Today in Crypto: Key App Reveals Bridge Connecting Solana & Ethereum, ECB Publishes Two Reports on Digital Euro, Russia Abandons National Crypto Exchange Plans, CoinEx Launches BitHK

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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Payments news

• Remittance service Key App introduced a bridge that connects users between the Solana and Ethereum networks within the Key App platform, with gas fees covered for transfers over $50. Per the press release, by utilizing Wormhole’s bridging technology, Key App streamlines the user interface, enabling anyone, regardless of technical expertise, to send tokens between the two networks with minimal steps. Key App users are given an Ethereum address on Key App and can send from Ethereum to Solana without having to connect a third wallet. They can also withdraw funds from Solana to Ethereum and pay the fee in the same token they are sending.

CBDC news

• The European Central Bank (ECB) finalized prototypes for a digital euro, according to an announcement released on Friday, which says that the bank published two reports on its market research and prototyping exercise, both conducted as part of the investigation phase of the digital euro project. “The findings of these reports will feed into both the conclusions of the investigation phase and the potential next steps,” it said. “This exercise shows that it is possible to smoothly integrate the digital euro design choices into the existing payment landscape while leaving ample scope for innovative features and technologies,” the ECB Executive Board member Fabio Panetta said in a letter.

Regulation news

• Russian lawmakers abandoned the idea of ​​creating a national crypto exchange and will instead focus on setting rules and regulations for the establishment and operation of such companies, Izvestia reported, citing Anatoly Aksakov, the head of the State Duma’s Committee on the Financial Markets. Exchanges will be used to conduct cross-border settlements, including bypassing sanctions restrictions, he said, so new restrictions may be introduced against them. At the same time, other exchanges will constantly be able to open, as long as they comply with the rules and are overseen by the Central Bank of the Russian Federation. 

Exchange news

• CoinEx announced the official launch of BitHK, a crypto trading platform that caters specifically to users in Hong Kong. As per the Guidelines for Virtual Asset Trading Platform Operators, BitHK will submit its license application as a Virtual Asset Service Provider (VASP) to the Securities and Futures Commission (SFC) on June 1, it said. Users can now engage in spot trading and store crypto assets on the platform, which is currently available in Traditional Chinese and English.

Adoption news

• Crypto founders are optimistic about the Beijing paper promoting Web3, despite it not mentioning cryptocurrency, the South China Morning Post reported. Binance CEO Changpeng Zhao, Huobi adviser Justin Sun, and Animoca Brands co-founder and chairman Yat Siu praised the report, titled “Beijing Internet 3.0: Innovation and Development White Paper,” suggesting the moves in Beijing and Hong Kong signal China‘s greater support for Web3, it said. 

Legal news

• US federal prosecutors said on Monday that Sam Bankman-Fried’s lawyers made meritless arguments in a bid to convince a judge to toss out criminal charges alleging that the FTX founder stole from investors in his multibillion-dollar cryptocurrency fund, the Independent reported, citing court filings. This was a response to early May filings in which Bankman-Fried’s lawyers insisted that the US overreached in its case against the FTX founder, making federal crimes out of regulatory issues. “These motions are meritless,” prosecutors wrote. “The charges track the relevant statutes and the defendant’s alleged misconduct falls within the heartland of what these statutes prohibit.”