Growing client demand for cryptocurrencies and the belief that they represent a new asset class help to explain traditional financial institutions’ newfound interest in digital assets, the chief strategy officer at Bitrue has said. The collapse of FTX and Terra Luna in 2022 and the resulting bear market may have helped to remove barriers to entry. The entrance and presence of “tradfi” (traditional finance) institutions in the crypto market will also likely lead to the “establishment of industry standards,” according to the executive.
Removal of Cost to Entry
After spending years attacking and maligning digital assets, an increasing number of traditional finance (tradfi) institutions are seeking exposure to crypto assets, Robert Quartly-Janeiro, the chief strategy officer (CSO) at crypto exchange Bitrue, has asserted. He said client demand for cryptocurrencies as well as the growing belief that these represent a new asset class are some of the reasons why tradfi institutions have seemingly had this change of heart.
Quartly-Janeiro, who has served as a visiting fellow at The London School of Economics, also told Bitcoin.com News that the changed circumstances which followed the collapse of FTX could be another key influencing factor.
“The negative events that occurred during that time [between 2021 and 2023] — such as FTX, Luna, and others — and the subsequent bear market removed some of the barriers regarding the cost of entry and acquisition. This created an opportunity for these institutions to enter the market, leveraging their brand equity and financial capabilities,” Quartly-Janeiro explained.
Risks and Benefits
While the prospect of traditional financial institutions entering the crypto market is sometimes a contentious topic, the Bitrue CSO said he can see both benefits and risks. Some of the benefits include increased trade volume, expanded consumer choice, and enhanced professionalism. The entrance and presence of tradfi institutions in the crypto market will also likely lead to the “establishment of industry standards.”
However, when it comes to the risks, Quartly-Janeiro suggested that different players in the crypto market may have different views on this. For instance, some crypto entities may see the increased competition from well-capitalized legacy financial institutions as a threat to their business models. Still, some see the “risk of spillovers in areas like stablecoins that are linked to real-world assets and currencies.”
For traditional financial institutions seeking to enter the crypto market, Quartly-Janeiro suggested joint ventures or outright acquisition of existing crypto entities. This, he said, may be a better alternative to building everything from scratch. As for decentralized finance (defi) projects that are eager to partner with tradfi, the Bitrue CSO said gaining deep knowledge of both the defi and traditional financial worlds could prove to be useful.
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Despite accounting for just 2.3% of global transaction volume, the latest data shows that crypto has penetrated key markets in Sub-Saharan Africa and “become an important part of many residents’ day-to-day lives.” With a regional volume of 9.3%, Sub-Saharan Africa’s BTC share outranks all regions including North America (9.0%) and Eastern Europe (8.2%).
While the Sub-Saharan Africa region is reported to have accounted for 2.3% of global transaction volume, a closer look at the latest data shows that “crypto has penetrated key markets and become an important part of many residents’ day-to-day lives.” As the excerpt from Chainalysis’ upcoming Geography Report shows, no country from this region best exemplifies how crypto has become part of everyday life than Nigeria.
With transaction volumes of just under $60 billion between July 2022 and June 2023, Nigeria is Sub-Saharan Africa’s largest crypto market by a distance. For perspective, the region’s total volumes during the same period were $117.1 billion. The data shows that Nigeria accounted for nearly half of the region’s total transaction volume in that period.
South Africa, whose traded volumes surpassed the $20 billion mark during the same period, is home to the Sub-Saharan Africa region’s second-largest crypto market. Kenya, Mauritius and Ghana, which are ranked third, fourth, and fifth, respectively, complete the region’s top five.
Meanwhile, the Chainalysis data suggests that residents from the Sub-Saharan Africa region increasingly see BTC as an alternative store of value. With a regional volume share of 9.3%, Sub-Saharan Africa’s BTC share outranks all regions including North America (9.0%) and Eastern Europe (8.2%). Explaining why Sub-Saharan Africa is ranked first, Chainalysis said:
Many countries in the region have struggled with rising inflation and debt, making cryptocurrency an attractive means of storing value, preserving savings, and attaining greater financial freedom.
The blockchain intelligence firm singles out inflation-hit Ghana where residents reportedly have turned to BTC.
While BTC is still the number one crypto in the region, the latest data appears to point to a shift away from the leading crypto asset towards stablecoins. Moyo Sodipo, the co-founder of Nigeria-based cryptocurrency exchange Busha, said the drop in the price of BTC may explain why users from the region are gravitating towards stablecoins.
“Now that Bitcoin has lost a lot of its value, there is a desire for diversification between Bitcoin and stablecoins. However, market shifts aren’t dampening activity,” explained Sodipo.
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Hungarian authorities have seized cryptocurrency worth over $1 million from a criminal organization in a value-added tax (VAT) fraud case. The authorities raided 28 locations, arrested three suspects, and seized various assets tied to the group. The seized cryptocurrencies were transferred to the wallet controlled by the Hungarian tax authority.
Crypto Seized in Tax Fraud Case
The National Tax and Customs Administration of Hungary (NAV) announced Wednesday that it has seized cryptocurrency from a criminal organization that evaded paying three billion Hungarian forints ($8.2 million) in value-added tax (VAT).
NAV commandos, the Merkur Deployment Unit, and the investigators of the Western Transdanubian Criminal Directorate simultaneously raided 28 locations, arrested the suspects, and seized their illegally acquired assets and cryptocurrency worth nearly 420 million forints ($1.15 million). Without providing specific details, the NAV stated that the seized cryptocurrencies were transferred to a specially created crypto wallet that it controls.
The tax authority explained that members of the criminal organization acquired smartphones, tablets, solar panels, and other electronic devices from several countries in the European Union. They avoided paying VAT after importing the products by setting up shell companies that changed every couple of months, the NAV described, adding that this allowed the fraudsters to sell electronic devices to various wholesalers and resellers at favorable prices.
“By selling information communication devices imported from the EU through a fictitious invoicing chain, more than HUF 3 billion in VAT was saved,” the Hungarian tax authority stated (translated by Google). The NAV added that some of the criminal proceeds were used to invest in cryptocurrency.
In addition to cryptocurrency, solar panels, associated inverters, cars, cash, real estate, and bank accounts worth more than half a billion forints were seized. According to the NAV, three members of the criminal organization have been taken into custody.
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Coinshares, a European digital asset manager, is moving into the U.S. with a new hedge fund division aimed at institutional investors. The firm, based in Saint Helier, Jersey, intends to offer comprehensive services for institutions exploring crypto assets.
Coinshares Expands to U.S. With New Hedge Fund Division
The company revealed its new branch, Coinshares Hedge Fund Solutions, signifying its foundational emphasis as a crypto-centric hedge fund manager. Lewis Fellas, an asset manager with more than two decades of experience, including seven years in the digital assets sector, will lead this division.
The press release highlights the merger of Coinshares‘ ten years in crypto with the expertise the team has developed from proprietary trading since 2016. The firm holds that this experience equips it to produce competitive products comparable to those of mainstream financial entities.
“In a changing macro environment prominently marked by interest rates and inflation, the demand for actively managed exposure to digital assets is a natural progression,” remarked Coinshares CEO Jean-Marie Mognetti.
Mognetti added:
The new division signifies the latest step in Coinshares’ evolution.
Registered as a broker-dealer with FINRA, Coinshares will introduce the hedge fund offerings to eligible U.S. investors. The company noted in its release, “The long-awaited return of interest rate-driven volatility is a great opportunity that we plan to capture with our novel fund products.”
“Each product that will be offered is designed to mitigate counterparty risk whilst providing investors with clearly defined asset class and strategy exposures,” Fellas concluded.
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Venture capitalist Katie Haun is optimistic about the future of crypto. “It’s a really good time to be investing in this space during this down market,” she said.“I have actually never felt that in prior cycles, crypto was more inevitable than in this cycle, and this is the fourth cycle I’ve been in crypto,” she further shared.
Katie Haun on Crypto’s Future and SEC Regulations
Venture capitalist Katie Haun, founder and CEO of Haun Ventures, a $1.5 billion Web3-focused venture capital fund, shared her optimism about the future of crypto at Techcrunch Disrupt on Thursday.
Haun was previously a general partner at Andreessen Horowitz, a Silicon Valley-based venture capital firm. She also served on the Coinbase board. Before becoming a venture capitalist, she spent a decade as a federal prosecutor with the U.S. Department of Justice.
Commenting on her venture capital funds’ crypto investment strategy, she described: “I think there’s a perception out there that crypto is crickets chirping. We find ourselves very busy, but one of the things we did do is we saw this market correction, and we very purposely waited to make some deployments.” Haun emphasized:
I know this is going to sound a little odd, but we feel, actually, it’s a really good time to be investing in this space during this down market.
She proceeded to highlight some positive regulatory developments in the crypto space, including recent court cases that pushed back against the SEC. In addition, she noted that Congress is getting involved, the world’s largest asset managers are entering the space, the stablecoin market has hugely grown, and the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) has issued crypto tax guidance. The VC stressed:
I have actually never felt that in prior cycles, crypto was more inevitable than in this cycle, and this is the fourth cycle I’ve been in crypto.
Regarding crypto regulations, she stated that “the picture’s brighter on what’s happening globally.” Haun added: “You have a majority of G20 countries now moving forward with crypto frameworks … I think that right now they are moving forward because they realize the inevitability of cryptography paired with economic incentives.”
Haun specifically criticized SEC Chairman Gary Gensler for his enforcement-centric approach to regulating the crypto sector. “I think the SEC under [Gary Gensler] has really taken a very expansive view of their jurisdiction in a way that I think, by the way, make no mistake, it’s not just crypto, it’s on AI, it’s on climate, it’s on other major policy questions that concern the U.S. economy,” she cautioned, elaborating:
I think that’s a bit concerning because that’s not how our system is set up … And I think that’s why you’ve started to see some federal judges … starting to say ‘wait a second, this is a step too far.’
Despite regulatory uncertainty and crackdowns by certain regulators, such as the SEC, Haun said her VC firm is not deterred from investing in U.S. companies. “The law and the regulations are decided in this country by the courts and by Congress. They’re not decided by independent agencies,” she stressed. “So just because an agency says something doesn’t really make it the law. And I think a lot of folks don’t realize that. And so, we’ve seen agencies and we’ve seen certain [branches] of government — and by the way different administrations too, this is bipartisan — get very, very involved.”
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Crypto exchange Binance and its CEO Changpeng Zhao (CZ) have filed a motion to dismiss the lawsuit against them by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). “It is clear that the SEC’s lawsuit has no foundation in the currently enacted securities laws,” they argued, alleging: “In attempting to claim regulatory power over the crypto industry, the SEC distorts the text of the securities laws.”
Binance and CZ Seek to Dismiss SEC Lawsuit
Cryptocurrency exchange and its CEO Changpeng Zhao (CZ) filed a joint motion on Thursday to dismiss the lawsuit against them by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).
According to the court filing, the lawyers for Binance and Zhao wrote: “The SEC’s claims against BHL [Binance Holdings Ltd.] and Mr. Zhao should be dismissed with prejudice.” They added:
It is clear that the SEC’s lawsuit has no foundation in the currently enacted securities laws.
“In attempting to claim regulatory power over the crypto industry, the SEC distorts the text of the securities laws — reading the word ‘contract’ out of the statutory phrase ‘investment contract,'” they further alleged.
Moreover, the lawyers for the crypto exchange and its chief executive warned: “The SEC also seeks to enlarge its jurisdiction globally to include transactions on foreign cryptocurrency platforms, defying supreme court precedent holding that the agency’s regulatory authority ends at the U.S. border.” They stressed: “As the SEC lacks authority to do this, BHL and Mr. Zhao respectfully move to dismiss the Complaint.”
The Binance legal team further argued:
The entire complaint fails because the SEC did not provide fair notice of its novel interpretation of the securities laws.
“Finally, among other deficiencies, the complaint fails to adequately allege that Mr. Zhao personally had the requisite suit-related contacts with the United States to support an exercise of personal jurisdiction over him,” Binance’s lawyers wrote.
In addition, BAM Trading Services (dba Binance US) and BAM Management US Holdings also seek to dismiss the SEC’s charges against them. The SEC filed a lawsuit against Binance entities and CZ on June 5. In the lawsuit, the securities regulator identified 12 crypto tokens as securities.
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What if everyone could start anew? What if there existed a city where individuals could manifest the lives they have always envisioned?
Cryptopia emerges as a play-to-earn and free-to-play blockchain game, meticulously designed to enable inhabitants to construct their ideal existence within a novel metropolis, free from the constraints of national borders. Prospective participants confront a pivotal choice, selecting between two distinct pathways: the capital-intensive Tycoon or the adept Adventurer. Regardless of their chosen path, their journey towards achieving remarkable success will significantly influence the course of this virtual realm.
The genesis of Cryptopia revolves around a fundamental premise: the planet teeters on the brink of calamity. Following the abandonment of fiat currency’s gold standard in the global economy, economies stand exposed to manipulation by governments and economic elites, who capriciously manipulate currency values. A solitary global shock, such as climate upheaval, could precipitate widespread economic collapse and human suffering.
One day, a cryptic whitepaper surfaced, proposing an audacious idea: the establishment of a fully operational sea-steading city, constructed upon blockchain technology. This city would be liberated from the influence of external powers and fiat currency systems, where citizens could autonomously craft their systems of governance, commerce, and lifestyle. Thus, Cryptopia was born, offering humanity a potential catalyst for recovery and prosperity.
Why Opt for Cryptopia?
Cryptopia astutely sidesteps the common pitfalls of blockchain gaming, which often devolve into passive NFT holding, with players simply awaiting higher bids. This leads to diminished engagement once the initial novelty fades. In contrast, Cryptopia places genuine gameplay at the forefront, empowering players to mold and lead virtual lives. They confront a binary choice:
1. The Tycoon path demands shrewd resource management, involving strategic investments to forge a DeFi empire. Players acquire real estate, erect structures that yield goods and services, and issue quests, rewarding professionals under their employ.
2. The Adventurer path offers a free-to-play route, enabling individuals to embark on quests and cultivate careers. Adventurers invest time in quest completion and skill accumulation, ultimately rising as coveted professionals within the city.
Beyond these two primary paths, Cryptopia offers an array of engaging activities, such as exploration, resource collection, social interactions, and alliances. Players may capture exotic creatures and train them for Arena competitions. For those inclined towards economic endeavors, attaining Grandmaster status, crafting unique items, and trading them on the NFT Market presents enticing opportunities. Strategic gameplay allows for advancement, regardless of initial financial resources.
Sustainable Gameplay
Unlike many blockchain games where in-game assets progressively escalate in price, Cryptopia fosters a sustainable game economy. Wealthier players create avenues for free-to-play participants by employing them for quests. Resources circulate back into the economy as quest rewards. If assets become overly expensive, players can opt to establish a public company (DAO), allowing for resource pooling and collective investment.
User-Friendly Accessibility
Cryptopia prioritizes ease of use, introducing a versatile standalone multi-signature wallet integrated into the game, obviating the need for third-party wallet registration. This wallet accommodates both fungible (ERC-20 and ERC-777) and non-fungible (ERC-721) tokens, facilitating buying, selling, and trading within its user interface.
Security is paramount, with the Cryptopia wallet offering 2FA and MFA, permitting users to safeguard their accounts across multiple devices, reducing the risk of asset loss due to device failure or compromise. Optionally, players can co-own wallets with partners. Moreover, the Cryptopia wallet’s single sign-on functionality extends its utility beyond the game, enabling its use with other applications.
Complete Decentralization
Unlike many blockchain games reliant on centralized servers and cloud services for vital functions, such as NFT marketplace maintenance and multi-signature key storage, Cryptopia operates without centralization. The entire game state resides on the blockchain, with non-essential processes distributed across a peer-to-peer mesh network. This architecture mitigates gas fees, facilitates real-time interactions among players, and ensures game continuity even if nodes fail.
Selecting a Faction
Cryptopia is a realm replete with intrigue, as entrants align themselves with distinct factions, each harboring its own history, gameplay dynamics, regulations, and objectives. These factions vie for supremacy in the fledgling nation-state:
1. Industrial (The Inheritors): Focused on transforming Cryptopia into an economic juggernaut, prioritizing swift profit acquisition.
2. Eco (Earth’s Disciples): Committed to cleansing Cryptopia of the old world’s transgressions, vehemently opposing carbon-based fuels and pollution.
3. Tech (The Technocrats): Driven by competence and scientific progress, envisioning a technologically advanced Cryptopia.
4. Traditional (The Unifiers): Striving to forge an egalitarian society, emphasizing the welfare of the majority.
5. Pirates: Merciless marauders, plundering ships to amass wealth expediently.
6. Bounty Hunters: Nemeses of Pirates, dedicated to hunting them down and returning stolen loot, introducing a PvP element.
It is essential to recognize that Cryptopia’s immutable blockchain records all decisions, rendering in-game actions permanent and influential to the world and fellow players. Each choice demands meticulous strategizing.
In concert, the mechanics, engaging gameplay, and user-friendly interface attract a steady influx of new players, ensuring Cryptopia’s continued prosperity. To sum up, Cryptopia represents a secure, equitable, entertaining, and rewarding blockchain odyssey tailored for discerning gamers and investors.
The Cryptopia development team eagerly anticipates the participation of as many individuals as possible in this virtual universe. Please reach out through the provided links for further information.
