Global Economy Outlook Cut Again, Another Crypto Exchange Leaves Russia & Belarus + 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.

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Economics news

• The World Bank lowered its estimate for global growth in 2022 to 3.2% from a January prediction of 4.1%, Bloomberg reported, citing President David Malpass. The decline was spurred by a cut in the outlook for Europe and central Asia, which include Russia and Ukraine, it added. Last year, the global economy increased 5.7%. However, in the coming weeks, Malpass expects to discuss with the bank’s board a new 15-month crisis-response package of about USD 170bn to cover April 2022 through June 2023, with about USD 50bn of this amount to be deployed in the next three months.

Exchanges news

• Crypto exchange EXMO announced it is no longer providing services for Russian, Belarusian, and Kazakh clients, deciding to sell the digital assets business in Russia and Belarus, while their Russian Ultimate Beneficial Owner Eduard Bark is leaving the company. (Learn more: As More Russians Support Massacre in Ukraine, Here’s How Some Big Crypto Companies Respond)

Legal news

• A judge in Delaware, USA, pinned down the value of a normally fluid cryptoasset for a USD 25m breach of contract damage award in a suit filed by biometric software firm Diamond Fortress Technologies Inc., which was promised the crypto in payment for their services in 2021, Law360 reported. The judge concluded that the cryptoassets in this case should be treated as a security instead of a commodity, it added.

NFTs news

• Luxury brand Louis Vuitton announced it has added new quests and new non-fungible token (NFT) rewards to its standalone game app. The NFTs portray Vivienne, an anthropomorphism of the company’s monogram, in a variety of looks.
• Automotive manufacturer Hyundai Motor Company announced a partnership with NFT brand Meta Kongz to share NFTs depicting its mobility solutions. The company also released a short film introducing the Hyundai NFT universe concept “Metamobility Universe,” and said it will issue 30 limited editions of “Hyundai x Meta Kongz” NFTs on April 20 to commemorate the release of the film.

Career news

• US President Joe Biden named former crypto industry adviser Michael Barr as his latest pick for the Federal Reserve’s vice chairman for supervision. Before he is appointed, he has to get a confirmation from the US Senate.
• Major crypto exchange Binance is hiring across El Salvador, the platform’s CEO Changpeng Zhao confirmed on Twitter. He added that they have already hired seven people, offered positions to 13 more, and have more than 50 additional openings, with “a few hundred” to be hired before the end of the year.

M&A news

• Decentralized finance (DeFi) tech company WonderFi announced that it has entered into a definitive agreement to acquire Canadian crypto platform Coinberry for CAD 38.5m (USD 30.53m). The company, which had previously acquired platform Bitbuy, now owns two of six Canadian registered crypto-trading platforms, they added.