South Korean crypto exchange Gopax, which is backed by Digital Currency Group, is facing potential closure ahead of the country’s fast-approaching deadline for platforms to submit their requests for an official operating license. To be eligible for a license, all crypto exchanges must show evidence that they are operating using real-name accounts at South Korean banks. The catch is that domestic banks have, for the most part, refused to engage in any risk assessment process for the country’s numerous small and medium-sized exchanges and have only been confident enough to service the country’s top four trading platforms: Upbit, Bithumb, Korbit …
Banks in the United Kingdom continue to crack down on Binance cryptocurrency exchange, with banking giant HSBC becoming the latest bank to cut payment channels to the platform. A series of HSBC clients reported on Twitter this Monday that HSBC UK had suspended credit card payments to Binance. According to an announcement on the service suspension, HSBC UK made the decision “due to concerns about possible risks” to its customers. “We take our duty as a responsible lender seriously and want to do everything we can to protect you. We’ll continue to monitor the situation and let you know if …
Customers have been reporting that Barclays, a British multinational universal bank, has been blocking payments to Binance cryptocurrency exchange over the last week. The financial services giant has confirmed to cardholders that Barclays debit/credit card payments to the cryptocurrency exchange will not be allowed until further notice. One of crypto investment dashboard Wealth Kode’s co-founders, who goes by Lee on Twitter, posted a text notification from Barclays Monday that read: “As you’ve made a payment to Binance this year, we wanted to let you know that we’re stopping payments made by credit/debit card to them until further notice. This is …
Israeli-based crypto exchange Bits of Gold became the first crypto firm in the country to receive a license from the Capital Markets Authority according to social media posts from the company on Sept. 18. As a result of attaining the license, Bits of Gold will be able to store digital currencies through secured custody in a “Bits of Gold Wallet” they have been working on for some time. It will also start providing a service that enables banks and other financial institutions to connect to its digital asset services. In a public statement, Bits of Gold said that the license …
Native cryptocurrencies turned out to be the biggest factor contributing to the demise of numerous exchanges and ecosystems this year, most recently during the FTX collapse. Korea's financial authority, Korea Financial Intelligence Unit (KoFIU), took notice of the same as it launched a probe into crypto exchanges in relation to listing their in-house, self-issued tokens. Crypto exchange FTX and its 130 affiliate firms recently filed for bankruptcy due to a price crash of its in-house token, FTX Token (FTT). While Korean crypto exchanges are barred from issuing native tokens, KoFIU’s probe into the same is to ensure regulatory adherence for …