Circle and SBI Holdings partner to boost USDC circulation in Japan

Circle, the stablecoin issuer behind USD Coin (USDC), is teaming up with Tokyo-based financial services firm SBI Holdings to boost the adoption of USDC and Web3 services in Japan.

Circle said it concluded a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with SBI Holdings on Nov. 27, which will underpin the strategic expansion of USDC into Japan.

It comes as the Japanese government revised the Payment Services Act in June to establish regulations for stablecoins, which Circle believes will “stimulate the issuance and circulation of stablecoins in Japan and advance Japan’s transition towards a Web3 economy.”

To initiate the circulation of USDC into Japan, SBI Holdings is seeking registration as an electronic payment instruments service, which is subject to approval by Japanese authorities.

SBI Holdings CEO and President Yoshitaka Kitao hopes it will be a step toward mass stablecoin adoption in the country.

#news #altcoin #Japan #Asia #SBI

Wallet of Satoshi vanishes from Apple and Google’s US app stores

Bitcoin Lightning payments app Wallet of Satoshi (WoS) has disappeared from Apple’s App Store and Google’s Play Store in the United States as it closes in on over 1 million transactions for November.

On Nov. 24, several users and crypto community participants shared on X (Twitter) their attempts to search for the WoS app, which turned up no results or redirected users to competing wallet apps.

However, the WoS app still appeared for download on the Australian Apple App Store and the Australian and Singapore Google Play Store versions at the time of writing.

#news #wallet #apple #google

Is Binance’s $4B settlement the green light for spot Bitcoin ETFs?

Binance’s $4.3-billion settlement with the United States was the final hurdle before the country’s securities regulator approves spot Bitcoin exchange-traded funds (ETFs), many industry watchers claim.

The settlement involved Binance agreeing to Justice Department and Treasury compliance monitors for up to five years, allowing the agencies sweeping powers to keep the exchange in line with Anti-Money Laundering and sanctions rules, among other things.

The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission has cited market manipulation when denying spot Bitcoin ETFs, and Binance’s market dominance had to take a hit before BlackRock’s spot BTC ETF application would be approved, according to a June X (Twitter) post by Travis Kling, chief investment officer of Ikigai Asset Management.

“There is no chance, and I mean zero, that this ETF is approved with Binance in its current position of market dominance,” Kling wrote. “If this ETF is approved, Binance is either gone entirely or their role in price discovery is massively diminished.”

#news #btc #binance #etf

Grayscale met with SEC to discuss spot Bitcoin ETF details

Executives from crypto asset manager Grayscale have met with the Securities and Exchange Commission to discuss details of its flagship Bitcoin trust, which the firm wants to convert to a spot Bitcoin exchange-traded fund (ETF).

A Nov. 20 SEC memo disclosed Grayscale CEO Michael Sonnenshein, legal chief Craig Salm, ETF head Dave LaValle and four other executives, along with five Davis Polk law firm representatives, met with the SEC’s division of trading and markets.

The memo said discussions “concerned NYSE Arca, Inc.’s proposed rule change to list and trade shares of the Grayscale Bitcoin Trust (BTC) under NYSE Arca Rule 8.201-E.”

Grayscale detailed that it had entered a Transfer Agency and Service Agreement with BNY Mellon, according to a filing shared by Bloomberg ETF analyst James Seyffart.

The bank will act as the agent for its Grayscale Bitcoin Trust (GBTC), facilitating the issuance and redemption of shares and maintaining shareholder accounts

#news #sec #etf

Crypto community begins Bitcoin halving countdown as milestone date nears

At the next halving event scheduled for April 2024, the Bitcoin mining reward will reduce from the current 6.25 BTC per block to 3.125 BTC per block.

Historically, the Bitcoin halving is linked to bullish momentum for the BTC price due to supply and demand dynamics. The halving of new supply amid growing demand usually pushes the BTC price to new highs in the months following the halving.

Two months prior to the last halving event in May 2020, the Bitcoin price was trading at less than $10,000. As the event drew closer, bullish momentum saw BTC’s price surpass the previous cycle’s all-time high of around $17,000. After the halving, the BTC price broke into parabolic momentum and created an all-time high of almost $69,000.

#news #btc #blockchain

Sam Altman ousted from OpenAI, CTO Mira Murati named interim CEO

ChatGPT developer OpenAI has removed founder Sam Altman from his CEO position, according to a Nov. 17 blog post. Chief technology officer Mira Murati will be promoted to interim CEO. According to the post, the board of directors engaged in a “deliberative review process,” which resulted in the conclusion that Altman “was not consistently candid in his communications with the board, hindering its ability to exercise its responsibilities.”

OpenAI’s board said it remains committed to building artificial intelligence (AI) applications going forward:
“OpenAI was deliberately structured to advance our mission: to ensure that artificial general intelligence benefits all humanity. The board remains fully committed to serving this mission. […] Mira is exceptionally qualified to step into the role of interim CEO. We have the utmost confidence in her ability to lead OpenAI during this transition period.”

The board also stated that it is “grateful for Sam’s many contributions to the founding and growth of OpenAI” but claimed that “new leadership is necessary as we move forward.” The board’s chairman, Greg Brockman, will also be stepping down from his position. However, he will remain as an employee, “reporting to the CEO,” according to the post.

The board of directors consists of Adam D’Angelo, Tasha McCauley, Helen Toner and OpenAI chief scientist Ilya Sutskever. According to the post, the majority of board members are “independent directors” who do not hold equity in OpenAI.

The named interim CEO, Mira Murati, is an engineer with Albanian roots and a Dartmouth education, recognized for her contributions to key OpenAI products as Chief Technology Officer, and will assume the interim role of CEO for OpenAI. Ms. Murati has a background spanning aerospace, automotive, VR, and AR, and held a senior product manager role at Tesla, contributing to the Model X. She also worked with Leap Motion, integrating AI into real-world applications. She joined OpenAI in 2018.

Altman is also the founder of Tools for Humanity, and the developer of crypto project Worldcoin. Cointelegraph reached out to Tools for Humanity for comment but did not get a response by the time of publication.