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EOS Network Foundation launches $20M $EOS EVM and a GameFi Fund

EOS Network Ventures has committed $20 million in capital to develop applications and gaming products on the EOS network after April’s Ethereum Virtual Machine (EVM) launch.

“EOS Network Ventures (ENV) is making a formal commitment to invest $20M directly into $EOS EVM and GameFi projects. EOS EVM will also have the most funding available for builders,” EOS Foundation CEO Yves La Rose opined.

“With $20M up for grabs for EVM projects, we expect a massive influx of developers who want to take advantage of the funding opportunities,” La Rose said, adding the commitment was made to attract developers and builders to the EOS blockchain in the coming months.

EOS is gearing up for its second innings with a funding push ahead of April’s EVM launch. EVMs refer to the environment in which all Ethereum accounts and smart contracts live, serving as a virtual computer utilized by developers for creating decentralized applications (apps).

When deployed on other blockchains, EVMs can allow developers to build dapps and decentralized finance (DeFi) applications similar to how they would on Ethereum.

According to Coindesk, such moves are thanks to the efforts of La Rose, who is leading plans for a consensus mechanism upgrade, an Ethereum Virtual Machine (EVM) system and an overall renewed growth strategy.

Market participants have long criticized and scrutinized EOS for earning $4 billion in its initial coin offering (ICO) with little to show in its early years in terms of both usage and technological development.

The increased effort may ultimately increase the price of EOS tokens in the upcoming months and increase the value of decentralized applications built on EOS.

Users are spoiled for choice in an increasingly competitive crypto market, however, as relatively newer networks such as Arbitrum, zkSync, Optimism and Solana, among several others, vie for developer talent and increase their own revenues via token incentives or airdrops.

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Florida Governor calls for ban on CBDCs

The introduction of a Central Bank Digital Currency has become a vital talking point in the digital asset industry. Additionally, as countries are working on pilot programs for the implementation of such an asset, the US has begun discussions on its possible integration.

Florida Governor, Ron DeSantis, has recently announced his support of legislation that would ban a Central Bank Digital Currency (CBDC). Specifically, DeSantis stated his desire to pass legislation that would forbid the use of CBDCs as money, within the state.

The legislation would prohibit in Florida any CBDC that the U.S. Federal Reserve could introduce and any created by a foreign government, outlawing the technology entirely from being used as a form of money within the state.

The Florida Governor stated, “I am here to call on the legislature to pass legislation to expressly forbid the use of CBDC as money within Florida’s Uniform commercial code.” 

Additionally, he emphasized his desire for the state to continue innovation in the financial sector without a CBDC.

DeSantis also spoke against Government access to personal transactions, stating a CBDC as giving officials a direct view of all consumer activities. According to him, the introduction of such a digital currency would lead to the misuse of information.

“Any way they can get into society to exercise their agenda, they will do it. How do we know? Because we’ve seen this happen in other parts of the world.” DeSantis stated.

Conversely, the Florida Governor noted his belief in a stark difference between a CBDC and cryptocurrencies. Stating the latter should be decentralized in nature.

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El Salvador launches an educational program aimed at producing bitcoin and lightning developers

The Bitcoin Office of El Salvador has introduced CUBO+, a new six-month teaching initiative. Through the Salvadoran university system, the education program intends to generate top-tier Bitcoin and Lightning developers.

According to the Office, the program will begin in May and will consist of a relatively small group of students, under 25, narrowed down from some of the brightest students in El Salvador’s universities.

The first group will be through students at the University of Don Bosco. They will be competing for the inaugural Plan B Fellowship, funded by Tether and Fulgur Ventures. The project is a result of the recently announced agreement between El Salvador and Lugano, Switzerland for the world’s first Bitcoin Embassy in the Swiss city.

The program will be led and taught by some of the brightest minds in Bitcoin who will be announced soon. Additionally, classes will range in topics from high-level technical development specific to Bitcoin, to distributed technologies such as Holepunch, Nostr and Web5. Private funding is responsible for the program, and all students who qualify for the Plan B Fellowship will receive a stipend in order for them to cover the costs of the course.

The first two months of the curriculum will be completed online, then there will be a two-week bootcamp in San Salvador that includes demanding full-day classes. Close online mentoring sessions with the leading Bitcoin figures will be part of the remaining months.

According to Bitcoin Magazine, the curriculum will develop into a foundation that other people can use as an open-source standard for advanced Bitcoin education. The course design, which is expected to set the benchmark for other nations to follow, is being assisted by educational specialists.

Students who complete the course will be presented with various options for continuing their Bitcoin journey, including the option to take on a full-time job at reputable Bitcoin companies. Otherwise, entrepreneurial opportunities and continuing education will be available.

The name Cubo+ is derived from a project that President Nayib Bukele started in his Mayor position of San Salvador. When he was mayor, the city would erect buildings in areas that were impoverished, and these buildings served as libraries and community centers for furthering education. The program hopes to draw on this inspiration for building El Salvador’s future.

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Kampala hosts Blockchain 360

In an era of ever-changing and disruptive technologies, blockchain and the suite of new terms it comes with (Web 3.0, Metaverse, NFTs, SBTs, DAOs, DONs, DeFi, SFTs, Oracles, and more) have remained misconstrued, and ultimately not yet appreciated or utilized to the possible potential they provide. Blockchain 360 was inspired by other global Web 3.0 events that aim at illuminating the purpose of the decentralized computing paradigm as opposed to its centralized counterpart.

2023 is considered by many as the mainstream year which will lead to massive adoption of these yet-to-be-understood technologies alongside the intriguing new features and paradigms in Artificial Intelligence and more. 

According to Eng. David Lumala, one of the organizers of the Blockchain 360 conference, the event was envisioned as a foundation to inspire developers, students, and entrepreneurs to get creative and inform them about the available opportunities and those in the prospect of the technology. Furthermore, the event was to enable them to have a chance to meet industry-leading experts on the subject to further debunk the technology and present the audience with a chance to network and cooperate with like-minded individuals.

Some of the experts that participated in the event. (From left to right) Brindon Bamwiine, Eng. David Lumala, Robert Kirunda and Louis Kizito.

“We needed something like this where we can bring like-minded people in Uganda and have something similar so that we better our people and, you know, other tech enthusiasts that have the spirit in them,” Eng. Lumala emphasized.

Eng. David Lumala, one of the organisers of Blockchain 360.

This inaugural event was held in a hybrid-conference style with both physical and online attendance possible. Sessions and panel discussions ranged from blockchain sustainability with and beyond bitcoin, crypto and DeFi utility, regulation, software development in the Web 3.0 era, emergent properties of AI and their overall implication, wallets and self custody, interoperability and the diversity problem and utility beyond the hype. In addition to the break-out sessions during the course of the event, Booths were available for all sponsors such that attendees got a chance to meet and interact with any companies and chain communities of interest.

Regulation in this particular industry has become a debated topic lately and most argue that now is the time to further emphasize and impose better regulations. According to Eng. Lumala, there have been discussions about this. 

He stated, “We’ve had a few colleagues in there discussing the topic of regulation, and I’m optimistic that they have done their best or they are doing their best to push for favorable and reasonable regulation.” 

He added, “Along the way, regulators had come with draconian policies, uninformed policies, you know, to curtail or to suffocate the whole technology. But it is our effort. It has been our mandate to stand up and provide the informed kind of view about the technology such that we get reasonable regulation and rules.”

Blockchain 360 was a culmination of the many efforts done thus far and a foundation for many to come including the Blockchain DevFest 2023 Edition in June. It will bring together some of the best minds around Blockchain and Web 3.0 technologies in the region, local developers already building DApps and Virtual Worlds, legal practitioners to guide and inform the debate about the much anticipated hot topic of regulation and so much more.

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SVB Financial Group Files For Chapter 11 Bankruptcy Protection

A week after Silicon Valley Bank’s abrupt failure, which raised concerns about broader issues with the global banking system, the bank’s parent company filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection on Friday.

The SVB Financial Group’s filing was widely anticipated because a large portion of the business is now under the supervision of banking regulators. The bank was seized last week by the federal government.

The bank, its CEO, and its CFO are named in a class action lawsuit that claims they failed to disclose the risks that future interest rate increases would pose to their business.

Following the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation’s acquisition of Silicon Valley Bank, SVB Financial Group is no longer associated with the institution. Silicon Valley Bridge Bank, the bank’s successor, was left out of the Chapter 11 filing.

The SVB Financial Group’s bankruptcy filing sets up a legal conflict between the holding company’s creditors and regulators seeking to compensate depositors over the bank’s remaining assets.

SVB Financial Group estimates its liquidity to be around $2.2 billion. It added that it is considering selling additional valuable securities and assets.

“The Chapter 11 process will allow SVB Financial Group to preserve value as it evaluates strategic alternatives for its prized businesses and assets,” William Kosturos, chief restructuring officer for SVB Financial Group, said in a statement.

SVB Securities, a licensed broker-dealer, and SVB Capital, the firm’s venture capital and private credit fund, are among these assets. According to the business, both are still in operation and have funding sources.

According to The Wall Street Journal, a group of distressed debt investors, primarily hedge funds, purchased bonds of Silicon Valley Bank’s holding company in the hope that bondholders would receive some proceeds after the bankruptcy process was over.

The failure of Silicon Valley Bank on March 10 and New York’s Signature Bank two days later brought back memories of the financial crisis that led to the Great Recession in the United States almost 15 years ago. 

The Federal Government took action last weekend to protect all bank deposits, even those that went over the FDIC’s $250,000 per individual account cap, in an effort to rebuild public confidence in the banking system.

In the days following the failure of their operations, the parent companies of the failed banks Washington Mutual and IndyMac also filed for bankruptcy protection during the 2008 crisis.

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Kucoin leads $10M funding for Chinese yuan stablecoin issuer

By supporting a Chinese yuan-pegged stablecoin issuer, the investment division of a prominent cryptocurrency exchange, Kucoin is moving to assist future stablecoin efforts. KuCoin Ventures has led a $10 million investment in stablecoin issuer and blockchain-based payment service provider CNHC.

Announcing to their announcement, KuCoin Ventures said that the funding round included some prominent industry investors, including Kucoin’s investor IDG Capital and Circle Ventures, the investment arm of the USD Coin 

USDC

Kucoin Chief Investment Officer and Kucoin Ventures Lead Justin Chou revealed that the new investment in CNHC is the first time KuCoin Ventures has invested in a stablecoin-related project.

“KuCoin is always interested in building a stronger infrastructure for the financial system,” Chou said, adding that the world is likely to see more real-world asset-backed stablecoins in the near future. 

He added, “To ensure the stability of the financial market, stablecoin designers need to find a balance between over-collateralization and efficiency. We are happy to see more algorithm-based stablecoins but they need to prove their resiliency.“

The investment​​ into CNHC reflects Kucoin Ventures’ strategy of backing Web3 infrastructure in the Asia-Pacific region, Chou said. 

According to the announcement, KuCoin Ventures also invested $10 million in China’s blockchain project, Conflux, in early 2022. Chou noted that Hong Kong has a well-established traditional finance ecosystem and a real opportunity at becoming the new crypto center of the world with new regulations and policies for digital assets.

CNHC Co-founder Joy Cham also stated that the platform launched its offshore yuan-pegged stablecoin, CNHC, about two years ago. He described the stablecoin as more akin to a house settlement tool, referring to CNHC’s limited exposure. According to data from CoinMarketCap, the CNHC stablecoin is only listed on one centralized exchange, TruBit Pro.

“It will be listed in more centralized and decentralized exchanges in the near future,” Cham added.

The Executive also mentioned that Tether and USDC are two additional significant stablecoins that are now supported by CNHC’s settlement services. Cham also said that the recent banking issue affecting Silicon Valley Bank and Silvergate had had some effect on the company.

“Some of the banks are our partners that help us to settle USD, but there’s other banking partners so service is still ongoing,” Cham said.

On the other hand, according to  Kucoin CEO Johnny Lyu Kucoin has had no impact due to those issues, as it has no exposure to Silicon Valley Bank, Silvergate, or Signature Bank.

“However, the whole market is exposed at varying degrees to USDC and USDT,” Lyu said, adding that removing crypto from traditional banking could cause long-lasting implications for the industry. 

The CEO further noted, “Bitcoin was born after ‘Lehman Brothers’ yet still grew to mass adoption with about 420 million global users. The recent shutdowns of financial institutions may be the opportunity for crypto to reach mass adoption.”

The news comes as KuCoin is being sued in the US for allegedly breaking the law by providing cryptocurrency trading services in New York. KuCoin was accused of breaking securities laws by offering to buy and trade cryptocurrencies that are commodities and securities without being registered, according to a complaint made on March 9 by Letitia James, the attorney general of New York state.

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British bank Natwest implements new limits on cryptocurrency payments to combat crypto scams

Amid the banking sector rout in the United States following the collapse of Silicon Valley Bank (SVB) and its subsidiary, Silicon Valley Bank U.K. Ltd., the Edinburgh-based financial institution Natwest is limiting cryptocurrency payments. 

Natwest, however, cites cryptocurrency scams in the United Kingdom that cost consumers £329 million ($399 million) annually as the reason for the limit. The bank’s notice also indicates that men over the age of 35 are most at risk of such scams.

According to Natwest’s press release cryptocurrency investments are often made through legitimate exchange platforms. The British banks also stated that these websites let customers buy, sell or exchange cryptocurrencies for other digital currency or traditional currency. 

The British bank also emphasizes that, in addition to men over the age of 35, criminals are using the cost-of-living crisis to entice investors with the promise of high returns.

Stuart Skinner, Head of Natwest’s Fraud Protection Unit commented saying, “You should always have sole control of your cryptocurrency wallet and nobody else should have access. If you didn’t set the wallet up yourself or can’t access the money then this is likely to be a scam. We have seen an increase in the number of scams using cryptocurrency exchanges and we are acting to protect our customers.”

This is not the first time Natwest has limited transfers to cryptocurrency exchanges. The bank set a temporary limit in June 2021, and the following month, it specifically blocked payments to Binance, citing the heightened risk of cryptocurrency scams. 

Natwest has often categorized cryptocurrency assets as high-risk in the past. In April 2021, just before the first limit was imposed, a Natwest Risk Manager said: “We have no appetite for dealing with customers who transact with cryptocurrencies.”

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India and UAE join hands to facilitate cross-border CBDC transactions

India’s central bank, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI), announced on Wednesday a collaboration with the Central Bank of the United Arab Emirates to enhance both countries’ central bank digital currency (CBDC) efforts.

The RBI stated, “The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) and the Central Bank of the United Arab Emirates (CBUAE) signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) today in Abu Dhabi, to enhance cooperation and jointly enable innovation in financial products and services.”

The Indian Central bank continued elaborating, “Under the MoU, the two central banks will collaborate on various emerging areas of fintech, especially central bank digital currencies (CBDCs), and explore interoperability between the CBDCs of CBUAE and RBI. CBUAE and RBI will jointly conduct proof-of-concept (PoC) and pilot(s) of bilateral CBDC bridge to facilitate cross-border CBDC transactions of remittances and trade.” 

India began its digital rupee pilot in November last year for the wholesale sector, and in December for the retail sector. RBI Executive Director Ajay Kumar Choudhary stated earlier this month that the country’s CBDC will act as an alternative to cryptocurrency.

The MoU also provides for technical collaboration and knowledge sharing on matters related to fintech and financial products and services.

The RBI concluded, “This bilateral engagement of testing cross-border use case of CBDCs is expected to reduce costs, increase the efficiency of cross-border transactions, and further the economic ties between India and UAE.”

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Signature Bank Closure Has Nothing to Do With Crypto, Says Regulator

After the New York State Department of Financial Services (NYDFS) took possession of Signature Bank on Sunday, there have been speculations regarding whether the regulatory action was linked to cryptocurrency.

Former U.S. Representative Barney Frank, who was involved in the drafting of the Dodd-Frank Act and had been a member of Signature Bank’s board since 2015, believes that the regulator’s move was related to cryptocurrency. 

He told CNBC Monday, “I think part of what happened was that regulators wanted to send a very strong anti-crypto message.”

He further opined, “We became the poster boy because there was no insolvency based on the fundamentals.” 

In September last year, the cryptocurrency sector accounted for nearly 25% of Signature Bank’s total deposits. However, the bank said in December that it plans to reduce crypto-related deposits by $8 billion.

Responding to claims that the closure of Signature Bank was crypto-related, a spokesperson for the New York State Department of Financial Services told Fortune,

“The decisions made over the weekend had nothing to do with crypto. The decision to take possession of the bank and hand it over to the FDIC [Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation] was based on the current status of the bank and its ability to do business in a safe and sound manner on Monday.”

The NYDFS official also stated that withdrawal requests spiked over the weekend but that credible and consistent data was not provided by Signature Bank.

Regarding crypto, the representative claimed that the NYDFS is a national model for regulating the industry and has been facilitating well-regulated crypto activity for a number of years.

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Egyptian police arrests 29 alleged masterminds of Hoggpool cryptocurrency investment scam

29 people believed to be the heads of the Hoggpool cryptocurrency investment scam were recently detained by Egyptian police. According to reports, during the arrests, the police reportedly said as many as 95 phones and 3,367 SIM cards were seized. Domestic and foreign currency worth $194,000 was also recovered.

The alleged masterminds behind the cryptocurrency mining app fraud used a total of 88 digital currency wallets to receive money from investors, according to a CBS News report derived from a statement released by authorities. Once the funds were received, the criminal gang then proceeded to redistribute these between 9,965 digital wallets. The funds were later converted to BTC before being spirited out of the country.

While the police statement claimed that Hoggpool scammers had duped investors out of as much as $615,000, many in Egypt insist that the figure is much higher. Abdulaziz Hussein, a lawyer representing over a thousand victims from Cairo alone, is quoted in the report suggesting that as many as 800,000 people may have fallen for the scam.

Although the use or trading of cryptocurrency is forbidden in Egypt, the Hoggpool scam masterminds were reportedly able to lure victims by promising an unrealistically high return on investment. According to CBS news, prospective investors were offered investment options that ranged from one with an initial outlay of $10 and a daily payout of $1, to one where the investor pays $800 to acquire a mining machine that pays out $55 per day.

The alleged con artists are charged with utilizing falsified documents in addition to assurances of a high return on investment to entice naive victims. One example of such a document is the purported certificate of the fact of good standing that Hoggpool allegedly received from the Colorado Secretary of State’s Office.