Memecoins Rally, Asian Nations Forge Ahead with Web3 Regulation

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(as of  4:30 AM UTC, July 4, 2023) 

Following twitches in price of large market cap cryptos Bitcoin (BTC) and Ethereum (ETH), which many attribute to comments made by the United States SEC regarding the adequacy of Bitcoin ETF filings, these coins have continued their upward trend with BTC breaking US$31,000 and ETH getting ever nearer to US$2,000. The continued resilience of these coins is also reflected by the investment firms applying for Bitcoin ETFs with the SEC, as exchange operator Cboe refiles Bitcoin ETF applications for investment firms Fidelity, VanEck, and WisdomTree. Meanwhile, NASDAQ has refiled a similar application for BlackRock’s Bitcoin ETF. 

Moving on, in the altcoin space, memecoins have once again seen a spike of excitement and activity in their respective communities – which has been reflected across their prices. Wojak (WOJAK) rallied by as much as 25.8% in the last 24 hours, while Pepe (PEPE) saw a healthy rise of 17.72% in the same period. 

As the sun rose over Asia this morning, news circulated about Cameron Winklevoss, co-founder of Gemini, releasing a tweet presenting a ‘final offer’ of $1.5 billion to resolve the debts owed by Genesis. Notably, this includes outstanding obligations to Earn users, along with the missed payment deadline for Digital Currency Group (DCG), Genesis’ owner, to repay a substantial sum of $630 million to Genesis itself.The offer consists of payments and loans, in a mix of USD, Bitcoin, and Ether, and follows comments made by Winklevoss of Genesis owing US$1.2 billion to its Earn users. As this piece of news continues to circulate following Winklevoss’ tweet this morning, its repercussions on the crypto market remain to be seen. 

South Korea, on the other hand, has passed its Virtual Asset User Protection Act through the Korean National Assembly as of yesterday. This is a big deal given the size of the South Korean crypto market – and is the first tangible step the country has made towards a full legal framework for digital assets. 

Singapore has also turned its attention to the digital asset industry in recent times, now requiring crypto platforms to keep their client’s money in a trust – with a deadline of the end of 2023. In addition, Singapore will continue its consideration of a ban on lending and staking for retail users. 

In a similar move, Thailand’s SEC has also announced a ban on crypto staking and lending services, effective August 30, as well as a ban on any sort of advertising of such products. 

Meanwhile, Hong Kong continues to push itself forward as a hub for the cryptocurrency industry as it sets up a task force for Web3 development, dedicated to the promotion and development of Web3 in the city. Financial secretary Paul Chen is set to chair the taskforce as he announced on Monday, and refers to Web3’s remarkable opportunities in his press release.

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