Kalam Crypto #68: CBB expands crypto framework while US push crypto offshore

“A lot of the dismissals, criticisms, and attacks on Bitcoin come from people who have the luxury of having a stable financial system.” – Alex Gladstein

Ramadan Kareem! 🌙 Ahlan wa sahlan, and welcome to the 68th edition of CoinMENA's weekly newsletter, Kalam Crypto. This week, the Central Bank of Bahrain expands its crypto assets regulatory framework, U.S. companies moving operations to international hubs to escape the hostile regulatory environment, and SBF slapped with new charges. All that and more, so let's dive into this week's letter, and talk crypto:

Prefer to listen to Kalam Crypto instead? Check out our podcast:

Local News 📍

The Central Bank of Bahrain (CBB) has expanded its crypto-assets framework to include digital token offerings that exhibit security characteristics. The bank will examine the digital token's economic purpose, structure, characteristics, and attached rights to determine if it qualifies as a security. The amendments also introduce new requirements to enhance client asset safeguarding and allow licensees to engage in additional activities with approval. We’re proud to be licensed in a progressive jurisdiction that fosters innovation as well as safeguards investors.

Lightning Round ⚡️

SBF slapped with new charges: SBF is charged with yet another crime, this time it's bribing Chinese politicians with $40 million to unfreeze Alameda Research accounts.

Bitcoin Whitepaper on the Formula 1 Grid: Kraken announced their partnership with F1 team Williams, and to kick off their campaign they pasted parts of the Bitcoin Whitepaper on the nose of the Williams car.

US Government is selling Bitcoin: US Govt Sold ~9,800 BTC on March 14 and intends to sell another 41,500 BTC that was seized from a Silk Road hacker 5 years ago. Despite that, the BTC price is up 16% since March 14. 

U.S. regulatory crackdown forces Bittrex to shut down U.S. operations: Operation Choke Point 2.0 is proving too much for some firms to deal with. Bittrex, a 9-year-old exchange announced they are winding down U.S. operations, but Bittrex Global will remain open for business.

U.S. regulators’ crypto crackdown sees USDC lose ground to USDT: Over the past month, the USDT market cap is up 12%, while USDC is down 24%.

Face Palm Of The Week 🤦‍♂️

Arbitrum, a popular ETH Layer 2, launched its token last week, and things have not been going well. First, the price crashed by 90% almost instantly. Then they hosted a governance vote to spend $750 million ARB tokens by the foundation. The community voted against it, but then the foundation claimed the vote wasn’t a “request”, but more of a “ratification”, and that they have already spent ~6.7% of it. 

Tweet Of The Week 🐥

Coinbase is running ads showing that the U.S. is losing ground to other crypto-friendly hubs like the U.A.E.

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)!

🎓Read CoinMENA University To Win!

Want to find out our Fawazeer ‘quiz’ answers easily? Visit our CoinMENA University website and check out over 100 articles, videos, and animations all available for free in Arabic and English!

Quiz Corner ✅ 

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

Answer: Something that is unique and cannot be replaced

This week’s question: What kind of information can be stored in blocks on a blockchain?

A) Only economic transactions

B) Only cryptocurrency transactions

C) Any kind of information

D) Only personal information

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