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Here’s The Condition of Super Bowl Cryptocurrency Advertisements

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Following the collapse of FTX, a few arrangements for cryptocurrency-related Super Bowl advertising fell through, but at least one project is giving away NFTs.
According to reports, viewers of Super Bowl LVII on February 12 between the Philadelphia Eagles and the Kansas City Chiefs won’t see as many advertisements for cryptocurrency businesses as they did in 2022.

Four possible negotiations with crypto firms for advertising in the 2023 Super Bowl worth between $6 to $7 million fell through after the FTX bankruptcy filing in November, according to a story from the Associated Press on February 6. According to Mark Evans, executive vice president of ad sales for Fox Sports, there would be “zero representation” from significant cryptocurrency companies on February 12, when an estimated 100 million people might be watching the football game.

The Infamous Cryptocurrency Exchange FTX

Companies like as FTX, eToro, Crypto.com, and Coinbase debuted commercials during Super Bowl LVI in 2022. Approximately nine months before the company filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy and former CEO Sam Bankman-Fried was charged with fraud, the FTX advertisement featured comedian Larry David saying,

“Don’t miss out on crypto.”

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Sam Bankman-Fried, Former CEO, FTX

In a subsequent class action lawsuit, it was claimed that David had promoted the cryptocurrency exchange to investors without carrying out any due diligence. Other famous people who have backed cryptocurrencies have come under fire, like Naomi Osaka of the tennis team and Matt Damon of Crypto.com.

Despite the AP report, gaming company Limit Break declared on February 6 that it will show an interactive commercial during Super Bowl LVII in which it intended to distribute dragon-themed nonfungible tokens (NFTs). Instead of a celebrity, the advertisement appears to just have a QR code that viewers can scan.

Following the 2022 market meltdown and the bankruptcy of companies like FTX, Voyager Digital, BlockFi, and Celsius Network, numerous international authorities have targeted cryptocurrency advertisements. According to reports, the US Federal Trade Commission has launched an inquiry into a number of cryptocurrency companies for “potential misbehavior affecting digital assets.” The Central Bank of Ireland’s governor declared in January that he would support legislation that forbade the promotion of cryptocurrency ventures to children and teenagers.

Australian Cryptocurrency Watchdogs’ New Plans To Secure Its Consumers

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Australia sought to expand the regulations and change the regulatory environment surrounding cryptocurrency. In order to determine which digital assets will be subject to legal regulation, the administration declared that it would publish a consultation paper in the early months of 2023.

According to regulators, the paper’s findings will serve as the foundation for a new “strategic strategy” for the payments system. The government was apparently improving the rules governing bitcoin providers among other things.

In order to regulate the cryptocurrency ecosystem in the country, Australia is reportedly considering giving the securities regulator more resources, including staff.

Australian Cryptocurrency Regulatory Aspects

The Australian Securities & Investments Commission [ASIC] is growing its digital asset team and enforcement measures, according to a statement released by Treasurer Jim Chalmers on Friday. The Australian Competition & Consumer Commission [ACCC] is also intensifying its initiatives to limit bitcoin ransomware schemes.

The declaration made a point of how “more crooks” are looking to get paid using this unique asset type. In 2022, losses associated with cryptocurrency payments reached a total of $221 million.

The government is also trying to change how crypto assets are licensed and kept. The portion of bitcoin assets that are now exempt from the regulatory framework for financial services will continue to get the majority of attention. In his statement, Chalmers said,

“We will establish a set of obligations and operational standards for crypto asset service providers to ensure they adequately safe‑keep assets for customers.“

The agency also made it clear that consultations on the framework’s design for custody and licensing will start “mid-2023.” Additionally, the Australian Treasury has published a consultation paper on token mapping. Which components of the cryptocurrency ecosystem will be regulated will be decided by the same.

The three reasons the government is acting on cryptocurrency are “protecting consumers, protecting our financial system, and cracking down on criminals.”

Finally, the nation is using a “multi-stage method” that consists of three components. To be more precise, they entail enhancing consumer protection, enhancing enforcement, and developing a framework for its token mapping reform.

The treasurer claimed that while the previous administration experimented with cryptocurrency policy, it never took the time to future-proof its regulatory structures. He however added,

“We are acting swiftly and methodically to ensure that consumers are adequately protected and true innovation can flourish.“

Cryptocurrency Hazards: White House Outlines Plan To Mitigate Risks In New Framework

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The White House and the U.S. government released a statement on January 27th outlining their roadmap for mitigating the risks associated with cryptocurrencies. 

The statement acknowledged that 2022 was a difficult year for the industry, with a “stablecoin” collapse and a major cryptocurrency exchange collapse causing significant losses for everyday investors.

Despite the challenges, the government stressed that the fluctuations in the cryptocurrency market had had minimal impact on the overall financial system thus far. 

They acknowledged the necessity for ongoing efforts to prevent digital currencies from undermining financial stability, safeguard investors and hold fraudulent actors accountable.

First-Ever Framework For Developing Crypto Assets

Under President Biden’s guidance, the government has undertaken a comprehensive effort to identify the potential dangers associated with cryptocurrencies and implement measures to mitigate them, utilizing the powers of the Executive Branch. 

The Administration has developed the first-ever framework for creating digital assets while ensuring safety and accountability and addressing the associated risks.

The framework identifies clear risks, such as cryptocurrency companies ignoring financial regulations and basic risk controls, as well as poor cybersecurity practices that can lead to theft and fraud.

In addition, agencies are ramping up enforcement and issuing new guidance to address the risks of digital assets. The banking agencies have issued joint guidance on “separating risky digital assets from the banking system.”

Public-awareness programs are being developed to help consumers understand the risks of buying cryptocurrencies. The government also plans to unveil priorities for digital assets research and development in the coming months to help the technologies powering cryptocurrencies protect consumers by default.

The statement also called on Congress to take action to prevent misuse of customers’ assets, mitigate conflicts of interest, strengthen transparency and disclosure requirements, and increase penalties for violating illicit-finance rules. 

The government’s statement also warned against actions that would further integrate cryptocurrencies into the traditional financial system, emphasizing the importance of protecting the public through secure and inclusive technologies. 

They pledged to advance the digital assets framework and collaborate with Congress to achieve this aim. However, the Administration’s goal is to implement measures to ensure that the new digital economy is secure, inclusive, and serves the interests of all citizens.

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Stringent Licensing Of Cryptocurrency Firms Immediate Necessity :French Central Bank Governor

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The governor of the Bank of France, Francois Villeroy de Galhau, has called for stricter licensing rules for cryptocurrency businesses in France, noting the present unrest in the cryptocurrency markets.

The central bank governor said France shouldn’t wait for impending EU cryptocurrency rules to establish mandatory licensing for regional Digital Asset Service Providers during a speech in Paris on January 5. (DASPs).

In addition to other rules, the Markets in Crypto Assets bill (MiCA) from the European Parliament is anticipated to go into effect at some point in 2024.

In his speech, Villeroy reportedly addressed the nation’s financial sector, making the following remarks,

“All the disorder in 2022 feeds a simple belief: it is desirable for France to move to an obligatory licensing of DASP as soon as possible, rather than just registration.”

The Financial Markets Authority (AMF), the nation’s market regulator, currently requires “registration” from crypto firms offering crypto trading and custody.

A DASP license is voluntary, and those who hold one are obligated to adhere to a number of rules regarding how businesses should be organized, run, and funded.

However, none of the 60 crypto companies registered with the AMF are currently holding a DASP license.

Cryptocurrency Firm Regulation, End Product Of Amendment

Villeroy’s request comes after Hervé Maurey, a member of the Senate Finance Commission, presented an amendment in December 2022 to get rid of a provision allowing businesses to operate without a license.

Even if or when MiCA becomes legislation and institutes a licensing regime, businesses in France are now permitted to operate without a license until 2026.

The measure will be the subject of parliamentary discussion beginning in January.

Since September 2020, MiCA has been slowly making its way through the EU parliament.

Through trilateral talks between the EU Council, European Commission, and European Parliament, it was approved on October 10, 2022, by the Committee on Economic and Monetary Affairs (ECON) of the European Parliament.

The last Plenary vote on MiCA was moved from December 2022 to February 2023. The delay, according to European Parliament member Stefan Berger, was caused by “the enormous amount of work for the lawyer linguists, given the length of the legal text,” he told local media in November 2022.

Yet Another Cryptocurrency Initiative By UK’s National Crime Agency

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The United Kingdom’s next prime minister is Rishi Sunak. Sunak supports bitcoin and wants to turn the UK into a major center for it. In the midst of this, UK MPs have decided to accept cryptocurrencies as regulated goods and financial instruments.

Recently, the UK’s HM Revenue and Customs [HMRC] Department published a series of laws to define “designated crypto assets.” The Investment Manager Exemption is applicable to transactions involving these assets filed starting with the tax year 2022–2023 in the UK. On January 1st, 2023, the same was supposed to take effect.

New Cryptocurrency Unit Created By Crime Agency

After a year in which $3 billion in cryptocurrency was stolen through hacks worldwide, the UK’s National Crime Agency is hiring a team of law enforcement officials to look into cryptocurrency crimes.

According to a job posting on the government website, originally seen by Financial News, investigators “shall be dedicated to a proactive cryptocurrency remit with the relevant tools and capacities to target UK-based suspects” as members of the national cybercrime section “crypto cell.”

The Financial Conduct Authority discovered that between March 2021 and April 2022, financial fraud alerts in the UK were most prevalent in the cryptocurrency sector. During that time, the agency opened 432 cases to investigate schemes involving cryptocurrencies.

According to an annual enforcement review released by the Financial Conduct Authority, there were 8,568 alleged crypto scams reported to the organization between April 1, 2021, and March 31, 2022. That represents a roughly 36% increase from the same period the previous year. This number tops the board and is more than twice as high as the second-place fraud category of pension transfer to a new scheme.

The FCA’s “ScamSmart” campaign, which also contains a warning to consumers about the dangers of investing in cryptocurrencies, includes the data release. In its annual public review meeting earlier in October, the FCA reaffirmed the project’s significance and warned cryptocurrency investors that they may “lose all their money.”

Cryptocurrency Payments Now Accepted at Ukraine Pharmacies Through Binance Pay

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One of the largest drugstore chains in Ukraine, ANC Pharmacy, has teamed up with Binance Ukraine to introduce cryptocurrency payments through the contactless cryptocurrency payment tool Binance Pay.

The pharmacy chain formally stated on Tuesday that starting on January 3, ANC Pharmacy will allow consumers to proceed with quick payments when ordering pharmacy products online.

In Ukraine, ANC Pharmacy runs more than 1,000 pharmacies in addition to its own online pharmacy business. An official release states that Kyiv pharmacies would be the first to accept Binance Pay payments.

Both ANC pharmacies and drugstores run by ANC Pharmacy, notably Kopiyka and Shara, will accept the new payment option. The official statement read,

“ANC, Kopiyka and Shara are the first pharmacies in Europe to accept crypto.” 

Users must first download the Binance app and then visit the ANC.ua website in order to proceed with a crypto payment at an ANC pharmacy. Users will be able to select a product online, pay with the Binance Pay service, and pick up their order from a selected pharmacy.

When local media contacted Binance Ukraine for comment, a spokesman did not answer right away.

Cryptocurrency Presence In Ukraine More Evident Now

Over the past several years, Binance has actively promoted its presence in Ukraine. Binance also collaborated with the Ukrainian supermarket chain Varus in September 2022, enabling customers to pay for their groceries using the Binance Pay Wallet.

With more than 111 locations spread over 28 cities in Ukraine, the supermarket is one of the biggest businesses in the nation. According to the business, this alliance would give its consumers access to quick delivery and instant cryptocurrency payments in nine Ukrainian cities: Kyiv, Dnipro, Kamianske, Kryvyi Rih, Zaporizhzhia, Brovary, Nikopol, Vyshhorod, and Pavlograd.

Launching a Binance Card in Ukraine was one of Binance’s top priorities for 2022, according to Kirill Khomyakov, general manager of Binance Ukraine, who made the statement to Cointelegraph in early February 2022, or weeks before Russian armies invaded Ukraine.

Khomyakov claims that while cryptocurrency-derived transactions are not prohibited in Ukraine, payments made using services like Binance Card do not violate Ukrainian legal requirements. However, local legislation prohibits direct Bitcoin payments and other cryptocurrencies.

$3B Cryptocurrency Trader Who Still Lives With Parents: Details

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According to public documents, a 25-year-old cryptocurrency trader operated his crypto empire from the comfort of his parents’ Sydney, Australia, home in 2021, transacting approximately $2 billion (3 billion Australian dollars) worth of cryptocurrency.

Darren Nguyen, the young gun in question, has not publicly discussed the success of his modest trading company, PO Street Capital, but a Jan. 2 report in The Australian exposed it through public records.

Nguyen’s cryptocurrency business, which is registered at his parents’ home in Guildford, Sydney, generated an after-tax profit of AU$10.41 million for the fiscal year that ended on June 30, 2021, according to documents submitted to the Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC).

This resulted from cryptocurrency trades for a total of $2.98 billion over the course of a year.

It was a significant increase over Nguyen’s earnings in the prior year, which came to about AU$692,182 in 2020.

The figures reveal his net profit climbed by 1,404.12% in 2021 compared to the prior year, according to the accountants for PO Street Capital.

In June 2021, PO Street Capital reportedly had AU$4.3 million in short-term contingencies and a AU$1.3 million loan company was repaying to Nguyen, but no additional debts were recorded on its books.

In addition, Nguyen received dividends from the year’s profits of AU$873,200.

Although The Australian didn’t factor in leveraged trading, which is believed to have been a major factor in the overstated trading volumes, their story implied that PO Street Capital was self-funded to execute such a high quantity of trades at AU$3 billion.

Cryptocurrency Trader’s Family Does Not Spill The Beans

The Nguyen family has remained mute regarding the cryptocurrency trading operation that Nguyen runs, and his mother has refrained from sharing any information regarding the trading activities that took place inside of her home.

Nguyen has also kept quiet about the company, including his trading methods and the results of PO Street Capital’s most recent fiscal year, which ended on June 30.

Notably, between July 1, 2020, and June 30, 2021, the price of cryptocurrencies rose dramatically, paralleling PO Street Capital’s dramatic performance improvement in 2021. For instance, according to data from CoinGecko, the value of Bitcoin and Ether each increased by 296% and 865% over that time.

It is unknown how the recent decline in the markets has affected Nguyen and PO Street Capital.

Visa is Bringing Auto-payments With Cryptocurrency Wallets

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According to payments giant Visa, cryptocurrency users may someday be able to automatically pay their phone and electricity bills using their self-custodial crypto wallets.

Visa’s thought leadership team on cryptocurrencies put forth a solution in a blog post on December 20 that would let providers automatically “pull” money from users’ Ethereum-powered crypto wallets without requiring the user to manually approve each transaction.

In the traditional banking world, auto payments for recurring bills are commonplace. Users can authorize specific service providers to withdraw money from their preferred bank accounts to pay bills, like a Netflix subscription or a recurring phone bill.

Visa’s new feature can’t be used for self-custody wallets

According to Visa, such a mechanism is not feasible for owners of self-custodial wallets because automated programmable payments that periodically withdraw money from a user’s account “require engineering work.”

This is due to the fact that, in self-custodial wallets, only the user has access to the private keys, necessitating their manual approval of transactions because “a smart contract cannot initiate transactions on its own.”

In its technical article, Visa stated that a new kind of self-custodial wallet called “delegable accounts,” which is based on the “Account Abstraction” (AA) concept, would allow automatic recurring payments in cryptocurrency.

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Visa is Bringing Auto-payments With Cryptocurrency Wallets 3

In 2015, Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Butering proposed an idea, which essentially makes it possible to combine smart contracts and wallets based on Ethereum into a single account and other use cases.

The Visa team claims that user accounts would “function like smart contracts” through an AA-based self-custody wallet or delegable account, meaning that people could schedule transactions without signing off to initiate each one individually.

The proposal is a part of a larger investigation by the blockchain-friendly company into fresh opportunities for blockchain innovation and a way to get around strict constraints hardcoded into Ethereum transactions.

The development team does acknowledge that, despite the ease with which auto-payments can be integrated into wallets hosted by third parties, such as exchanges, users must still have faith that these parties will properly manage their funds.

This was shown to be a significant risk this year, particularly in light of the failures of FTX, Voyager, BlockFi, and Celsius, to name a few.

Nigeria To Allow Cryptocurrency – Is This The Start Of A New Wave?

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Nigeria, one of the most crypto-curious countries, will now officially permit cryptocurrency. Babangida Ibrahim, the House of Representatives Committee on Capital Markets and Institutions chairman, revealed that the committee would soon pass a bill allowing digital currencies in Nigeria, as reported by Punch on December 8th.

The report claimed that the bill would enable the SEC to recognize cryptocurrencies and other digital funds as capital for investment if approved and became law. It will also outline how the SEC and Central Bank of Nigeria will regulate digital currency.

The data from TripleA research revealed that the estimated number of crypto owners in Nigeria is over 22 million. It means 10.3% of the country’s total population is crypto owners, despite its central bank declaring in February 2021 that the use of crypto is “a direct contravention of existing law” and forbidding commercial banks from dealing in them. 

According to Punch’s report, Ibrahim submitted reports on proposals aimed at capital market reform on Wednesday. Additionally, the report One of the legislation was entitled:

A Bill for an Act to Repeal the Chartered Institute of Stockbrokers Act, Cap. C9, Laws of the Federation of Nigeria, 2004 and Provide for Establishment of Chartered Institute of Securities and Investments; and for Related Matters.’

While the other was mentioned in the report. However, following the End SARS protests, a decentralized social movement, and many mass protest marches against police brutality in Nigeria, the CBN has issued an order.

The order is for banks and other financial institutions to identify persons and entities trading crypto coins and shut down all transactions and accounts. In addition, “the apex bank stated that dealing with cryptocurrencies and facilitating payments are illegal in the country.”

Nigeria’s New Bill & Crypto-Currencies

In a Saturday interview with their correspondent about the bills, Ibrahim argued that Nigeria needed to keep up with advancements in the world economy. He said, “we need an efficient and vibrant capital market in Nigeria.”

He continues by saying that the emergence of digital currencies, commodities exchanges, and various other crucial developments have caused the capital market to undergo a great deal of recent change. These developments must be reflected in the new Act. He asserts that after carefully weighing the reports, it is preferable to discuss this.

Moreover, depending on the country, several digital currencies have different names. These currencies have no geographical restrictions because they are “digital,” said Ibrahim.

He also noted that these were just some of the issues they had to think about and regulate. It wasn’t a problem because none of these were illegal, but there needed to be some kind of rules for what was going on – derivatives, commodities exchanges, cryptocurrencies, and so much more needed rules.

According to Ibrahim’s statement:

It is not about lifting of the ban, we are looking at the legality: what is legal and what is within the framework of our operations in Nigeria. The CBN is regulating financial markets and the Securities Exchange Commission regulates the capital market.

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Japan is Easing Corporate Tax for Cryptocurrency Holdings

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The ruling political party in Japan agreed to relax corporate tax regulations for cryptocurrencies, showing support for a sector that is still reeling from Sam Bankman-Fried’s crypto empire’s collapse.

According to a member of the Liberal Democratic Party, the tax committee on Thursday approved a proposal to exempt businesses from paying taxes on paper gains on cryptocurrency they hold after issuing.

“This is a very big step forward.”“It will become easier for various companies to do business that involves issuing tokens.”  

said Akihisa Shiozaki, an LDP lawmaker at a briefing

Japan moves positively amidst FTX’s fall

The action shows that, despite the industry being rocked by FTX’s collapse, policymakers in Japan are still relying on crypto technologies to spur growth. Japan currently levies a corporate tax of about 30% on cryptocurrency profits, including unrealized gains.

Based on the decisions made by the party, Prime Minister Fumio Kishida’s administration will complete its annual tax policy guidelines by year’s end.

Typically, the government presents legislation to the legislature in January to update the tax laws for a new fiscal year beginning on April 1.

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Japan is Easing Corporate Tax for Cryptocurrency Holdings 5

Japan eased crypto listing process

Japan aims to further relax cryptocurrency regulations by making it easier to list virtual coins, which might make the nation more appealing to Binance and other foreign digital-asset exchanges.

Unless the tokens are completely new to the Japanese market, the organization that regulates cryptocurrency exchanges intends to allow them to sell coins without subjecting them to its time-consuming screening procedure.

The relaxed regulations may become effective as early as December, making it simpler for startups to compete with well-established companies by facilitating the listing of tokens and lowering the entry bar. The member companies have just received the documentation outlining the changes.

In remarks he described as personal opinions, vice chairman Genki Oda suggested that the Japan Virtual and Crypto Assets Exchange Association might also do away with pre-screenings for coins that are new to the nation as well as for tokens issued via initial coin or exchange offers.

The country is treating the revival of its cryptocurrency sector more seriously, breaking with the regulatory tightening of recent years.