Esports’ Team SoloMid (TSM), which was once sponsored by the now beleaguered FTX, has decided to embark on a new blockchain partnership, nevermind its unpleasant divorce from its former sponsor.
The company announced a partnership with Avalanche as TSM is looking to launch a dedicated competitive platform which will introduce more esports players to web3 gaming and technology.
Regulation dominated the news this week, with jurisdictions moving at the same time. India stated flatly that it would introduce new laws on crypto trading. The country’s money laundering laws will now be extended to cover cryptocurrencies, the federal government confirmed. This comes at a time when authorities are already looking into several crypto operations in the country.
Meanwhile, the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) in the UK has said that cryptocurrencies ought to be regulated in the same way as “risky investments” in mainstream finances. Essentially, the regulator’s chair Ashley Alder said that his institution would seek to “detoxify” the industry and create safer rules for all.
At the same time, the FCA has been conducting operations in collaboration with Metropolitan Police to shut down illegal Bitcoin ATMs which have taken to the streets and reportedly not have been registered with any authority.
As others hurry up with their regulatory framework, some countries have announced delays in their planned crypto regulation.
Australia is one such place where regulation of the sector is unlikely to arrive before 2024. Lawmakers are working to ensure that regulation comes in the newly-set timeline. While regulators have been scrambling to pass laws, companies have been packing up and moving out argues Ripple Labs chief executive Brad Garlinghouse who said that the “crypto brain drain” has already begun.
Garlinghouse has been one of the most critical executives from the industry to assail the ham-fisted approach by the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) in the US, arguing that innovation will be stifled if the watchdog was to continue its blind enforcement of arbitrary and ill-defined rules that the industry cannot follow due to a lack of clarity.
While many fret about the future of the crypto industry, one cryptocurrency exchange has decided to hold its ground. US-based Kraken is now going to launch its own crypto bank. The news comes as a silver lining against a backdrop of legal developments this week.
SEC has also been able to shut down a mining scam which it alleges cost investors $100m this week. The targeted company, BKCoin Management, was shuttered as a result. Across the Atlantic, in Egypt, authorities were able to similarly shut down a crypto scam that cost people $620,000.
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