Get your daily, bite-sized digest of cryptoasset and blockchain-related news – investigating the stories flying under the radar of today’s crypto news.
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Exchange news
- ByBit announced a new debit card that will allow users to make payments and withdraw cash using crypto. The Bybit Card will operate on the Mastercard network and will begin with the launch of a free virtual card for online purchases, with physical debit cards reportedly set to be available in April 2023. This comes after, on March 4, ByBit “temporarily suspended USD deposits via Wire Transfer (including SWIFT) due to service outages from our end-point processing partner until further notice.” Withdrawals will also be suspended on March 10.
- Binance wanted to hire Gary Gensler as an advisor in 2018 and 2019, before he became head of the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), according to the Wall Street Journal, citing messages among the exchange staffers. Gensler declined, but “he was generous in sharing license strategies,” Harry Zhou, who worked for a company financed by Binance, reportedly wrote in a message.
DeFi news
- Multichain decentralized exchange (DEX) PancakeSwap will launch its version 3 (V3) on BNB Smart Chain in the first week of April, the team confirmed on Twitter. “Our team is working hard to constantly improve the PancakeSwap platform and bring our users the best experience possible. Stay tuned for more exciting developments,” they said.
Legal news
- Egyptian authorities detained 29 people, including 13 foreigners, accused of running a crypto scam that defrauded thousands of investors and pocketed about $620,000, The Times of Israel reported, citing state media. The group ran the online platform “HoggPool”, promising large profits from crypto mining and trading services, for fees charged at an attractive foreign exchange rate, it said.
Banking news
- The Pakistan Banks’ Association (PBA) signed off on developing a blockchain-based Know Your Customer (KYC) platform with the Avanza Group, the Daily Times reported. The project is part of the State Bank of Pakistan’s (SBP) efforts to strengthen the control infrastructure for Anti Money Laundering (AML)/Terrorist Financing (TF) capabilities in the country, it said.
CBDC news
- The Bank of International Settlements (BIS) and the central banks of Israel, Norway, and Sweden have concluded Project Icebreaker, which studied the potential benefits and challenges of using retail central bank digital currencies (CBDC) in international payments. Per BIS, “for countries considering the development of a domestic CBDC, the project provides a model for extending them and innovative services into cross-border transactions. For central banks contemplating the implementation of retail CBDCs, the outcome of Project Icebreaker provides deeper understanding of the technologies that can be used and the technical and policy choices available.”
- The Central Bank of Iran (CBI) completed a pre-pilot phase in the development of Iran’s central bank digital currency, according to an official statement by CBI’s research arm, the Monetary and Banking Research Institute (MBRI). “The pre-pilot phase of the digital rial ended successfully with some achievements.Soon, the scope of use will increase and the digital rial will be developed in the country’s payment system,” said Mohammad Reza Mani Yekta, head of the CBI office for supervising payment systems.
