Crypto news recap: Binance faces scrutiny in US, Dubai

Published April 9th, 2023 - 06:34 GMT
Crypto news recap: Binance faces regulatory scrutiny in the US, Dubai
Source: Shutterstock

ALBAWABA- Binance, the global cryptocurrency exchange, is facing regulatory hurdles in both the United States and Dubai. In other news, to connect the social media platform with the cryptocurrency community further, Twitter's CEO Elon Musk made a marketing move by changing its logo icon to the Shiba Inu dog, which is the digital symbol of Dogecoin.

Crypto news recap: Binance faces regulatory scrutiny in the US, Dubai

Source: Shutterstock

Dubai's Crypto Regulator requests more information from Binance as part of its efforts to strengthen regulatory oversight

According to Bloomberg, the Virtual Assets Regulatory Authority (VARA), which oversees cryptocurrency activities in Dubai, has requested additional information from Binance to tighten regulatory measures in the emirate.

The request includes details about the exchange's ownership structure, governance, auditing processes, and board procedures at a global group level. The regulator has reportedly asked for similar information from other global crypto players seeking licensing in Dubai, and addressing Binance's queries may take longer due to the exchange's size and complexity.

Binance.US struggles to establish banking partnerships in the U.S.

Binance's U.S. arm has been facing obstacles in securing a new bank partner to serve as a fiat on-ramp and off-ramp for its clients in the country, as reported by the Wall Street Journal on April 8. The failures of Silvergate and Signature Bank have left Binance.US without banking services, causing the exchange to rely on middleman banks to store funds on its behalf. The regulatory crackdown on banks with crypto clients is another factor contributing to the exchange's challenges, and the recent CFTC lawsuit against Binance Holdings and its CEO, Changpeng "CZ" Zhao, for alleged trading violations, has further complicated matters.

Due to the absence of a direct bank, Binance.US customers have been impacted. In response, the exchange announced that it was transitioning to new banking and payment service providers over the next few weeks, causing some U.S. dollar deposit services to be temporarily affected. The exchange has attempted to establish direct banking relationships with banks like Cross River Bank and Customers Bancorp, but those efforts have been unsuccessful so far.

 

Bitcoin white paper is apparently hiding in Apple’s modern macOS

Satoshi Nakamoto’s original white paper laying out the thesis for the Bitcoin network is seemingly hiding within every modern version of the operating system for Apple’s Mac computers.

An April 5 blog post from technologist Andy Baio revealed that a PDF of the Bitcoin white paper has “apparently shipped with every copy of macOS since Mojave in 2018.” Baio told Cointelegraph he was trying to fix his printer and scan a document when Nakamoto’s white paper first appeared. He created a prompt in Terminal that enables others to easily access the white paper.

Elon Musk changes Twitter icon to Dogecoin

On April 3, Twitter replaced its traditional bird mascot with an image of a Shiba Inu, the mascot of the meme-inspired cryptocurrency, Dogecoin. The change came just two days after CEO Elon Musk requested the dismissal of a $258 billion lawsuit filed by investors accusing him of promoting Dogecoin as part of a pyramid scheme. Musk's lawyers argued that sharing "funny pictures" and expressing support on Twitter does not constitute fraud. The marketing move had a positive effect on the price of Dogecoin, with the DOGE token surging more than 22 percent within an hour of the icon change.

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