RRMine Global, a Filecoin service provider that offered global cloud-based asset management, announced that it is shutting down operations in China and will move its headquarters to Singapore.

RRMine’s change of brand name to RRMine Global sparked the rule change that influenced their decisions to migrate countries and roll out upgrades to the system.

RRMine Global Evades China

RRMine Global is halting its operations in China to cover the central bank’s clampdown on cryptocurrencies. This indicates that the Chinese government intends to heavily regulate the Web3 industry. Steve Tsou, the Global CEO of RRMine Global, shared:

“Very much like other entrepreneurs, we want the best for our company, employees, and community. The decision has been made after a profound examination and multiple discussions”

Singapore looks like a sensible choice for the project, as many Chinese people Web3 companies have already made their way to the country. Singapore provides a generally free market atmosphere in regulating the emerging crypto industry and is known for being one of the open economies in the world.

Integrating R-Datacap

The new service called R-Datacap is expected to cut costs and increase yield performance at Metabolic’s new facility.

CEO, Steve Tsou shared, “We are taking the lead in Web3.0 technology research and development to create a more efficient system for tackling the issue. Data storage providers will receive ten times the output incentive under the FIP-0012 proposal, which Filecoin approved. 

Uruguayan Central Bank has been given the power to regulate the crypto sector, according to the recent regulatory bill.

A new cryptocurrency bill project was introduced by the executive power of the Parliament of Uruguay. 

The bill seeks to clarify how crypto assets will be regulated in the country, giving the Central Bank of Uruguay authority over cryptocurrency assets, modifying its organic charter, and introducing the Superintendence of Financial Services as the entity in charge of overseeing virtual asset service providers.

Uruguayan Central Bank

The Uruguayan government recently submitted a bill to the parliament that was meant to enhance government oversight of cryptocurrencies in the country and establish the country’s central bank as the regulatory authority for handling them.

The September 5 bill aims to define the country’s regulatory guidelines for cryptocurrency assets, stating that all companies that provide digital asset-related services, including initial coin offerings (ICOs), fall under the supervision of the Excluded Supervisory Authority of the Superintendency of Financial Markets (SSF), a central bank entity.

Anti-Money Laundering Regulations

Cryptocurrency exchanges, custody businesses, and other financial services relating to digital assets should abide by Anti-Money Laundering regulations and best practices. Moreover, the document outlined four kinds of digital assets that are stablecoins, governance tokens, tradable assets, and debt tokens.

“If the activity carried out with these instruments involves the exercise of financial intermediation or financial activity, it will be subject to the regulation and control of the Central Bank of Uruguay.”

Currency Commercialization 

Last year, Senator Juan Sartori launched a draft bill to legislate cryptocurrencies and permit businesses to accept digital payments, seeking to establish a legal and legitimate use of businesses in industries related to the production and commercialization of virtual currencies.

Legislators in Brazil and various countries have been pursuing this development as part of a wave of ongoing legislation or regulations related to digital assets and securities. The Securities and Exchange Commission of Brazil has been spearheading the effort to legally recognize tokens as assets or securities.

In August, Paraguay’s president vetoed a bill that would have recognized cryptocurrency mining as an industrial activity, arguing that mining’s high electricity consumption could hinder the development of a sustainable national industry.

The Bank of Russia has openly contemplated permitting crypto transactions to function as a long range payment medium, a move showing departure from its longstanding prohibition against such actions and adopting cryptocurrency.

Adoption Decentralization

The country’s central bank and the Ministry of Finance have agreed that cryptocurrencies will not be viable without cross-border settlements under current geopolitical conditions.

Deputy Finance Minister Alexei Moiseev said crypto payments will soon be legalized. However, the focus was on citizens using foreign platforms to open crypto wallets.

Instead of the official cash payment gateway, he highlighted the need for allowing domestic crypto services in Russia which will be monitored by the central bank itself, which must comply with AML and know-your-client (KYC) requirements.

“Since our plan will require fiat currencies to be used in cross-border settlements, we must first legalize them in some way. Also, give people the opportunity to do it and control it so there is no laundering, paying for weapons, and so on.”

Clearly, the Deputy Governor of Russia’s Central Bank, Ksenia Yudaeva, stated that the authorities are open to allowing the use of cryptocurrency for international payments.

Why Reform?

This possible cause of the change in heart may be the result of the ongoing Russia-Ukraine conflict. Bitcoin and cryptocurrencies, in general, have found broad use among both nations.

The Ukrainian government has received a considerable amount of philanthropic donations from cryptocurrency investors who are using the money to buy weapons and medic kits.

For Russia, on the other hand, reports say that the country engages in economic activity with other countries by leveraging digital currencies and circumventing international sanctions.

With sanctions already in place, does adopting cryptocurrency put Russia a step ahead?

A new Crypto scam struck again. The official YouTube channel of the South Korean government was compromised by hackers who used it to promote a cryptocurrency scam with the image of Elon Musk, the electric car magnate and Dogecoin enthusiast.

The crypto scam started by hackers changing the name of the government media outlet Yonhap News channel to SpaceX Invest. This was to pretend it was related to the U.S. aerospace manufacturing and space transportation services company owned by Musk.

Elon Musk Impersonated

As soon as the criminals executed the hack, they posted videos of Elon Musk talking about cryptocurrencies on YouTube. However, the government quickly got wind of the situation and began investigating the source of the intrusion. They suspended the account in question for the rest of the day while they proceeded to discover the start of the flaw.

A spokesperson from the South Korean government’s Ministry of Culture and Tourism, charged with overseeing the government’s YouTube page, said that Google Korea is working with the ministry to investigate the hack, but suspects that channel’s user identification and password may have been stolen.

Crypto Scam Trends

This is the third official hack of the government in recent weeks; on Thursday, a public-content YouTube channel managed by the Korea Tourism Organization (KTO) was also hacked, which caused the channel’s suspension indefinitely.

Separately, a group of hacktivists identified as “Belarusian Cyber-Partisans” publicly announced that they would sell an NFT with the passport data of Alexander Lukashenko, President of Belarus, obtained after hacking into a government database containing the information of all passports of the country’s citizens.

With these alarming hack attempts on profiles and big government organizations, is the crypto space a safe place or another virtual war zone?

Thai cryptocurrency advertisements are going to have to adhere to strict guidelines formulated by the SEC as they seek to conform to comparable standards.

Thailand’s Securities and Exchange Commission will tighten regulations for cryptocurrency firms operating in the country by October 2022.

The Thai SEC instructed cryptocurrency businesses operating in the country via email that advertisements about digital currencies should contain clear investment warnings to customers on September 1. The statement was later posted on the SEC website.

Advertisements Standard

The Securities and Exchange Commission has implemented new standards for cryptocurrency-related ads in response to several advertising campaigns that failed to warn customers concerning their specific investment risks adequately.

The new standards will prohibit advertisements from making false, misleading, or exaggerated claims and include investment warnings. The correspondence from the Securities and Exchange Commission also requests balanced advertising. 

This would require mentioning both positive and negative aspects of the products or services being presented.

To better protect themselves from regulatory-related fallouts, companies will have to restrict influencer marketing that displays cryptocurrencies in their publications to “official channels” like their own website. 

Furthermore, they’ll be compelled to reveal all available information regarding advertisements and expenditures to the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Advertisers

Bitkub and Zipmex, a few of the more prominent cryptocurrency exchanges, advertise their products and services to prospective clients on increasingly large billboards and in public transport stations. 

More traditional services might be advertised in public locations provided that they’re not within road rolling stock, per the SEC’s directive.

The Thailand SEC has mandated that all businesses adapt their marketing approaches until the bureau develops the necessary frameworks. 

This includes updating or amending existing ads in print, online, and real-world platforms.

Stringent Regulations

August 2022 was a busy month for the Thai Securities and Exchange Commission as it granted licenses to four new cryptocurrency-related businesses.

The SEC concluded the move was in-line with other standards established in other jurisdictions, such as the UK, Singapore, and Spain, which had previously established more stringent regulations for cryptocurrency advertising.

In addition, the watchdog additionally fined Bitkub chief technology officer Samret Wajanasathian for the alleged insider trading of its KUB token. Will this new development allow crypt projects to flourish in Thailand or its another impending market loss for Crypto Companies in their territories?

In March this year, the UAE’s authorities created an autonomous agency called the Virtual Asset Regulatory Authority (VARA).

Dubai’s Virtual Asset Regulatory Authority (VARA) reportedly instructed local cryptocurrency-related firms to require a license before engaging in promotional activities in the areas of licensing and consumer protection. 

This initiative may protect investors and consumers from misleading cryptocurrency marketing campaigns.

Dubai and Crypto

Over the past several months, Dubai has emerged as a global cryptocurrency center where numerous companies and leading players set foot. Sam Bankman-Fried’s FTX Trading established a regional headquarter in the city, while CryptoCom and OKX were licensed for services in the Middle East city.

While Dubai gives many examples of its pro-crypto attitude, in recent years, the city’s authorities allowed Binance and CryptoCom governments to operate their businesses within their limits while granting permission for FTX to establish a local headquarters in the capital.

In May, Emirates Airlines, headquartered in the UAE, announced its intentions to enable individuals to pay for flights using bitcoin. 

CEO Adel Ahmed Al-Redha stated that the company called on the plane company to track aircraft and engine information using blockchain technology as well.

VARA’s Safety Concerns

In March this year, the UAE’s authorities created an autonomous agency called the Virtual Asset Regulatory Authority (VARA).

The United Arab Emirates, and more specifically Dubai, have been making gradual steps toward the digital asset industry recently. 

“Our step is a leap towards the future aimed at developing this sector and protecting all investors in it,” Prime Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum said at the time.

According to Gulf News, the entity doubled its cryptocurrency-related duties by introducing regulatory rules on organizations that advertise crypto services and products, including search engines, media sites, and online or offline publication platforms that urge people to engage in crypto.

Such businesses now need to get a license from the VARA to ensure their business operations are not detrimental to investors.

“These regulations specifically address marketing and communications activities ahead of operationalizing the MVP licensees so that any mass-market information dissemination and consumer solicitation are designed to safeguard community interests,” the statement reads.

Advance Adoption

Subsequently, the city hosted somewhat bizarre events in the crypto world. Three months ago, the French Florian Ughetto and the Paraguayan Liz Nunez got married in the Metaverse (the first such event for Dubai). 

The couple explained they wanted to gather all their friends and family for the wedding and virtual reality was the only spot where this could have happened.

Amidst news of central Africa republic, Thailand, United States, Paraguay, Venezuela, Anguilla, and the long list of Crypto Legal Tenders, UAE is standing out in notable ways as it makes waves and ensures security for its community investors. 

On the other hand, some countries are clamping down on the use of cryptocurrencies in their territory, such as Afghanistan, Nigeria, Algeria, Egypt, and many more. The big question is, Will UAE turn around in the future or this is the journey to the future?

The Afghan Central Bank declared trading in foreign exchanges un-Islamic and unlawful last year, and the law was publicized the following month.

At least 16 crypto exchanges located in the Herat province of western Afghanistan were closed by the police in the last week, according to Ariana News, an independent news outlet. A local official was quoted as saying that the arrests made during the closures aided the overall effort to dismantle the illegal exchanges.

The closures were the result of the cryptocurrency trading ban imposed by the Afghan Central Bank for about three months, which was reported to be the reason for their execution. In a bid to sound justified, a Central Bank spokesman said;

“There is no instruction in Islamic law to approve it [online forex trading]. As a result, we have banned it.”

Head of Herat Money Exchangers’ Union Ghulam Mohammad Suhrabi told Ariana News, 

“Digital currency accounts are outside the country and are purchased from the companies. Our people are not familiar with it, so it is better not to use it.”

Ariana News reported in July that the Afghan central bank would begin prosecuting Afghans who had violated financial sanctions. According to the central bank, it had not issued permits for online stock trading, making all activity of this kind unlawful.

Startling Development

Crypto use increased significantly in Afghanistan after the Taliban conquered the country in 2021 and Afghanistan’s unstable economy made the value of cryptocurrencies skyrocket. 

Transacting during the country’s breakdown became increasingly complicated, encouraging residents to seek out a convenient means of sending remittances. 

According to an Al-Jazeera report in March, there was a WhatsApp group devoted to cryptocurrency trading that had 13,000 members in Herat.

Crypto has also proven to be a useful channel for the benefit of the Western assistance Islamic Republic of Afghanistan. Organizations such as Women for Afghan Women have utilized crypto to fund humanitarian work within the country.

The common question now is, will crypto be completely wiped out of Afghanistan or will this closure of exchanges be a camouflage to support their financial economy?