Business

Huobi Closes Thailand Branch After SEC Rescinds Crypto License

Published

1 week ago

June 16, 2022

newsline

Huobi Closes Thailand Branch After SEC Rescinds Crypto License

Summary:

The regulator said Huobi failed to comply with personnel and system policies.
Thailand’s SEC officially revoked the crypto license in May.
Operations were originally suspended earlier in September 2021 and the platform tried to sort out the issue with no success.
Huobi Thailand will completely shut down on July 1, 2022.
Customers have been advised to withdraw all digital assets from their accounts before the closure.

Major crypto exchange Huobi will completely shut down its operations in Thailand on July 1, per a Bloomberg report. The announcement issued on Thursday comes after Thai’s Security and Exchange Commission revoked the platform’s license earlier in May.

Huobi is a Seychelles-based platform and the eighth largest cryptocurrency exchange by trading volume. The digital asset trading giant has offices in multiple jurisdictions including Hong Kong, Japan, and the U.S. no name a few.

Thai SEC Revokes Huobi’s Crypto License

According to the statement released, the platform’s Thailand unit will close all operations and crypto services within the country on July 1, 2022. The news comes after a period of regulatory uncertainty for the exchange.

Thailand’s top market supervisor suspended the platform’s operations earlier in September 2021. The SEC said that Huobi’s compliance with system and personnel regulations did not meet the standards outlined by established policies.

Afterward, the company attempted to resolve the situation but efforts were not enough in the end. In May 2022, Thai’s SEC officially rescinded the company’s crypto licenses.

Therefore, by virtue of Section 35, paragraph three of the Digital Assets Act. Cryptocurrency Trading Center Digital Asset Business License Revoked and a digital asset business license in the category of a digital token trading center of Huobi, effective from May 17, 2022.
– Thailand’s SEC

The exchange said they will fully comply with the SEC’s directive and shut down operations at the aforementioned date.

Customers have been asked to withdraw all assets before July but a few account holders remain out of reach, per the state from the exchange.

Business

Bitcoin Electricity Consumption Down by 25% Since Early June

Published

5 hours ago

June 25, 2022

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Bitcoin Electricity Consumption Down by 25% Since Early June

Bitcoin’s energy consumption has reportedly declined drastically since only three weeks ago. Estimates from the Cambridge Bitcoin Electricity Consumption Index on Friday show that the network now consumes more than 25% less power than it did at the start of the month.

According to the index, Bitcoin’s current electricity consumption is approximately 10.65 gigawatts. That’s down from the 14.34-gigawatt estimate recorded on June 6th.
At these levels, Bitcoin estimated annualized power consumption now sits at 93.33 terawatt-hours – down substantially from May’s high of 150 terawatt-hours.
The estimates are based on a “profitability threshold” that uses “different types of mining equipment as the starting point,” according to the index’s methodology page.
This puts Bitcoin’s energy consumption back below Argentina (125 TW/h) and Norway, but still greater than that of Finland (82 TW/h)
Bitcoin’s power consumption primarily stems from its proof of work consensus mechanism. The mechanism incentivizes Bitcoin “miners” to consume electricity in a race to construct Bitcoin’s next block. The winner earns a fixed number of Bitcoin.
That said, when Bitcoin’s price falls, miners become less profitable. This disincentivizes less efficient miners from staying online, which can lead to reduced power consumption and hash rate.
This month, Bitcoin’s price dropped below its previous all-time high in 2017. Its hash rate rapidly declined in short order, despite charting an all-time high just two weeks ago.
A recent report from Arcane research found that public miners cumulatively sold off more Bitcoin than they generated in May. The selloff is expected to be higher in June.

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Business

Charles Hoskinson Testifies to Congress on Digital Asset Regulation

Published

5 hours ago

June 25, 2022

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Charles Hoskinson Testifies to Congress on Digital Asset Regulation

Charles Hoskinson – CEO of Input Output Global (IOK) and founder of Cardano – testified to the U.S. House Subcommittee on Commodity Exchanges, Energy and Credit on Thursday. He provided congress with information about the utility of blockchain, and what responsible regulation of the technology and industry could look like.

The Benefits of Transparency

In his prepared testimony on Thursday, Hoskinson argued that distributed ledger technologies can provide transparency and auditability to existing industries.

For instance, the agricultural industry could benefit by managing and overseeing its economic events using blockchain. Hoskinson cited BeefChain as an example – a startup that allows consumers to trace the sources of their beef products. Therefore, consumers can consume their beef with greater confidence that it came from a healthy and trustworthy producer.

In May, a “global community of technologists” sent a letter to congress claiming that cryptocurrencies and blockchain had no real-use cases besides scams, crime, and pollution. Shortly afterward, a collection of human rights activists including Yeonmi Park countered with a letter highlighting the financial sovereignty that Bitcoin can provide.

Hoskinson went on to outline the “principles” behind blockchain, which he believes should lay the groundwork for appropriate regulation of the technology. “We ought to have the humility to admit that innovation makes specifics difficult and thus focus on principles instead,” he said.

To that end, Hoskinson spoke against the use of “category-based regulation” which would rely on “centralized actors” for reporting and disclosure. This, in his view, would be an ineffective solution for regulating a decentralized ecosystem.

“Principles-based regulation, which is more flexible, can adapt and evolve alongside the nascent technology without strangling an industry that has only started and forcing companies abroad,” Hoskinson said.

Principles VS Categories

The landmark crypto regulatory bill introduced earlier this month would attempt to regulate digital assets using the categorical approach. It divides the jurisdiction of digital assets between the Commodities and Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) and the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC)

Both the CFTC and SEC chairmen reportedly agree that both Bitcoin and Ethereum classify as commodities. Specifics on other cryptos – like Cardano – are still fuzzy, though Chairman Gensler has stated that he thinks “most” cryptocurrencies are securities.

However, Hoskinson believes that many cryptocurrencies are neither securities nor commodities, exhibiting customized features that are captured by neither term.

To protect consumers, the CEO argues that appropriate regulation can be applied to the space without labeling cryptocurrencies under this binary.

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Business

Eminem and Snoop Dogg Included Their Personal Bored Apes in New Music Video

Published

5 hours ago

June 25, 2022

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Eminem and Snoop Dogg Included Their Personal Bored Apes in New Music Video

Two of the greatest hip hop artists – Eminem and Snoop Dogg – produced a new video that, aside from marijuana, has multiple references to NFTs and BAYC, in particular. Both have experience in the field, owning several digital collectibles.

Shady, Snoopy, Bored Apey

Marshall Mathers III, as is Eminem’s real name, teased the new song and video in a tweet yesterday, referencing the duo’s previous issues with each other. This happened after Snoop Dogg said Eminem would not find a place in his top 10 greatest rappers of all time.

Staying true to his nature, the Detroit-based hip-hop artist responded in a song called Zeus. But the two seem to have put the past behind them as they appeared in the 2022 Super Bowl halftime show, alongside Dr. Dre, 50 Cent, Kendrick Lamar, and Mary J. Blige.

Further confirmation about their reconciliation came with the new song, in which Eminem opens his verse with “this probably should have happened a while ago.”

The video itself is half-animated, and that’s when the two rappers are displayed with NFTs from the popular Bored Ape Yacht Club collection. In Eminem’s case, that’s the one he purchased last year for 123 ETH (worth approximately $462,000 at the time) and is still displayed as his profile picture on Twitter.

Snoop Dogg is also portrayed by one of the BAYC NFTs he bought at the end of last year.

Both’s Other NFT/Crypto Engagements

Aside from buying Bored Ape #9055 last year, as mentioned above, Eminem also has several other digital collectibles related to his OpenSea account – Shady Holdings. Additionally, the legendary rapper, also an Oscar winner, launched an NFT collection of his own called Shady Con (named after his hip hop alter ego – Slim Shady).

Snoop Dogg, on the other hand, has been even more involved with the crypto and NFT industry. He promoted Dogecoin last year, but his engagement with non-fungible tokens shot up after he revealed to be Cozomo de’ Medici – an anonymous NFT collector that held such assets worth almost $20 million at the time.

He has also announced plans to have a collection on Cardano, participated in an investment round in crypto company MoonPay, had other Bored Ape-themed music releases, owns digital real estate in The Sandbox, and wants to bring digital weed farms to the Metaverse.

Featured Image Courtesy of OkayPlayer

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