Here’s a summary of the most important cryptocurrency news from the first week in August.
Bank of America sees benefits in El Salvador’s Bitcoin adoption
Bank of America (BofA), an American banking institution, has been established. postulatedAccording to a report released last week, the bank sees good in El Salvador adopting Bitcoin. According to the report by the multinational investment bank, it noted that El Salvador had not been open to Bitcoin’s legalization as a currency and was too pessimistic about its adoption. However, there were some potential benefits.
One of the main benefits that the bank highlighted was the reduction in transaction costs for sending remittances. They account for 24% El Salvador’s GDP. Traditional banks account for approximately 10% of remittances, which is 2.4% of El Salvador’s GDP.
According to the report, Bitcoin could help to democratize electronic payment access. This is despite the fact that 70% of South American countries don’t have access to banking services. Additionally, the bank pointed out that Bitcoin could be a good investment vehicle for foreign companies such as ATM makers and miners. This would open up more options for the customer.
BofA also believed that Bitcoin’s volatility could be tempered if Bitcoin transactions were automatically converted to dollars. The bank stated that Bitcoin’s volatility had a negative overall impact.
Matrixport achieves unicorn status after Series C funding round
The number of crypto institutions in America that exceed $1 billion in valuation is steadily increasing, and Matrixport has just joined the ranks. Matrixport joined the club on Monday. announcedIt had achieved a valuation of $1 billion following a Series C funding round which raised $100 million.
C Ventures was the lead investor, DST Global and K3 Ventures were also involved. Matrixport offers crypto trading services and plans to expand globally.
Other crypto funding news: Non-fungible Token (NFT) platform MakersplaceThe $30 million cash injection was made possible by a Series A financing round that included investment ventures, a host celebrities, and angel investors like Eminem, Sabrina Hahn and Paul Rosenberg.
Uncork Capital, Coinbase Ventures and Sony Music Entertainment were some of the involved investment ventures. Makersplace plans to use the money in order to develop new ways to promote digital art and NFTs. It also wants to offer better digital tools to its creators and expand its market share.
Ex-Monero developer arrested over invoice fraud
Ricardo Spagni, an ex-Monero developer, is said to have been arrestedOn 20 June, Spagni was arrested at his home under suspicion of fraud committed in South Africa during 2009 to 2011. Cape Cookies, Spagni’s former employer, has accused him of using a false identity in order to get payments from another company.
Fluffypony, a former XMR developer, is accused of committing fraud by intercepting Ensync’s invoice and using the details to create fake invoices that redirected money to him. Fluffypony is also accused with creating fake invoices similar to his employer for three other institutions. This fraud amount amounts to $100,000.
Ricardo Spagni began mining Bitcoin in 2011. In 2011, he switched to building crypto mining rigs. His crypto journey continued until he was named Monero’s chief developer. Spagni resigned from Monero in 2019 however. Monero has grown rapidly to be one of today’s most valuable crypto assets. The privacy that the crypto coin offers its users is a well-known feature.
Google’s new policy on advertising allows for crypto ads, but does not allow them to be.
Google has since banned advertising that is related to cryptocurrency firms and initial coin offerings, (ICOs), in March. Google banned all advertising related to crypto firms and initial coin offerings (ICOs) in March. A new policy regarding ads was implemented on Tuesday to allow for some crypto ads on Google.
The policy update for financial products was disclosedIt was set up to serve American entities in June. Google established specific requirements for advertising by such entities. Adverts must be approved by federal banks.
Google removed ads that are associated with ICOs and unregulated decentralised apps (dApps), unhosted money wallets, liquidity pools and initial decentralised exchanges (DEX) offerings. It will be interesting for everyone to see the results of Google’s decision.
Singapore approves Australian exchange Independent Reserve
After the Independent Reserve Australian cryptocurrency exchange, 170 crypto exchanges in Singapore are now approved receivedApproval from the Monetary Authority of Singapore
The MAS published a correspondence describing the Independent Reserve’s in-principle approval. Since then, the exchange acknowledged that the letter outlined how it became a Payments Service Act-regulated service provider. Independent Reserve would become a digital asset service provider and would be expected by the government to do due diligence regarding its customers and to take steps to protect against risk disclosure.
Additionally, the crypto exchange will have to conform with anti-money laundering regulations. They also need to enforce consumer protection measures. Independent Reserve had submitted a licence application in April of last year. The approval confirms that the implementation crypto-friendly Payment Service Act is now in effect.