The UK Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) has warned cryptocurrency ATM operators that they must cease services in the country to avoid legal action. This and more news in this handy daily summary so that you are always informed with the most recent events that occur within the crypto world.
Cryptocurrencies and altcoins
📍UK declares cryptocurrency transactions from ATMs illegal. The UK Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) has declared the operation and use of ATMs illegal. cryptocurrencies, in the country, noting that the companies that operate these devices are not registered with the authority nor do they comply with the applicable rules and regulations. In its release, the FCA has warned cryptocurrency ATM operators to cease their services in the country. Failure to do so will result in charges and legal action, it reported.
Bitcoin and Blockchain Adoption
📍Four Princeton University alumni donate $20 million to study the impact of blockchain technology. According to reported Bloomberg, the funds will finance a new research initiative that will help the University better understand the benefits and risks of technology blockchainThe initiative will be developed by Princeton University's School of Engineering and Applied Sciences, the institution reported.
Mike Novogratz, Joseph Lubin, Dan Morehead and Peter Briger, Princeton University alumni from the 1980s and four of the most influential people in the crypto industry today, donated the funds to the University.
📍Ukraine supplies itself with cryptocurrency donations. Alex Bornyakov, Deputy Minister of Digital Transformation of Ukraine, revealed The country's armed forces have purchased various supplies, such as medicine, food and military equipment, through donations that Ukraine has received in cryptocurrencies since it began its war with Russia. In total, the country has received more than $100 million in crypto assets in recent weeks.
Bornyakov said that cryptocurrencies have proven extremely useful in facilitating financing for the country's armed forces.
NFT and DeFi market
📍Over 50% of Avalanche validators are located in the United States. According to data revealed by cryptocurrency blogger Colin Wu, 50,3% of the active validators on the Avalanche blockchain are located in the United States. 64,5% of these validators use Amazon Cloud Services, reported. The participation percentage in this blockchain exceeded 50,5% recently.
Metaverse and Play to Earn Games
📍Consulting firm Garand View Research says the global Metaverse market will expand to more than $50.000 billion by 2030. In his last report on trend analysis in the market of MetaverseGarand View Research noted that this global market could grow 39,4% by 2030, expanding its current value to $54.150 billion. The total value of the global Metaverse market was estimated at $38.850 billion in 2021, the firm said.
Events
📍Mike Brock, Block's TDC Team Leader, Will Be a Keynote Speaker at Bitcoin 2022 Conference, which will take place next month in the city of Miami, Florida (United States). TBD is Block’s (formerly Square) business unit focused on bridging the fiat and crypto worlds. Cash App, one of the products developed by Block and of which Brock was also a part, has joined as a main partner of Bitcoin 2022.
The Bitcoin 2022 conference is a space to bring together the entire Bitcoin crypto community as well as the great leaders of this industry.
Development and Technology
📍Google Cloud powers IoTeX's Web3 machine economy. The open source blockchain-based platform IoTeX announced Google Cloud has joined as a partner of its MachineFi initiative to drive the development of the new machine economy based on Web3. Google, which confirmed the association, noted that the Internet of Things (IoT) will drive the fourth industrial revolution. IoTeX is a platform dedicated to connecting real-world devices and data to the Web3.
Cybersecurity
📍Canadian police seize over $28 million in Bitcoin. Sebastien Vachon-Desjardins has been accused by the United States for computer fraud and conspiracy crimes, for which he was arrested by Canadian authorities and extradited to the United States. During the arrest, Canadian police seized 719 BTC, valued at more than $28,1 million today.
The FBI accuses Sebastien Vachon-Desjardins of hacking and extorting dozens of US institutions in recent years. One of his victims was reportedly the University of California, which paid $1,1 million in ransomware and extortion money. The accused held an IT position in the Canadian government and is a member of the NetWalker hacker group.
Rules and Regulations
📍Blockchain analytics firm launches new crypto monitoring tools. Chainalysis reported on the launch of two new monitoring tools that will help governments and regulators detect sanctions evasion through exchanges and cryptocurrency platforms. The new tools, which will be launched next month, leverage the transparency of the blockchain to help verify and detect the crypto addresses of sanctioned entities included on OFAC’s Specially Designated Nationals (SDN) list, the firm explained.
Chainalysis said its new sanctions data tools include a oracle based chainlink to verify sanctioned addresses in the crypto space, including those in the ecosystem DeFi.
Continue reading: Axie Infinity dominated the NFT market in 2021, with a trading volume of almost $3.500B
