The controversial U.S. infrastructure bill becomes law, Square reveals its DEX, and a crypto exchange stamps its name on a major US sports venue. These stories and more this week in crypto.
Hundreds of billions of dollars of value were wiped off in a market-wide dip just a week after the crypto market had peaked. The dip brought the price of Bitcoin back down below $57,000 and other major cryptocurrencies also suffered double digit drops in value before stabilising.
President Joe Biden signed the Infrastructure Bill containing controversial crypto reporting requirements. A portion of the measure expands the definition of ‘broker’ for tax purposes which includes entities such as miners that don’t actually facilitate transactions. It also requires recipients of transactions of over $10,000 to verify the sender’s personal information which raises concerns in the crypto industry.
The rehabilitation plan to compensate creditors from the now-defunct crypto exchange Mt. Gox has been finalized. The trustee reportedly has roughly 150,000 BTC to repay creditors. Once the biggest Bitcoin exchange in the world, Mt. Gox was hacked, subsequently collapsed, then declared bankruptcy in 2011 which affected nearly 24,000 creditors — mainly those holding cryptocurrency.
Square released a whitepaper detailing the features of its new peer-to-peer token swap platform, tbDEX. Unlike most decentralized exchanges, tbDEX will not utilize a trustless model and will require all participants to provide KYC identification, but users will be able to connect their wallets to the exchange and swap coins directly one with another.
The world’s largest crypto exchange, Binance, has published a forthright doctrine entitled “10 Fundamental Rights for Crypto Users.” Statements on the list address issues such as financial inclusion, regulation, personal data privacy, reliable security, and rules around the selling of crypto derivatives in the face of calls for increased crypto regulation.
Gemini, the cryptocurrency exchange founded by the Winklevoss twins, plans to raise $400 million in its next funding round. If successful, that would put the company at a total valuation upwards of $7 billion. The exchange is joining the growing list of top crypto-related companies, including Coinbase and ConsenSys, taking advantage of favorable market conditions to raise fresh capital.
According to a recent survey, nearly two thirds of Generation Z respondents believe they could become millionaires by investing in cryptocurrencies. This generation has a greater acceptance of all things digital while also having concerns about finances. The study concluded that if you couple that with Gen Z’s greater appetite for risk, it’s not surprising that they are hoping for a quick fix.
One of the biggest sports and entertainment venues in the United States, the Staples Center in Los Angeles, will be renamed Crypto.com Arena. Singapore-based exchange, Crypto.com, is paying around $700m for the naming rights to the 20,000-seat venue, which is home to four professional sports teams, and hosts more than 250 events and nearly 4 million visitors each year.
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That’s what’s happened this week in crypto, see you next week.
