Lebanon Moves to Crypto Amid Bank Shutdowns; FTX Seeks to Raise $1B; Zilliqa launches web3 gaming console
The biggest news in the cryptosphere for September 22 includes Binance’s newly formed Global Advisory Board that will promote responsible regulation of the crypto sector, the agreement reached by Russia’s financial watchdog and largest bank to use crypto for international payments, and the indefinite shutdown of the banks in Lebanon that pushed the Lebanese to switch to crypto.
CryptoSlate Top Stories
Binance is setting up a global advisory board to drive responsible crypto regulation
Binance announced the launch of its Global Advisory Board (GAB) to support responsible regulation of crypto.
Binance CEO Changpeng Zhao said the new endeavor indicates Binance’s commitment to establishing a healthy engagement with regulators worldwide and supporting them as they work to create a regulatory framework for the crypto industry.
Russia’s financial regulators agree on crypto use for international payments
According to Russia’s Finance Minister, Deputy Alexei Moiseev, the country’s Finance Ministry and its largest bank agreed to allow crypto use in international payments.
Moiseev said the duo is working together to draft a comfortable regulation for crypto by December 19.
Lebanese turn to crypto, decentralization as banks close indefinitely
The financial crisis in Lebanon has worsened every day. On September 15, the government froze all bank deposits and closed them for a week. On September 22, just as the banks were about to reopen, the Association of Banks in Lebanon (ABL) announced that the banks would remain closed indefinitely.
Meanwhile, young Lebanese who already had high crypto adoption due to the ongoing financial crisis had completely turned to crypto. These youngsters are seeking financial relief and leading the crypto revolution in the country.
FTX is looking to raise $1B in funding at a $32B valuation
Stock market giant FTX is preparing to hold a budget round to raise $1 billion. If this happens, the stock exchange’s valuation will reach $32 billion. Temasek, SoftBank and Tiger Global are among the investors who agreed to finance FTX in this round.
The exchange held a financing round in January 2022, where it collected 400 million dollars from various investors. This time, however, FTX CEO Sam Bankman-Fried (SBF) is looking for support to continue his investment efforts to stop further contagion of winter conditions in the market.
Zilliqa launches web3 game console with built-in miner and crypto wallet
Zilliqa (ZIL) announced its new Web3 gaming console with mining capabilities. The new console will be released in early 2023 and will aim to integrate new users into the blockchain gaming space.
The beta test period for the console will begin in October 2022, and users will be able to pre-order in the first quarter of 2023.
Helium community votes to migrate to Solana, scores new T-Mobile partnership
Helium’s (HNT) community decided to migrate its wireless network to Solana’s (SOL) layer-1 blockchain, with an overwhelming majority of 81.4%. Helium developers said Solana migration would benefit scalability and adoption.
India is considering GST on crypto transactions amid evaluation of the sector’s legality
The Indian government is working on implementing a new tax policy on crypto. Indian regulators are preparing to implement Goods and Services Tax (GST) on all crypto transactions, which may change between 18% and 28%.
Coinbase denies The Wall Street Journal’s proprietary trading allegations
The Wall Street Journal reported on Coinbase on September 22, claiming that the exchange created a trading group and used $100 million of its funds to trade crypto.
Coinbase came forward the same day to deny the allegations, saying the journal confused Coinbase’s client-driven activities with proprietary trading. A spokesperson for the company said:
“Coinbase does not, and never has, had a proprietary trading business. Any suggestion that we misled Congress is a willful misrepresentation of the facts.”
Korean tax authorities have seized $185 million worth of crypto from tax evaders since 2021
Since 2020, North Korean authorities have seized the assets of criminals and sold them if their taxes remained unpaid.
A recent report revealed that authorities had seized approximately $185 million worth of crypto from tax criminals since 2021. The highest amount taken from one person was $8.87 million.
UK’s new law aims to help law enforcement seize, freeze crypto
The UK introduced a new bill that aims to make it easier for law enforcement agencies to freeze and seize crypto assets.
According to a statement, the Financial Crime and Corporate Transparency Bill will strengthen Britain’s image as a place for legitimate businesses to thrive and drive dirty money out of the country.
Research highlight
Research: Decade-Old Whales Selling Bitcoin Hoarding Again; last time was during LUNA collapse
CryptoSlate analysis detected movement in crypto wallets of more than 1,000 Bitcoins (BTC) that had been stagnant for about a decade. Looking at Spent Volume Age Bands (SVAB) for Bitcoin, analysts revealed that both seven to ten year old whales and those older than ten years are selling their coins.
The last time the market saw such a selling trend by the whales was during the Terra (LUNA) collapse in May.
In particular, whales that have been immobile for seven to 10 years recorded their fifth and sixth highest transactions of the year. While the ten-year-olds didn’t break any records, a significant move toward payout is also visible in their charts.
Moreover, the number of whales has also decreased even as the Bitcoin price continues to fall. Since whales tend to read the market better than some “youngsters” and hold out during the worst storms, their declining numbers and sold-out tokens may indicate a bearish sentiment in the market.
Crypto market
Bitcoin (BTC) registered a gain of 1.75% in the last 24 hours, rising to $19,340. Ethereum (ETH) also gained 0.26% to reach $1,328.
