Abu Dhabi's Global Market (ADGM) and Financial Services Regulatory Authority have granted cryptocurrency exchange Binance clearance to offer its services in the region. An official announcement from the United Arab Emirates capital’s financial center confirmed that Binance will be cleared to offer cryptocurrency custodial services to professional clients once it has met the requirements for its Financial Services Permission (FSP). The news came after Binance founder and CEO Changpeng Zhao attended the Abu Dhabi Finance Week. Zhao appeared onstage alongside Galaxy Digital CEO and investor Mike Novogratz at the event for a wide-ranging conversation that touched on the aftermath of …

Up until the start of this week, Bitcoin (BTC) had been demonstrating record-low volatility, and this gave altcoins enough latitude to paint some nice technical setups. At the same time, on-chain data and technical analysis were beginning to suggest that BTC was midway through carving out a bottom, and many analysts believed that brighter days lay ahead. Fast forward to the present, and the volatility spike the market received actually turned out to be a black swan event. As you already know, FTX is kaput. Alameda Research is kaput. BlockFi has put a stop to withdrawals, citing an inability to …

Third-party data breaches have exploded. The problem? Companies, including cryptocurrency exchanges, don’t know how to protect against them. When exchanges sign new vendors, most just innately expect that their vendors employ the same level of scrutiny as they do. Others don’t consider it at all. In today’s age, it isn’t just a good practice to test for vulnerabilities down the supply chain — it is absolutely necessary. Many exchanges are backed by international financiers and those new to financial technologies. Many are even new to technology altogether, instead backed by venture capitalists looking to get their feet wet in a …

Last month’s proposal from Sam Bankman-Fried, CEO of crypto exchange FTX, for regulators to establish a litany of standards for the cryptocurrency industry poses an existential threat to decentralized finance (DeFi) platforms and entrepreneurial spirit. As one of a select few with the capital and clout to move the needle in the discussion surrounding crypto regulation, Bankman-Fried, also known as SBF, should be taking a stand to protect DeFi by directing regulators to where they’re urgently needed: centralized finance (CeFi) platforms and centralized exchanges (CEXs). In a section of his blueprint for regulatory oversight and industry standards addressing DeFi, SBF …

The global decentralized finance (DeFi) market size was valued at $11.78 billion in 2021. This number is expected to increase as DeFi advances, yet it is still in its infancy. Therefore, a number of banks and traditional financial institutions still tend to be unaware of DeFi’s potential. While this may be, industry experts within the crypto sector are predicting that decentralized finance will overtake traditional financial institutions in the coming years. For instance, Mike Belshe, CEO and co-founder of BitGo — a digital asset custody provider — told Cointelegraph that he believes DeFi will replace institutions in the next three …

As the youngest PM to take office in the U.K. in more than 200 years, Sunak has something else in common with his millennial peers: He is a crypto enthusiast. In fact, as a recent Bank of America survey found, “Younger investors are choosing to allocate significantly more of their portfolios to crypto” than their older counterparts. Additionally, those in the 21–42 age bracket are “more likely to believe crypto offers the greatest opportunities for growth” and allocate an average of 15% of their portfolios to crypto investments, compared with the 2% invested by the over-42s. The difference is, of …

The first federal budget under the Anthony Albanese led-government has outlined that Bitcoin (BTC) will continue to be treated as a digital asset, and not taxed like a foreign currency. This clarification comes in response to El Salvador’s adoption of BTC as legal tender in September last year, with the Australian government essentially ruling out a shift in classification despite it being used as a currency in El Salvador and the Central African Republic. The federal budget was released on Oct. 25, and states that BTC will fall under the “current tax treatment of digital currencies, including the capital gains …

Bitcoin price is up today, and a market-wide rally in crypto prices suggests that BTC and Ether (ETH) could be aiming to wrap up the month of October in the black. As of October 26, 2022, most major cryptocurrencies are posting single-digit gains. Bitcoin recorded a 5.15% price increase within the last 24 hours and a 5.48% gain within the last 7 days. While the current price is fluctuating, BTC is holding above the psychologically important $20,000 level. The following chart shows the BTC rally since October 24, 2022. Stocks are beginning the day down as Bitcoin continues to remain …

The Bitcoin mining industry continues to face a challenging year as the price of Bitcoin (BTC) hovers below $20,000, coupled with rising energy costs in North America and Europe. Regulators have also recently started clamping down on crypto mining, as a recent report from the Bitcoin Mining Council (BMC) found that Bitcoin has seen a 41% increase in energy consumption year-on-year (YoY). As a result, a number of crypto mining companies have been forced to sell off equipment, while others have filed for bankruptcy. Yet, this hasn’t been the case for some miners, particularly those focused on clean energy solutions …

There’s no denying that the world is currently facing an unprecedented energy crisis, one that has compounded severely in the aftermath of the COVID-19 pandemic so much so that countries across the globe — especially across Europe and North America — are witnessing severe shortages and steep spikes in the price of oil, gas and electricity. Limited gas supplies, in particular, stemming from the ongoing Russia-Ukraine conflict, have caused the price of essential commodities like fertilizer to shoot up dramatically. Not only that, but it has also resulted in the heightened use of coal and other natural resources. Coal consumption …

South African financial service providers have been primed to offer cryptocurrency products and services to customers after regulatory amendments in the country. This comes after South Africa’s Financial Sector Conduct Authority amended its financial advisory act from 2002 on Oct. 19, defining crypto assets in the country as financial products. Most importantly, the definition means that cryptocurrencies can now be offered by financial service providers, both domestic or international, given that they are licensed in South Africa. South Africa already commands a growing number of retail cryptocurrency users estimated to include as many as six million individual users and investors. …

The United States Securities and Exchange Commission’s (SEC’s) more-than-enthusiastic crackdown on the crypto industry is being seen as a positive signal for the majority of crypto investors, according to a new survey. Around 60% of 564 survey respondents in the latest MLIV Pulse survey from Bloomberg said they viewed the recent flurry of crypto crackdowns as a positive sign for investing in the asset class. Around 65% of retail investors signaled they were “more likely” to invest with “greater enforcement against crypto” compared to 56% of professional investors. Conversely, only 35% of retail and 44% of professional investors said they …