Banks and Institutions
The European Commission accelerates
The European Commission is speeding up its digital wallet project for European Union citizens. It would be doubled with an electronic identity and would allow, in addition to payment means, to store digital identity documents useful for transactions or administrative procedures.
Source : Igen
Reassuring news from India
India’s central bank is reassuring the cryptoasset market. Severe limitations had been put in place for market access by the country’s commercial banks, but the Supreme Court ordered them lifted last year. Banks were still relying on the old rules though, which should no longer be the case, thanks to the central bank’s intervention.
Source : The Block Crypto
First BTC and ETH ETNs listed on French and Dutch exchanges
On June 1, 2021, the company VanEck is introducing the first Bitcoin and Ethereum ETNs on the French and Dutch exchanges. ETNs are derivatives that allow institutional investors to gain exposure to the price of an asset without owning it. Bank Frick will hold the underlying assets in Bitcoin and Ethereum.
Source : Journal du Coin
New anti-mining measures in China
New rules come into effect in China, concerning the Inner Mongolia region: cryptocurrency mining was already banned there, but the government is strengthening measures against this activity. Violators will now see their social credit severely dented. A phone number has been set up to report them.
Source : Coin Telegraph
Anti-mining measures in Iran
Iran bans Bitcoin mining until September. The authorities justify this ban due to serious problems with the country’s electricity supply. Mining has recently developed strongly in Iran and would represent 5% of the global capacity today. The government also intends to use cryptocurrencies to circumvent U.S. sanctions.
Source : The Block Crypto
Chinese investors in search of solutions
Chinese investors are actively looking for ways around the government’s limitations on crypto asset exchange platforms. One solution that seems to be gaining momentum is the use of OTC (over the counter) platforms that allow for over-the-counter transactions, and are much more discreet. The price of the Yuan against Tether has fallen by 4% since the beginning of the crisis.
Source : Coin Telegraph
John Glen provides an update on regulated businesses in the UK
According to John Glen, economic secretary to the Treasury in the UK, only five cryptoasset companies are now benefiting from the regulatory framework set by the government. The minister regrets that the entire market is falling behind on regulation, pointing to the dangers of money laundering. There are currently 167 companies awaiting certification.
Source : Coin Telegraph
Cryptoactive ecosystem
Lack of market knowledge highlighted in survey
According to a survey by The Economist, lack of knowledge is the main barrier to entering the cryptoasset market, for 51% of people. 34% are afraid of security issues, and 29% don’t know where to buy them. In total, 55% of those surveyed know about cyrptocurrencies, but have never bought one.
Source : Coin Telegraph
Big Bitcoin wallets bought large amounts around $30,000
According to a report by Chainalysis, large bitcoin wallets bought large amounts of it last week, when its price dropped to $30,000. This violent price drop also led to the sale of 1.2 million bitcoins. Two pieces of information that tend to confirm that it was mainly new entrants who sold during the mid-May drop.
Source : The Block Crypto
Poloniex soon banned in Canada?
The currency exchange site Poloniex may be forced to cease operations in Canada. The regulatory authorities have indeed launched an action against the site, stating that the storage of crypto assets on behalf of their customers represents an investment contract, for which the platform is not regulated. Poloniex has not responded to the authorities’ requests and could therefore be banned from the Canadian territory.
Source : The Block Crypto
Technology
Burgerswap suffers an attack
Burgerswap, an exchange protocol on the Binance Smart Chain, has suffered an attack of over $7 million. The protocol started out as a carbon copy of Uniswap, but with a single line of code removed to allow for full recovery of funds if needed. This deleted line was enough for the attacker to successfully exploit the protocol.
Source : The Block Crypto
Figures of the week
38%
Bitcoin fell 38% during May 2021, the biggest monthly drop in 10 years.
5 millions
The symbolic mark of 5 million ETH deposited in Ethereum 2.0 staking has been passed.
2 trillion dollars
The various cryptocurrency exchange sites recorded $2 trillion in volume during the month of May 2021, a monthly volume record.
16%
The difficulty of mining fell by 16% on Sunday night, compared to its all-time high reached on May 13.
100 billion
100 billion dollars. This is the amount of dollar-based stablecoins currently available, mainly USDT and USDC.
88% and 93%
Bitcoin transaction fees have dropped by 88% since the beginning of April, and by 93% for Ethereum in less than two weeks.
Uniswap v3 overtakes Uniswap v2
Uniswap v3’s transaction volume now exceeds that of Uniswap v2. Note that both versions of Uniswap generate more revenue from transaction fees than Bitcoin.
29%
In a survey of Americans, 29% of respondents said they were familiar with Dogecoin, while only 21% were familiar with Ethereum.
