Crypto Weekly Roundup: Two Major Banks Shut Shop $BTC

The loss of these two major banks has hit the crypto space especially hard. Let’s see how this development affected the market and check out some newsworthy crypto moments from this week. 

DeFi

Popular crypto podcast Bankless spread a rumor that the Security and Exchanges Commission (SEC) was going after staking platform Lido, causing the latter to dip by roughly 20%.

Technology

The Bank for International Settlements (BIS) has wrapped up its exploration of a project related to international payments using CBDC. 

Business

The issuer of the second-largest stablecoin Circle has stated that it held an undisclosed portion of its $9.8 billion cash reserves at the failed Silicon Valley Bank as of 17th January 2023. 

The crypto-focused Silvergate Bank has finally taken the call to shut down operations after struggling to stay afloat in the FTX aftermath. 

Binance.US has received court approval to advance its plan to acquire bankrupt crypto lender Voyager Digital’s assets for $1.3 billion. 

After settling with the SEC for $30 million dollars and ceasing its staking operations, U.S.-based cryptocurrency exchange Kraken is now back with news of creating its own banking institution.

Crypto exchange Coinbase has purchased One River Digital Asset Management (ORDAM) to improve its services and take advantage of the weak valuations of digital asset firms.

Bybit, the third most accessed crypto exchange, announced a partnership with payments giant Mastercard to allow users to spend their crypto with a Bybit credit card. 

Bybit has also announced that it is suspending USD deposits and withdrawals through bank transfers from the 10th of March, 2023. 

Regulation

A new Russian crypto mining bill proposes sending individuals who fail to declare profits derived from mining to prison.

The New York Attorney General has filed a suit against cryptocurrency exchange KuCoin for violating securities laws.  

A new draft of the highly anticipated bipartisan crypto bill introduced by Senators Gillibrand and Lummis is expected to be released to Congress in April after being deferred in 2022.

In its legal battle against the SEC’s denial of a bitcoin ETF, Grayscale has begun with a bang and has presented a strong case.

A UK regulator is now targeting unregulated crypto ATMs in London in its latest bid to crack the whip on several sectors of the cryptoverse. 

The proposed budget of the Biden administration has a clause that would impose taxes on the electricity usage of cryptocurrency miners. 

The administration is also looking to impose new rules on crypto taxation, which will include the wash sale rule and doubling capital gains taxes. 

Security

The Hedera network has stopped all access to its wallet and app as it investigates technical irregularities, which could be due to a possible exploit in its smart contracts. 

Disclaimer: This article is provided for informational purposes only. It is not offered or intended to be used as legal, tax, investment, financial, or other advice.