Today in Crypto: Gemini Chooses Ireland for European Headquarters, Coinone Exec Admits to Bribe-for-Listing Charges, Chinese’s City Reveals Metaverse Policy Draft to Attract Companies
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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Exchange news
- Gemini said it chose the Republic of Ireland as its new European headquarters. The exchange’s president Cameron Winklevoss commented on a meeting between the Winklevoss brothers, the Irish Prime Minister Leo Varadkar, and the representatives of the Industrial Development Agency (IDA), the entity in charge of foreign investment into Ireland. “Awesome meeting this morning,” he said. “We talked about the profound promise of crypto and the importance of common sense regulation to realize that promise.”
- Bitget announced that it would partner with Copper, a digital asset custody provider, to introduce an off-exchange settlement solution. It enables institutional clients to trade and settle in near real-time across exchanges while mitigating counterparty risk and increasing capital efficiency, said the press release. Bitget will become the sixth exchange this year to join the Clear Loop network, which enables the institutional users of both companies to keep assets within Copper’s infrastructure while simultaneously delegating those assets to trade on Bitget, it added.
Legal news
- A former executive of South Korean crypto exchange Coinone, who was accused of taking bribes in return for listing certain coins, has acknowledged the charges, according to Yonhap. “Mr Jeon”, former director of listing, was accused of receiving nearly ₩2 billion ($1.51 million) in return for listing coins and has since been linked to a kidnapping and murder investigation in Seoul. Jeon’s broker, “Mr Ko”, is accused of facilitating the listings. A lawyer for the two said: “Basically, we are acknowledging the facts of the prosecution, but since we have not been able to view all the evidence, we will present a final opinion after review.”
- US crypto miner Coinmint alleged that Bitcoin (BTC) technology firm Katena Computing and semiconductor designer company DX Corr set up an “elaborate deception” to lure the miner into a $150 million purchase agreement, in a lawsuit seeking over $23 million in damages, CoinDesk reported, citing a lawsuit filed with a California on January 26.
Metaverse news
- The Chinese city of Zhengzhou released a policy draft for metaverse industry development, which includes proposals to support metaverse companies in the region. The municipal government will establish a dedicated fund worth $1.42 billion to foster development in the industry, while the metaverse companies that choose to relocate their headquarters to Zhengzhou will have the opportunity to receive a startup capital investment of up to $28.34 million. The companies will also qualify for other benefits, including rent subsidies, the draft said.
Regulation news
- Dubai’s financial regulator said that global watchdogs need to step up talks with each other to avoid “bad actors” exploiting gaps in crypto rules, Bloomberg reported. The Dubai Financial Services Authority plans an update to rules on crypto tokens, said associate director Elisabeth Wallace. “A lot of crypto businesses tend to operate a significant number of activities within one umbrella and that really concerns us. They are across the whole world and as regulators, we need to talk to each other a lot more in this area because there can be quite a few gaps, and we have seen a lot of bad actors trying to plug some of those gaps,” Wallace said.
Adoption news
- Hong Kong is the most crypto-ready jurisdiction in the world, found a forexsuggest.com study. It ranks in the top three for three of the categories looked at, including the number of blockchain startups per 100,00 people and the number of crypto ATMs proportional to the population. “Thanks to its small land area, the city-state has the smallest area per crypto ATM. Hong Kong also doesn’t tax capital gains on crypto, making it appealing to investors,” it said. The USA and Switzerland took second and third places, respectively.
