WazirX in Hot Waters, Revolut Doubles Down on Crypto, Elizabeth Warren Picks Another Crypto Battle + More News

Get your daily digest of crypto-asset and blockchain-related news – by investigating stories that fly under the radar in today’s crypto news.
__________

Trade news

• india Execution Directorate (ED) said he searched the properties of Sameer Mhatre, director of the local crypto exchange WazirX, in a money laundering investigation against a number of Indian Non-Banking Financial Companies (NBFCs). “By encouraging darkness and showing laxity [anti-money laundering] standards, [WazirX] actively assisted approximately 16 accused fintech companies in laundering the proceeds of crime using the crypto route,” the ED said. It also froze assets of WazirX to the tune of INR 64.67 crore (USD 8 million).
• Binance and MasterCard announcement the launch of Binance Card in Argentina as the first country in Latin America to have the product. The Binance Card issued by Accreditation payments will allow all new and existing Binance users with a valid national ID to make purchases and pay bills with crypto, including bitcoin (BTC) and BNB, at more than 90 million Mastercard merchants in the world, both in-store and online. The product is in beta phase and should be widely available in the coming weeks.

Career news

• London-based fintech Revolution plans to grow its crypto workforce by 20% in Europe, the UK and the US over the next six months, Bloomberg reported. He is currently advertising for 13 crypto-focused roles and has already hired 43 crypto employees this year, tripling the team’s total headcount since July 2021. “We view crypto as a long-term game and remain bullish on the crypto industry,” Emil Urmanshin, Chief Crypto Officer of Revolut, reportedly said, adding that the company currently accounts for around 5-10% of Revolut’s revenue globally.

Regulatory News

• US Democrat of Massachusetts Elizabeth Warren is circulating a letter among her Senate colleagues asking the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) to pull a series of Trump-era renditions that paved the way for banks to offer services like crypto custody for customers, Bloomberg reported. The letter, a draft of which was reviewed by Bloomberg News, calls on the OCC to work with the Federal Reserve and the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation. to replace them with an approach “that adequately protects consumers and the safety and soundness of the banking system.”

Investment News

• Payment app cash app generated $1.79 billion in bitcoin revenue and $41 million in gross bitcoin profit during the second quarter of 2022, down 34% and 24% year-over-year, respectively, the parent company of the company, the fintech giant To block, said. Meanwhile, Block itself hit net income of $4.40 billion in the second quarter, down 6% year-over-year, due to lower bitcoin revenue.
• Large derivatives market Chicago Trade Exchange Group (CME) plans to expand its crypto derivatives offering with the introduction of Bitcoin Euro and Ether Euro futures contracts on August 29, pending regulatory review. Designed to match their US dollar-denominated counterparts, the two futures contracts will be sized at 5 BTC and 50 ETH per contract, it said.

DeFi News

• Community members Devin Walsh and Kenneth Ng presented a proposal to create the Uniswap Foundation. The Foundation’s mission will be to support the decentralized growth and sustainability of the Uniswap Protocol (UNI) and its supporting ecosystem and community, Walsh said. The initial team would be Walsh as executive director and Ng as chief operating officer.
• After two attempts, the Swimming pool the community has vote sell 10 million LDO ($26.1 million) of the Lido CAD cash to a crypto investment company dragonfly capital. Just over 99% of the votes were for the proposal, and less than 1% against.

Mining News

• bitcoin miner Basic scientist announcement production and operational updates for July 2022, including: production of 1,221 self-mined bitcoins, deployment of 14,000 new ASIC servers, operation of approximately 195,000 owned and co-located ASIC servers, and deployment of the first Bitmain Antminer S19 XP in the United States. The company sold 1,975 BTC at an average price of around $22,000 per BTC for total proceeds of around $44 million. As of July 31, it held 1,205 BTC and approximately $83 million in cash on its balance sheet.