In our digest, we took a look at some of the important crypto industry news from the past week:
- EU imposes new sanctions against Russian banks and crypto services;
- Russia uses software to fight cryptocrime;
- Bitcoin and Ethereum networks lower fees;
- Vitalik Buterin emphasizes continued work on libertarian ideas in the cryptosphere;
- IMF: Central bank digital currencies simplify cross-border payments;
- Tether on Tron surpasses Visa in daily trading volume.
Now for more details. Reading time: 9 minutes.
The EU imposes new sanctions against Russian banks and cryptocurrency services.
The European Union is introducing a new package of sanctions against Russia, which affects Russian banks, financial messaging system (SPFS) and cryptocurrency services. The measures are aimed at restricting transactions related to the support of the Russian defense industry.
The sanctions prohibit European banks from using SPFS, the Russian equivalent of SWIFT. Third-country banks connected to SPFS will also face restrictions on doing business with the EU. A list of such banks will be drawn up by the European Council.
EU regulators point out that these measures reinforce financial sanctions, making it more difficult for Russia to conduct foreign trade. In addition, the sanctions target the cryptocurrency sector. This follows sanctions imposed by the US against Russian digital financial asset operators and crypto exchanges.
Experts link these actions to the use of digital assets for international settlements in Russia. Some Russian commodity companies have started using cryptocurrency, in particular the USDT stablecoin, which has attracted the attention of regulators.
Recall, in October 2022, the EU already imposed restrictions on the use of cryptocurrency transactions for Russians. This led to the blocking of Russian accounts on some European crypto exchanges.
Russia uses software to fight cryptocurrency crime
Russia has stepped up measures to counter crimes related to cryptocurrency. Special software has been developed and is already being used for financial monitoring and criminal investigations, Russian Prosecutor General Igor Krasnov said at a meeting of prosecutors from BRICS countries.
Such a step was caused by the unrelenting interest in crypto-assets on the part of Russian users. According to a report by the Bank of Russia, web traffic of Russians on crypto exchanges and exchange sites has increased by 16% over the past two quarters. Activity in this area has provoked an increase in court cases related to cryptocurrency — their number has grown fivefold over the past two years.
Application of the new software allows to stop crimes at the planning stage, to reveal schemes of operations and to trace the users involved in the process. This tool also makes it possible to combat the problem of cross-border movement of assets.
It is worth noting that such measures are important in the context of ensuring the country’s financial stability and protecting the interests of citizens who have become participants in the crypto market.
Reduced fees on Bitcoin and Ethereum networks.
The current cost of processing high-priority transactions is only 10 satellites/byte, making transactions on the network more affordable for users.
Despite this, Bitcoin users should continue to monitor the situation, as transaction fees can vary depending on various factors, including network congestion and the volume of transactions being processed.
The situation is similar on the Ethereum network, where gas commissions are also dropping significantly. Currently, the average gas commission is around 4.5 gwei, which is due to activity shifting from Ethereum’s base tier to tier 2 after the March update.
It’s important to note that these changes come during a difficult period for the cryptocurrency market. Bitcoin’s price has fallen below the $63,000 support level, and many altcoins have suffered severe losses. However, the market continues to grow and new record price levels have been reached for Bitcoin and other leading cryptocurrencies over the past six months.
Vitalik Buterin emphasizes the continued work on libertarian ideas in the cryptosphere.
Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin has emphasized the continued work on libertarian ideas in the cryptocurrency sphere. He expressed his views throughout Bloomberg’s financial markets podcast Odd Doest, which discussed the changes in the cryptosphere over the past five to six years.
Buterin said that despite the hype around speculative meme tokens, the Ethereum working group continues to actively develop the ideas of blockchain democracy, universal basic income and open internet. He noted that these topical issues, which are still being worked on, rarely get media attention.
Buterin emphasized that technical and social issues related to improving Ethereum and the crypto industry as a whole continue to evolve, though they may not be as visible. He mentioned progress on rangefinder and lens, quadratic and retroactive funding, zupass, privacy-preserving methods of sending ETH, and the implementation of ZK voting.
Based on these comments, the OddLots host invited Buterin to further discussions on existing crypto projects. This underscores the importance of ongoing dialog and development in the cryptocurrency sphere, especially in the context of the active promotion of libertarian ideas.
IMF: Central bank digital currencies simplify cross-border payments.
The International Monetary Fund (IMF) says central bank digital currencies (CBDCs) can simplify cross-border payments by increasing their efficiency and accessibility. This is particularly relevant for countries in the Middle East and Central Asia, most of which are exploring the introduction of national digital currencies. Bahrain, Georgia, Saudi Arabia and the UAE have reached the proof-of-concept stage, while Kazakhstan is in the final stages of implementing a digital tenge project.
According to an IMF report, CBDCs can improve access to financial services and reduce their cost by eliminating intermediary structures and stimulating competition. However, the implementation of digital currencies is a long and complex process that requires a cautious approach from central banks.
An important aspect of working on the concept of national digital currencies is choosing the right functionality for their implementation, as well as eliminating financial illiteracy of the population and increasing trust in financial institutions.
Against the backdrop of restrictive financial regulation in some countries, residents are increasingly turning to bitcoin for safe cross-border transactions, IMF analysts note.
Tether on Tron exceeds Visa in daily trading volume
On June 21, a surprising announcement appeared on the Internet: the 24-hour trading volume of digital currency Tether (USDT) on the Tron platform exceeded the amount of $53 billion. Comparing this figure with the largest payment processor in the world, Visa, shows that Visa’s average daily transaction volume for the first quarter of 2024 was $42 billion.
To date, there have been 59 billion USDT Stablecoins issued on the Tron network. Most of them belong to the holders of the top ten, who own 27.57% of the total number of steiblcoins in this network. It is also worth noting that the number of wallets reached 45,546,883 unique addresses as of June 21.
Tron’s own cryptocurrency — TRX, despite the general decline in the crypto market, shows resilience, probably due to the high trading volume of USDT. TRX is currently trading at $0.1186 USDT, showing an increase of 1.39% over the past seven days.
This sharp increase in the daily trading volume of the USDT stablecoin reflects the increasing adaptation and demand for stable coins, especially during periods of market volatility. This confirms the growing importance of stablecoins such as USDT in the cryptocurrency landscape, offering stability during periods of volatility.
Thank you for being with us. Crypto-industry news on Bit.team — always up to date.
