Top Headlines
- The first federally-chartered digital-asset bank was approved this week by the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency. Anchorage, the startup backed by Visa and the crypto custody service rumored to be working with Citibank and JPMorgan , was granted a national trust charter earlier this week (Nasdaq)
- As rumors swirl about Anchorage also working with Goldman Sachs, CoinDesk reported this week that the finance giant is moving forward with plans to enter the cryptocurrency custody market
- Former CFTC chairman Gary Gensler is said to be President-elect Joe Biden’s pick to take the helm at the SEC. Jeff Bandman, a former CFTC senior official, breaks down Gensler’s appeal to the cryptocurrency community for CoinDesk this week
Cryptocurrency Spotlight:
- Coinbase launched their new issuance platform Asset Hub this week, designed to quickly list compliant assets for trading amongst their 35M users (CoinDesk)
- Winklevoss-led Gemini crypto exchange is launching the Gemini Credit Card which will reward users 3% in Bitcoin for purchases (Bitcoin Magazine)
- Gemini may also be going public, as the Winklevoss twins disclosed they’re considering an IPO during an interview this week with Bloomberg
- The Mt. Gox crypto exchange saga may be coming to an end: creditors will finally be able to collect up to 90% of the remaining Bitcoin assets if they choose to ratify the settlement presented by Mt. Gox’s bankruptcy trustee (CoinDesk)
Blockchain Spotlight:
- ?? The Stellar blockchain was used by German real estate group Vonovia to transfer a $24M bond this week, coming just months after German regulators removed the requirement for a paper certificate to be issued for the sale of a security (Coin Telegraph)
International Spotlight:
- ?? The Central Bank of Nigeria has ordered the immediate closure of any banking accounts associated with users of cryptocurrency, signaling a strong crackdown on any cryptocurrency transactions occurring within the country (Coindesk)
- ?? German authorities confiscated $60M of Bitcoin from a man convicted of fraud; however, they’re unable to access the 1,700+ Bitcoins as the fraudster, who has already served his prison sentence in full, refuses to divulge his password for his digital wallet (The New York Post) Thanks to reader Mark for the tip!
- ?? The Israeli Securities Authority has ruled that cryptocurrency is a security and therefore subject to securities laws in the country. The ruling comes in response to a request by Kirobo LTD for their token to be deemed a utility token and therefore exempt from securities regulations (Mondaq)
Equity Crowdfunding News:
- The blockbuster changes to Reg CF and Reg A+ rules approved by the SEC in November 2020 have finally been published in the Federal Register, with updates becoming effective March 15th of this year (Crowdfund Insider)
- Investors who funded the Senta equity crowdfunding project on Seedrs may see a 120x return on investment after Senta was acquired by Iris Software Group, all depending on what funding round they participated in (Crowdfund Insider)