Crypto exchange Gemini newly announced measures to comply with the controversial crypto Travel Rule in the United Kingdom reflects a “worrying creep” toward overregulation and will strip customers of their freedom for self-custody, according to a Trezor analyst.

On Nov. 7, cryptocurrency exchange Gemini announced it has made changes in order to comply with the new Travel Rule restrictions for customers in the U.K.

Gemini said it will restrict outward cryptocurrency transfers to a list of 58 virtual asset service providers (VASPs) registered under the Travel Rule Universal Solution Technology (TRUST) starting on Nov. 17.

Gemini’s statement on the new Travel Rule restriction. Source:… Read more on Cointelegraph

Bitcoin and ether remained in positive territory on Wednesday afternoon, while altcoins sustained their dominance. Analysts suggest this may signal the onset of a period marked by a heightened appetite for risk.

Polygon (MATIC) and Chainlink (LINK) posted double digit gains Wednesday. Solana, which had previously been leading the rally, slowed to lose around 0.7% over the week. SOL remains up more than 85% over the past 30 days. 

Leverage is up, analysts say, meaning traders are once again borrowing to make their investments. Binance this week launched a Tether earn product, promising lenders 13% annual percentage yields. 

GMX with Arbitrum DAO on Wednesday launched an incentive…

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The US Securities and Exchange Commission has probed whether the president of Jump Crypto engaged in a secret agreement with Terraform Labs’ Do Kwon in the midst of stablecoin TerraUSD’s collapse. 

SEC counsel Devon Staren deposed Jump Crypto president Kanav Kariya in August as part of the securities regulator’s ongoing civil suit against Terraform Labs. The SEC alleges Kwon “perpetuated a fraudulent scheme,” to the tune of $40 billion, through unregistered securities LUNA and UST. 

In a portion of Kariya’s deposition unsealed late last month, Staren suggested that Kwon and Kariya penned a deal on May 23, 2021, weeks after UST had depegged. 

UST, Kwon’s algorithmic…

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As congressional leaders work for the second time this year to prevent a government shutdown, Representative Tom Emmer, R-Minn., is advancing an amendment targeting how the Securities and Exchange Commission can use funds. 

Emmer’s amendment to the Financial Services and General Government Appropriations Act, which passed the House in a voice vote Wednesday, prohibits the securities regulator from using its budget to pursue enforcement actions against crypto companies until Congress passes legislation that grants the SEC jurisdiction over the asset class. 

In remarks before the Rules Committee hearing this week, Emmer blamed the SEC’s “out of check” spending on Chair Gary…

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Chainlink’s (LINK) token has experienced a remarkable 26% surge between Nov. 2 and Nov. 8, approaching $14, a level not seen since April 2022. This solidified its position as the 10th largest cryptocurrency (excluding stablecoins) by market capitalization.

While the price action is a welcome sight for traders, is Chainlink’s current valuation of $8.1 billion justified? Cointelegraph research shows that the impressive price surge is driven by expectations of real-world asset (RWA) tokenization and initial signs of institutional adoption. However, let’s delve deeper to assess the sustainability of the current rally.

Spot Bitcoin ETF expectations and real world asset tokenization boost… Read more on Cointelegraph

Lido’s wrapped staked ether (wstETH) is now available on Coinbase’s layer-2 network Base following nearly unanimous approval from Lido’s DAO.

The bridge deployment makes Base the latest protocol to access wstETH, joining the likes of Optimism, Arbitrum, Polygon and Cosmos. The news comes two weeks after LayerZero’s bridging solution was widely called non-canonical by the DAO.

wstETH is a wrapped version of Lido’s popular staked ether (stETH) product that gives the token a constant balance — rather than changing daily to reflect staking rewards — for easier use in DeFi. Around $21 million of wstETH changed hands over the past 24 hours, according to CoinMarketCap. 

And…

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As Hong Kong continues its regulation of the crypto space, tokenization has become a focus, according to the chief of the city’s securities regulator. 

Julia Leung, CEO of Hong Kong’s Securities and Futures Commission (SFC), said during an interview shown at DC Fintech Week Wednesday that more traditional financial institutions are experimenting with blockchain-based tokens that represent ownership of financial assets. 

The SFC responded, last week publishing requirements needed to launch such tokenized products. Tokenized funds, for example, are likely to hit the market as the regulator continues discussions with industry players. 

“Without the guidance, traditional finance…

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The Progmat Coin ecosystem is taking shape in Japan. With a market maker, wallet provider and cryptocurrency exchanges on board, Progmat and Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group (MUFG) hope to launch two stablecoins in the summer of 2024.

Stablecoin platform Progmat Coin, MUFG and wallet provider Ginco have begun a study with the goal of issuing a yen-denominated XJPY stablecoin and dollar-denominated XUSD stablecoin, Progmat said in a statement. This is in addition to the platform’s function enabling stablecoin issuance.

#japan #stablecoin #crypto #payments@ginco_inc, Mitsubishi UFJ Trust and Banking, and #Progmat are starting a joint study to introduce an “infrastructure stablecoin” with…

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Lido’s governing body has approved the deployment of Lido’s Wrapped Staked Ether (wstETH) to Coinbase’s Base network, according to a Nov. 8 announcement. The token is now live and can be traded or used in decentralized finance (DeFi) applications on the Base network.

Lido is on @BuildOnBase

You can now bridge your staked ETH to Base. pic.twitter.com/R9vN2XGs2g

— Lido (@LidoFinance) November 8, 2023

Lido is a liquid staking protocol that allows users to stake some cryptocurrencies while simultaneously using them in DeFi applications. It does this by issuing a derivative token that can be redeemed for the underlying staked one. 

In the case of Ethereum’s…

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