a crowd of striking doctors Tuesday. It is difficult to compare the salaries of UK junior doctors with those of their international peers, said Lucina Rolewicz, a researcher at Nuffield Trust, a healthcare think-tank. Junior doctors make up nearly 40% of England’s NHS doctors, according to the confederation. But NHS junior doctors have been squeezed for well over a decade, says former radiologist Tania King-Mohammad. “[Junior doctors’] pay is not reflective of their education, dedication and commitment,” King-Mohammad said.

Yet investors aiming to amp up their bets face an ominous obstacle: a lack of liquidity that could trigger wild price swings. Slippage, a liquidity measure describing how much prices change between the placement and execution of a trade, has also increased. The vanishing liquidity can be traced back to the collapse of Sam Bankman-Fried's FTX exchange and hedge fund Alameda Research. Until then, "liquidity is probably going to get worse and worse", said Joseph Edwards, investment adviser at Enigma Securities. "Even if some players haven't left the place, they are on the sidelines right now because of what's happening with banking turmoil," Edwards said.

☆ Binance 'could be in big trouble' as the CFTC lawsuit alleges the crypto behemoth dodged regulators and breached laws
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-28 | by ( Zahra Tayeb | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +10 min

Binance is being blow-torched from all angles as US regulators close in on the world's largest crypto exchange. The CFTC sued the exchange this week for violating US financial laws, whilst some reports suggest Binance has engaged in secret fund transfers. On Monday, the Commodities Futures and Trading Commission (CFTC) sued Binance and Zhao himself, for allegedly breaching US financial laws. Following the shocking implosion of Sam-Bankman Fried's FTX exchange late last year, concerns have risen whether Binance faces similar risks. If US authorities decide the links meant the crypto exchange had control over the US platform, it could expose the company to enforcement action.

☆ Tether Is Winning Stablecoin Battle Despite Looming Risks
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-27 | by ( Vicky Ge Huang | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

Tether’s growing dominance coincides with a decline of the overall stablecoin market. Tether is continuing to extend its lead in the battle for the stablecoin market. However, its growth isn’t without controversy. Already the world’s largest stablecoin by market cap, tether’s value has increased by more than $5 billion in the past two weeks to about $79 billion, according to CoinMarketCap data.

☆ How this 26-year-old went from running bitcoin trading desks in Taco Bells to creating the largest crypto exchange in Africa
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-25 | by ( Mackenzie Sigalos | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +28 min

Yellow Card CEO Chris Maurice just before meeting with the Securities and Exchange Commission in Accra, Ghana. Chris MauriceFrom there, Yellow Card users can send or receive digital cash in eligible markets. Zoom In Icon Arrows pointing outwards Yellow Card CEO Chris Maurice in Accra, Ghana loading cash onto his Mobile Money account, MoMo. Yellow Card has facilitated $1.75 billion in transactions since launching in 2019 and has about 220 employees – mostly in Africa. A resident checks his phone outside a mobile money kiosk in the Kibera district of Nairobi, Kenya, on Monday, Aug. 1, 2022.

☆ Crypto firm Tether says it has around $1.6 billion in excess reserves to back its USDT stablecoin
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-24 | by ( Arjun Kharpal | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +2 min

Cryptocurrency firm Tether estimates it will make $700 million profit in the March quarter, taking its total excess reserves to over $1 billion, the company's technology chief told CNBC, revealing the latest figures for the first time. Tether issues the USDT stablecoin, which is pegged one to one with the U.S. dollar. Tether then revealed in February that it made $700 million in profit in the December quarter. Paolo Ardoino, Tether's chief technology officer, said the company estimates that the excess reserves will increase by $700 million in the current quarter, which is not yet over. That would take Tether's excess reserves to $1.66 billion.

☆ Tether CTO says company is on track to make $700 million profit in the first quarter
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-24 | by ( ) www.cnbc.com time to read: 1 min

Share Share Article via Facebook Share Article via Twitter Share Article via LinkedIn Share Article via EmailTether CTO says company is on track to make $700 million profit in the first quarterPaolo Ardoino, chief technology officer of Tether, defends the company's reserves and strength, saying the stablecoin issuer is on track to make $700 million in profit in the first quarter of the year.

☆ Tether CTO says bitcoin can 'retest' all-time highs this year
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-23 | by ( Arjun Kharpal | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: 1 min

Share Share Article via Facebook Share Article via Twitter Share Article via LinkedIn Share Article via EmailTether CTO says bitcoin can 'retest' all-time highs this yearPaolo Ardoino, CTO of Tether, discusses with CNBC's Arjun Kharpal why bitcoin has rallied this year and where he sees the cryptocurrency going.

☆ Bitcoin at $100,000? Insiders say the cryptocurrency could test new highs this year
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-23 | by ( Arjun Kharpal | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +4 min

In this article BTC.BS=-USSBTC.CB=BTC.CM= Follow your favorite stocks CREATE FREE ACCOUNTCryptocurrency industry insiders predict bitcoin could hit a new all-time high in 2023 and possibly reach $100,000. Bitcoin previously hit its all-time high of $68,990.90 in November 2021. related investing news How crypto prices may react to the latest Fed decision Marshall Beard, chief strategy officer at U.S.-headquartered cryptocurrency exchange Gemini, said $100,000 could be a possibility for bitcoin. "I think bitcoin probably breaks all-time highs this year," Beard said, adding that the $100,000 price figure is an "interesting number." Paolo Ardoino, chief technology officer at stablecoin issuer Tether, said bitcoin could "retest" its all-time high near $69,000.

☆ All’s fair in love and stablecoins
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-22 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

NEW YORK, March 22 (Reuters Breakingviews) - If a stablecoin isn’t first, it’s last, as Circle has learned this month. The company that issues USDC lost its peg to the dollar earlier this month because of worries about the $3.3 billion it held at Silicon Valley Bank. Though Circle recovered the funds from the bank, customers pulled $6 billion from it, according to Bloomberg. Circle Chief Executive Jeremy Allaire, in contrast, does regular rounds in Washington and has argued for regulation. They do not reflect the views of Reuters News, which, under the Trust Principles, is committed to integrity, independence, and freedom from bias.

To deliver cargo to a customer's door, the P2 Zip hovers around 300 feet above ground level and dispatches a kind of mini-aircraft and container called the "droid." Setting up one of these docks takes about as much work as installing an electric vehicle charger, Rinaudo Cliffton said. Before developing the P2 Zip, Zipline had established logistics networks in Cote d'Ivoire, Ghana, Japan, Kenya, Nigeria and Rwanda already. It is operating some drone delivery networks in the US, in North Carolina, Arkansas and Utah -- but the P2 will help it expand that network. The droid component of the P2 Zip is designed to enter distribution centers through a small portal, where it's loaded up with goods for delivery.

☆ Tether Becomes Unlikely Crypto Winner in Banking Crisis
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-14 | by ( Vicky Ge Huang | Caitlin Ostroff | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

Turmoil in the dollar-backed cryptocurrency world has helped tether, the largest stablecoin, to increase its lead. So far this year, tether’s market cap has risen 10% to $73 billion while that of its chief rival, USD Coin, fell by more than 11% to $39 billion, according to CoinMarketCap data. Binance USD has fallen by almost half to just over $8 billion.

☆ Why stablecoin company Circle is set to be the big winner in crypto after the collapse of Signature Bank and Silicon Valley Bank
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-14 | by ( April Joyner | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

The collapse of three crypto-friendly banks is a boon for stablecoin issuer Circle, investors said. Slivergate Bank, Silicon Valley Bank, and Signature all imploded in the space of a week. Circle keeps its reserves at BNY Mellon, which helped its stablecoin USDC recover after SVB's fall. Circle, the company behind the stablecoin USDC, is set to come ahead in the aftermath of the collapses of Silvergate Bank, Silicon Valley Bank, and Signature Bank, according to several investors and founders. One risk, however, is that recent bank failures prompt regulators to bar crypto companies, including Circle, from accessing the US banking system altogether.

☆ Stablecoin USDC nearly regains $1 peg after Circle says $3.3 billion held with SVB will be available
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-13 | by ( Arjun Kharpal | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: 1 min

In this photo illustration, a woman holds a smartphone with the USD Coin (USDC) logo displayed on the screen. USD Coin (USDC) came close to regaining its dollar peg on Monday after Circle, which issues the stablecoin, said that the $3.3 billion it held with the now-collapsed Silicon Valley Bank will be "fully available" when U.S. banks open. USDC is a type of cryptocurrency called a stablecoin which is supposed to be pegged one-to-one with the U.S. dollar . Last week Circle said that $3.3 billion of its cash reserve is with SVB. After the bank's collapse, USDC lost its $1 peg, falling as low as 86 cents on Saturday, according to CoinDesk data.

☆ What the failures of Signature, SVB and Silvergate mean for the crypto sector
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-12 | by ( Mackenzie Sigalos | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +4 min

In this article BTC.CM= Follow your favorite stocks CREATE FREE ACCOUNTA man entering Signature Bank in New York City on March 12, 2023. ReutersA lot of crypto's problems in the last year originated in the stablecoin sector, beginning with TerraUSD's collapse last May. Now that it is clear that SVB depositors will be made whole, Carter tells CNBC that he expects USDC to trade at par. The Silvergate Exchange Network (SEN) and Signature's Signet were real-time payment platforms that crypto customers considered core offerings. Meanwhile, Circle has already publicly said that it is shifting is assets to BNY Mellon now that Signature bank is closing.

☆ Stablecoin USDC breaks dollar peg after revealing $3.3 billion Silicon Valley Bank exposure
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-11 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

Circle has $3.3 billion of its $40 billion of USDC reserves at collapsed lender Silicon Valley Bank, the company said in a tweet on Friday. Silicon Valley Bank collapsed on Friday in the largest U.S. bank failure since the 2008 financial crisis, roiling global markets and stranding billions of dollars belonging to companies and investors. Circle said in a tweet on Friday that it and USDC "continue to operate normally" while the firm waits for clarity on what will happen to Silicon Valley Bank depositors. loadingCircle did not immediately respond to a request for comment about the dollar peg, sent outside of U.S. working hours. The chief executive of cryptocurrency exchange Binance said in a tweet on Friday it had no exposure to Silicon Valley Bank, as did Tether Chief Executive Paolo Ardoino.

☆ Crypto firm Circle reveals $3.3 bln exposure to Silicon Valley Bank
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-11 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

March 11 (Reuters) - U.S. cryptocurrency firm Circle has $3.3 billion of its $40 billion of USD Coin reserves at the collapsed lender Silicon Valley Bank, the company said in a tweet on Friday. The stablecoin company's announcement comes after startup-focused SVB collapsed on Friday in the largest bank failure since the 2008 financial crisis, roiling global markets and stranding billions of dollars belonging to companies and investors. Boston-based Circle said last week it had moved a "small percentage" of USDC reserve deposits held at Silvergate to its other banking partners. The chief executive of cryptocurrency exchange Binance said in a tweet on Friday it had no exposure, as did Tether CEO Paolo Ardoino. Stablecoin issuer Paxos and crypto exchange Gemini tweeted they do not have any relationships with SVB.

☆ Factbox: Silvergate crisis: Crypto industry majors drop embattled lender
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-06 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

La Jolla, California-based Silvergate, one of the most influential banks in the digital asset industry, also said it has made a "risk-based decision" to discontinue the Silvergate Exchange Network that enabled crypto payments. loadingCoinbase Global (COIN.O):The crypto exchange said it was no longer accepting or initiating payments to or from Silvergate. loadingCrypto.com:A spokesperson for the crypto exchange said in an emailed statement to Reuters it was temporarily suspending USD deposits and withdrawals via Silvergate out of caution. Gemini:The crypto firm said on Twitter it has stopped accepting customer deposits/processing withdrawals via automated clearing house (ACH) and wire transfers through Silvergate on the Gemini exchange. loadingCboe Clear Digital:The company said it would be pausing all transactions with Silvergate Bank at this time until further notice.

☆ Why Silvergate’s post-FTX financial woes could spell trouble ahead for crypto
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-06 | by ( Tanaya Macheel | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +8 min

Further, the spillover into a traditional bank and its stock price could fuel regulators' arguments that crypto poses a systemic risk. The big problem in crypto is that to buy bitcoin, you eventually have to interact with the traditional banking system. Silvergate's crypto bet worked for the bank, particularly in bull markets. A big part of Silvergate's crypto banking efforts was the Silvergate Exchange Network, better known as SEN, a platform that institutions used to move money to crypto exchanges. Custodia is a Wyoming-chartered special purpose depository institution designed to bridge the crypto and traditional banking systems.

☆ Crypto Companies Behind Tether Used Falsified Documents and Shell Companies to Get Bank Accounts
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-03 | by ( Ben Foldy | Ada Hui | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

In late 2018, the companies behind the most widely traded cryptocurrency were struggling to maintain their access to the global banking system. Some of their backers turned to shadowy intermediaries, falsified documents and shell companies to get back in, documents show. One of those intermediaries, a major tether trader in China, was trying to “circumvent the banking system by providing fake sales invoices and contracts for each deposit and withdrawal,” Stephen Moore , one of the owners of Tether Holdings Ltd., said in an email viewed by The Wall Street Journal.

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