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Dogecoin reacts buoyed by payment speculation on Twitter, while Bitcoin awaits Fed announcement

Meme cryptocurrency Dogecoin (COIN:DOGEUSD) posted a 10% increase on Tuesday, its biggest single-day gain since April 3, boosted by speculation of its use as a payment mechanism on Twitter’s rebranded platform. At the time of publication, the DOGE reversed down -5.19%. Meanwhile, Bitcoin (COIN:BTCUSD) remains near its one-month low at just above $29,000 as investors await the US Federal Reserve’s policy announcement.

Binance withdraws crypto custody license from Germany, launches artificial intelligence NFT generator

Binance, the world’s largest cryptocurrency exchange, has proactively withdrawn its application for a crypto custody license from the German Federal Financial Supervisory Authority (BaFin). The exchange cited significant global market and regulatory changes as reasons for the withdrawal. In other news, Binance NFT has released its artificial intelligence (AI) NFT generator called “Bixel”, allowing users to produce personalized digital art. To use the tool, users must go through the platform’s KYC process and pay a minting fee of 0.008 BNB (COIN:BNBUSD). The exchange will offer ten free daily opportunities to generate artwork using AI. The beta version of the AI ​​NFT generator was previously released and was accused of copying the idea of ​​the BNB Chain hackathon winners, which Binance has denied. Furthermore, the exchange has added the stablecoin First Digital USD (FDUSD) and is offering fee-free trading for select pairs for a limited time. Binance temporarily suspended trading due to technical issues faced by the stablecoin’s liquidity providers, but later resumed. FDUSD is issued by First Digital Labs and can expand its offering with listing on Binance. It is currently available on Ethereum and Binance Smart Chain, with plans to support more blockchains in the future. 

Craig Wright fails defamation lawsuit, faces intellectual property infringement lawsuit

Self-proclaimed Satoshi Nakamoto Craig Wright has failed to get more than token damages from a libel suit against Peter McCormack. The London Court of Appeal justified compensation of only GBP 1 due to the false case that Wright presented. Wright was disappointed with the result. In another case, Wright was ordered to pay £400,000 in legal costs to pursue his intellectual property infringement claim against Kraken and Coinbase (NASDAQ:COIN). In Florida, a court will consider whether Wright committed contempt of court in a dispute with Ira Kleiman.

Canadian regulators propose capital plans for banks and insurers with crypto assets

Canadian regulators have released capital plans for banks and insurers with crypto assets, opening consultation until September 20. Based on proposals from the Basel Committee on Banking Supervision, the guidelines seek to provide clarity on how to treat exposures to crypto assets in relation to capital and liquidity. Banks will have the option to choose between a comprehensive risk-based formula or a simpler but less discriminatory option. “ We look forward to giving them that clarity through these new guidelines that reflect industry input and international standards”, Peter Routledge, Superintendent of Financial Institutions, said in a statement. In December, international standards ranked unbacked crypto assets as the most risky for banks, leading to similar legislation in the European Union.

Milano Hub supports security token ecosystem for institutional DeFi

The Bank of Italy’s Milano Hub innovation center will support a project by Cetif Advisory to research a security token ecosystem for institutional decentralized finance (DeFi). The project seeks to broaden the analysis of security tokens in secondary markets and enable institutional players to operate in a regulatory-compliant DeFi environment. Cetif Advisory’s Lionity platform will be developed to be an “institutional-grade automated market maker”. Securities tokenization is an emerging field in blockchain technology, predicted to grow to $4-5 trillion by 2030.

Singapore Supreme Court recognizes cryptocurrencies as property in case involving ByBit and Ho Kai Xin

Singapore’s Supreme Court ruled that cryptocurrencies are property that can be held in trust, following a case involving exchange ByBit and developer Ho Kai Xin. Judge Philip Jeyaretnam has ruled that crypto assets, including USDT (COIN:USDTUSD) from Tether, are “choices in action” and can be held in escrow. The decision was based on public consultation responses from the Monetary Authority of Singapore and Order 22 of Court Regulations 2021, which recognize cryptocurrency as property. The court granted ByBit the requested remedies and ordered Ms. Ho to return the assets to the exchange.

Central Bank of Nigeria modifies eNaira model to boost adoption

The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) is modifying the model of eNaira, its digital currency, to drive its adoption. CBN Acting Governor Folashodun Shonubi stated that they are seeking to encourage more CBDC use in the country. As of March 2023, there are only 13 million eNaira wallets despite a population of nearly 224 million. To make eNaira more user-friendly and increase its service offering, the eNaira app has been updated to allow for contactless payments. The bank did not provide further details on the planned changes.

EOS Network Foundation sues Block.one for failing to deliver on promised investment

The EOS Network Foundation (ENF) has taken legal action against Block.one (B1), claiming that the company has failed to fulfill its commitment to invest $1 billion in the EOS network. ENF CEO Yves La Rose announced the preparation of the lawsuit on Twitter. He also mentioned that Block.one is facing another $22 million class-action lawsuit. The EOS community has expressed concerns over Block.one’s failure to live up to its investment pledges after raising $4.1 billion in an ICO in 2018.

BadgerDAO launches purple paper for eBTC lending in DeFi

BadgerDAO has released the “purple paper” for its eBTC protocol, allowing users to borrow synthetic bitcoin with no upfront fees or interest. Users deposit sETH (COIN:SETHUSD) as collateral to borrow over-collateralized eBTC with no upfront fees or interest, generating revenue through collateral yield. The protocol employs a settlement mechanism to ensure the solvency of the system. eBTC is a trustless synthetic version of Bitcoin on DeFi, with governance mechanisms and trusted oracle infrastructure.

Gitcoin activates Core Network of its Layer 2 public goods on Ethereum

Gitcoin has enabled the mainnet of its Public Goods Layer 2 (PGN) on Ethereum. Developed in partnership with Conduit, PGN is a low-cost tier 2 solution that funds public goods and infrastructure for decentralized applications. Utilizing Optimistic Rollups to reduce transaction costs, PGN will direct a significant portion of sequencer fees to public goods projects, encouraging open source software development in the Ethereum ecosystem.

Quantamp returns $28 Million after US SEC indictment

Blockchain security firm Quantamp has agreed to return $28 million raised in an unregistered ICO in 2017 following accusations by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). Quantstamp planned to use the funds to develop its automated smart contract auditing platform. The SEC found the company’s QSP token offering (COIN:QSPUSD) to be securities. In addition to paying restitution and civil fines, Quantstamp will establish a “Fair Fund” to reimburse affected investors and permanently deactivate their QSP tokens. The company no longer actively operates its audit service.

Ramp Network expands to Latin America and establishes entity in Brazil

Startup Ramp Network expanded into Latin America, establishing an entity in Brazil. Ramp Network will offer its software development kit (SDK) for Web2 companies, crypto wallets and Web3 games, allowing users to buy and sell cryptocurrencies securely and without custody. Regulatory clarity in Brazil was a decisive factor for the expansion. It recently raised $70 million in Series B funding from notable investors. Its clients include Argent, Trust Wallet, Axie, Brave and Opera.

Bitcoin mining rig prices hit historic lows

Bitcoin mining rig prices have hit all-time lows due to falling profitability, driven by Bitcoin price volatility, higher energy costs and increased network difficulty. Miners take this opportunity to purchase more efficient machines before the next halving in 2024, when the reward will be halved. Newer and more efficient platforms are seeing an increase in prices as miners look to stay profitable after the halving.

Reddit launches ‘Retro Reimagined’ collectible avatars on Polygon blockchain

Reddit continues to exploit digital collectibles despite the decline of the NFT industry. The platform will launch the fourth generation of collectible avatars called “Retro Reimagined” on the Polygon blockchain. The launch will feature designs from creators including Cool_Cats_NFT and Micah Johnson. Reddit also plans to introduce changes to its collectibles store. Despite the struggles in the NFT industry, Reddit has seen an increase in adoption of its collectible avatars, approaching 10 million holders in May 2023.