Get your daily, bite-sized digest of cryptoasset and blockchain-related news – investigating the stories flying under the radar of today’s crypto news.
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Investments news
- One in six surveyed Australians now own cryptocurrency, with the value of their holdings totalling USD 8bn, according to Finder Consumer Sentiment Tracker’s data, operated by Qualtrics. This is an ongoing nationally representative survey of 1,000 Australians each month. The most popular cryptocurrency is bitcoin (BTC) with 9% of respondents currently owning it; 8% own ethereum (ETH), 5% own dogecoin (DOGE), and 4% own bitcoin cash (BCH). 35% of respondents claim that Bitcoin will eventually be transacted more widely than traditional currency.
- Japanese financial conglomerate SBI Holdings is aiming to launch the country’s first crypto fund by the end of November, Bloomberg reported. The fund could grow to several hundred million dollars invested in coins including bitcoin, ethereum, XRP, bitcoin cash, litecoin (LTC) and possibly others, said Tomoya Asakura, who oversees asset management for Japan’s biggest online brokerage. He added that investors may need to put in a minimum of roughly JPY 1m (USD 9,100) to JPY 3m (USD 27,300) and it will mainly be aimed at people who understand risks associated with cryptoassets.
- Regulated and licensed decentralized finance platform EQIFI has announced new products supporting the Tezos (XTZ) blockchain ecosystem. EQIFI will offer Tezos staking and borrowing services to its global customer base, they said. EQIFI is powered by EQIBank, a licensed and regulated digital bank, while its native EQX token allows community members to provide input on decisions such as listing and delisting assets and tokens, adjusting interest rates according to the market, and modifying collateral limits.
Economics news
- In the US, nonfarm payrolls increased by 235,000 jobs last month, the smallest gain since January, Reuters reported, adding that data for July was revised up to show a whopping 1.053 million jobs created instead of the previously reported 943,000. However, wages increased by 0.6% and fewer people were experiencing long spells of unemployment.
Exchanges news
- Coinbase has announced that its users in the UK will soon be able to earn staking rewards with Ethereum 2.0 (ETH 2.0), with a waiting list for the product launched this week ahead of its roll out in the near future. Staking allows customers to earn up to 5% Annual Percentage Rate (APR) a year by converting their ETH into ETH2 and staking their assets on Coinbase, they said.
- The Financial Sector Conduct Authority of South Africa warned the public “to be cautious and vigilant when dealing with Binance Group as they are not authorized to give any financial advice or render any intermediary services” in South Africa.
Regulation news
- Two bills that help adoption of cryptoassets and blockchain are now law in Texas, US: Texas House Bills 4474 and 1576 officially took effect on September 1. They passed by both chambers in the state legislature in May and were signed into law by Governor Greg Abbott in June. H.B. 1576 establishes a blockchain working group in Texas, while H.B. 4474 amends the state’s Uniform Commercial Code to recognize cryptoassets under commercial law.
- Nigeria’s securities regulator has set up a fintech division to study crypto investments and products in order to come up with regulations, Reuters reported, citing Lamido Yuguda, the head of the country’s Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). He did not provide a time frame for issuing regulations but said the SEC will step in with regulations once crypto is allowed within the Nigerian banking system.
Blockchain news
- Cardano (ADA) has launched smart contracts functionality on the blockchain’s testnet. This allows developers to start building decentralized applications, as well as test them and the functionality out, before they’re officially rolled out. “We upgraded the Cardano testnet, successfully deploying Plutus smart contracts capability,” said the Cardano development firm Input Output. “The focus now is on final component testing & exchange integrations, ahead of the Alonzo mainnet upgrade, still on track for deployment on 12 September.”
Banking news
- Major Russian banking and financial institution Sberbank is looking to register its digital asset issuance platform with the central Bank of Russia by mid-September, according to TASS. Anatoly Popov, Deputy Chairman of the Board of Sberbank, is cited as saying that the company continues active consultations with the central bank on how the product should look like, as well as the technical requirements for it.
