● The UK’s Financial Services and Markets Act was approved into law, recognizing cryptocurrency as a regulated financial activity
King Charles of the United Kingdom approved the Financial Services and Markets Bill (FSMB), making it law, CoinDesk reported. The bill, which was approved by the House of Lords last week, recognizes cryptocurrencies as a regulated activity and stablecoins as a means of payment under existing laws.
The bill, introduced in July 2022, gives regulators greater powers over the financial system, including cryptocurrencies. Debated in Parliament, the bill added amendments to treat all cryptocurrencies as regulated activities and oversee the promotion of cryptocurrencies. The bill also brings stablecoins into the scope of payment rules. The UK's Treasury, Financial Conduct Authority, Bank of England and Payment Systems Regulator will soon be able to introduce and enforce rules to regulate the industry.
● Report: 130 central banks accounting for 98% of the global economy are exploring digital currencies
According to Reuters, the Atlantic Council think tank released a report stating that 130 national and regional central banks accounting for 98% of the global economy are exploring digital currencies, and nearly half of them are in the advanced development, pilot or launch stage. All G20 countries except Argentina Countries have entered an advanced stage.
The report pointed out that central banks have been particularly active in exploring digital currencies in the past six months. 11 countries, including the Caribbean and Nigeria, have launched central bank digital currencies (CBDC), while China’s digital renminbi pilot test has now covered 260 million people. Population, covering about 200 payment scenarios such as e-commerce and government consumption subsidies. Two other large emerging economies, India and Brazil, also plan to launch digital currencies next year. The European Central Bank is expected to launch a digital euro pilot in 2028, and more than 20 other countries will also take major measures to pilot this year.
However, Atlantic Council research shows that in the United States, a digital dollar is only “moving forward” on a wholesale (bank-to-bank) version, while work on a retail version for the wider population has “stalled.”
● The European Central Bank will explore DLT-based financial market settlement starting in 2024
According to CoinDesk, according to the meeting minutes released on Thursday, the European Central Bank stated at the first meeting on new wholesale settlement technologies that it will explore financial market settlement work based on distributed ledger technology (DLT) starting in 2024. The European Central Bank is looking at how to innovate in the settlement of securities or foreign exchange transactions between financial institutions, and is developing plans for a retail central bank digital currency (CBDC), known as a digital euro, that could be used by EU citizens.
The ECB said it expects to start exploratory work in 2024 to test the use of central bank currency in real and simulated wholesale transactions.
● The plenary session of the National Assembly of South Korea passed the "Virtual Asset User Protection Act"
According to News1, the plenary session of the National Assembly of South Korea passed the "Virtual Asset User Protection Act" to protect investors in virtual assets. With no opposition from the ruling and opposition parties, the bill will be South Korea’s first cryptocurrency-related legislation since the Specified Financial Transaction Information Act (Special Law).
● US SEC members believe that US encryption law cannot assume that everything is a "financial asset"
According to Cointelegraph, U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission Commissioner Hester Peirce believes that U.S. cryptocurrency laws should be “reserved” rather than regulating the technology as if every use falls under financial use.
Asked at Australia Blockchain Week how she would regulate cryptocurrencies, Peirce said: “I think we have to make sure that whatever regulatory framework is in place, you can’t just assume that everything is a financial asset. While cryptocurrencies are considered It’s a very financial term, but there are other uses, like enabling people to interact without a centralized entity. That’s useful in finance, but it’s also useful in building social media platforms or whatever.”
● Biden: Will eliminate tax loopholes for cryptocurrencies and hedge funds
According to Golden Ten, U.S. President Biden said in a speech that tax loopholes for cryptocurrencies and hedge funds will be eliminated, and wealthy people and large companies must pay fair taxes.
● The CFTC Technical Advisory Committee will discuss DeFi, DAO and other issues at its July meeting
According to The Block, the CFTC Technical Advisory Committee plans to meet at its Washington, D.C., headquarters on July 18 to discuss decentralized finance and the regulator’s recent win in the Ooki DAO case.
"In addition to other DeFi issues, decentralized finance (DeFi) models such as decentralized autonomous organizations (DAOs) and the committee's recent Ooki DAO case.”
● Bank of America: Tokenization may reshape infrastructure and financial markets
Bank of America (BAC) said in a research note on Thursday that tokenization is just one application of blockchain technology, but it could transform financial and non-financial infrastructure and infrastructure over the next 5 to 15 years, CoinDesk reported. Financial market.
Analysts Alkesh Shah and Andrew Moss wrote, "We are on the verge of infrastructure changes that may reshape how value is transferred, settled and stored in every industry." Bank of America pointed out that such as radio, television and email It took 30 years for disruptive technology to reach mainstream use. It expects the lag period for digital assets to be much shorter. Implementation of blockchain technology will accelerate among financial institutions and enterprises as the “opportunity cost of unearned efficiencies increases.”
● ARK Invest modifies the application materials for Bitcoin spot ETF, which may enable it to obtain approval before BlackRock
Bloomberg senior ETF analyst Eric Balchunas tweeted that ARK Invest has modified the 19b-4 information document for its Bitcoin spot ETF application. Similar to BlackRock’s approach, ARK Invest’s revision introduces a surveillance-sharing agreement between the Chicago Board Options Exchange (CBOE) and a prominent cryptocurrency exchange.
Since ARK Invest applied for a Bitcoin spot ETF earlier than BlackRock, this modification may put it in a leading position in SEC approval.
● Mastercard is establishing a test platform MTN and will first explore tokenized bank deposits
According to CoinDesk, Mastercard is setting up a test platform MTN, which will first explore tokenized bank deposits and launch a beta version in the UK this summer. Mastercard’s head of cryptocurrency and blockchain, Raj Dhamodharan, said that many banks and financial institutions are being invited to participate in the test, and MTN plans to start testing central bank digital currencies (CBDC) and regulated stablecoins in due course.
● Metaverse game advertising implant company Anzu completed a $48 million Series B round of financing, with participation from PayPal Ventures and others
Metaverse game ad placement company Anzu officially announced the completion of a $48 million Series B round of financing, led by Emmis Corporation, with participation from PayPal Ventures, Evolution, Simon Equity Partners, and Bandai Namco Entertainment 021 Fund. The new funding will be used to expand partnerships with more AAA games and premium content providers.
As previously reported, Anzu completed US$20 million in financing in March 2022, led by NBCUniversal and HTC. Anzu powers in-game advertising solutions across the Metaverse, mobile devices, and consoles, and its 3D ad tracking engine is currently patented.
● Data: Bitcoin mining difficulty lowered by 3.26% to 50.65 T
According to BTC.com, Bitcoin mining difficulty ushered in a mining difficulty adjustment today at block height 796,320, with the mining difficulty reduced by 3.26% to 50.65 T.
● Report: Global Crypto MLM and Ponzi Schemes Caused Total Losses of $7.8 Billion in 2022
The TRM Labs report shows that global cryptocurrency pyramid schemes and Ponzi schemes caused a total loss of US$7.8 billion in 2022. In addition, US$1.5 billion of cryptocurrency was used for illegal activities on the dark web, and another US$3.7 billion of cryptocurrency was lost due to hackers or loopholes. As for losses, a total of $9.04 billion in cryptocurrency was sent to various financial fraud schemes.
The 10 largest crypto Ponzi and MLM schemes accounted for around 54% of the total amount, and projects accounting for 40% of the total investment fraud schemes occurred on Tron, mainly through USDT, compared with only 17% in 2021.