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The UK's Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) is reportedly willing to work with the crypto industry to develop regulations. Over the past ten years, the cryptocurrency sector has experienced exponential expansion, with the UK driving the trend. The UK's cryptocurrency business experienced the greatest growth globally in 2021, according to a report from the digital asset investing company CoinShares published in March of that year.
Apart from that, here are some of the top stories from the crypto industry this week.
Circle, the creator of US Dollar Coin (USDC) has launched Cross-Chain Transfer Protocol (CCTP), which allows developers to easily move the USDC stablecoin between Ethereum and Avalanche.
Previously, users had to deposit their USDC with a Circle partner or use a third-party bridge to move their coins from one network to the other. CCTP basically eliminates the need for Circle partners or third-party bridges to transfer between these networks.
According to Circle, apps that use CCTP will allow users to “burn and mint” or “teleport” USDC between blockchains. The team behind USDC anticipates that CCTP will alleviate the issue of “fragmentation” in the web3 ecosystem.
South Korea has cleared its first hurdle as the National Assembly passed the first phase of the review of the cryptocurrency bill. Now the Legislation and Judiciary Committee has to approve the bill and then will proceed to the final stage of approval.
Numerous restrictions on the purchase, storage, and trading of cryptocurrencies are included in the drafted legislation, with a focus on consumer protection and compliance reporting.
The new regulations are expected to build a safer and more secure trading environment for investors, as well as help prevent money laundering and other illicit activities in the crypto market.
Tech giant Alphabet has expanded the Google for Startups Cloud Program with Web3 companies such as Alchemy, Aptos, Base, Celo, Flow, Hedera, Nansen, Near, Polygon, Solana and Thirdweb.
Google for Startups Cloud Program has been broadening its outreach to Web3 and blockchain startups to enable emerging projects building in the industry to get started faster through an expansion of its program.
Access to the program will include up to $200,000 over two years in Google Cloud Credits that will allow access to numerous services and 12 months of free Google Workspace Business Plus.
Romania has established an NFT marketplace, ICI D Services, institutional NFT platform to drive Web3 adoption in the country. The country’s National Institute for Research and Development in Informatics has been at the forefront towards developing this.
The platform is primarily an NFT marketplace, allowing public and institutional users to mint, manage and trade NFTs. It aims to create a link between private and public sector institutions and users.
The Bucharest-based institute has prioritised research and development of Web3 tools like NFT and blockchain technology in recent years due to the increasing global proliferation of NFTs.
The French financial authority has been considering a "fast track" alternative for licenced crypto businesses to become regulated under the impending Markets in Crypto-Assets (MiCA) rules.
France recently toughened its crypto registration procedures in the wake of crypto exchange FTX's collapse and in preparation for the European Union’s Markets in Crypto Assets law. MiCA was approved by the European Parliament last week, and the regulations are expected to go into effect starting in July 2023.
According to the French Financial Markets Authority, "fast track" alternatives are being considered for these companies so that they can comply with MiCA laws as soon as possible.
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Disclaimer: This article was authored by Giottus Crypto Exchange as a part of a paid partnership with The News Minute. Crypto products and NFTs are unregulated and can be highly risky. There may be no regulatory recourse for any loss from such transactions. Please do your own research before investing and seek independent legal/financial advice if you are unsure about the investments.