Daily Digest - 21st April 2023

Headlines

▌The Metropolitan Commercial Bank is close to completely withdrawing from the cryptocurrency market

Metropolitan Commercial Bank is close to exiting the cryptocurrency market entirely, leaving just $278.5 million in cryptocurrency-related deposits, according to a U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) filing.

The filing notes that the previously announced exit from the cryptocurrency-related vertical is almost complete, with total core deposits (excluding cryptocurrency customers) at $4.9 billion on March 31.

The New York-based bank's parent company, Metropolitan Bank Holding (MBH), announced in January that it was terminating cryptocurrency-related services amid recent developments in the industry and regulatory pressure.

The decision comes shortly after former cryptocurrency exchange FTX collapsed and its founder, Sam Bankman-Fried, faced multiple fraud charges.

Policies

▌EU Parliament Approves Crypto Licensing, Funds Transfer Rules

Lawmakers voted 317-38 in favor of MiCA, making it the first major jurisdiction in the world to introduce a comprehensive crypto law

They also voted 529-29 in favor of a separate law known as the Transfer of Funds regulation, which requires crypto operators to identify their customers in a bid to halt money laundering.

The regulations were hailed as a ‘world first’ for crypto rules, and the European Parlaiment stated that the rules put the EU ‘at the forefront of the token economy’.

Cryptocurrency

▌Crypto lender BlockFi wins more time to explore possible sale, restructuring

BlockFi won a few more weeks to finalise a plan to get out of Chapter 11 bankruptcy, overcoming disgruntled customers who say they should be repaid more quickly.

The cryptocurrency lender is exploring a potential sale of company assets or the possibility of getting an outside backer to support a restructuring deal, while a committee of BlockFi customers argued that they should be allowed to take control of the case so that the company’s crypto holdings can be returned to creditors immediately.

▌Societe Generale's Crypto Division Introduces Euro Stablecoin on Ethereum

Societe Generale's (GLE) crypto division, SG Forge, has introduced a stablecoin pegged to the euro (EUR) on Ethereum, saying it is the first such asset deployed on a public blockchain.

EUR CoinVertible (EURCV) will be offered to institutional clients as a means of bridging the gap between traditional capital markets and digital assets, and SG Forge says that it is addressing increasing demand from clients for a robust settlement asset for on-chain transactions.

▌U.S. crypto exchange Coinbase secures Bermuda licence

Coinbase has said that it has secured a license to operate in Bremuda, as part of a wider push to expand globally.

According to Reuters, Coinbase CO Brian Armstrong stated that crypto firms will develop in ‘offshore’ havens unless the US and UK create ‘clarity about regulation’ for crypto.

The exchange is also in discussion with financial regulators in Abu Dhabi about a potential licence.