Crypto exchange Binance is now registered as a virtual asset service provider (VASP) by the Bank of Spain, allowing the exchange to offer custody and crypto exchange services in the country. In an announcement on Friday, Binance said that its Spanish subsidiary, Moon Tech Spain, was registered as a VASP by Spain’s central bank on Thursday. It applied for registration in January. Binance can now provide fiat currency exchange to digital assets and wallet custody services while complying with the country’s Anti-Money Laundering and Counter-Terrorist Financing rules. Binance CEO Changpeng Zhao said the development in Spain is a result of …

Local think tank Infrawatch PH has sent a letter to the Philippines' Department of Trade and Industry (DTI), urging the government agency to launch an investigation against crypto exchange Binance for promotions without permits. The letter alleged that the crypto exchange has been targeting Filipino consumers with unregistered promotions that are being posted casually on social media platforms. Terry Ridon, the convenor for Infrawatch PH, said that Binance disregards Philippine regulations, as the exchange performs virtual asset service provider (VASP) functions in the country without the license. In response to the letter, a Binance spokesperson told Cointelegraph that the exchange …

In this week’s newsletter, read about Binance’s partnership with the most-followed TikToker Khaby Lame. Check out how Vincenzo Sospiri Racing will use NFTs to authenticate car parts and how NFTs will gradually appear on Facebook and other Meta-owned apps. Meanwhile, an NFT licensing platform that aims to connect Bored Ape Yacht Club (BAYC) owners to brands has noted that hundreds have signed up. And, don’t forget about this week’s Nifty News roundup featuring a console for Web3 gaming. Binance taps TikTok star Khaby Lame to drive Web3 adoption Last week, exchange platform Binance announced a partnership with TikTok star Khaby …

Given Ethereum’s dominance coupled with the current crypto bear market, it remains questionable if L1s will flourish. This was recently highlighted in a Chainalsys blog post entitled “New layer 1 blockchains are expanding the DeFi ecosystem, but no ETH killers yet.” Ethan McMahon, an economist at Chainalysis, told Cointelegraph that Chainalysis published this report to raise awareness for the current L1 ecosystem: While Ethereum allowed decentralized finance (DeFi) to flourish in 2020, a number of layer-1 blockchains (L1s) have since been developed to address the challenges associated with the network. For instance, as Ethereum’s proof-of-work (PoW) consensus mechanism and high …

Crypto exchange Binance has signed a memorandum of understanding with the Securities and Exchange Regulator of Cambodia (SERC), according to a June 30 announcement. Binance and SERC will work together to develop digital assets regulations in the country. SERC is looking to leverage Binance’s technical expertise and experience in the field to develop its own legal framework for the digital asset market. Cryptocurrencies are not regulated in Cambodia, and any unlicensed activity involving these digital assets is highly prohibited. The partnership could prove pivotal for the South Asian country, where any crypto-linked activity has been deemed illegal since 2018. Gleb …

In this week’s newsletter, read about Meta’s plans to expand their nonfungible token (NFT) testing on Instagram and Facebook. Check out how soccer legend Cristiano Ronaldo is planning to introduce his fans to Web3 through NFTs and how the rap legends Snoop Dogg and Eminem featured Bored Ape Yacht Club (BAYC) characters in their latest music video. Join Cointelegraph’s Tom Farren as he shares details from an event called The Digital Diaspora as part of last week’s NFT.NYC conference. And, don’t forget about this week’s Nifty News roundup featuring Yuga Labs and NFT platform X2Y2 surpassing OpenSea’s volume. Meta set …

Sky Mavis, developers of the popular play-to-earn (P2E) nonfungible token (NFT) game Axie Infinity have announced that the Ronin bridge is back online three months after it was hacked for more than $600 million. The Ronin bridge is an Ethereum sidechain built for Axie Infinity, and it enables users to transfer assets between the sidechain and the Ethereum mainnet. On March 29, 173,600 Ether (ETH) and 25.5 million USD Coin (USDC) was drained from the bridge after hackers managed to gain access to private validator keys. The hack was worth more than $620 million at the time. According to the …

Binance founder and CEO Changpeng “CZ” Zhao argues that “bad” crypto projects should be left to fail and not receive bailouts from crypto firms with healthy cash reserves. In a Thursday blog post, CZ said that firms that have been poorly operated, poorly managed or have released poorly designed products shouldn’t receive bailouts — and should instead be left to crumble: “In short, they are just ‘bad’ projects. These should not be saved. Sadly, some of these ‘bad’ projects have a large number of users, often acquired through inflated incentives, creative marketing, or pure Ponzi schemes.” “Further, in any industry, …

Crypto exchange Binance.US has removed trading fees for Bitcoin (BTC) spot market trades, following in the footsteps of Robinhood, which pioneered no-commission crypto trading in 2018. Brian Shroder, CEO of Binance.US, said the move makes the company the first United States crypto exchange to eliminate spot trading fees for Bitcoin for all users and without trading volume requirements. He added that they would also not be earning a spread on trades. “We see this as an opportunity to revolutionize the way fees are approached in our industry, increase accessibility to crypto, and better support our market and customers in a …

Trust Wallet, a major self-custodial cryptocurrency wallet owned by the Binance crypto exchange, has completed a significant integration to enable easier crypto purchases. The Trust Wallet platform has integrated Binance’s official fiat-to-crypto provider Binance Connect with a plan to gradually enable users to purchase more than 200 crypto assets directly from credit or debit cards, the firm announced to Cointelegraph on Wednesday. Trust Wallet’s new crypto buy option is designed to simplify the process of buying crypto, enabling verified Trust Wallet users to fund their wallet with more than 40 fiat currencies. To add funds to the Trust Wallet via …

Crypto exchange Binance has courted controversy almost since its 2017 beginnings, and five years later, the dustups continue. On June 6, the United States Securities and Exchange Commission was reported to be investigating whether Binance Holdings broke United States securities rules in launching its digital tokens. Meanwhile, on the same day, Reuters published a scathing 4,700-word “special report” titled “How crypto giant Binance became a hub for hackers, fraudsters and drug traffickers.” Binance almost immediately retorted to Reuters with a blog post of its own, warning about “authors and pundits who cherry pick data, rely on conveniently unverifiable ‘leaks’ from …

Binance Labs, the venture capital and incubation arm of the Binance cryptocurrency exchange, continues its business as usual despite the ongoing bear market. The VC firm is preparing to launch the fifth round of the Most Valuable Builder (MVB) accelerator program, the incubation program designed to support new projects focused on decentralized finance (DeFi) and Web3. Organized in cooperation with BNB Chain, the program looks to provide dedicated support to developers building decentralized apps on the BNB Chain blockchain network by providing incubation and investment. The MVB program was originally launched in May 2021, with the mission to help BNB …