Friday April 1, 2022
◾ EU’s Parliament has approved changes to a bill that will lead to an upcoming vote requiring crypto service providers to verify the ownership of unhosted wallets. (Theblock)
◾ Senator Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) is calling for a CBDC saying “it’s time for [the US] to move in that direction.” (Coindesk)
◾ Bank of Japan Governor Haruhiko Kuroda said Japan will not rush into issuing a CBDC. (BoJ)
Government & NGO Actions
◾ The SEC has issued a Staff Accounting Bulletin suggesting that entities custodying crypto-assets on behalf of their platform users are facing unique risks and uncertainties that are not present in arrangements to safeguard non-crypto assets and should therefore treat these assets as a liability. (SEC)
◾ Indonesia will impose a value added tax on digital asset transaction and an income tax on capital gains from crypto trading starting on May 1st. (Reuters)
◾ A senior Bank of Japan official say G7 leaders must act faster to establish a regulatory framework for digital assets and prepare for “big changes” coming to the settlement system in the future. (Reuters)
◾ India appears to be delaying the release of it regulatory-crypto framework until global leaders reach a unified consensus on the issue. (Bloomberg)
◾ Senator Bill Hagerty (R-TN) introduced a bill to provide greater clarity on what constitutes a stablecoin and how they are backed. (Senate.gov)
◾ New York State legislatures have delayed a decision allowing Greenidge Generation (GREE) to restart operations at its Dresden mining facility until June. (Bloomberg)
◾ The Argentinian city of Buenos Aires is building and plans to release a blockchain-based digital identity platform by Q1’23. (Coindesk)
Public Company Releases
◾ Galaxy Digital (GLXY) reported a 345% increase in net income to $1,7 billion and 256% increase in AUM to $2.9 billion in fiscal 2021; GLXY also renegotiated the agreement to acquire BitGo resulting in an increased ownership in Galaxy by BitGo of 200 bps. (Cision)
◾ Greenidge Generation reported 2021 revenues of $107 million primarily from mining and generated 1,866 bitcoin during the period. (Greeidge)
◾ CleanSpark (CLSK) is expanding its Texas mining operation with up to 500 MW of renewable power. (Cleanspark)
◾ Riot Blockchain (RIOT) agreed to sell up to $500 million in new shares of common stock. (SEC)
◾ TeraWulf (WULF) lost $94million for the 9-month period ending December 31, 2022 as the sustainable bitcoin miners prepares for future operation. (SEC)
◾ BitNile (NILE) filed a notice to delay the release of its 10-K with the SEC. (Bitnile)
Protocols, Applications & Business News
◾ A federal judge dismissed a lawsuit accusing Binance of violating US securities laws by selling unregistered tokens due to a statute of limitations technicality. (Reuters)
◾ Circle has chosen BNY Mellon (BK) to act as the custodian for USDC reserves. (Reuters)
◾ The official discord server of the Bored Ape Yacht Club was hacked signifying a new attack-spot for criminal actors. (Benzinga)
◾ Binance has been named the Official Cryptocurrency Exchange Partner of this year’s Grammy awards. (Cision)
◾ Netflix has released ‘Trust No One: The Hunt for the Crypto King’ a documentary about the 2019 collapse of Canada’s largest digital currency exchange QuadrigaCX. (Decider)