Monday March 7, 2022
◾ The People's Bank of China announced efforts to increase its crackdown on digital assets as a priority for the coming year. (Bloomberg)
◾ Singapore is imposing unilateral sanctions against Russia including restrictions on crypto-transactions that may be used to circumvent the financial injunctions. (Bloomberg)
◾ Switzerland plans to seize Russian crypto assets held within its borders. (Bitcoinist)
Government & NGO Actions
◾ Ukraine spent $15 million of the crypto donations its government has received on military supplies (Bloomberg)
◾ The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau and multiple state Attorney Generals are investigating digital payments platform Block (SQ) and its CashApp. (Bloomberg)
◾ German EU Parliamentarian Markus Ferber is calling on the EU to introduce measures to plug crypto loopholes allowing Russian to bypass sanctions. (Reuters)
◾ Virginia’s state senate has approved a crypto banking bill that will permit banks in the Commonwealth to provide virtual currency custody services as long as the bank has adequate risk-management protocols in place. (Finbold)
Public Company Releases
◾ EQONEX (EQOS) has entered into a strategic partnership with Binance's fiat-to-crypto payments provider Bifinity. Under the terms, Bifinity will provide EQONEX with a $36 million convertible loan facility. (PRNewswire)
◾ Hive Blockchain (HIVE) announced it is purchasing ASIC mining chips from Intel (INTC) and separately has signed a Letter of Intent to establish its first US mining operation, a 100 MW operation, at one of Compute North's new Texas renewable energy data centers. (Hive)
◾ Bitnile (Nile) plans to expand the capacity of its Michigan data center to 300 MW. (Businesswire)
◾ Marathon Digital (MARA) mined 360 bitcoin in February Increasing total bitcoin holdings to approximately 8,956 BTC. (Marathon)
◾ Mawson Infrastructure (MIGI) announced a 12 MW hosting, co-location agreement with DCG’s Foundry Digital. (Businesswire)
◾ Argo Blockchain (ARBK) mined 135 bitcoin and bitcoin equivalent in February bringing its total BTC/equivalent holdings to 2,685 BTC. (Seeking Alpha)
◾ Cipher Mining (CIFR) lost $72 million in 2021 planning its crypto mining operations which began last month. (Globenewswire)
◾ TeraWulf (WULF) has commencement crypto mining operations -- using more than 90% zero-carbon energy -- at its Lake Mariner facility in upstate New York. (PRNewswire)
◾ Digihost (DGHI) entered into a $250 million at-the-money offer agreement to accelerate growth. (Globenewswire)
◾ Shake Shack (SHAK) is offering to pay customers 15% of their purchase back in bitcoin as a reward for anyone who uses Block's (SQ) CashApp at the burger chain. (WSJ)
Protocols, Applications & Business News
◾ South Korea's digital currency exchanges have agreed to restrict Russia crypto accounts by blocking Russian Internet Protocol (IP) addresses. (Beincrypto)
◾ Malaysian utility Tenaga Nasional is trying to limit illegal crypto mining facilities by proposing a special bitcoin mining tariff and encouraging mining operators to legally apply for electricity. (Bloomberg)
◾ American Express (AXP), Visa (V) and Mastercard (MA) have suspended operations in Russia over the country’s actions against Ukraine. (MoscowTimes)
◾ FTX announced a new regional headquarter in Cyprus and the establishment of FTX Europe marking the next phase of the Company's global expansion by extending its presence into Europe and the Middle East. (PRNewswire)
◾ Coinbase (COIN) proposed using crypto technology to promote sanctions compliance. (Coinbase)
◾ Paypal (PYPL) suspended services in Russia in response to its military activities. (CNBC)
◾ English soccer team Manchester City announced a global partnership naming digital exchange OKX the Club's Official Cryptocurrency Exchange Partner. (ManCity)
◾ FTX plans to build a 7-floor hotel, office complex and headquarters facility in New Providence, Bahamas. (Tribune)
Market Data
◾ Binance's US dollar stablecoin BUSD achieved $74 billion in volume during February outperforming Circle's USDC which transacted $49 billion. (Beincrypto)
Exchange, Custody and Product Updates
◾Kraken CEO Jesse Powell said the US exchange will not impose an indiscriminate ban on Russian crypto investors saying it is "a pretty extreme measure, and it's far beyond turning off someone's access to their music streaming service, or their their photo sharing app." (CNBC)