An amendment to the Financial Services and Markets Bill now before the United Kingdom's Parliament would extend the law’s powers to regulate financial promotion and other activities to crypto assets. The amendment was written by Member of Parliament and Financial Secretary to the Treasury Andrew Griffith. The 335-page bill was introduced in July and had its second reading in the House of Commons on Sept. 7. According to the explanatory statement accompanying the amendment, it would: “[...] clarify that the powers relating to financial promotion and regulated activities can be relied on to regulate cryptoassets and activities relating to cryptoassets.” …

The take-off of digital gold has the potential to disrupt the industry to an unprecedented degree. Historically, gold has been used as a global currency as a hedge against inflation. It has also been serving as an investment venue (commodities), often preferred over other asset classes like equities or foreign exchange, particularly in conventional markets. However, there are certain disadvantages to owning physical gold, such as inconvenience in transport and storage, as well as the risk of theft. Gold exchange-traded funds (ETFs) might come across as an alternative option, but it cannot be forgotten that the traders don’t actually own …

Crypto exchange FTX, led by crypto billionaire Sam Bankman-Fried (SBF), is reportedly considering bailing out Celsius Network by bidding on the bankrupt lender’s assets. Coincidently, the information came out the same day Alex Mashinsky resigned as the CEO of Celsius. “I regret that my continued role as CEO has become an increasing distraction, and I am very sorry about the difficult financial circumstances members of our community are facing,” said Mashinsky while explaining his decision. For FTX, acquiring the assets of Celsius would imply the exchange’s intent to save the lending firm, similar to what FTX US did for Voyager …

In recent years, nonfungible tokens (NFTs), cryptocurrencies and other modern investment options have become trendy. However, physical commodities such as gold are still in high demand. In 2021, the global market capitalization for cryptocurrency surpassed $2 trillion. Now, investors must ask themselves: which option should I choose — crypto or gold? Gold is a commodity that dates back thousands of years as a store of value and as a means of exchange and is still successful today. Even with the invention of decentralized digital cryptocurrency, gold has remained just as prominent. Although, for most individual investors, owning gold can be …

Interlay, a London-based blockchain firm, launched a Bitcoin (BTC)-based cross-chain bridge on Polkadot (DOT). Named interBTC (iBTC), the bridge allows the use of Bitcoin on non-native blockchains for decentralized finance (DeFi), cross-chain transfers and nonfungible tokens (NFTs), among others. interBTC operates as a BTC-backed stablecoin, secured by a decentralized network of overcollateralized vaults, which according to Interlay, resembles MakerDAO’s DAI token, a stablecoin on the Ethereum blockchain. The iBTC vaults use mixed-asset collateral to insure BTC reserves, making iBTC redeemable 1:1 with BTC over the Bitcoin blockchain. As a preventive measure during unforeseen vault failure, the collateral is programmed to …

Crypto and equities markets are down, and aside from the positive news of Celsius repaying all of their debt and avoiding a massive liquidation, there are few on-the-spot reasons that are prompting investors to buy Bitcoin (BTC) and altcoins. The collapse of numerous decentralized finance (DeFi) protocols, crypto investment funds and BTC trading 60% below its all-time high continue to weigh on sentiment, but a few positive tidbits of data could be a sign that the market is ready to enter a consolidation phase. expect people will shift from a comatose state of fear to the realization that tens of …

The crypto market has entered a bearish phase as prices of major cryptocurrencies have fallen to a four-year low. The current downturn in the crypto market has driven several crypto firms to go out of business, while many have made severe job cuts to remain afloat. The crypto market crisis began with the Terra debacle that saw $40 billion in investors’ money vanish from the market. At the time, the crypto market showed good resistance against such a massive collapse. However, the after-effects of the collapse had a greater impact on the crypto market, especially crypto lending firms, which many …

The Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) has launched Project Guardian, a blockchain-based digital assets trial that will use tokenization. The project will include regulated financial institutions serving as "trust anchors," with a pilot involving JP Morgan, DBS Bank and Marketnode, the SGX joint venture for bonds. The Project Guardian initiative, which was announced during the Asia Tech x Singapore Summit on Tuesday, was spearheaded by Deputy Prime Minister and Coordinating Minister for Economic Policies Heng Swee Keat. It will see MAS explore decentralized finance (DeFi) applications in wholesale funding markets by establishing a liquidity pool of tokenized bonds and deposits …

Digital asset investment products saw $141 million in outflows during the week ending on May 20, a move that reduced the total assets under management (AUM) by institutional funds down to $38 billion, the lowest level since July 2021. According to the latest edition of CoinShare’s weekly Digital Asset Fund Flows report, Bitcoin (BTC) was the primary focus of outflows after experiencing a decline of $154 million for the week. The removal of funds coincided with a choppy week of trading that saw the price of BTC oscillate between $28,600 and $31,430. Despite the sizable outflow, the month-to-date BTC flow …

Cryptocurrency investors and traders have cashed out $7.7 billion from the stablecoin Tether (USDT), resulting in its market capitalization falling by 7.8% over the past seven days to $76 billion. The amount withdrawn from the top stablecoin is nearly double the $4.1 billion it held in cash reserves at the end of 2021, according to Tether’s latest reserves report from December 2021. To maintain Tether’s peg with the United States dollar, the company behind the token backs USDT with assets such as cash, bonds and Treasury bills, the purpose being that each token is backed by at least $1 worth …

The VeChain Foundation has released its financial report for Q1 2022, showing that the project amassed an impressive $1.2 billion war chest but only spent about $4.1 million in the quarter. VeChain is a layer-1 blockchain project designed to enhance supply chain management, and that supports decentralized apps (Dapp), decentralized finance (DeFi), and nonfungible tokens (NFT). The Foundation’s Tuesday financial report for Q1 2022 outlines its balance sheet as of March 31and how it spent funds through the quarter. Although the treasury opened the year with $1.37 billion in assets between stablecoins, Bitcoin (BTC), Ether (ETH) and VeChain (VET), it …

The launch of Australia’s first three Bitcoin (BTC) and Ether (ETH) exchange-traded funds (ETF) scheduled for Wednesday has been delayed as a result of further “checks” needing to be completed. The exchange listing the Bitcoin Spot ETF from Cosmos Asset Management, Cboe Australia, released a statement late Tuesday stating that “standard checks prior to the commencement of trading are still being completed” and a “further update will be provided in the coming days.” Cboe issued the same notice regarding two spot ETFs issued by 21Shares also scheduled for launch today, a Bitcoin ETF and an Ether ETF. A representative for …