Kalam Crypto #67: U.S. Regulators go to war, as Hong Kong opens doors to crypto

“Plan B should always be: make Plan A work.” Jeff Bezos

Ramadan Kareem! 🌙 Ahlan wa sahlan, and welcome to the 67th edition of CoinMENA's weekly newsletter, Kalam Crypto. This week we have another packed news week: U.S. regulators continue their crackdown on Coinbase & Binance, while HongKong reopens its arms to crypto, DoKwon is arrested, BTC adoption increasing at the fastest rate since 2021, and CoinMENA launches CoinMENA University & $5,000 in giveaways this Ramadan! All that and more, so let's dive into this week's letter, and talk crypto:

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Lightning Round ⚡️

• U.S. War on Crypto: The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) issued Coinbase a Wells Notice regarding investigations into several offerings, continuing the trend of regulatory actions against US crypto companies. In a blog post, Coinbase’s head of legal said the company is ready and prepared to defend its operations and welcomes legal process to provide the clarity they have been seeking.

• Binance and CEO CZ sued by CFTC: Binance, its CEO Changpeng Zhao (CZ), and CCO Samuel Lim face a lawsuit from the U.S. Commodity Futures & Trading Commission (CFTC) for violating trading and derivatives regulations. The company has never registered with the CFTC and is accused of disregarding federal laws regarding financial markets, including measures to prevent money laundering and terrorism financing.

• One door closes, another opens: While the U.S. is waging war on crypto firms, Hong Kong gets ready to welcome them with open arms. Hong Kong's regulators have introduced new licensing rules to revive the region's previous position as a leader in the crypto ecosystem, which was lost due to China's crackdown on digital assets. 

• Justice served: Do Kwon, the founder of Terraform Labs, was indicted on fraud charges in the US shortly after being arrested in Montenegro. He faces charges of securities fraud, wire fraud, and commodities fraud, as well as a separate charge from the SEC for an unregistered security offering.

• Microsoft Edge browser wallet: Microsoft is developing an Ethereum-based Web3 wallet for its browser, enabling users to send and receive digital assets and NFTs through a non-custodial wallet. 

Global News 🌍

Nasdaq Crypto Custody: Nasdaq is reportedly set to launch its crypto custody suite before the end of Q2 2023, with the necessary technical infrastructure and regulatory approvals being put in place. The move indicates strong institutional-grade interest in the crypto industry, despite the challenges faced by various sectors within the ecosystem in 2022.

Keep An Eye On 👀

Bitcoin addresses with more than 0 BTC are growing at the fastest rate since early 2021.

Meme Of The Week 🤡

Memes play a crucial role in crypto culture. In fact, you can tell the health of the market by the quality and creativity of the memes during that week. This week a special meme was born. TLDR, Ripple founder paid $5 million to Green Peace to fund an anti-bitcoin campaign called “change the code”. They commissioned an artist to create an installation that was supposed to warn the public about the dangers of bitcoin’s proof of work mining. The campaign backfired spectacularly. Bitcoiners loved the installation, and are using it for their profile pictures and thousands of memes were born. Even the artist himself tweeted that he was misinformed about the value of proof of work mining. This comic cartoon sums it up nicely too.

Tweet Of The Week 🐥

CoinMENA News 🗞

$5,000 in Ramadan Prizes: CoinMENA is giving away $5,000 in the Holy Month of Ramadan! With daily $100 airdrops on Instagram (@coinmena) and Twitter (@CoinMENA) + 250 USDT prize to 8 users at the end of Ramadan ($15 min. trade to qualify)!

🎓Presenting CoinMENA University

Don’t know where to start learning about crypto? Visit our website for fundamentals on 🟠Bitcoin, 📲Trading, 🧠Financial Literacy, 🚀Crypto 101, & 🔒Security! Over 100 articles, videos, and animations are all available for free in Arabic and English!

Quiz Corner ✅ 

Last week’s question: How are new bitcoins created?

Answer: They are mined by solving complex mathematical problems

This week’s question: What does "Non-fungible" mean?

a. Something that is unique and cannot be replaced

b. Something that can be replaced by an identical item

c. Something that is not important in financial matters

See the answer in next week’s newsletter. Or check out our new learning platform https://university.coinmena.com/