Crypto cycles aren’t for the faint-hearted. As the industry continues to evolve from the cypherpunks into the mainstream, we can expect a lot of growing pains. The dumpster fire that was 2022 may have scared off many companies interested in exploring the sector. Case in point: Visa and Mastercard’s embrace of crypto may have hit a snag thanks to the bear market and unclear regulations. According to a new report by Reuters, the credit card giants are halting the launch of certain crypto products until market conditions and the regulatory environment improve. Cuy Sheffield, who heads Visa’s crypto division, wasn’t …

United States-based cryptocurrency exchange Coinbase has acquired cryptocurrency-focused hedge fund One River Digital Asset Management, or ORDAM. In a March 3 blog post, Coinbase said One River Digital will transition to become Coinbase Asset Management, “an independent business and wholly-owned subsidiary” of the crypto exchange. One River Digital is registered as an investment adviser under the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, and has previously accepted investments from Coinbase to scale its operations. “Coinbase and ORDAM share an ethos grounded in prudent risk management, a trait which has enabled both firms to successfully navigate the recent market turmoil,” said Coinbase. “Culturally, …

Stablecoins are a type of cryptocurrency offering investors price stability. The most popular stablecoins are those backed by the United States dollar — the world’s leading reserve currency. Others are less popular and not widely used, so many may not have heard of alternatives if they haven’t searched for them. According to data from the International Monetary Fund, the euro is the world’s second most widely held reserve currency, behind the U.S. dollar and ahead of the Chinese yuan. The euro is the official currency of the eurozone, comprising 20 of 27 member states of the European Union (EU), with …

The popular fintech bank Silvergate Bank lost five crypto partners on March 2, owing to a slew of investigations and lawsuits against it. Coinbase, Paxos, Gemini, BitStamp and Galaxy Digital were some of the most notable crypto firms that were using Silvergate as their banking partner. However, the termination of service by Coinbase has also forced a crypto hedge fund to look for an alternate banking partner. Today Silvergate has lost Coinbase Circle Paxos Galaxy CBOE RIP https://t.co/XlexB5u2wD — db (@tier10k) March 2, 2023 On March 3, a crypto hedge fund called Digital Asset Capital Management (DACM) with assets worth …

Two United States lawmakers have criticized crypto accounting guidelines outlined by the securities regulator, arguing it places crypto customers at greater risk of loss. The guidelines came from the United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), which became effective in April last year. The guidelines ask financial companies holding crypto for customers to recognize all digital assets they do not control as a liability. It also states that digital assets should be backed by a safeguarding asset. Crypto companies must show liabilities equal to ALL customer crypto assets, according to SEC's new rule SAB 121 issued in March 2022.@coinbase complied …

Binance USD (BUSD) market cap has fallen below $10 billion for the first time in almost two years amid a United States regulatory crackdown on its token issuer and a planned delisting from a major crypto exchange. BUSD’s marketcap has been on a steep downward trajectory since its all-time high (ATH) market cap of $23.49 billion on Nov. 15, just a few days after the shock collapse of FTX. As of today, the stablecoin’s marketcap has fallen to $9.66 billion — levels not seen since Jun. 29, 2021. Most recently, BUSD has been the subject of a potential lawsuit against …

Business intelligence firm MicroStrategy and stablecoin issuer Tether have become the latest two firms to publicly deny any meaningful exposure to Silvergate Bank. The news comes as Silvergate announced on Mar. 1 that it would postpone the filing of its annual 10-K financial report, which has many fearing the cryptocurrency bank may be on the brink of a bankruptcy filing. This led MicroStrategy — which holds over 130,000 Bitcoin (BTC) — to confirm that its BTC collateral is not custodied with Silvergate. The Michael Saylor-founded firm added that it will not need to pay back a loan from Silvergate until …

Cryptocurrency exchange Binance has confirmed it is “not planning any layoffs” and is trying to fill another 500 roles by the end of June, according to a Binance spokesperson. The comments came despite a huge spike in crypto layoffs in January — the majority of whom were from crypto exchanges. In a statement, the Binance representative said: “As of today, we are actively hiring for more than 500 roles with the goal of filling them by the end of H1 [...] We are not planning any layoffs.” The spokesperson was responding to a request for clarification from Cointelegraph on Mar. …

Bitcoin (BTC) erased early-month gains on March 2 as fresh market uncertainty erupted over solvency of crypto bank Silvergate. BTC price avoids Silvergate, Coinbase stock slip Data from Cointelegraph Markets Pro and TradingView showed BTC/USD hitting $23,206 on Bitstamp, down around 1.5% on the day. The pair came under pressure as rumors swirled over the fate of Silvergate, which lost United States exchange Coinbase as a client in a decision the latter said came out of "an abundance of caution." Silvergate had suffered as a result of the FTX implosion, delaying its 10-K report this week and warning that it …

Cryptocurrency exchange Coinbase announced that it had terminated its partnership with Silvergate Bank as its U.S. dollar banking partner, citing the ongoing investigation. In an announcement tweet, the exchange said: "In light of recent developments & out of an abundance of caution, Coinbase is no longer accepting or initiating payments to or from Silvergate." The crypto exchange will facilitate institutional client cash transactions with their other banking partner Signature Bank. The decision will not impact payment instructions in GBP or euro. This is a developing story, and further information will be added as it becomes available.

Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong has attempted to quell speculation that his exchange’s staking products should be classified as securities — upping the ante in the ongoing debate around crypto regulations with the United States Securities and Exchange Commission, or SEC. In a televised interview with Bloomberg on March 1, Armstrong said, “Our staking product is not a security,” referring to cryptocurrencies that can be staked directly on the exchange to generate yields. He continued: “Customers never turn their assets to Coinbase for instance. And we really just are providing a service that passes through those coins to help them participate …

Crypto industry has been raising its lobbying efforts amid the crypto winter that began last year. In 2022, the market participants spent $25.57 million on lobbying in the United States. This number appears in a study, published by the Money Mongers on Feb. 23. The count is based on data from OpenSecrets, a nonpartisan nonprofit, tracking the lobbying expenses (which should be publicly accessible by law) in the U.S. According to this data, the general rise of the industry’s lobbying budgets made up 922% in five years between 2017 and 2022. In 2017, when the price of Bitcoin rocketed for …