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Litecoin has rallied nearly 31% so far this year, but is still trading at discounted prices, according to an onchain metric called the MVRV Z-score.

Revolut, the UK-based neobank that offers crypto trading as part of its financial app, may have its application for a banking license rejected by the Bank of England, according to a report in The Telegraph.

The BOE has told the UK Treasury that it’s planning to reject Revolut’s application, the newspaper reported, without saying where it got the information. A spokesperson for Revolut said the firm doesn’t comment on ongoing licensing applications. The BOE didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment. 

Revolut’s finances have drawn scrutiny this year after its auditor, BDO, cast doubt on its 2021 revenue numbers. In a note accompanying the accounts, BDO said it had been unable to verify three-quarters of the revenue Revolut had reported — equal to $765 million — and warned that some information may be “materially misstated.”

While the neobank’s existing services would not be affected if the BOE refuses to grant Revolut a banking license, it would be unable to offer mortgages and loans to UK customers. 

Revolut’s crypto revenue

Since launching in 2015, Revolut has grown to become the UK’s most valuable fintech firm. Crypto trading accounted for about a third of Revolut’s revenue in 2021, though that has declined to less than 10% as interest in crypto waned during the bear market, according to a person familiar with Revolut’s finances. 

Revolut has in the past mooted launching its own native crypto token. This time last year, CEO Nik Storonsky told The Block that the token would function in a similar way to airline Air Miles programs to reward users. The token is yet to appear. 

© 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.

Users will be able to interact with the MultiversX network through its native tokens, NFTs and decentralized applications, all within the Opera browser interface.

HashKey Group, the Hong Kong-based crypto investment firm, hopes to raise funds at a valuation north of $1 billion.

The company is in the early innings of discussions with potential investors over a raise of $100-200 million, according to a Bloomberg report citing people familiar with the matter. The report stressed that the terms of the raise are not yet finalized.

HashKey did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

HashKey meets Hong Kong’s crypto renaissance 

The news comes as authorities in Hong Kong attempt to stage a crypto renaissance in the city. Regulators will soon unveil a new regime for crypto exchanges, while local lenders have been instructed to work with crypto firms deserving of a bank account.

Founded in 2018, HashKey has a number of business lines including venture capital investing, asset management and trading. It operates one of only two licensed crypto exchanges in Hong Kong, a bourse branded HashKey Pro. The other is BC Technology Group’s OSL.

© 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.

DIBA also released a Bitcoin-only wallet in partnership with mining company Hut 8 Mining.

PLUS: Meme coins don’t respect the intellectual property rights of others. And that’s a problem.

Central bank digital currency (CBDC) systems operating on different types of networks can be used for cross-border and cross-currency payments, a new report published by researchers with the New York Federal Reserve and Monetary Authority of Singapore late Thursday said.

The administration of U.S. President Joe Biden recently announced a proposal to tax American bitcoin miners.

But that policy approach, if implemented, will drive mining firms outside of the country and won’t raise the intended funds, according to Marathon Digital’s chief executive officer.

“Bitcoin miners will just leave the U.S., which is really what they’re trying to,” CEO Fred Thiel said in an interview on the sidelines of the Bitcoin 2023 conference in Miami.

Thiel went on to contend that a mining tax wouldn’t result in more available renewable power.

“It’ll actually create less because if you’re building a solar farm today or wind farm, it’s a two-year waiting list to interconnect,” remarked Thiel. “And bitcoin miners provide the economic incentive for those people to operate.”

Miners have mostly escaped the regulatory scrutiny that has targeted crypto exchanges in the country, including Binance and Coinbase. The company does, however, face headwinds from other sectors of the economy, Thiel said.

“So one interest that’s at play is the banking lobby. They don’t want the crypto industry which is disintermediating the banking industry,” he said, saying that some companies that run gas-fired power plants had also been hostile. “Bitcoin mining in Texas specifically removes the need for peaker plants, and so it’s impacting their business negatively. So if they can stop Bitcoin mining in Texas, guess what, the peaker plants are back in business.”

Thiel confirmed that the company had received a subpoena from the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission last month but said that it didn’t indicate anything more than a request for information.

“A subpoena simply means people want information,” he said. “That doesn’t mean that we’re necessarily under investigation. It doesn’t mean necessarily that we’re being accused of anything. They’re  simply asking for it.”

Biden admin on bitcoin

Thiel said he believed there was a broader initiative within the administration to target the bitcoin economy, including miners.

“While I’m not gonna go so far as to say that they want to kill Bitcoin, they want to make it very difficult for people to operate,” he said, adding the company is already looking to grow outside of the country. 

Marathon just announced a new project in Abu Dhabi, and it’s also actively looking at new initiatives around the world in places like Paraguay, said Thiel. 

“They built a hydro facility together with Brazil, where Paraguay uses less than half of the electricity that is their share and if they could monetize it, that would be great,” he said. 

Thiel says there are reasons to be hopeful following a period of financial stress and consolidation in the bitcoin mining sector. 

“Now we’ve kind of come through the worst parts of the winter, and I think people are seeing bitcoin price up,” Thiel said. “They’re more optimistic. They’re seeing kind of that things are going in the right direction.”

© 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.

BTC reversed its morning gains, declining below $26,500 before recently rebounding.