Cryptocurrency firms struggle to find banking partners after US bank collapses- Where to next? Singapore? Switzerland? Hong Kong?

Cryptocurrency firms struggle to find banking partners after US bank collapses- Where to next? Singapore? Switzerland? Hong Kong?

Sources suggest that some cryptocurrency companies have turned to Cross River Bank as their preferred banking partner to address this issue

Recently, there have been reports indicating that cryptocurrency companies are facing challenges when finding banking partners. This issue has arisen following the collapse of two prominent US-based banks, namely Signature Bank and Silvergate Capital. As a result, many cryptocurrency firms struggle to secure banking services, causing significant problems for their operations.

Some cryptocurrency companies have turned to Cross River Bank as their preferred banking partner to address this issue. In particular, Circle Internet Financial Ltd. has moved its business to Cross River Bank from Silicon Valley Bank, where it had held $3.3 billion in assets. This move highlights the importance of finding a reliable banking partner for cryptocurrency companies, as they require access to banking services to conduct their business effectively.

The struggle to find banking partners for cryptocurrency companies underscores the challenges that these firms face as they navigate the fast changing landscape of digital currencies. While some banks are starting to embrace cryptocurrencies and offer banking services to these companies, many are still hesitant to do so. As a result, finding a banking partner that is willing to work with cryptocurrency companies is crucial to their success in the long run.

Where are some feasible countries? What are some challenges that we can foresee?

Switzerland

The collapse has forced the crypto industry to seek new banking partners, with some turning to offshore financial companies like Jewel and others looking to transfer their funds overseas. This has led several digital currency companies to turn to Swiss banks, as Switzerland has established a “Crypto Valley” in the region of Zug, which has favourable regulations and a supportive environment for blockchain and cryptocurrency companies.

Swiss banks are known for their confidentiality and discretion, which is important for the privacy-conscious crypto industry. Swiss banking services also offer a range of products and services that can be customised to the specific needs of crypto firms. This can include access to multiple currencies, secure digital storage, and international transactions.

Swiss banks have a strong reputation for stability and reliability, and the Swiss government has a long history of promoting the country as a financial hub. These factors make Switzerland a popular destination for businesses seeking secure and trustworthy banking partners. The combination of favourable regulations, a supportive environment, and a strong reputation for reliability and confidentiality make Swiss banking a good option for crypto firms.

In addition to Switzerland, several other countries are emerging as favourable locations for digital currency firms.

Singapore

One of these countries is Singapore, which has a well-established financial industry and has been actively exploring blockchain technology in various sectors. Singapore’s regulatory framework for digital currencies is relatively open, and the government has been supportive of blockchain-based businesses, making it an attractive destination for digital currency firms.

Singapore has not forbidden cryptocurrency like some other countries have, which has made it a popular location for crypto firms. In addition, the city-state has a robust financial infrastructure, making it an attractive option for banking. Crypto-friendly regulations: Singapore has taken a positive approach to the cryptocurrency industry, with the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) providing clear guidance on the regulatory framework for crypto companies. In addition, the Payment Services Act was passed in 2019 to regulate digital payment tokens, including cryptocurrencies.

Singapore provides various benefits for crypto firms seeking to establish themselves in the region. The country’s banking system is highly developed and stable, with major global banks such as DBS and UOB operating there, providing a sense of security for crypto firms needing a reliable banking partner. Furthermore, Singapore’s strategic location in Southeast Asia grants easy access to major Asian markets, such as China and India, making it ideal for crypto firms looking to expand their business in the region. In addition, Singapore offers favourable tax policies, including a flat corporate tax rate of 17% and various tax exemptions and rebates, which is attractive for crypto firms seeking to reduce their tax burden.

Moreover, Singapore has a well-recognized reputation as an innovation hub focusing on developing cutting-edge technologies. This creates an innovation-friendly environment that can be particularly enticing for crypto firms searching for a supportive environment to grow and innovate. In summary, Singapore’s strong banking system, access to Asian markets, favourable tax policies, and innovation-friendly environment make it an attractive location for crypto firms looking to establish themselves in the region. Singapore’s well-regulated financial system can provide peace of mind for crypto firms looking to establish long-term banking relationships.

Malta

Another country that is gaining popularity among digital currency firms is Malta, which has established itself as a hub for blockchain and cryptocurrency businesses in Europe. Malta has taken proactive steps to attract digital currency firms, such as introducing a regulatory framework for digital currencies and establishing a government agency to oversee the sector. In addition, Malta has a favourable tax regime for blockchain-based businesses, making it a cost-effective location for digital currency firms.

Malta, an EU member state, has made efforts to attract cryptocurrency businesses, making it an attractive banking option for crypto firms. One reason is that Malta has proactively created a regulatory framework for the cryptocurrency industry. The country’s Virtual Financial Assets Act establishes a clear legal framework for cryptocurrency companies operating in Malta. It establishes a regulatory authority, the Malta Digital Innovation Authority, to oversee the industry and ensure compliance. Malta’s banking system is also stable, unlike the US-based Signature Bank and Silvergate Capital, which recently experienced major bank collapses. This stability can reassure crypto firms looking for a reliable banking partner. As an EU member state, Malta provides access to the EU’s single market, which can be beneficial for crypto firms looking to expand their business in Europe.

Malta’s pro-crypto attitude is another reason crypto firms should consider banking in the country. Malta has positioned itself as a “blockchain island” and has actively promoted the development of the cryptocurrency industry, attracting several major crypto companies to set up shop in Malta. Additionally, Malta offers tax benefits for businesses, including a low corporate tax rate of 35% and a refund system for foreign investors, which can provide additional tax benefits for crypto firms.

Other countries that digital currency firms consider include Gibraltar, Estonia, and Bermuda. Gibraltar has been working to establish itself as a “blockchain hub” and has taken steps to create a regulatory framework for the cryptocurrency industry. The country also offers attractive tax benefits. Liechtenstein: Liechtenstein has taken a proactive approach to regulate the cryptocurrency industry and has established a clear legal framework for the sector. The country also offers attractive tax benefits. Bermuda has also introduced a regulatory framework for digital currencies and has been actively exploring the use of blockchain technology in various sectors.

Challenges

While some countries clearly benefit from this saga, some face some challenges. Hong Kong has long been known as a financial hub in Asia, with a reputation for being friendly and open towards new businesses, including those in the cryptocurrency industry. However, recent banking challenges Hong Kong’s crypto firms face after the closure of Silvergate and Signature banks suggest that the city’s banking system may not be as ready as its government is making it out to be.

One of the biggest challenges Hong Kong’s crypto firms faces is the difficulty opening local bank accounts. According to industry insiders, banks in the city are not keen to serve crypto businesses, making it even harder for these firms to access banking services. This is a significant setback for Hong Kong, aiming to become a virtual asset hub. If the city’s banking system cannot support the needs of crypto businesses, it will be difficult for Hong Kong to achieve this goal.

One reason for the reluctance of banks in Hong Kong to serve crypto businesses may be due to regulatory uncertainty. Despite the government’s push to become a hub for virtual assets, there is still a lack of clear regulations in the space. This can make it difficult for banks to assess the risks associated with serving crypto businesses, leading them to err on the side of caution and avoid these clients altogether. This is not only happening in Hong Kong. It’s important to note that Swiss banks are also cautious when dealing with crypto firms, as cryptocurrencies carry risks and potential for money laundering. Due to regulatory pressure, some Swiss banks have already stopped offering services to crypto firms. Taking a careful stand is essential for the banks.

Another issue is the reputational risk associated with serving crypto businesses. While the cryptocurrency industry has come a long way in terms of legitimacy and mainstream acceptance, some still perceive it as a high-risk, unregulated sector. Banks that serve crypto businesses may be seen as supporting this perception, which could damage their reputation and lead to increased scrutiny from regulators.

The challenges Hong Kong’s crypto firms face highlight the need for the city’s banking system to become more accommodating towards the needs of this industry. While the government has made strides in promoting Hong Kong as a virtual asset hub, more must be done to ensure the city’s banking system is ready to support this goal. Clear regulations and guidance from regulators can help to provide banks with the clarity they need to serve crypto businesses. In contrast, education and outreach efforts can help to address the reputational concerns associated with the industry. Until these issues are addressed, Hong Kong’s ambitions of becoming a virtual asset hub may remain out of reach.

I hope this dilemma is short-term. Hong Kong being a financial hub close to China, would be a big plus for the crypto industry. Not only will we see an influx of Chinese tech talents into Hong Kong, but we will also be seeing huge capital inflows too.

Ending remarks

In conclusion, the regulatory landscape for cryptocurrency is constantly evolving and can vary significantly between countries. While some countries embrace cryptocurrencies and develop favourable regulatory frameworks, others remain sceptical and have introduced strict regulations or outright bans on cryptocurrency trading and related activities. As such, it is vital for cryptocurrency firms to carefully consider the regulatory framework and banking system in each country where they operate or plan to expand into. This includes evaluating the legal and tax implications and the risks and benefits associated with banking in each country.

As the recent struggles of cryptocurrency firms to find banking partners illustrate, it is also important to identify reliable banking partners willing to work with the firm and provide necessary banking services. This may involve conducting due diligence on potential banking partners and assessing their ability to meet the unique needs of cryptocurrency firms.

My humble takeaway message to all is this: While the growth potential of the cryptocurrency industry is significant, firms must navigate the regulatory and banking landscape carefully and strategically to ensure their long-term success. Given the uncertainties, it’s worth noting that each country has its own regulatory framework and banking system. Crypto firms should carefully consider the risks and benefits of banking in each country before making a decision.

by Anndy Lian

 

Source: https://www.financialexpress.com/business/blockchain/cryptocurrency-firms-struggle-to-find-banking-partners-after-us-bank-collapses-where-to-next-singapore-switzerland-hong-kong/3028866/

Anndy Lian is an early blockchain adopter and experienced serial entrepreneur who is known for his work in the government sector. He is a best selling book author- “NFT: From Zero to Hero” and “Blockchain Revolution 2030”.

Currently, he is appointed as the Chief Digital Advisor at Mongolia Productivity Organization, championing national digitization. Prior to his current appointments, he was the Chairman of BigONE Exchange, a global top 30 ranked crypto spot exchange and was also the Advisory Board Member for Hyundai DAC, the blockchain arm of South Korea’s largest car manufacturer Hyundai Motor Group. Lian played a pivotal role as the Blockchain Advisor for Asian Productivity Organisation (APO), an intergovernmental organization committed to improving productivity in the Asia-Pacific region.

An avid supporter of incubating start-ups, Anndy has also been a private investor for the past eight years. With a growth investment mindset, Anndy strategically demonstrates this in the companies he chooses to be involved with. He believes that what he is doing through blockchain technology currently will revolutionise and redefine traditional businesses. He also believes that the blockchain industry has to be “redecentralised”.

j j j

Dogecoin Mascot Kabosu Cheats Death, Bounces Back; Experts Share Investment Strategies For Meme Coin

Dogecoin Mascot Kabosu Cheats Death, Bounces Back; Experts Share Investment Strategies For Meme Coin
ZINGER KEY POINTS
  • Dogecoin mascot makes “miraculous” recovery after illness.
  • Experts advise investors to consider use cases and technical factors before investing in Dogecoin.

Dogecoin mascot Kabosu, a 17-year-old Shiba Inu, has made a “miraculous” recovery after falling “very dangerously” ill on Christmas Eve.

The Shiba Inu’s owner disclosed on Dec. 26 that Kabosu has a medical history including chronic lymphoma leukemia (cancer) and acute cholangiohepatitis, an inflammatory condition affecting the liver and bile ducts.

According to an Instagram post by her owner Atsuko Satō on Friday, Kabosu has fully recovered from her illness and is back to eating chicken tenders and drinking plenty of water.

“She no longer needs diapers as she can go to the bathroom on her own. I’m amazed (at) how quickly she bounced back. I took her for a 5-minute walk to the park today. She looked happy in the sun and fresh air,” the dog’s owner said.

What started as a joke in 2013, when Markus and Jackson Palmer created the first “meme coin” Dogecoin, has now become a beloved cryptocurrency.

The value of Doge shot up over 4,000% after Tesla CEO Elon Musk advocated for the cryptocurrency and called it “the people’s crypto.”

Focus On Dogecoin Use Cases

Experts advise investors to avoid buying the meme coin on the basis the dog’s physical condition and rather, focus on the use cases of the cryptocurrency.

“There may be some wild swings in the short term basis of the dog’s physical health but investors must know that the dog won’t generate wealth for them. They have to look at a variety of factors before investing in Doge,” Raj A Kapoor, founder of the India Blockchain Alliance, told Benzinga.
“Keep a keen lookout for a change in the use cases for Doge and if there is, there will be long-term wealth creation. Besides on a shorter time frame, check the crypto’s technicals before investing.”

Anndy Lian, chief digital advisor of the Mongolian Productivity Organization, says investors should use “logic” and that the dog’s fate is only important to its owner and not the cryptocurrency.

“I think the retail investors must look at this with a logical mind. The dog’s fate is important to the owner, the dog could be gone but the legacy will continue with  Dogecoin. For long-term crypto gains, you should look into Dogecoin’s utility and use cases. Only with adoption, you see a good future,” Lian said.

 

Source: https://www.benzinga.com/markets/cryptocurrency/22/12/30235763/dogecoin-mascot-kabosu-cheats-death-bounces-back-experts-share-investment-strategies-for-m

https://uk.investing.com/news/stock-market-news/dogecoin-mascot-kabosu-cheats-death-bounces-back-experts-share-investment-strategies-for-meme-coin-2868847

https://www.finanztrends.de/dogecoin-was-hier-los-3/

 

Anndy Lian is an early blockchain adopter and experienced serial entrepreneur who is known for his work in the government sector. He is a best selling book author- “NFT: From Zero to Hero” and “Blockchain Revolution 2030”.

Currently, he is appointed as the Chief Digital Advisor at Mongolia Productivity Organization, championing national digitization. Prior to his current appointments, he was the Chairman of BigONE Exchange, a global top 30 ranked crypto spot exchange and was also the Advisory Board Member for Hyundai DAC, the blockchain arm of South Korea’s largest car manufacturer Hyundai Motor Group. Lian played a pivotal role as the Blockchain Advisor for Asian Productivity Organisation (APO), an intergovernmental organization committed to improving productivity in the Asia-Pacific region.

An avid supporter of incubating start-ups, Anndy has also been a private investor for the past eight years. With a growth investment mindset, Anndy strategically demonstrates this in the companies he chooses to be involved with. He believes that what he is doing through blockchain technology currently will revolutionise and redefine traditional businesses. He also believes that the blockchain industry has to be “redecentralised”.

j j j

Fungible after all? Duplicates may disrupt NFT industry after Ethereum Merge

Fungible after all? Duplicates may disrupt NFT industry after Ethereum Merge

The Merge is the most anticipated event in the crypto industry in years, but could the multibillion dollar non-fungible token industry become an unexpected casualty?

The expected “Merge” of the Ethereum blockchain this week could raise the risk of fraud and scams in the market for non-fungible tokens such as Bored Ape Yacht Club as analysts warn original and new versions of the tokens known as NFTs could confuse buyers.

The US$200 billion Ethereum network accounted for 70% of NFT trading activity in August, making it the world’s leading blockchain for such marketplaces run by companies like OpenSea.

However, the Merge of Ethereum to a proof-of-stake (PoS) network from a proof-of-work (PoW) will create duplicates of the NFTs from the original network, something the unscrupulous could take advantage of, Anndy Lian, author of the new book “NFT: From Zero to Hero,” told Forkast in an interview.

Scams are already prevalent in the NFT industry, which lacks oversight or regulatory protection, and any added confusion could generate more. Lian said some exchanges or marketplaces might temporarily stop transactions to address any complications or confusion that arise.

The Merge

The current Ethereum PoW network involves crypto mining companies using energy-gobbling computer farms to solve cryptographic equations that validate transactions on the blockchain, for which they are rewarded with Ether.

The shift to PoS – in which users validate transactions through “staked” ether – is expected to speed up and slash energy use on the network, which may mollify some critics who say the blockchain industry contributes to global warming.

However, Ethereum miners are less than happy as they see a business model evaporate that  leaves them with redundant and expensive computer farms that cannot be repurposed. Hence, some have pledged to fork the network and create a concurrent PoW Ethereum network.

This is where the potential NFT confusion comes in. All existing NFTs on the Ethereum blockchain will be duplicated on the new PoS system, but if a PoW fork exists, the original NFTs will continue to exist on that network as well.

And this is not just hypothetical, exchanges have had to explain to users what their policy will be regarding duplicates.

Real deal

Leading NFT marketplace OpenSea, which had about four times the sales volume over the last 30 days of its nearest competitor, Magic Eden, announced it was “solely supporting NFTs on the upgraded Ethereum PoS chain.”

Competing marketplace, Rarible, has taken a different approach, saying it recognizes the authenticity of any copies of NFTs created in the same wallet address when they were held on Ethereum.

Rarible noted another potential issue, saying the aggregate number of NFT collectibles may increase, which could depress the value of collections.

“It’s impossible to predict what the actual outcome will be, but it’s highly likely that duplicate NFTs will cause confusion,” said Rarible’s chief strategy officer and co-founder Alex Salnikov in an ­email to Forkast. “Especially for less experienced NFT collectors.”

Déjà vu

This scenario is not without precedent in the NFT market. One of the most popular NFT collections, CryptoPunks, is actually a re-issue of the original — now known as V1 CryptoPunks — to fix a bug in their programming.

However, as V2 CryptoPunks grew to be one of the largest NFT collections, a significant market in V1 versions grew among collectors who were looking to own a piece of NFT history.

CryptoPunks creators, Larva Labs, tried to squash this secondary market using legal means, but ultimately the V1 community won out and both versions can now be traded freely.

Ultimately, Lian believes the market will follow the PoS network as it is recognized as the “official version” of Ethereum.

The upside

The good news for would-be environmentally conscious NFT investors is that PoS is estimated to be roughly 99.95% more energy efficient than PoW, according to the Ethereum Foundation.

“This may cause a new, environmentally conscious user base to adopt the technology which would in turn help drive greater mass adoption of NFT and Web3 technology,” said Rarible’s Salnikov.

“Increasing activity on Ethereum may also bring about new innovative use cases for NFT technology and drive the development of new tools designed for the growing Web3 creator economy,” he added.

That could be good news for buyers whose NFTs denominated in Ether have dropped in value against the U.S. dollar since a peak in November.

But Lian said he is skeptical about the Merge turning the current NFT bear market around.

“I think that’s very wishful thinking.”

 

Source: https://forkast.news/fungible-duplicates-disrupt-nft-merge/

Anndy Lian is an early blockchain adopter and experienced serial entrepreneur who is known for his work in the government sector. He is a best selling book author- “NFT: From Zero to Hero” and “Blockchain Revolution 2030”.

Currently, he is appointed as the Chief Digital Advisor at Mongolia Productivity Organization, championing national digitization. Prior to his current appointments, he was the Chairman of BigONE Exchange, a global top 30 ranked crypto spot exchange and was also the Advisory Board Member for Hyundai DAC, the blockchain arm of South Korea’s largest car manufacturer Hyundai Motor Group. Lian played a pivotal role as the Blockchain Advisor for Asian Productivity Organisation (APO), an intergovernmental organization committed to improving productivity in the Asia-Pacific region.

An avid supporter of incubating start-ups, Anndy has also been a private investor for the past eight years. With a growth investment mindset, Anndy strategically demonstrates this in the companies he chooses to be involved with. He believes that what he is doing through blockchain technology currently will revolutionise and redefine traditional businesses. He also believes that the blockchain industry has to be “redecentralised”.

j j j