UK Banks Implement Measures To Regulate Crypto Purchases

In Last month, six projects raised $301.9 million, a 34% increase from the previous month. These Funds will be used to improve infrastructure, scale services, and hire top talent. In addition, plans for the future were announced. TeraWulf, a crypto mining company, secured $32M in equity financing to be used for general purposes and for expanding its facilities in New York and Pennsylvania. SALT, a blockchain-backed lending platform, raised $64.4M in Series Funding to build a surplus, offer transparency, and prove reserves to attract more customers. Carbonplace, which aims to be the “SWIFT of carbon markets,” secured a seed funding of $45M to extend its services to a wider base of financial institutions and to form partnerships with other carbon market players. Read more here.

Leading Cryptocurrency exchange Coinbase (NASDAQ: COIN) declared on Tuesday that it has stopped initiating payments from or accepting them Silvergate (NYSE: SI) as a precautionary measure. Despite this move, Coinbase has guaranteed that its clients’ funds are safe and accessible. Coinbase has shifted to Signature Bank for US Dollar payments and has taken steps to guarantee that its clients are not affected by the change. The Exchange also clarified that the cash held by clients is kept at FDIC-insured U.S. banks and those with large dollar balances are covered. Coinbase keeps cash safe and liquid by storing it in a U.S. Government money market fund. More details here.

Digital Asset investment products saw a 5.25% expansion of assets under management (AUM) in February, bringing the AUM to its highest level since 2005 at $28.3 trillion. This was the third consecutive monthly climb and a sign of investors’ bullishness and increased appetite for digital assets, despite recent SEC enforcement against multiple firms in the industry. According to a report by Paxos, Terraform Labs?, Robinhood, and CryptoCompare, this includes both macroeconomic and monetary setbacks. Bitcoin and Ethereum-based products experienced a 6.06%, 1.72%, and $6.80 billion increase in sales, respectively. These products now account for 70.5% and 24.0% of the AUM market share. Read more.

At a conference hosted by Keystone Strategy, EU Antitrust Chief Margrethe Vestager addressed the growing importance of the metaverse, a network of virtual worlds that can be accessed through the internet. When Facebook changed its name to Meta Platforms in 2019, the company showed its support for the metaverse, which is seen as the successor to mobile internet. Concerns have been raised about the potential for metaverse dominance in the new industry, with Google and Microsoft also actively involved in generative artificial intelligence, seen by many as the next big thing in this sector. Vestager recognizes the need for healthy competition in the metaverse and questions have been raised about what that would look like. Find the full report here.

Three Japanese Banks have been mandated to test out a stablecoin-based payment system that meets legal requirements. The Tokyo Kiraboshi Financial Group, The Shikoku Bank?, and Minna No Bank plan to issue and remit electronic money in the form of stablecoins through a system constructed by Web3 infrastructure firm GU Technologies. As per a press release, the system will be tested using the Ethereum network and a stablecoin pegged to the Japanese Yen. The Three Banks will be able to issue digital money in the form of stablecoins without having to use a centralized server, which will reduce costs, improve efficiency, and increase compliance. Read the full story here.