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⚖️ Regulation on the Rise:
- Europe: Several EU countries are getting ready to scale their crypto regulations. Italy is considering stricter oversight (Read more) while the UK's Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) is expanding its crypto division with 100 staff members (Read more) to manage the already 44 crypto companies registered with them (Read more).
- Africa: Nigeria approved a blockchain policy to support secure transactions and value exchange. Even if the full text is not public, it focuses on tokenisation of real world assets and excludes cryptocurrencies. It also mandates regulators to develop deployment rules. Read more
- Louisiana: Louisiana's 'Bitcoin rights' bill was quietly passed into law on June 19. It protects digital asset miners, users' right to self-custody, allows Bitcoin payments, and bans CBDCs. Louisiana joins Oklahoma, Montana, and Arkansas in passing similar legislation, aiming to influence federal policy. (Read more). Similarly, North Carolina's proposed ban on a Central Bank Digital Currency (CBDC) highlights the ongoing debate surrounding their potential impact on privacy in some libertarian states (Read more)
- USA: The Supreme Court ruled against SEC's in-house judges for fraud cases, requiring federal court trials, drastically limiting SEC's enforcement power. (Read more). A US Treasury advisory points to the use of crypto in illicit activities (Read more).
💵 Stablecoins and Transparency
- Tether discontinued USDT support for EOS and Algorand to optimize resources, continuing redemption for 12 months while focusing on more popular blockchains. Supporting multiple blockchains creates a monumental technical and liquidity burden for stablecoin issuers, even the largest. The sheer number of chains (e.g., dozens) makes managing reserves and ensuring smooth transactions incredibly difficult. (Read more)
- With MiCa coming into force, more exchanging will delist non-compliant stablecoins. This week, Bitstamp's delisted of Euro Tether (EURT). (Read more)
📈 Growing Adoption
- Coinbase's partnership with Stripe to support USDC payments and accelerate the crypto availability in mainstream financial services (Read more).
- Sberbank, Russia's largest lender, recognises the potential of blockchain and crypto-related services (Read more). This, along with Brazil's largest fintech bank integrating the Lightning Network (Read more), showcases continued institutional interest in the underlying technology.
- 40% of South Korean university students reportedly invest in crypto. Highlighting a certian risk appetite, and a lack of trust in state-issued pensions .(Read more)
