On Saturday, several centralized crypto trading platforms and payment processors stopped USDC auto conversions. However, USDC experienced a significant trading volume on decentralized exchange (dex) platforms such as Uniswap, Curve, and Pancakeswap. Uniswap alone recorded $10.13 billion in trades over the past day, with more than 55% of those swapsContinue Reading
It’s been a turbulent week in finance with the so-called crypto-friendly Silvergate Bank announcing its liquidation, U.S. Senator Elizabeth Warren blaming the event on “crypto risk,” and individuals on social media pointing out that Warren is “terribly misinformed.” Additionally, U.S. Regulators closed Silicon Valley Bank after reports of a bankContinue Reading
Just a few weeks after tapping its best exchange rate versus the greenback in 2023, the South African rand fell to a new 2023 low of 18.636 local currency units for every dollar on March 7. South Africa’s power shortages as well as the country’s recent grey-listing by the FinancialContinue Reading
A draft law designed to regulate crypto mining in Russia introduces harsh penalties for miners failing to report digital assets to the state. In its latest revision, the bill also threatens to punish those who organize illegal trading of cryptocurrencies with imprisonment and hefty fines. Forced Labor Awaits Miners andContinue Reading
The Nigerian central bank recently said it had issued operational guidelines for open banking in Nigeria which are expected to enhance efficiency and access to financial services. According to the central bank, some of the guidelines’ objectives include ensuring “consistency and security across the open banking system.” Customer Permissioned DataContinue Reading
On Saturday, March 11, 2023, Circle Financial updated the public about its stablecoin, USDC, and noted that the stablecoin’s liquidity operations will resume normally on Monday morning in the United States. Circle said that the company’s teams would be ready on Monday to “handle significant volume” and that the firmContinue Reading
After U.S. regulators shut down Silicon Valley Bank (SVB) on Friday, the Bank of England has closed the company’s U.K.-based arm. The central bank explained that it intends to place the subsidiary into bank insolvency procedures. Fallout From SVB Failure Prompts BOE to Close U.K. Branch The ripple effect ofContinue Reading
Silicon Valley Bank (SVB) has become the center of attention after its collapse prompted the U.S. Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) to shut the bank down on Friday. It was the largest U.S. bank failure since 2008, and various alleged catalysts have been pointed to. Some believe venture capitalists causedContinue Reading
On March 11, 2023, the decentralized finance project Makerdao issued an emergency proposal following the USDC depegging incident that saw the stablecoin dip down to $0.877 per unit. At the time of writing, Makerdao commands $3.1 billion in USDC collateral that backs a portion of the project’s stablecoin, DAI. MakerdaoContinue Reading
On Saturday, March 11, 2023, crypto advocates are concerned as a few stablecoin assets have depegged from their $1 parity. The second-largest stablecoin USDC, issued by Circle Financial, fell below $0.90, reaching a low of $0.877 per coin. Additionally, around five other stablecoins have dropped below the U.S. dollar parityContinue Reading
