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The country has been distributing PSC (Palau stablecoin) for three weeks and the test will run through August.

After the collapse of Terra, and with new competition on Ethereum, a network built for interoperability may be at risk of becoming obsolete.

New rules for banks and insurers are based on international norms, regulators said

A blockchain security company will have to pay about $3.4 million to settle Securities and Exchange Commission charges for conducting an unregistered initial coin offering. 

Quantstamp raised close to $28.35 million in ether and stablecoin USD through the sale of its QSP token to more than 5,000 investors back in 2019, the SEC said. 

The firm released a white paper in 2017 describing its plans to create a protocol on the Ethereum blockchain to “provide automated security audits of smart contracts,” the agency said on July 21 in a statement. 

“In public statements, Quantstamp emphasized the large market potential for the smart contract security auditing product it planned to develop, and led QSP purchasers to expect that the value of their tokens would increase with the success of Quantstamp’s enterprise,” the SEC said. 

Howey Test

The SEC referenced the Howey Test, which it often cites when determining whether a cryptocurrency is a security and subject to securities laws. The test stems from a 1946 US Supreme Court case involving orange groves and decided what qualifies as an investment contract.

The test has four prongs, including whether there is an expectation of profits that is derived from the efforts of others, a common enterprise or an investment of money. 

Quantstamp settled without admitting or denying the SEC’s charges. The SEC also established a fair fund to return money paid by Quantstamp back to investors. 

© 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.

Despite mining’s doldrums, miners are prioritizing the inclusion of next-generation mining rigs in their operations to prepare for the next Bitcoin halving.

Crypto exchange Binance has withdrawn its application for a license from German financial regulator BaFin, marking its latest European regulatory move.

“Binance confirms that it has proactively withdrawn its BaFin application,” a Binance spokesperson told The Block. “The situation, both in the global market and regulation, has changed significantly. Binance still intends to apply for appropriate licensing in Germany, but it is essential that our submission accurately reflects these changes.”

The statement comes a month after German publication FinanceFwd reported that BaFin had decided not to grant Binance a crypto custody license. Binance told the news outlet at the time that conversations were still ongoing.

Changing regulatory landscape

Binance is grappling with mounting regulatory challenges, not just in Europe but across the globe. In recent weeks and months, Binance has exited the Netherlands, reregistered entities in Cyprus and the U.K., withdrawn its license application in Austria, was ordered to stop operating in Belgium and is reportedly facing an investigation in France for alleged money laundering. Binance and its CEO, Changpeng Zhao, also face lawsuits from U.S. regulators.

Binance previously said it is working to prepare its business to be fully compliant with Markets in Crypto Assets (MiCA), European Union’s regulations, when they are implemented in the next 18 months. To that end, Binance at the time said that it moved to pull back efforts in certain states to focus on having fewer regulated entities in the EU, especially its larger registered markets where it already has a mature footprint, including France, Italy and Spain.

MiCA mandates that crypto companies operating in the EU must obtain authorization from one member state by January 2025. This authorization can then be used across the entire region, allowing companies to provide services to local residents with a single EU license.

Binance, however, is facing banking issues as well in Europe. Its current euro banking partner, Paysafe, will cease supporting the crypto exchange after September 25. Paysafe’s decision will impact euro-denominated bank transfers to and from Binance through the Single Euro Payments Area (SEPA) network. Paysafe already ended British pound support for Binance in May.

© 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 initiative aims to help Italian banks, asset managers and financial institutions, including the $1 trillion banking group Intesa Sanpaolo, experiment with decentralized finance and security tokens.

A recent report by Coin Metrics has news for fans of energy efficiency: ASIC miners overall are reducing their energy consumption per coin produced. But which are the most efficient? For Mining Week, CoinDesk dug deeper to determine which of 11 popular mining machines were the most competitive.

Publicly-traded miners are prone to pursue marketing stunts as a way to raise their stock prices. Press releases about AI and HPC initiatives are the latest examples. This op-ed is part of CoinDesk’s Mining Week.

The generative NFT art platform Highlight has launched on Ethereum.

Highlight allows users to create, test and mint computer-generated art as NFTs. It nixes creator fees so that artists keep 100% of the funds from a sale, with buyers paying a small fee.

“Highlight will be the first open platform for generative art on Ethereum,” Highlight CEO Nathaniel Emodi told The Block. “It includes zero creator fees, self-owned contracts, open editions — a first for generative NFTs — and lots more. We’re partnering with some of the world’s best-known generative artists on upcoming drops, including Melissa Wiederrecht, James Merrill, Holger Lippmann, Leander Herzog and many others.”

Highlight funding

Highlight has raised $11 million in funding to date, with a funding round occurring in May of 2022. Katie Haun of Haun Ventures led the round, which had additional participation from 1kx, A_Capital, SciFi VC, Floodgate, Coinbase Ventures, 35 Ventures, Polygon Studios, Mischief VC, DAOJones, Offline Ventures, Gokul Rajaram, Lenny Rachitsky, WME, Method Management and ThreeSixZero.

“Over the next year, we’ll continue to make Highlight the most accessible and inclusive platform for on-chain generative art. This includes providing support for credit card payments, email sign in, physical print orders and other convenient features that grow the overall size of the crypto art community,” Emodi said.

© 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.