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BACK ON THE GRILL: In his second Congressional appearance in as many days, Facebook's David Marcus reiterated his promise that the Libra cryptocurrency would not launch until regulators’ concerns were fully addressed. But he stopped short of committing to freezing work on the project — much to the chagrin of House Financial Services Committee members. Like the previous day’s Senate Banking Committee hearing, Wednesday’s panel was wide-ranging, with lawmakers grilling Marcus on everything from money laundering to financial stability. Rep. Brad Sherman (D.-Calif.), perhaps crypto’s loudest Congressional critic, suggested that Libra was somehow more dangerous to America than 9/11. Comparatively sober colleagues wondered if the project would become “systemically important,” Beltway-speak for “too big to fail.” Full story
CUBA LIBRA? Cubans are quietly exploring cryptocurrency use cases on the politically isolated island, even watching Facebook’s Libra project with cautious optimism. Cuban expat Claudia Rodriguez of the Brazilian startup Fusyona, the sole bitcoin exchange proactively serving Cubans, told CoinDesk the exchange has nearly 700 accounts since launching in 2018 although volumes are still small. Meanwhile, Cuba’s communist party recently announced plans for a national cryptocurrency project as well. But given the country’s long history of market manipulation, many Cubans are apt to distrust government-backed financial institutions. Full story
MAKING WAVES: A startup founded by the Waves platform team, Vostok, has been sold to one of the project’s earliest investors. Waves CEO Alexander Ivanov reportedly sold his stake in the data management and smart city-oriented project to Mark Garber of the financial consultancy GHP Group. The Waves platform has developed blockchain solutions through partnering with some of Russia’s largest private and state-owned enterprises, as well as global firms, for institutional, industrial, and military use. Full story
‘VOLUNTARY’ RULES: The Financial Markets Authority (AMF), France’s top financial regulator, plans to release an experimental regulatory framework for crypto firms later this month, according to Reuters. The rules will include capital requirements, tax mandates, and consumer protection protocols – which “crypto-related firms will voluntarily abide by” in exchange for regulatory approval. Anne Marechal, executive director for legal affairs at the AMF, called the experimental arrangement a “precursor” for international crypto-specific legislation, rather than the mismatched application of financial regulations written prior to the advent of the asset class. Full story |
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| BTC ON THE MOVE: A new analysis by Coinfirm shows the movement of bitcoin stolen from Binance into various wallets. The hack, which netted 7,000 BTC, happened on May 7, 2019, and the hackers have been moving stolen bitcoin from wallet to wallet. Now, however, Coinfirm has spotted some activity that suggests the hackers are moving their gains off exchanges, potentially into other cryptocurrencies. Full story |
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| | UNICORN IN WAITING? Cryptocurrency sleuthing firm Chainalysis has made Forbes’ “Next Billion-Dollar Startups” list – the first cryptocurrency company to have done so. For the list, Forbes selects the “25 fast-growing, venture-backed startups most likely to reach $1 billion in value.” Chainalysis, which has garnered $53 million in VC funding from Accel and Benchmark, has seen revenues grow after it launched a tool that helps money processors and banks automatically comply with regulations when providing services for crypto firms, the piece says. |
WHO WON #CRYPTOTWITTER  |
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