‘Many Existing Stablecoins Would Not Meet Coming Standards’, Fireblocks to Launch Off-exchange Service, Stellar & USDC Added to Wirex Wallet

Get your daily, bite-sized digest of cryptoasset and blockchain-related news – investigating the stories flying under the radar of today’s crypto news.
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Regulation news

• The Financial Stability Board (FSB) ‘s “work concludes that many existing stablecoins would not currently meet [the incoming] high-level recommendations, nor would they meet the international standards,” said the FSB Chair Klaas Knot in a letter to G20 finance ministers and central bank governors. The FSB, an international body that monitors and prepares recommendations about the global financial system, is set to finalize and publish its proposals for regulating crypto and stablecoins in July this year.
• Hong Kong’s Securities and Futures Commission (SFC) may allow retail investors to buy crypto, according to the latest policy proposal. SFC now calls for public feedback on its proposed licensing regime for crypto exchanges: whether it should allow licensed exchanges to serve retail investors in the country, and what measures should be implemented to provide “robust investor protection measures.” The regime is set to take effect in June 2023.

Exchange news

• Digital asset platform Fireblocks is gearing up to launch an “off-exchange” service – a new platform that would help traditional finance firms guard against collapses like that of the FTX exchange, the Financial News reported. The company said the product would act as an intermediary, letting firms keep cryptoassets in custody while trading. The assets only move post-trade for settlement.
• Binance Fan Token announced a new royalty system for the token holders – Binance Fan Club. Per the announcement, fans can collect Star Points by engaging with the teams and unlock exclusive fan privileges, such as VIP tickets to team matches, meet & greet sessions, and personalized video clips from players. All new users who sign up with crypto exchange Binance via Binance Fan Club, and Binance Fan Token holders who own at least one LAZIO, PORTO, SANTOS, or ALPINE token in their Binance accounts, can also claim a Fan Badge each as proof of their membership, it added.

Wallet news

• Digital payment platform Wirex said that it became “the world’s first non-custodial wallet without seed phrase vulnerability to launch the Stellar blockchain.” With this, stellar (XLM) and USD coin (USDC) on Stellar have been added to the Wirex Wallet. The integration adds to the eight other blockchains available on the Wirex Wallet, added the press release.

Payments news

• Virtual payment card provider Lanistar has gone live with Google Pay operability to its virtual payment card in Brazil, this being “the first time the Lanistar service has been approved for use through Google’s proprietary secure payment platform,” said a press release. This will allow the fintech’s services to be more accessible for users by assuring there will be no restrictions when it comes to making transactions, it said. The app also integrates with regional payment solutions PIX and Boleto.

Investment news

• The TON Foundation, a non-profit association working to advance The Open Network (TON), has opened up its ecosystem to start-ups and investors based at Hub71+ Digital Assets, an Abu Dhabi-based Web3 specialist ecosystem backed by the Government of the United Arab Emirates (UAE), with more than $2 billion of capital to deploy. Per a press release, start-ups based at Hub71+ Digital Assets will also be able to apply for funding with the $250 million TONcoin.Fund.
• The Sui Foundation, which is dedicated to supporting the SUI ecosystem, announced that it partnered with digital asset financial services company BitGo to enable holders of SUI tokens to custody and stake these tokens via custodial and non-custodial wallets on BitGo’s platform. The two companies also announced that the Sui Foundation will custody its own treasury with BitGo and stake part of this treasury using BitGo’s wallets.