Russia to regulate digital assets as currency, YouTube to adopt NFTs and other news

The Russian government and central bank made an agreement to regulate crypto as an "analogue of currencies" instead of "digital financial assets."  

View this email in your browser A week in review: Feb. 6-12 We've selected the hottest materials of the past week for you to stay up to date with the latest crypto news: #1. Russian government and central bank agree to treat Bitcoin as currency The Russian government and central bank made an agreement to regulate crypto as an "analogue of currencies" instead of "digital financial assets." The updated regulation is part of a draft law that is slated to launch on Feb. 18, and will see approved cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin function in lawful exchanges through the banking system or licensed intermediaries. As part of the incoming framework, crypto transactions worth more than 600,000 rubles ($8,000) would have to be declared; otherwise, such transactions could be considered a criminal act. Those who illegally accept cryptocurrencies as payment will incur fines. Continue reading #2. XRP gains 30% after Ripple gets permission to explain 'fair notice defense' vs. SEC The price of XRP surged 30% this week on the back of positive developments in the long-running court case between Ripple Labs and the United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). According to court documents from last week, Judge Analisa Torres permitted Ripple to respond to the SEC's memorandum of law in support of the motion to strike Ripple's fourth affirmative defense. The judge also ordered for the unsealing of three documents concerning the case, including two email threads belonging to Ripple CEO Brad Garlinghouse and co-founder Chris Larsen respectively, as well as Garlinghouse's deposition notice. Shortly after the news was published, the price of XRP rallied around 30% between Feb. 3 and Feb. 7. The gains have held up well over that period, with CoinMarketCap data showing a 32% gain in XRP's price over the past seven days at the time of writing. Continue reading #3. YouTube sees 'incredible potential' in NFT video sales despite backlash threat YouTube is looking at integrating NFTs, blockchain and Web3 tech into its platform in a bid to roll out new features for its partnered creators. In a Thursday blog post, YouTube's chief product officer Neal Mohan also stated the firm is aiming to ramp up its metaverse-based services. Mohan outlined that YouTube creators are looking for new ways to make content and add revenue streams, and the Web3 tech could be the solution, stating: "Web3 also opens up new opportunities for creators. We believe new technologies like blockchain and NFTs can allow creators to build deeper relationships with their fans. Together, they'll be able to collaborate on new projects and make money in ways not previously possible." Continue reading #4. Prediction of the week. A quarter of people will have spent time in the metaverse by 2026: Research Tech research and consulting company Gartner published a report on Monday estimating that 25% of people will be spending at least one hour a day in the metaverse by 2026, for activities such as work, shopping, education, socializing and entertainment. The ambitious estimate appears to be the brainchild of Gartner vice president Marty Resnick, who predicted in the report that around 30% of the world's organizations will have metaverse-based products and services within the next four years: "Eventually, they will take place in a single environment — the metaverse — with multiple destinations across technologies and experiences." Continue reading #5. FUD of the week. DoJ seizes $3.6B in crypto and arrests two in connection with 2016 Bitfinex hack The U.S. Department of Justice dropped a bombshell announcement on Tuesday, revealing that it had made arrests of two individuals and seized 119,756 Bitcoin ($5.1 billion at current prices) stolen from the Bitfinex exchange in 2016. Ilya Lichtenstein and his wife Heather Morgan are alleged to have conspired to launder crypto connected to the infamous Bitfinex hack, with the DoJ stating that it had traced 25,000 siphoned BTC being transferred to financial accounts owned by the pair. "In a futile effort to maintain digital anonymity, the defendants laundered stolen funds through a labyrinth of cryptocurrency transactions,"  said Deputy Attorney General Lisa Monaco. "Thanks to the meticulous work of law enforcement, the department once again showed how it can and will follow the money, no matter what form it takes." Continue reading #6. FUD of the week. Central Bank of Ireland nixes crypto funds: Too difficult 'for a retail investor' The Central Bank of Ireland stated this week that it may not approve crypto investment funds because they are supposedly too complicated for the lowly retail investor. The comments were made via the February 2022 "Securities Markets Risk Outlook Report" in which the central bank warned that the crypto market provides a "potential threat to investor protection."  The central bank said: "The Central Bank is highly unlikely to approve a UCITS or a Retail Investor AIF proposing any exposure to crypto-assets, taking into account the specific risks attached to crypto-assets and the possibility that appropriate risk assessment could be difficult for a retail investor without a high degree of expertise." Continue reading 2 million people follow us on social media Download our official app:

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