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Hong Kong To Become Virtual Asset Hub Despite FTX Collapse

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According to the publicly available statement from the Foreign Service Officer, the recently issued Policy Statement on the “Development of Virtual Assets in Hong Kong” outlines the SAR plans to deal with those who use this new technology and those developing it.

The Government of Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (SAR) issued its new Policy Statement at the end of the last month.  

In this Policy Declaration, they proposed several pilot programs – such as issuing a new batch of Green Bonds to be tokenized for institutional investors – expecting it to be launched at the end of this year and becoming the world’s first “Tokenized Issuance Government Green Bond.”

Additionally, the Hong Kong Monetary Authority (HKMA) is also researching the possibility of introducing the Digital Hong Kong Dollar, which would act as a link between fiat currencies and blockchain-based virtual assets. 

The HKMA recently held a meeting to discuss regulating stablecoins that can be used as payment methods. They will release the findings of this discussion shortly, and it will “provide the necessary support for promoting more innovations.”

According to the official statement:

the entire policy declaration aims to construct a comprehensive regulatory framework for the virtual asset industry, actively encourage technological innovation and application, and at the same time ensure proper risk management and control.

 Balanced Regulatory Framework For Virtual Assets

Along with aggressively embracing innovation, they also believed that there should be flexible regulatory support that keeps up with the trends.

The notice highlighted that it is necessary now that many cryptocurrency prices have decreased significantly or certain crypto-related companies, such as FTX, have gone bankrupt. Insiders call this a Crypto Winter, leading people to think about new ways of regulating things.

The government notice further claimed that to protect investors and promote innovation, The China Securities Regulatory Commission (CSRC) has closely monitored the developments of new technology – specifically when it comes to virtual currency.

Two virtual asset exchanges have received licenses from CSRC on the regulatory tenet of “same business, same risk, same rules.” These exchanges are required to meet all financial resource and operating expense requirements stipulated to be allowed to operate legally under these regulations.

Moreover, the SFC authorized two brokerages to carry out virtual asset transactions for their customers under the omnibus account structure and gave licenses to eight virtual asset fund management firms.

This new statement from the SFC suggests there will be public consultations on how to ensure small-scale retail investors can access virtual assets under their newly implemented licensing system. They may introduce ETFs investing in virtual assets, which the Hong Kong government supports.

Related Reading | How To Make Money During The Crypto Collapse With Orbeon (ORBN) and Solana (SOL)

Dubai Approves Virtual Assets Regulatory Authority to Regulate Crypto Assets

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Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Dubai’s ruler, and vice president, announced the passage of new legislation regulating virtual assets such as cryptocurrencies and NFTs.

For some years, the UAE has been at the vanguard of crypto and blockchain adoption, and it is trying to cement its place as a key global financial hub.

Due to the bill, Dubai seeks to develop an advanced legal framework that protects investors and establishes worldwide standards to manage the virtual asset business.

Dubai’s virtual asset regulatory authority

According to a government statement, the Dubai Virtual Asset Regulatory Authority (VARA) will function as an associated agency of the Dubai World Trade Center.

It will focus on compliance and disclosures of virtual asset service providers in the United Arab Emirates (UAE). The new body will also be in charge of the UAE’s cryptocurrency licensing system.

Only companies with a commercial presence in the UAE will be eligible for these crypto licenses. VARA will oversee the operations of custodians and asset managers in the cryptocurrency field in addition to crypto exchanges.

The statement on Wednesday backs up previous claims that Dubai officials were working on establishing a virtual asset licensing framework by the end of the first quarter.

According to rumors at the time, the expansion was the result of a cooperation between Binance, the world’s largest cryptocurrency exchange, and the Dubai World Trade Center.

Dubai decides to rule crypto sector

The UAE has been wooing the virtual asset business for years, and its banks have a history of experimenting with blockchain technology. But this is the first time the government has made an official attempt to regulate the sector on a large scale.

Since mid-2021, the Financial Centre has been considering virtual asset regulation, although it is still in the consultation stage. The world’s largest cryptocurrency exchange, Binance, is not regulated in the United Arab Emirates, although it is in Bahrain.

The tiny island country surrounded by two oceans is making a serious play for the UAE’s spot as the world’s premier virtual asset hub. Bahrain enacted crypto banking regulations in 2019 and licensed its first cryptocurrency firm.  

GAO says cryptocurrency increases the risk of drug/human trafficking

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In a recent report on Monday, the U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO) says that virtual currency is increasingly being used in an unauthorized manner to facilitate human and drug trafficking.

According to the reports, a government agency that provides auditing and investigative reports to Congress emphasized that the gazebos, also called crypto ATMs, were in a way responsible for the rise of this crime, as the machines are less regulated than the crypto exchanges and that the transactions are the most difficult to trace. The investigating authority of the Congress stated,

“Virtual currency’s anonymizing features can attract criminals’ use to avoid detection when paying for illicit activities such as human and drug trafficking,”

The GAO brief suggests that policymakers, regulators, and law enforcement authorities have identified virtual currency, human trafficking, and drug trafficking as the topmost priority areas of concern. It also warns that the federal agencies may lack complete data when determining or reporting the illegal use of cryptocurrency.

In light of recent events, it has been noted that the number of suspicious activity reports filed with the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) that involve virtual currency and drug trafficking has increased five times (252 to 1,432) to what it was back in 2017.

GAO suggests collaboration of IRS and FinCEN

The agency has made nine recommendations to selected agencies to improve their data collection practices.

The agency believes that the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) and the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) should work together in regulating the crypto ATMs.

To get a better judgment of the issue, GAO has asked FinCEN and all other law enforcement agencies to review registration requirements for the crypto ATMs used to exchange these digital assets for liquidated assets in different locations like convenience stores. The agency has also asked them to take appropriate actions and to contain more detailed data regarding individual crypto ATM locations (registrations, renewals, etc). This helps in identifying high-risk kiosk operators to monitor for compliance, while also enhancing information per law enforcement that makes it easier to identify potentially illicit transactions.

Cryptocurrency to be bought on BitPay at 0 fees

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Cryptocurrency can now be bought on the BitPay wallet app for no fees at all, but only for a limited period. This statement was out in a press release that was published by BitPay on 20 December 2021. BitPay also took to Twitter and announced that it has partnered with Simplex to offer 0% fees on the next cryptocurrency purchase.

One of the world’s largest bitcoin providers and digital asset payment services, BitPay had announced in a promoted collaboration with Simplex, that BitPay Wallet users can now buy virtual coins without any additional charges through their wallet debit cards and ApplePay, only for a limited time.

According to BitPay CEO, Stephen Pair, this is a straightforward way for the residents of the USA that want to try out the world of digital assets for the first time to buy, store and spend crypto. He also adds,

 “BitPay wants to help consumers start to live life on crypto and by working with Simplex, we make it simple to acquire crypto by eliminating the need for users to navigate to a cryptocurrency exchange to fund the wallet.”

Typically, this collaboration is meant to counter-check the requirement of people to use a crypto exchange to fund their wallets. It was announced that users can instantly buy gift cards from hundreds of top retailers in-store and online with Bitcoin (BTC), Bitcoin Cash (BCH), Dogecoin (DOGE), Ethereum (ETH), Litecoin (LTC), Shiba Inu (SHIB) Wrapped Bitcoin (WBTC), as well as five USD-pegged stable coins BUSD, DAI, GUSD, USDP, and USDC.

Cryptocurrency market highs to be capitalized by users through this solution

The founder and CEO of Simplex, Nimrod Lehavi said that buying crypto usually involves fees to make a purchase with a debit or credit card making it difficult for those new to crypto, so by working with BitPay they are waving those fees for users so anyone, anywhere has the opportunity to enter into the crypto space and capitalize through this solution.

At the time of writing, Bitcoin (BTC) enjoyed a bullish market price at $48,660.41 with a daily high of 5.26%.

Dubai World Trade Centre progresses into Crypto

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Dubai that was once known for the 3Ts- Tourism, Trade, and Transport is now adding the 4th T- Technology.

Dubai World Trade Centre (DWTC) marks its expansion in the world of Crypto as an exchange platform and a regulator to virtual assets and cryptocurrencies including digital assets, products, operators, and exchanges. This move broadens the idea of the progression of UAE as the leading global center for business, trade, and technology.

Dubai World Trade Centre (DWTC) will become a comprehensive zone

As a part of the Government’s efforts to create new economic sectors, DTWC will be designing a comprehensive ecosystem for this progressive sector.

The emirate owned media house, on Monday, 20 December 2021, in a press release announced that DWTC will be collaborating with private sectors and relevant entities within the city to create an attractive environment for the sector, and enforce rigorous standards for investor protection, Anti Money Laundering (AML), Combating the Financing of Terrorism (CFT) compliance and cross border deal flow tracing.

The government of Dubai media office has also announced their development about adopting new trends such as NFTs.

“The announcement that comes within the efforts to further develop Dubai virtual assets and markets, includes creating a framework for innovative financial products, adopting new trends that rely on advanced underlying blockchain technology, such as non-fungible token (NFT) and cryptocurrencies.”

According to the source, this progression advances Dubai’s stance as the leading global center for business, trade, and technology. DWTC will over a top-notch administrative structure of Virtual Asset legislative and enforcement policies that will be critical to facilitating and broadening cross-border operations and ecosystem innovation to enable safe market adoption and growth for this sector in the city. 

Dubai and UAE on the whole are known for their welcoming attitude towards digital assets and blockchain technology this sort of rampant developmental advancement, Dubai is at the forefront of the UAE’s attempts to diversify the economy and reinvent itself as a global hub for tech and innovation.

Crypto operations opposed by the Bank of Russia

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According to the Russian legislation, it is not prohibited for individuals or legal entities to buy cryptocurrencies in foreign markets, but it is prohibited to issue them on domestic platforms and use them as means of payment within the Russian Federation.

In an interview on Friday the 17 December 2021, by the local media house finmarket.ru, the Governor of the Bank of Russia, Elvira Nabiullina enlarged the fear around the future of digital assets regulation in the country.

“You know our attitude towards cryptocurrencies, to put it mildly, skeptical, connected with the fact that these are big risks for retail investors, the volatility of this asset is very large. Cryptocurrencies are often used for illegal operations of a criminal nature, they are not transparent, so we cannot welcome investments in such kind of assets. And we advocate that the Russian financial infrastructure is not used for transactions with cryptocurrency, it is quite possible to implement it”

Central Bank of Russia sees high risks in development of the Cryptocurrency market

The bank of Russia has repeatedly articulated that it is looking at the purchasing of blockchain technology-based assets by individuals with a lot of apprehensions. The fact that Nabiullina’s statement came exactly a day after there were reports about the absolute ban on the exchanges of these virtual assets in Russia increases speculations about the fate of the virtual coin market.

In proportionate views, the most rigorous degrees against digital currency were enforced by China, which in September prohibited foreign exchanges from providing services for buying digital assets in the country and also banned miners from working in the country. At the same time, plenty of European countries and the United States of America are slowly removing constraints on the use of cryptocurrencies as a financial means of payment. In particular, in Sweden, the use of cryptocurrency is allowed by the authorities, while its purchase is considered as a transaction with assets, and anti-money laundering laws are observed.

Digital Assets Is The Way To Go For Uruguayan Clean-Up

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Cryptocurrencies have been known to create an ecosystem for growing functionalities within the financial sector. This has also allowed regions to utilize this feature and work it to their advantage.

In a positive twist to the cryptocurrency story, it has been revealed that virtual assets were working towards creating a better society in Uruguay.

New reports from the South American country showed that there was a growing system of earning virtual assets by doing good deeds. Citizens now have the option to earn digital assets if they deposit waste from the Piriapolis beach in designated areas. These assets can then be used for discounts or purchases in local restaurants or partnered shops.

The digital asset is nicknamed ‘Plasticoin’, after the mission to eradicate plastic waste from the beach. The initiative was taken by Juan River who launched the project alongside industrial designer Nicole Wyaux. Users interested in earning these Plasticoins can register online and then deposit plastic waste at one of three collection points.

The venture stated that the minimum deposit quantity is one kilogram. For every kilogram deposited, a user will get anywhere between 100 to 400 plasticoins. The structure showed that users will get 100 coins for household waste, 200 coins for beach waste and 400 coins for microplastics of less than half a centimeter as their Digital Assets.

The project has also received the backing of the Uruguayan government after an explosive start. The government had granted an initial fund of $5000 for propagating such a habit in the country.  The citizens have also responded positively to the developments and have promised to convert this opportunity into a society changing phenomenon. The country’s government entity National Agency for Development [ANDE] has pra the efforts taken by the entrepreneurs.

Over 600 users had registered in the initial phase of the project, with many more expected to be onboarded soon. There are also plans to expand the service to areas such as Maldonado, Solis, Ocean Park and Pan de Azucar.

The concept of cryptocurrency and blockchain technology has definitely taken the Latin American market by storm. Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies have always been positive markers in the region with countries like Venezuela and Colombia takin charge.

Venezuela witnessed a rapid increase in crypto usage during its inflation hike and it continues to this day. This came at a time when the Nicholas Maduro led government launched its own state-backed cryptocurrency called the Soverign Bolivar or Petro.