Google’s crypto tokens, Binance’s regulatory troubles, free NFTs and more — Here’s what happened in the world of crypto this past week

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Google’s crypto tokens, Binance’s regulatory troubles, free NFTs and more — Here’s what happened in the world of crypto this past week
  • As Bitcoin becomes more popular, it’s also attracting more scrutiny with numerous countries mulling how to regulate and tax this new digital asset class.
  • While the crypto community is excited about some laws, it fears that others will bottleneck the massive growth seen in cryptocurrencies during the pandemic.
  • Here’s a quick look at everything that happened in the cryptocurrency market last week.
The world of cryptocurrencies saw some noticeable developments in the week gone by as the fear, uncertainty and doubt (FUD) around these digital assets continues to grow.

The world’s largest crypto exchange — Binance — was at the centre of a lot of it. Not only was it banned in the UK, but other developed countries have been cracking down its operations as well, like Japan and Canada.

Meanwhile, in China, the continued tightening of the country’s ban on Bitcoin mining has led to BTC China (BTCC) — the country’s oldest crypto exchange — shutting shop altogether.

Back home, India is mulling over what kind of crypto tax to introduce for foreign crypto exchanges. Last week, there were reports of a 2% equalisation levy coming into play and this time around there is speculation that the government is thinking of stamping a 18% Goods and Services Tax (GST) on crypto transactions.

But it’s not all gloom and doom. Germany, for example, is on the cusp of passing a new law that could open the doors to more crypto investment coming in. Racing giant Formula One just struck a $100 million sponsorship deal with crypto.com.

The biggest update from the last seven days is probably that Coinbase is planning to launch an app store of decentralised apps (DApps) akin to the technology behemoth behind the iPhone, Apple.

Here’s our weekly roundup of the best cryptocurrency news from the week gone by:
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Here’s how the top cryptocurrencies performed in the last week

Here’s how the top cryptocurrencies performed in the last week
CoinMarketCap / Business Insider India / Flourish

Trade in Google, Tesla, Facebook stocks via crypto tokens

Trade in Google, Tesla, Facebook stocks via crypto tokens
Business Insider

The Hong Kong-based crypto exchange FTX will allow its users to trade in tokenized stocks of tech giants Google, Tesla, Facebook, Netflix and Nvidia.

Crypto tokens let investors and traders alike buy and sell these stocks without the restrictions of conventional trading, including the time zone difference, since the FTX is open 24 hours a day.

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The world’s largest crypto exchange is facing the threat of multiple bans

The world’s largest crypto exchange is facing the threat of multiple bans
Binance

Britain’s financial watchdog has banned leading crypto exchange Binance from operating in the country without its express approval. This has resulted in over 60 crypto companies withdrawing their applications to do business in the country.

In Japan, the Financial Services Agency (FSA) has threatened Binance with criminal charges if it continues to do business without a license. While the island nation only issued a warning, the Thailand Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) went through with it. A criminal complaint was filed on Friday.

Meanwhile, in Canada, Binanace chose to shut shop on its own after the Ontario Securities Commission (OSC) accused it and several other trading platforms of failing to comply with local regulations.

Singapore and World Bank offer $1,50,000 prize to create a ‘workable’ central bank digital currency

Singapore and World Bank offer $1,50,000 prize to create a ‘workable’ central bank digital currency
Unsplash

Singapore has joined forces with the World Bank, International Monetary Fund, the United Nations, Asian Development Bank and others to offer a prize of $1,50,000 each to three winners for coming up with a proposal for a central bank digital currency (CBDC) that can overcome the existing challenges around distribution and infrastructure.

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China’s oldest crypto exchange ends operations

China’s oldest crypto exchange ends operations
Unsplash

BTCC, China’s oldest crypto exchange, has shut down after operating for a decade. The decision to shut it down came after the Chinese government’s continued clampdown on mining in the country.

However, the company will continue to keep one foot in the door. It intends to focus on creating blockchain-based applications going forward.

Universal basic income for everyone on Earth

Universal basic income for everyone on Earth
Unsplash

Sam Altman, the former head of Y Combinator, wants to use cryptocurrencies to provide universal basic income (UBI) to everyone on the planet.

And, the plan is to do it by scanning a person’s iris in order to identify them using a silver, basketball-sized device.

The concept was introduced back in 2019 and is called the ‘Worldcoin’.

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Coinbase reveals plans for a crypto app store

Coinbase reveals plans for a crypto app store
Coinbase

Coinbase has revealed plans to launch a crypto app store, inspired by Apple.

In a blog post published Tuesday, the company’s CEO Brian Armstrong said Coinbase's goal is to allow any app built on decentralized crypto digital infrastructure to be accessible to the crypto exchange's users, by integrating a customer's wallet with their identity.

Will Coinbase manage to become the Apple of cryptocurrency exchanges? Only time will tell.

Twitter is giving away 140 free NFTs

Twitter is giving away 140 free NFTs
Business Insider

Non-fungible tokens (NFTs) have more serious applications than being used for digital art, but until we get there, there’s no harm in having some fun.

Twitter has joined the NFT bandwagon and it is giving away 140 NFTs for free. The campaign includes various designs of the Twitter logo.

And of course, the 140 number reflects the original character limit for tweets.

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GST on foreign crypto exchanges in India likely

GST on foreign crypto exchanges in India likely
Wikimedia

Buying and selling on foreign crypto exchanges could soon get expensive for Indians with the Indian government reportedly mulling bringing foreign crypto exchanges under the ambit of Goods and Services Tax (GST) regime.

If this is made official, investors and traders could end up paying 18% GST.