UWM Crypto Payments, Binance in Netherlands, Bitstamp Won’t List DOGE + 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.
Adoption news
- US mortgage lender United Wholesale Mortgage (UWM), previously known as United Shore Financial, will start accepting cryptocurrency payments by the end of this year, Detroit Free Press reported. The company’s CEO Mat Ishbia stated in an earnings call that they are hoping to do it “before anyone in the country,” and that they’re looking at adding support for bitcoin (BTC) first, but with ether (ETH) and other cryptos to follow.
- The cryptoasset management market will grow to USD 9.4bn by 2030 from USD 670m in 2020, according to a report by market research company Allied Market Research. Additionally, it states that increased digitization of financial services, surging investments in crypto and access to easier ways of purchasing crypto assets will fuel growth throughout the remainder of the decade.
Exchanges news
- De Nederlandsche Bank (DNB) said that Binance is providing crypto services in the Netherlands without the required legal registration with DNB. This means Binance is not in compliance with the Anti-Money Laundering and Anti-Terrorist Financing Act and is illegally offering services for the exchange between virtual and fiduciary currencies, as well as illegally offering custodian wallets, it said.
- Crypto exchange Bitstamp will not list a crypto asset that “crashes on a billionaire’s tweet,” said the company’s CEO Julian Sawyer, according to Financial News. The exchange will stay out of the altcoin craze led by dogecoin (DOGE), as all cryptos listed on the exchange will have to meet “stringent requirements.”
- Crypto securities provider ETC Group has announced it is listing all its crypto exchange-traded products (ETPs) on Austria’s national stock exchange. The BTC ETP is carbon neutral, according to the release, while they will also list an ETH ETP and a litecoin (LTC) ETP.
Regulation news
- The Shenzhen branch of the People’s Bank of China (PBOC) has “cleansed” eleven companies for their involvement in suspected illegal cryptocurrency activities as part of a special campaign to show a zero-tolerance attitude to cryptocurrency trading, according to the South China Morning Post, who cited a report by Shanghai Securities News. The newspaper did not provide specifics on how these companies were dealt with.
- US congressmen Tom Emmer and Darren Soto have announced that they are reintroducing the Blockchain Regulatory Certainty Act, initially introduced by Emmer in early 2019. The new version aims to provide a safe harbor for blockchain firms that do not hold customer assets, which developing guidance threatens with registration as money services businesses.
- The Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) is warning Australian investors to be wary of unlicensed entities that offer financial products related to cryptocurrencies, as licensed entities offer certain protections for investors. The ASIC said it had received reports from investors across Australia of citizens experiencing significant losses after trading crypto financial products such as options, futures, leveraged tokens and binary options, attributed to “excessive leverage, platform outages, or unfair liquidations.”
Mining news
- Crypto mining company Argo Blockchain has announced that it has become Climate Positive for Scope 1, 2, and 3 Greenhouse Gas (GHG) emissions associated with all of its respective crypto-related operations. Argo intends to become carbon neutral and plans to go even further “by mitigating emissions through support of projects outside of Argo,” the company said.
- Crypto mining firm Iris Energy has announced that it has submitted a confidential draft F-1 form with the US Securities and Exchange Commission, seeking a direct listing on the Nasdaq exchange. The company expects the listing to happen in Q4 2021.
Investment news
- Financial services firm Galaxy Digital has posted second quarterly losses, resulting from fluctuating and volatile cryptocurrency prices, as the price of BTC fell by 54% from April through July. Their net comprehensive income loss for the quarter was around USD 175.8m, while Q2 results for the year prior posted a net comprehensive gain of USD 35.3m.
- Crypto company MobileCoin has announced they have raised USD 66m in a Series B funding round, bringing its valuation to around USD 1.06bn. The round will be used to further develop MobileCoin’s products, including MOBot, a cryptocurrency chatbot payment system and the company’s Merchant Services buildout, as well as for the rollout of its initial stablecoin.
