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- India Leads Global Crypto Framework 🇮🇳🌎
India Leads Global Crypto Framework 🇮🇳🌎
PLUS: Visa expands stablecoin settlement options, Revolut integrates SegWit Bitcoin wallet
Manan Vora
September 06, 2023
Snapshot Web3
September 6, 2023
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Regulatory and Legal News
India's Finance Minister, Nirmala Sitharaman, has confirmed discussions on global cryptocurrency regulation ahead of India's chairmanship of the G20 summit. She emphasized the importance of international cooperation for effective crypto regulation. The Financial Stability Board and IMF recently circulated a synthesis paper outlining a comprehensive plan for regulating cryptocurrencies among G20 member countries. Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi also called for a global cryptocurrency regulatory framework at the B20 Summit, highlighting the industry's uncertain future due to the lack of specific national regulations.
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Innovation and Launches
Visa is expanding its stablecoin settlement capabilities to Ethereum and Solana blockchains through partnerships with Worldpay and Nuvei. In live pilot programs, Visa has already settled millions of USDC for fiat-denominated payments on these networks. This move aims to accelerate cross-border settlements and offer stablecoin payment options to clients, enhancing financial flexibility. The inclusion of Solana in Visa's supported blockchains is a notable development, positioning Visa as one of the first major payment companies to utilize Solana for settlements.
Revolut, the fintech bank with 15 million users, is integrating Bitcoin Segregated Witness (SegWit) addresses, offering on-chain withdrawal and receipt features. This move enhances Bitcoin transactions by reducing fees and improving confirmation times for Revolut's global user base. It signifies Revolut's commitment to providing a better cryptocurrency experience and fostering adoption. Additionally, researchers at Florida International University have developed LNMesh, a solution enabling offline Bitcoin transactions using the Lightning Network via local mesh networks, potentially revolutionizing cryptocurrency accessibility.
Coinbase has quietly introduced a crypto lending service for institutional clients in the U.S. It allows clients to lend funds, mostly in cryptocurrencies, and overcollateralize to reduce risks. Coinbase then lends these funds to institutional trading clients, filling a gap left by firms like Genesis and BlockFi. Unlike the canceled Lend program aimed at retail customers, this service is tailored for institutions, making regulatory compliance less cumbersome. Coinbase aims to modernize the financial system using crypto, providing more economic freedom and opportunity.
MetaMask, the cryptocurrency wallet, has introduced a feature enabling users to sell Ether (ETH) for fiat currency. Users with MetaMask wallets connected to the Portfolio DApp can cash out ETH and send fiat to their bank accounts in the U.S., U.K., and parts of Europe. Initially limited to ETH, MetaMask plans to expand to "native gas tokens on layer 2 networks" in the future. This comes after MetaMask allowed users to purchase cryptocurrencies with fiat from bank accounts, PayPal, and cards. The wallet has also faced security challenges, with scammers targeting users through fake MetaMask sites.
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NFT and Metaverse
Esports tech company eFuse launched a "Creator League" with influencers but has postponed it due to blockchain tech controversy. The league offered "Community Passes," but some influencers were concerned about the use of blockchain. eFuse clarified that these passes weren't NFTs but used the Near blockchain for transparency. eFuse also laid off 30% of its staff as part of a restructuring. This happened after MrBeast promoted the Creator League through his YouTube channel.
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Scams and Hacks
Israeli tech entrepreneur Moshe Hogeg and his associates are accused of defrauding investors of $290 million during cryptocurrency project fundraising in 2017-2018. Israeli police recommend charging him with fraud, theft, money laundering, forgery, and tax offenses. Hogeg disputes the allegations and welcomes a review by the State Prosecutor's Office. He was previously detained in 2021 but later placed under house arrest.
CertiK's Chief Security Officer, Kang Li, has expressed concerns about using AI tools like ChatGPT to write smart contracts for cryptocurrency projects. Li believes that ChatGPT may introduce more bugs and vulnerabilities than it can identify, potentially leading to catastrophic failures when attackers target these contracts. He recommends using ChatGPT as an engineer's assistant for code analysis and reverse engineering but advises against relying on it for writing code, especially for inexperienced programmers. Li anticipates that AI tools like ChatGPT will improve over the next few years, potentially becoming more reliable for coding tasks.
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Interesting Reads
Henley & Partners' 'Crypto Wealth Report' indicates there are over 40,000 crypto millionaires globally, with 40,500 of them holding Bitcoin (BTC). Among those with over $100 million in crypto, 78 are Bitcoin holders, and 6 out of 22 crypto traders with more than $1 billion earned their wealth primarily from trading Bitcoin. This data suggests that a small fraction of the world's millionaires hold significant cryptocurrency assets. The report notes an increase in wealthy individuals seeking to protect their crypto assets against potential bans and aggressive tax policies.
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Quick Links
Coinbase's layer-2 network, Base, faced a block production stall, causing transaction submission problems. The Base team identified and deployed a fix for the issue, leading to the recovery of block production and transaction processing. Base, built on Optimism's OP stack, had a successful launch with over 140 integrations and a total bridge value exceeding $150 million on its launch day.
José Luis Garcia, CEO of Lightning Koffee, aims to promote Bitcoin in Medellín, Colombia, through "The Bitcoiners Coffee" brand. While currently accepting various cryptocurrencies, he plans to prioritize Bitcoin and accept fiat payments. Medellín's Bitcoin community is growing, but educating locals about Bitcoin remains a challenge.
El Salvador's Ministry of Education is collaborating with the nonprofit Mi Primer Bitcoin to introduce Bitcoin education in public schools by 2024. Initially, 150 teachers from 75 schools will be trained in Bitcoin basics through the Mi Primer Bitcoin program. After the pilot, the curriculum will be extended to all schools in the country in the following year. This initiative could serve as a model for other nations interested in incorporating Bitcoin education into their curricula.
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Miscellaneous
Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin discussed the centralization challenge in Ethereum and proposed a solution: simplifying and reducing the cost of running nodes. Currently, most Ethereum nodes rely on centralized web providers, which creates a central point of failure. Buterin emphasized the importance of statelessness, a concept that aims to reduce this reliance and enable node operators to run Ethereum on affordable hardware. While this concept is part of Ethereum's roadmap, Buterin admitted that addressing these technical issues might take a decade or more to accomplish. He also highlighted the urgent need to improve Ethereum's scalability.
Crypto research firm K33 (formerly Arcane Research) believes that the potential approval of a spot Bitcoin (BTC) exchange-traded fund (ETF) is being significantly underestimated by the market. They argue that if approved, a spot Bitcoin ETF would attract substantial inflows and boost buying pressure for Bitcoin. However, if rejected, the impact on Bitcoin's price would be minimal. The analysts also anticipate that Ether (ETH) is likely to outperform Bitcoin in the next two months, benefiting from strong momentum ahead of a futures-based ETF listing. The SEC is expected to make a decision on a futures-based Ether ETF in mid-October.
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The information provided in this newsletter is for informational purposes only and should not be interpreted as investment advice, endorsement, or recommendation. Cryptocurrency investments carry significant risk due to their volatility. You should consider your financial situation, investment goals, and risk tolerance before making any investments. We strongly recommend consulting a qualified financial advisor before making any investment decisions. Past performance is not indicative of future results.
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