By 
Binance is currently under investigation by the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The company is suspected in 2017 of violating certain securities rules by selling its digital token (BNB) in its ICO without registering the transactions with the SEC.rial token(BNB) in its Initial Coin Offering (ICO) without first registering the transactions with U.S. authorities. Last year, the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) had already opened an investigation, which is still ongoing, to determine whether Binance employees had committed insider trading and thus manipulated the markets. Other investigations into the platform are also open related to money laundering matters. So Changpeng Zhao, the CEO of Binance, is going to have a tough time in the coming months...
Coinbase, one of the largest cryptocurrency platforms, announced on its corporate blog that: "In response to current market conditions and ongoing business prioritization efforts, we will be extending our hiring pause for new positions and replacements for the foreseeable future and cancelling a number of accepted offers...". An announcement that reflects the negative sentiment of the platform's leaders in this gloomy macroeconomic environment.
The New York State Senate passed a two-year moratorium on Bitcoin 's Proof-of-Work mining in an effort to address environmental concerns related to its mining system. Specifically, any company wanting to set up in New York State to carry out mining activities will have to wait for two years while a study on the environmental impact of the proof-of-work is carried out. It should be noted that the Governor, Kathy Hochul, still has to sign the bill before it is finally adopted.
The Beaugrenelle Center in Paris will become the first shopping center in France to accept cryptocurrencies. In partnership with French app Lyzi, it will be possible to buy gift cards with cryptocurrencies. And yes, so it won't be possible, for now, to directly buy clothes or other items directly with the app. However, this initiative allows consumers to get acquainted with the crypto ecosystem and better understand how it works. It's also a way for investors to spend their cryptos concretely in the economy, keeping in the back of their minds that they'll have to remember to declare capital gains, if any, when converting the cryptos into euros.
Epic Games, the video game publisher of Fortnite, plans to host Grit, a Wild West-themed game from Web3 Gala Games. It will be the first-ever NFT-based game on Epic Games Store. The company described Grit as a ride-or-die battle royale. In it, players will compete in showdowns and shootouts, and different modes will allow players to team up with other players and teams. The beginnings of a blockchainized Fortnite?
PayPal, the must-have online payment service system, is finally allowing crypto holders to transfer their digital assets on the platform to other wallets and exchange platforms. This was the most frequently requested feature by users since the US giant's digital asset buying, selling and holding went live in late 2020.
As part of its goal to become a "global crypto hub," Britain will begin live testing blockchain technology for traditional market activities such as trading and settlement of stocks and bonds in 2023. This year, a new law related to financial services including stablecoins and cryptocurrencies backed by financial assets will be submitted to parliament. Measures that will potentially appeal to some players in the cryptosphere.
Let's finish this Crypto Recap with an unusual news. The star footballer of the German league, Kevin Prince Boateng, is organizing his wedding in the "Over" metaverse. The player will marry the model and businesswoman Valentina Fradegrada on June 11 and the invitations will only be available as NFT and in limited edition on the famous marketplace OpenSea. The former Barcelona man did not hide his enthusiasm: "I wanted to do something special for Valentina, something that no one had ever done". One more opportunity to speculate...
(Click on the heatmap below to better visualize the variations)
More crypto reading
(Wired).
The crypto billionaire's widow
(The Walrus).
A long-awaited defense against data leaks may have just arrived (Wired)
