FreeCryptoCurrency.Me

ALSO: Former CFTC Chair Timothy Massad told CoinDesk TV that regulatory agencies “don’t have to resolve” the stubbornly troublesome issue whether cryptos are commodities or securities.

Binance Labs, the $9 billion venture arm of the crypto exchange giant, said it is committing $15 million to Xterio, a web3 gaming startup.

Switzerland-based Xterio is focused on free-to-play and blockchain-based gaming. It plans to use the cash injection to continue developing its forthcoming games, as well as for the integration of AI capabilities — such as interactive experiences — and new token launches.

No valuation was disclosed. Asked what timeframe the money would be invested over, a Binance spokesperson said the round is complete, without adding further details.

“The Xterio ecosystem is expanding faster than ever and bridges free-to-play genres with on-chain gaming enhanced by AI capabilities,” said Yi He, Binance’s co-founder and head of Binance Labs.

“The Xterio core team brings together experienced Web2 professionals with Web3 expertise, we look forward to closely working with them to allow gamers around the world to experience rich on-chain gameplay.”

© 2023 The Block Crypto, Inc. All Rights Reserved. This article is provided for informational purposes only. It is not offered or intended to be used as legal, tax, investment, financial, or other advice.

The capital will help Xterio add more games and artificial intelligence integrations to its platform.

Even though the percentage of traditional hedge funds investing in crypto declined from 37% to 29% in 2023, confidence in the value proposition and long-term sustainability of crypto assets “appears robust,” PwC said Wednesday in a report.

Traditional hedge funds with current crypto investments plan to either maintain or increase exposure, the report found. And that’s regardless of market volatility and ongoing regulatory uncertainty that have challenged the sector. 

Over the past year, the average allocation to crypto by traditional hedge funds increased from 4% to 7%. Still, slightly over half of traditional funds surveyed said they are unlikely to invest in crypto over the next three years. 

The report, conducted with the Alternative Investment Management Association and CoinShares, surveyed both traditional hedge funds and crypto hedge funds. Of that second group, 93% expect the overall crypto market capitalization to be higher at the end of the year.

Traditional hedge funds appear committed to crypto 

“Despite market volatility, a fall in digital asset prices and the collapse of a number of crypto businesses, investment in crypto-assets is expected to remain strong in 2023,” John Garvey, a global financial services leader at PwC U.S., said in a statement. “Traditional hedge funds, committed to the market in the longer term, are not only increasing their crypto-assets under management, but also maintaining – if not increasing – the amount of capital deployed in the ecosystem.”

Garvey added that regulatory uncertainty is continuing to weigh on many funds, and that more than half of those surveyed would invest more once greater transparency, regulatory certainty and risk management are in place. 

The report found that 23% of traditional hedge funds are reassessing their crypto strategy due to the regulatory environment in the U.S., while 12% of crypto hedge funds are considering relocating away from the country.  

© 2023 The Block Crypto, Inc. All Rights Reserved. This article is provided for informational purposes only. It is not offered or intended to be used as legal, tax, investment, financial, or other advice.

Circle has laid off a portion of its workforce to strengthen its balance sheet, CoinDesk reported.

The firm, which is best known for launching stablecoin USDC, told CoinDesk that the staff cut would allow it to “focus on core business activities and execution.”

“We have reduced or ended investments in non-core activities and reduced operational expenses which includes a marginal reduction in headcount,” the firm added. “At the same time, we have identified new areas for investment and are continuing to hire in key areas of focus on a global basis.”

Circle has made headlines in recent weeks for a number of big ticket hires and appointments including former U.S. Commodities Futures Trading Commission head Heath Tarbert, who joined the firm as its chief legal officer and head of corporate affairs at the beginning of July. Goldman Sachs’ former chief risk officer, Craig Broderick, who retired from the bank after 32 years in January, joined Circle’s board of directors at the end of June. 

 

© 2023 The Block Crypto, Inc. All Rights Reserved. This article is provided for informational purposes only. It is not offered or intended to be used as legal, tax, investment, financial, or other advice.

Securities and Exchange Commission Chair Gary Gensler pushed back on calls from the crypto industry to recuse himself from making certain crypto-related decisions, saying he is “fully compliant” with the law. 

“I take an oath, along with my fellow commissioners, to enforce the law that Congress passed and how the courts interpret it,” Gensler said during a media availability following a commission meeting related to rulemaking on money market funds and broker-dealers on Wednesday. “It really comes down to protecting the investing public and looking through the facts and the circumstances of each of the individual tokens and the platforms themselves.” 

Gensler added that he is “well aware of my ethical responsibilities.”

The Blockchain Association published a paper last month, written by the association’s chief policy officer, Jake Chervinsky, arguing that Gensler to recuse himself from certain crypto enforcement decisions. The association claimed in the paper that the crypto industry is not able to get a “fair assessment” from the SEC chair because of Gensler’s statement in the past that “everything other than bitcoin” could be considered a security under current financial law.

“His steadfast view that all digital assets except bitcoin are securities means that he cannot approach enforcement decisions with a fair and impartial mind,” Chervinsky wrote. 

Earlier on Wednesday the Blockchain Association also pressed the SEC’s inspector general to investigate the recent granting of a special purpose broker-dealer license to Prometheum, a company whose co-CEO maintains that crypto should fit within current securities laws, in contradiction to much of the industry.

Thoughts on Coinbase in the center of a spot bitcoin ETF

A number of firms vying for the first spot bitcoin exchange-traded fund in the U.S., including BlackRock and Fidelity, recently listed Coinbase as a market surveillance sharing partner. This comes despite the SEC charging Coinbase in early June for operating as an unregistered exchange, broker and clearing agency. 

Gensler declined to go into specific ETF filing, but repeated a broader concern of U.S. financial regulators that crypto exchanges tend to operate “a bunch of conflicted services,” a concern that the agency highlighted as part of its rationale for an enforcement action against Coinbase. 

“What that means is they could be trading directly against you and market making against you which you would not see, or hope to see on the New York Stock Exchange or NASDAQ,” Gensler said. 

Gensler also warned that crypto platforms have “limited risk monitoring” for wash trading, a form of market manipulation. The SEC has rejected tens of spot bitcoin ETF applications, dating back to before Gensler’s tenure, due to concerns over lack of transparency and potential market manipulation in bitcoin trading.

© 2023 The Block Crypto, Inc. All Rights Reserved. This article is provided for informational purposes only. It is not offered or intended to be used as legal, tax, investment, financial, or other advice.

Google will now permit apps and games that allow users to buy, sell and earn digital assets like NFTs.

Hoping to support the needs and ambitions of developers, the company said Google Play, where Android smartphone users download their apps, will now allow its partners to expand the number and scale of their blockchain-based offerings.

“From reimagining traditional games with user-owned content to boosting user loyalty through unique NFT rewards, we’re excited to see creative in-app experiences flourish and help developers expand their businesses,” wrote Joseph Mills, the group product manager for Google Play.

Apple has been slower when it comes to digital assets within apps

Unlike Google, Apple has been much slower and more conservative when it comes to allowing for users to earn and trade digital assets within apps functioning on it iPhone.

With fraud and scamming prevalent in the world of digital assets, Mills wrote that Google will take measures to protect users.

“We’re requiring that apps be transparent with users about tokenized digital assets,” he said. “If an app or game sells or enables users to earn tokenized digital assets, developers must declare this clearly. And while tokenized assets are meant to build more enriched, immersive experiences … developers may not promote or glamorize any potential earning from playing or trading activities.”

© 2023 The Block Crypto, Inc. All Rights Reserved. This article is provided for informational purposes only. It is not offered or intended to be used as legal, tax, investment, financial, or other advice.

Wednesday’s CPI report showed sizable decelerations in both overall and core U.S. inflation, which one might’ve thought would drive BTC’s price higher.

Hive Digital, a company known for its crypto mining prowess, is shifting its focus to artificial intelligence — and dropping blockchain from its name. 

The firm intends to use its Nvidia GPU fleet to power cloud technology undergirding ChatGPT and other AI tools.

“Our name change and strategic pivot indicates our progressive trajectory as a company,” Hive president and CEO Aydin Kilic said in a statement. “High performance computing, driven in large part by GPU processing power, is growing incredibly fast today”

“Training these tools, from ChatGPT to Midjourney, require high-end GPU compute,” Kilic continued. “As businesses adapt to the new AI world, we believe they will seek companies like Hive to develop their own AI tools, to give them a competitive edge in this new era of digital information.”

The company’s shares rose 2.8% in Toronto trading, according to TradingView.

Crypto’s AI rush

The company said late last year that revenues from GPU mining were “dramatically reduced” after The Merge. It said today that it would maintain a “strong presence” in Bitcoin mining.

The crypto industry has rushed to embrace AI as tools such as ChatGPT have come to dominate the zeitgeist this year. Solana, for instance, is implementing an AI tool to help “normies” choose NFTs, while crypto-focused venture firms recently funded a $2.8 million seed round for the AI startup AwesomeQA.

 

© 2023 The Block Crypto, Inc. All Rights Reserved. This article is provided for informational purposes only. It is not offered or intended to be used as legal, tax, investment, financial, or other advice.