Bitfinex Repays USD 550m to Tether, Nigerian Ban, Dorsey’s Bitcoin Node + More News
Get your daily, bite-sized digest of cryptoasset and blockchain-related news – investigating the stories flying under the radar of today’s crypto news.
Exhanges news
- Bitfinex said that, in January, it repaid the remaining balance of USD 550m of the outstanding revolving loan facility to its sister company Tether, the issuer of the most popular stablecoin, tether (USDT). The loan has now been repaid early and in full and the line of credit has been canceled, the exchange added.
Regulation news
- Nigeria’s central bank on Friday ordered banks and financial institutions to close down accounts involved in the transfer or exchange of cryptocurrencies, warning of sanctions if they did not comply, AFP reported.
- The Reserve Bank of Australia‘s assistant governor Michele Bullock is quoted in local media as saying to parliament’s economics committee on Friday that: “There’s a lot of fuss over Bitcoin – it’s not a payment instrument and it’s not really money.” The Reserve Bank governor Philip Lowe said that the spread and volatility of cryptocurrencies is “a risk to investors but it’s not a financial stability risk.”
Bitcoin news
Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey has shared with his 5.2 million followers today that he is now running his own Bitcoin node. He captioned the tweet with the phrase “running Bitcoin” – a reference to the late cryptographer and Bitcoin pioneer Hal Finney. Dorsey’s additional comment suggests that he’s running the node on an Apple computer that uses its latest, high-performance M1 chip.
Trading news
- Norwegian crypto-focused investment and research firm Arcane Crypto is now listed on Sweden’s Nasdaq First North under the new ARCANE ticker. According to the press release, the company finalized its reverse takeover of Vertical Ventures AB, by starting trading under its new name and ticker. The listing positions Arcane for further growth, they said, as it looks to expand the companies within its group, as well as attract investors looking for exposure to the infrastructure supporting and market activity around BTC and digital assets.
Banking news
- US-based Protego Trust Bank, a digital assets-focused bank, said it has received conditional approval from the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) that allows the company to convert from a Washington State-chartered trust company into a nationally chartered trust bank. It will enable Protego clients nationwide to hold, trade, lend and issue digital assets, the bank added.
Blockchain news
- The first-ever green energy certificates deal to be conducted on a blockchain platform has been completed on a network operated by leading Russian bank Sberbank, reported EP Russia. The transaction involved the domestic firms KuibyshevAzot, a chemicals firm, and the solar energy plant constructor Solar Systems, and represented almost 5,000 1MW Renewable Energy Certificates. The bank claimed that it had moved ahead of its European rivals with the deal, and said that its new tool would boost the transparency of renewable energy consumption.
- A Chinese firm claims to have completed the nation’s – and probably the world’s – first smart payment bill financing transaction making use of blockchain technology. Per STCN, the transaction was conducted on a blockchain-powered platform developed by the Shenzhen Zhongzhuang Construction Group, who claimed the move was the first time a firm involved in the architectural decoration industry had conducted a blockchain-based smart payment. The deal was transacted via the Chinese state-owned bank the Industrial and Commercial Bank of China (ICBC).
DeFi news
- Blockchain-based video streaming network THETA has launched its own decentralized exchange platform, ThetaSwap v1. Per the announcement, ThetaSwap is the first decentralized exchange built on Theta blockchain, using an open-source smart contract system built based on Automated Market Maker logic similar to that of Uniswap (UNI). It allows users to exchange their newly-created TNT20 tokens built on Theta blockchain in a trustless, non-custodial way, it said.
Legal news
- Stefan He Qin, a 24-year-old Australian crypto fund manager, has pleaded guilty to cheating investors out of more than USD 90m by squandering the money they deposited in his cryptocurrency fund, reported ABC. Qin, who authorities said committed the fraud from 2017 to 2020 as he was operating a fund titled Virgil Sigma, entered the plea to a single count of the fraud charge in Manhattan federal court. US lawyer Audrey Strauss claimed he tried to steal money from another fund he controlled to meet the redemption demands of the defrauded investors.
