Stablecoin company, Tether, said on May 20, 2023, that it would commit its resources to mining Bitcoin in Uruguay using renewable energy.
As Bitcoin halvings increase, Bitcoin’s mining hash rate is rising, necessitating more innovative ways of accessing electrical power as concerns are rising due to its high consumption levels.
Stablecoin Company Tether is shifting toward diversifying its treasury management strategy by investing some of its net profit in Bitcoin.
Tether to do more than minting USDT; Bitcoin in mind
Tether, the world’s largest stablecoin company, has revealed that it seeks to diversify its treasury investment strategy by investing part of its profits in Bitcoin. The company is now moving to mine Bitcoin in Uruguay using renewable energy.
The company revealed this plan on May 30, 2023, marking its first foray into the green energy sector. It added that it is also searching for experts in the new venture to support its expansion in the green energy space. Bitcoin’s rising hashing figures require even more energy to secure the network and mint new coins, which necessitates the innovation of more solutions like green energy.
“By harnessing the power of Bitcoin and Uruguay’s renewable energy capabilities, Tether is leading the way in sustainable and responsible Bitcoin mining,” said Paolo Ardoino, CTO of Tether.
“Our unwavering commitment to renewable energy ensures that every Bitcoin we mine leaves a minimal ecological footprint while upholding the security and integrity of the Bitcoin network.”
In early May 2023, Tether revealed that it plans to invest some of its profits in Bitcoin. The company committed to investing up to 15% of its net profit in Bitcoin, mimicking strategies from other international companies like Elon Musk’s Tesla and Michael Saylor’s Microstrategy.
Tether is now eyeing to establish its Bitcoin mining plants in Uruguay, one of the prominent leaders in renewable energy production, sourcing over 98% of its electricity output from green energy sources. This development creates a positive image for the company and Bitcoin, as influential people in the crypto industry have asked crypto miners to consider energy sources with lower carbon prints.
Keep watching Fintech Express for updates on crypto and other Fintech-related stories.
Tron Network has been discovered to have a $500M vulnerability. This vulnerability was first discovered in February and reported to the right team, which was resolved in a few days. Today, the research team at dWallet Labs published an article detailing how they discovered the zero-day vulnerability in Tron’s multi-signature accounts and helped resolve it.
Security firm finds vulnerabilities in Tron Network
DWallet Labs found a bug in Justin Sun’s Tron Network that would allow an attacker to bypass the network multi-sig accounts mechanism and sign transactions using one signature only.
The team posted an article earlier today saying that the network’s vulnerability could impact around $500 million in assets stored in the multi-sig wallets. It explained that the bug could allow any signer to overcome the multi-sig security designed by TRON, giving full access to the accounts.
Since multi-signature accounts are meant to be used and authorized by multiple parties, such a vulnerability could spell doom to the network and shouldn’t be taken lightly. The research team said:
“We can bypass the multisig verification process by signing the same message with non-deterministic nonces of our choice. By doing so, we will be able to generate many valid different signatures for the same message by the same private key.”
The team explained that the network needed to catch up by ensuring the signatures used were unique rather than checking if the signers were unique. As such, the signers could double vote, an action that the network’s security measures could easily overlook, resulting in a potential exploit.
However, the researchers have explained that they reported the matter in February, and the network’s developers fixed it. Keep watching Fintech Express for updates on cyber security and other developments surrounding the fintech industry.
Bitcoin Price in Binance Australia has been trading at around $5,000 lower than the international markets as customers seek to exit the market. On May 18, the exchange informed its customers that it would suspend the Australian Dollar following issues by its third-party services provider.
Binance Australia closes fiat ramp making Bitcoin price trade lower
As a result of Binance lacking a replacement in sight for its Australian dollar fiat ramp third party, the exchange decided to suspend the currency in May. This has resulted in massive sell-offs of Bitcoin against the Australian dollar, weakening the Bitcoin price against the AUD on the exchange.
On May 30, one Bitcoin was trading at a hefty discount of $5000 against the AUD as the deadline for PayID service withdrawal with the local currency is set for June 1, 5 pm local time. The exchange has also warned Australian customers that Bitcoins remaining on the platform after May 31 would be converted into USDT.
Although this discount initially seemed like a gold mine, those seeking to make quick money may be disappointed. The depositing of Australian dollars is no longer supported, while conversion of other currencies to the AUD bears premium fees locking enthusiasts out of the discounted Bitcoin price.
The exchange has said it will continue looking for alternate service providers for the Australian dollar deposits and withdrawals. However, it may have to delist the trading of several crypto trading pairs with the AUD on June 1.
Binance Australia tweeted earlier in the day, reporting that discontinuing bank transfers has caused the disruption. However, Aussie users can still deposit into the exchange via bank cards, P2P trading, and supported third-party payment systems.
While AUD deposits by bank transfers are no longer available to Binance users in Australia, there are still several ways Aussie users can deposit onto the exchange.
– Credit or debit card – Use P2P to buy and sell crypto – Third Party Payment
Though Binance remains optimistic about finding a new bank transfer services provider for Aussies, it’s not promised since the exchange has been caught up in legal issues with the Australian Securities and Investment Commission, which even led to canceling its derivatives license there. Keep watching Fintech Express for updates on this and other related stories.
Binance, the world’s largest crypto exchange by daily transaction volume, has promoted Binance Singapore CEO Richard Teng to oversee all regional markets apart from the U.S. The exchange seeks to increase its international presence as it continually faces scrutiny from U.S. regulators over compliance issues.
Binance Singapore CEO Richard Teng to be a regional executive
Teng revealed his promotion via his LinkedIn profile, saying it’s an honor to serve in that capacity as he has already been heading regions like Asia, Europe, and the Middle East, fulfilling him to serve the company duly.
Teng joined the company in 2021 as the Singaporean branch’s CEO and has since been crucial to the company’s international markets dominance plans. He will now be tasked to ensure the maturity of their business in different regions worldwide but not in the U.S., where they are receiving heavy regulatory objections.
The move by the exchange to increase its international presence comes shortly after its confirmed departure from Canadian markets and cancellation of its financial services license in Australia.
Teng previously worked in various financial institutions like Singapore Exchange Ltd, Abu Dhabi Global Market, and the Monetary Authority of Singapore, and will now be a strategic executive for the exchange’s push to connect different regions via crypto technology.
Keep watching Fintech Express for updates on this and other Fintech-related stories.
Crypto regulations in the U.S. have been a hot discussion point in the past months, with specialists citing harsh regulation. In under 6 months, the U.S. regulators, including but not limited to SEC and CFTC, have charged numerous high-profile individuals and organizations in the U.S.
While some of these organizations went against the common banking rules in the U.S., there is an outcry that regulators, specifically the Securities and Exchanges Commission, are using enforcement measures before introducing a binding regulatory framework first which might affect the interest of crypto organizations in the U.S.
SEC’s recent efforts
Kraken charged
On Feb. 9, 2023, the SEC held a closed-doors meeting coming out with information that it had charged Kraken crypto exchange $30 million for violating some of its regulations via offering crypto staking services in the U.S. Additionally, it asked Kraken to cease offering these services in the U.S.
Coinbase legal battle
Coinbase seems to be the next high-profile truffle with the SEC after XRP’s parent company Ripple. The exchange’s CEO, Brian Armstrong, has taken a strong stand against the regulator’s tendencies to charge crypto organizations without a fitting regulatory framework.
On May 16, 2023, the SEC asked courts to reject a recent request by Coinbase that sought to compel the authority to introduce clear rules of the road regarding regulating crypto. The exchange filed the motion on Apr. 27, 2023, also revealing that it had initiated legal proceedings against the SEC after receiving a Well’s Notice from the regulator.
The exchange’s Chief Legal Officer Paul Grewal expressed the company’s frustration with the regulatory stance in the U.S. last month, saying:
“Coinbase does not take any litigation lightly, especially when it’s with one of our regulators,” he noted. “Yet we, like other companies in the industry, are facing potential punitive actions from the SEC without clear understanding of how the SEC interprets the law in relation to our business.”
Budget increase
In March, the SEC Chair Gary Gensler revealed to Congress that his authority required an extra $2.4B in funding. He said the authority lags in monitoring and regulating upcoming markets like cryptocurrencies. He said the extra funding would help arm the authority with the right tools and personnel to flush out bad actors from these markets.
Gary Gensler says a vast majority of cryptos are securities
One of the most controversial statements to ever come from Gary Gensler regarding cryptocurrencies is that Ethereum is a security asset. He also said that many cryptos should be classified as securities.
These statements were not welcomed by the crypto community and other regulators like CFTC, who believe that some crypto products are commodities. However, some experts never agreed with either; they stated that cryptos are digital assets and should be bound by new regulations and classified distinctly from traditional finance products.
Planned attacks?
Dr Thomas Hogan
DR Thomas Hogan, Senior Research Faculty at American Institute for Economic Research (AIER), released a video on Youtube in April discussing how the U.S. was attacking crypto via Operation Chokepoint. He also addressed the possible resurgence of this planned attack in the form of Operation Chokepoint 2.0, which aims to cripple the crypto industry.
In the video, Hogan states that the regulators’ power over the crypto industry has increased exponentially over time, with unelected bureaucrats getting heavily involved in the making and enforcement of new regulations which circumvent the democratic process as their core aim is safeguarding their wealth or making new fortunes off of the new regulations that they are bringing.
Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong claims the SEC wants to do away with crypto staking
Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong has repeatedly revealed that the US SEC has hidden agenda regarding the crypto industry. He has come out to say that SEC’s plan is to cause destabilization of the industry in a bid to control it internationally, which might not work, leaving the U.S. behind in the innovation.
On Feb. 9, 2023, he tweeted that his office had received rumors that the SEC sought to eliminate crypto staking for retail customers.
1/ We're hearing rumors that the SEC would like to get rid of crypto staking in the U.S. for retail customers. I hope that's not the case as I believe it would be a terrible path for the U.S. if that was allowed to happen.
Lax regulation witnessed in the traditional U.S. financial sector
Silicon Valley Bank sinks pulling international customers down with it
Republican lawmakers are accusing top bank regulators of sitting back while big banks like Silicon Valley Bank went down in flames. The collapse of this regional banking institution in the U.S. was the second largest of its kind in U.S. history.
Regulators closed the bank on March 10 and FDIC announced that it would bail out customers using the money paid to it. However, new information has surfaced that international customers did not benefit from this act of ‘kindness and responsibility’ by regulators.
As if foreigners didn't have enough incentives to dump their U.S. dollars, the FDIC just gave them another. Foreign customer's of #SVB weren't extended the same protection as domestic customers and will take heavy losses. The message to foreigners is clear. Don't bank in the U.S.
Treasury Chair Janet Yellen has confessed that lax regulations by the US government are to blame for the industrial collapse of 2008. We never saw any major changes in the way that the banking system is run in the U.S. even after the collapse meaning loss of income for millions of citizens.
Additionally, a big number of officials of wrongly managed financial institutions of the era were never charged or barred from ever participating in similar offices ever again. For instance, an executive at SVB was the CFO of LeMahns Brothers which collapsed in 2008. Should regulators bar such individuals from ever participating in the financial sector ever again? You tell me.
Banks are issuing risky residential mortgages under regulator’s watch
Banks have been issuing residential mortgages that are risky and hurting U.S. citizens due to a lack of enough oversight from governing bodies. Some types of mortgages like the ones with variable prices are risky as they squeeze a big number of people down their social classes when an economic crisis happens.
Unluckily, the U.S. regulators are not talking about this issue as banks continue to siphon money from innocent citizens who never participated in the process of passing bad financial policies that have brought inflation rates up necessitating high bank rates from the federal reserve.
Now in May 2023, the prices of varying mortgages was up by 7%, and have to be serviced by the same citizens who are battling a 6% total inflation against the US dollar.
Harsh crypto regulation is not good for innovation…
Several crypto and financial analysts have called out the SEC for its regulation methods citing that it won’t be good for innovation. Here is what some of them have to say:
Brian Armstrong
Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong has become one of the greatest forces in the blockchain industry following his readiness to challenge the SEC in court regarding its poor regulatory framework and its tendency to capitalize on it.
On Feb. 9, 2023, he condemned the US SEC for seeking to ban crypto staking, stating that it would affect the U.S. markets by driving crypto companies offshore. He stated that the operation of companies away from the U.S. is the real reason for increased fraudulent activities, like in the case of FTX and Terra ecosystems.
5/ Regulation by enforcement doesn’t work. It encourages companies to operate offshore, which is what happened with FTX.
Armstrong also led his team in building an international exchange last month to move away from the U.S., which foreshadows growing displeasure among crypto entities in the U.S.
Tim Tully- CEO, Zelcore Technologies
In an interview with Fintech Express, CEO Timothy Tully of Zelcore Technologies, a Web 3 company offering secure and simple-to-use ‘control center’ for cryptocurrency wallets, digital assets, and blockchain data, insisted on the U.S. having a uniform crypto regulatory framework.
He referenced the FTX, Kraken, and Paxos’s BUSD cases, saying that regulators are not making the rules clear yet insist on enforcing their mysterious interpretation of TradFi rules.
In his words, he said:
“Though regulation is necessary at this point, some of the steps that the U.S. regulators are taking may only make things worse. For instance, the branding of BUSD as a security, introduction of CBDCs which will be used as tools of surveillance is wrong and will most likely push crypto innovation away from the U.S.”
He explained that the noise witnessed in the crypto space is most likely a trojan horse from the U.S. SEC looking to stifle crypto innovation globally.
Joe Lubin, CEO, ConsenSys and Ethereum co-founder
In March, Joe Lubin, Consensys CEO, and Ethereum co-founder, hit back at claims that Ether is security. He said that he feels Ethereum is not a security after Gary Gensler labeled it so, and a subsequent lawsuit from the New York Attorney General against crypto exchange KuCoin also named it so.
Lubin said that Ethereum is more of a commodity like oil other than a security citing that people often buy oil anticipating a price rise. He stated that crypto industry participants are generally frustrated with how regulators handle their job. However, he added that it’s a good thing that some regulatory efforts have brought more light to the crypto space.
“I think some of us believe that many of the actions are right and reasonable,” he said, adding “more clarity” was needed. “We’ve seen focus on things that should see real scrutiny and we’ve seen misunderstandings.”
Oliver Linch, CEO Bittrex
Oliver Linch’s Bittrex Inc. was charged by the US SEC on Apr. 17, 2023, on allegations that it was operating as an unregistered securities exchange, broker, and clearing agency in the U.S. The regulator further accused the exchange’s international branch, Bittrex Global GmbH, of failing to register with them, claiming that both exchanges shared a single order book.
“We’ve not really seen an explanation as to what the SEC’s thinking is there, why that is of significance,” Linch said, referring to allegations of a shared order book. “Suffice to say, we think that they’re mistaken in the way they conceive of it legally and in terms of facts.”
Oliver Linch hit back at the regulator’s claim that they did not get any notice of an ongoing investigation until the SEC sent a notice saying they had reached a preliminary conclusion. He explained that the SEC did not serve justice as they ignored their right to have a chance to explain facts about how their exchanges operated.
He, however, praised the regulatory efforts in Lichtenstein, Bermuda, saying that it’s great for regulators to identify the risks associated with crypto and move to managing them rather than discouraging service providers.
“What we’re seeing is a growing realization that the most successful regulatory regimes are ones that have created a framework for crypto on a bespoke basis,” Linch said. “Now, that’s why we’re regulated in Liechtenstein in Bermuda, because what those jurisdictions did really early on is really get to grips with crypto, what the product is, what services, what the risks are, and say to people, ‘OK, well, we can identify and manage. Here’s how you do it safely.’”
Linch asked the U.S. Congress to help sort out the crypto regulatory mess and ensure that if the country wants to regulate the industry, it starts with developing a workable framework
Keep watching Fintech Express for more finance-related updates.
The introduction of the DRC-20 token standard has caused a surge in daily transactions on the Dogecoin chain, surpassing Bitcoin and Litecoin at its peak.
Surging Dogecoin transactions outshine Bitcoin and Litecoin
Dogecoin transactions skyrocketed to a record-breaking 650,000 on May 14, as reported by Mishaboar, a prominent figure on Twitter. The surge in activity has been linked to users swarming the Dogecoin network in order to mint the newly introduced tokens. Fueling the hype surrounding DRC-20 tokens are various Twitter accounts that tout their potential and draw comparisons to the popular BRC-20 tokens, which have recently suffered from a market decline.
Cryptocurrency enthusiasts and investors have been captivated by the sudden surge in Dogecoin transactions. On May 14, the daily transactions on the Dogecoin chain reached a peak of approximately 630,000, outperforming Litecoin’s roughly 350,000 daily transactions and falling just short of Bitcoin’s numbers. Subsequently, Bitcoin and Litecoin transactions have displayed an upward trajectory, while Dogecoin’s daily transactions have experienced a slight decline.
The rise of DRC-20 tokens fuels Dogecoin transaction surge
The surge in activity on the Dogecoin network can be attributed to the adoption of the DRC-20 token standard. Users have eagerly embraced these tokens, leading to an upsurge in transactions. Mishaboar, a prominent Twitter user who shed light on the increase in Dogecoin transactions, stated, “Over the past two days, many individuals have been rushing to mint these ‘tokens’.”
Introduced on May 9, DRC-20 tokens share a similar technical framework to BRC-20 tokens. These tokens enable the recording of digital assets on the smallest units of Dogecoin, known as elons. With 100,000,000 elons per Dogecoin, users can inscribe arbitrary content, allowing for the creation of Dogecoin-native digital artifacts. This includes both fungible and non-fungible tokens (NFTs), all without the need for a separate token or sidechain.
A notable factor driving the interest in DRC-20 tokens is the narrative propagated bynumerous Twitter accounts. These accounts assert that DRC-20 is the next big thing after BRC-20, with tokens minted on this standard having the potential to experience 100-fold growth. It is important to note that BRC-20 tokens reached a peak market valuation of $1 billion on May 8 due to the frenzy surrounding meme coins. However, the market cap valuation has since declined.
Concerns arise as market value of BRC-20 tokens declines
The decrease in market value of BRC-20 tokens, along with a significant 61% drop in thevalue of Pepe, an ERC-20 token that played a significant role during the meme season, has sparked concerns regarding the momentum of meme coins in the present cycle. Speculation has arisen suggesting that the excitement surrounding meme coins may be waning. As a result of this downturn, investors have begun to venture into alternative opportunities, including the emerging DRC-20 tokens.
DRC-20 tokens drive Dogecoin transaction boom
The introduction of DRC-20 tokens has ignited a surge in daily transactions on the Dogecoin chain, although it is still in the early stages. Users are capitalizing on the minting possibilities offered by these tokens, and their appeal has been heightened by drawing parallels with the widely popular BRC-20 tokens.
Elon Musk to the rescue? Uncertain future for DRC-20 tokens
As the market for meme coins undergoes fluctuations and investors search for fresh avenues, the future of DRC-20 tokens remains uncertain. Nevertheless, their influence on Dogecoin’s transaction volume exemplifies the potential for innovation and expansion within the cryptocurrency realm. Notably, if Elon Musk were to become involved, the prominence of DRC-20 tokens in the crypto-sphere may skyrocket.
