If you saw the returns in my crypto portfolio this year, you would take a pass on my predictions for the direction of the cryptocurrency market. So, I will stick to what I know and share some regulatory predictions for the crypto industry. Few legislative changes A few minor victories will logroll small legislative fixes into “must pass” bills like the defense authorization or omnibus spending bills. The top candidate would be a de minimis exemption for smaller crypto transactions to exempt users from capital gains tax liability every time they purchase a coffee with crypto. The protection for noncustodial …

Cryptocurrency trading firm Auros Global, which reportedly suffered a $20 million dollar exposure in the FTX collapse, has released a statement saying it plans to resume regular operations after implementing a restructuring plan. Statement from Auros regarding recent references in the media – pic.twitter.com/9RFHhYjHqz — Auros (@Auros_global) December 20, 2022 Following the collapse of FTX, the cryptocurrency trading firm shared that it “found itself in a position where immediate liquidity was insufficient to satisfy recalls from lenders.” However, its top management remained confident that they would be able to weather the storm caused by the FTX contagion. In the issued …

According to a new filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission on Dec. 20, Bitcoin (BTC) miner Greenidge stated that it reached an agreement with its creditor, fintech firm NYDIG, to restructure approximately $74 million worth of debt. The deal, in the form of a non-binding term sheet, would result in a major change to Greenidge's current business strategy. Essentially, it would transform Greenidge from self-mining to hosting for NYDIG's mining rigs. Under the conditions, NYDIG would purchase miners with approximately 2.8 exahash per second (EH/s) of mining capacity to be hosted by Greenidge, which will facilitate NYDIG rights …

Sasha Ivanov, founder and CEO of the Waves blockchain platform, is planning to launch a new stablecoin amid the ongoing crisis of the Waves-backed stablecoin, Neutrino USD (USDN). Ivanov took to Twitter on Dec. 20 to announce the USDN situation resolution plan alongside a new stablecoin project. “I will launch a new stablecoin,” Waves founder wrote, adding that there is going to be a “USDN situation resolution plan set in motion before.” He stressed that nothing new will be launched or announced until the USDC plan resolution is set in motion. Without specifying the details on the nature of the …

The Central African Republic has announced it will delay the listing of cryptocurrency, Sango Coin, on crypto exchanges due to current market conditions and marketing reasons. The update was revealed in Sango's Telegram group. Sango Coin was launched in July with the aim of raising nearly $1 billion over the next year, however, so far, only $1.66 million worth of the coin has been sold, according to the Sango website. In April of this year, the Central African Republic made Bitcoin legal tender, (BTC), becoming the first African state to do so. The country had also previously announced a plan …

More than six months after the collapse of the Terra ecosystem, South Korean authorities continue to investigate and freeze the funds of persons involved in Terra. After seizing 140 billion won ($108 million) from Terra co-founder Shin Hyun-Seong in November, the Seoul Southern District Court has recently ruled to confiscate more assets related to Terra. The South Korean court has ordered to freeze of 120 billion won ($92 million) in assets of former and incumbent CEOs of Terraform Labs’ affiliate firm Kernel Labs, The Korea Economic Daily reported on Dec. 20. Founded in 2018, Kernel Labs is a blockchain consultancy …

Busan, the blockchain city of South Korea, has moved a step closer to forming a local crypto exchange, but it has dropped most of the global centralized exchange partners. The drastic decision comes in the wake of the recent colossal failure of centralized exchanges. The city announced the steering committee comprising 18 local blockchain experts but none of the five exchanges that had agreed earlier this year to assist the city in establishing its first official digital asset exchange. The five exchanges included Binance, Crypto.com, Gate.io, Huobi Global and FTX. The steering committee is a municipal advisory body tasked with …

While self-custody is considered the ultimate way to secure one’s funds, many fail to acknowledge the risks associated with physically storing seed phrases. A search conducted by the State Police agency for Nevada ended up making a suspect’s seed phrase public after being picked up by the body cam. A viral video making rounds on Twitter showed two police officers searching a suspect’s car and coming across pieces of paper. It turns out, the suspect was a strong believer in self-custody as unfolding the pieces of paper revealed the suspect’s seed phrase, which was hand-written — a popular method to …

Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong has pushed for stricter regulations on centralized crypto actors, but says decentralized protocols should be allowed to flourish given that open-source code and smart contracts are alrea“the ultimate form of disclosure.” Armstrong shared his views on cryptocurrency regulation in a Dec. 20 Coinbase blog where he proposed how regulators can help “restore trust” and move the industry forward as the market continues to recover from the damage done by FTX and its shock collapse. But decentralized protocols aren’t part of that equation, the Coinbase CEO emphasized. “Decentralized arrangements do not involve intermediaries [and] open-source code and …

Bankrupt crypto lending platform BlockFi has filed a motion requesting authority from the United States Bankruptcy Court to allow its users to withdraw digital assets currently locked up in BlockFi Wallets. In a motion filed on Dec .19 with the U.S. Bankruptcy Court in the District of New Jersey, the lender asked the court for authority to honor client withdrawals from wallet accounts as of the platform’s pause on Nov. 10. As part of our presentation in Court, we also expressed our intention to request approval from the Court to restore withdrawal activities for BlockFi Wallet accounts. — BlockFi (@BlockFi) …

It would be ideal for the industry for Congress to weigh in on its fate rather than leaving it to unelected regulators at the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). To that end, representatives from both sides of the aisle have introduced bills designed to offer “regulatory clarity.” The moderate position seems to favor placing crypto mostly under the jurisdiction of the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC). To be sure, there are two Senate bills in particular that are not ideal. Boozman-Stabenow lacks clarity Democratic Senate Agriculture Committee Chairwoman Debbie Stabenow has coauthored one proposal with Republican Sen. John Boozman. With …

North Carolina Representative Patrick McHenry, the current ranking member of the House Financial Services Committee and chair starting in January, has reintroduced legislation aimed at creating innovation offices within government agencies dealing with financial services. In a Dec. 19 announcement, McHenry said he had reintroduced the Financial Services Innovation Act — a bill he previously pushed in 2016 and 2019. The legislation was aimed at creating offices within existing federal financial institutions that could help innovators — including those dealing with crypto and blockchain — a path towards regulatory clarity in the United States. According to McHenry, companies could apply …