“Senior Deputy Comptroller and Senior Counsel Jonathan Gould wrote that any national bank can hold onto the unique cryptographic keys for a cryptocurrency wallet, clearing the way for national banks to hold digital assets for their clients.
The letter marks a major development for the crypto industry. Previously, custody was the province of specialist firms, such as Coinbase, which typically needed a state license.
Wednesday’s letter also ‘reaffirms the OCC’s position that national banks may provide permissible banking services to any lawful business they choose, including cryptocurrency businesses.’
The OCC is currently headed up by Brian Brooks, a former Coinbase exec who joined the regulator earlier this year.”
“A US Senate hearing today will see a panel advocate the need for the US to build its own US cryptocurrency in light of China’s advancement in the area.
No doubt, there is growing bipartisan interest in a dollar-based CBDC and that is indeed reflected in the recent series of Congressional hearings.”
See Also: CFTC Seeks Industry Advice on Blockchain Applications
See Also: Tether Jumps to $10 Billion Market Capitalization
“Deutsche Telekom is one of Germany’s leading companies, employing over 200,000 people and has a market capitalization of $80 billion. The fact that one of its subsidiaries is to become a provider of decentralized data feeds that are rewarded in cryptocurrency is significant.
By providing real-world data to the Chainlink network, T-Systems MMS engages in a so-called ‘generalized mining’, where it provides an IT service to a blockchain network while getting paid in digital assets for reliably doing so.
As there is a significant value locked in DeFi, such IT services play an important role in the overall Ethereum ecosystem.”
“So what’s so great about YFI that traders are pouring over their crypto to get it?
The token can only be earned by using the yEarn platform. It has a total supply of 30,000 which will be distributed to stakers in the platform’s liquidity pools. There is no separate stash for investors in the project, and it wasn’t sold in an “initial dex offering” like many other DeFi tokens.
As if 1,000% APY wasn’t exciting enough, YFI’s first governance poll has also intrigued yield farmers. Proposal 0 decides whether the YFI supply should be capped at 30,000 in perpetuity or if the protocol should retain the ability to mint additional YFI tokens in the future as new pools come into play.
The premise of a truly community-owned yield farming token is as exciting as it is scary. This experiment around truly decentralized governance is one that has us at the edge of our seats.”
See Also: How To: Farm YFI with Curve’s Y-Pool (Video)
“With the NBA’s concerns apparently addressed and the sale closed out, Dinwiddie’s plan hit a different obstacle: investor interest.
Dinwiddie’s issuer SD26 LLC sold just 9 of the 90 available tokenized contract shares to 8 total investors as of Wednesday. With shares priced at $150,000, just $1,350,000 (or one-tenth of the target $13.5 million sale) were sold.
Dinwiddie, who has previously tested positive for the coronavirus, will not be there for the Nets’ final push. He has opted out of the remainder of the NBA season.”
“Three “key values” will now steer Visa’s digital currency playbook: maintaining robust data protection standards; remaining network and currency agnostic; and partnering with projects that align with the payments firm’s existing expertise.
Visa said it is also working directly with policymakers and non-governmental organizations to “help shape the dialogue” around digital currencies, including the evolution of central bank digital currency.”
See Also: Australian Payment Card Company to Trial Micropayments Using Hedera Hashgraph
“The blockchain and smart contracts you interact with may be decentralized, but the cloud services often used to access them aren’t. Dfinity’s Internet Computer is stepping up to set that straight.
The Internet Computer rewards data centres based on the number of computer nodes they run, providing a platform on which to scale. The result is a giant blockchain computer running on the public internet, which provides performance and capacity, but also enhanced security.
Dfinity recently opened up the Internet Computer to third party developers with its “Tungsten” release. The final public release is scheduled for later in the year.”
“Australian crypto business owners, represented by Sydney-based law firm JPB Liberty, allege they were harmed by the banning of their advertisements and are seeking damages amounting to A$872 million (US$600 million).
That amount could rise to A$300 billion in total as more litigants join the class action.”
See Also: YouTube: We’re Not Liable for Crypto Scams
“After initiating the bill back in 2018, Russian authorities have finally agreed to provide a legal status to cryptocurrencies. The bill “On Digital Financial Assets,” or DFA, is expected to be officially adopted in Russia on Jan. 1, 2021.
The bill provides a legal definition to digital assets and legitimizes cryptocurrency trading in Russia. However, the bill prohibits the use of cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin as a payment method.
The Bank of Russia, will reportedly become officially authorized to oversee the activity involving issuance of digital currencies in the country.”
“The legal system should enhance protections over new types of ownership rights such as digital currencies, online virtual assets and data.
The guideline comes at a time when there are rising numbers of legal disputes in China over the ownership of digital assets. Previously there have been legal decisions made by provincial and municipal courts in China in which digital currencies like bitcoin were treated as virtual properties.”
“The South Korean government has proposed obliging crypto investors to pay more than a fifth of their profits to the state.
The new tax rule will also apply to non-residents and foreign companies who trade on Korean exchanges.“
The Disrupt 