Crypto News of the Day (5.3.) | Bitcoin again above $ 9,000, hashrate on record • and more

Here you can find an overview of the most important events that took place during the last day in the cryptoworld.

Markets

 

Following positive news from India and central bank interventions to mitigate the impact of coronavirus on the economies of the affected countries, markets recovered. Bitcoin currently breaks the $ 9,000 mark and continues to grow, followed by altcoins. Bitcoin network Hashrate for the first time exceeded 150 quintillion hashes / s for the first time.

 

You can monitor the current cryptocurrency prices – here.

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Crypto exchanges, Banks

• OKEx wants to expand to Russia this year
• UK regulator: BitMex is not licensed to operate in the UK
• A Chinese crypto lender company registers outstanding loans for USD 380 mil.
• Chiliz teamed up with Chainlink to issue tokens for FC Barcelona and more

 

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Regulations, State digital currencies

• South Korea passed a law legalizing cryptocurrencies
• Ukrainian taxpayers will now have to report their cryptocurrencies

 

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OKEx wants to expand to Russia this year

 

Alysa Xu, Chief Strategy Officer of OKEx, has stated that in the coming year the exchange will place a key focus on developing its presence in the Russian market. This move represents a clear strategy by OKEx to expand its global brand. 

 

Most notably, however, is the goal of taking greater advantage of growing crypto adoption in Russia. On the subject Xu stated:

 

“It is no secret that Russia has become a key market for OKEx this year. For quite some time now, we have noted a growing volume of trades from this region, even despite a small marketing activity and a weak presence of our brand. In the short term, we are looking for strong local partners with whom we will be able to successfully develop in the Russian market.”

 

UK regulator: BitMex is not licensed to operate in the UK

 

The U.K. Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) published the notice on Tuesday, saying that it believes BitMEX has been providing services in the country without its authorization. “BitMEX is not authorized by us and is targeting people in the UK. Based upon information we hold, we believe it is carrying on regulated activities which require authorization,” said the FCA.

 

When reached for comment, a BitMEX spokesperson told The Block: “We are working closely with our advisors to assess the situation. There is nothing more we can add at this time.”

 

Last month, the FCA became a compliance supervisor of crypto activities in the U.K. As a result, all existing and new crypto businesses are required to be registered by the watchdog. The deadline for existing businesses to get registered is January 2021.

 

A Chinese crypto lender company registers outstanding loans for USD 380 mil.

 

Chinese cryptocurrency lending startup Babel Finance said it has reached a record of $380 million in outstanding loans as of February. Flex Yang, co-founder of Babel Finance, said on Thursday the firm’s outstanding loans have grown from $52 million-worth of USDT as of Q1 2019 to $289 million as of the end of last year, reflecting the increasing market demand in the crypto lending business amid bitcoin’s price surge since April last year.

 

According to Babel’s 2019 annual report, the demand from Chinese crypto miners led to the first round of growth for the firm’s lending business as bitcoin’s price dropped below $4,000 in early 2019. Out of the $52 million in outstanding loans Babel originated as of Q1 2019, $33.9 million-worth of USDT was lent to crypto miners, accounting for over 60 percent of the total amount.

 

Chiliz teamed up with Chainlink to issue tokens for FC Barcelona and more

 

Through a medium post on March 4, Chiliz (CHZ) announced it will be integrating its services with Chainlink. According to the post, the integration will facilitate Chiliz to mint the Non-Fungible-Tokens (NFTs) for partner clubs like FC Barcelona on their fan voting and also the rewards app in real-time. This will be enabled by the raw data which will be securely transmitted by Chainlink decentralized Oracle Network.

 

Chiliz is a start-up fintech platform that powers Socios.com, hence giving sports fans a chance to participate in the managerial voting of their favorite team, and also leagues. Its platform currently offers services to football clubs like West Ham, Juventus, Barcelona, Paris Saint Germain and many more. The branded fan token gives the fans a chance to vote on the polls which their clubs publish on Socios.com.

 

South Korea passed a law legalizing cryptocurrencies

 

South Korea is following in the footsteps of India in terms of legalizing cryptocurrency trading and holding after passing a new amendment a few hours ago. From now on, digital assets are entirely legal in the East Asian nation. After President Jae-in Moon signs the amendment passed in the country’s parliament, the enactment process will begin. It will take one year from the date of the signing, followed by a 6-month grace period.

 

Once the required time passes, cryptocurrency-related businesses, such as exchanges, trusts, wallet companies, and token-sales, will need to comply with new rules. Those include having a real-name verification partnership with an approved local bank. Thus, when a verified individual is assigned to a single bank account, it helps prevent money-laundering when they deposit or withdraw fiat currencies.

 

Ukrainian taxpayers will now have to report their cryptocurrencies

 

According to the new document, first reported by Russian-language crypto news outlet Forklog, taxpayers should report digital assets as intangible property, similar to intellectual property or licenses for natural resources extraction. The guidance indicates cryptocurrencies, according to the Financial Action Task Force’s (FATF) definition, are a digital unit of value, which can be traded electronically and transferred, and used as a means of payment or investment. 

 

To report cryptocurrency holdings, taxpayers should name the assets they hold (such as bitcoin (BTC), ether (ETH), XRP, etc.) as well as the date of acquisition, the amount owned on the last day of the tax period, and the value of the holdings in Ukraine’s national currency (the hryvnia) according to the exchange rate on the last day of the tax period.