According to Punch, a committee of the Nigerian House of Representatives has called Binance CEO Richard Teng to attend “on or before March 4″ in order to look into allegations of money laundering and terrorism financing.The Nigerian newspaper posted a statement on its website on Friday stating that Ginger Onwusibe, the head of the Committee on Financial Crimes, had made the call. This came days after two executives from Binance were arrested upon their arrival in the nation after being invited to meet with officials, as reported by Bloomberg. The nation’s central bank is furious with the cryptocurrency exchange, accusing it of inflaming the economic crisis by purportedly manipulating the exchange rate and permitting $26 billion in untraceable funds to flee the nation as it struggles with a foreign exchange crisis.Nigerian officials have threatened to punish the exchange up to $10 billion, according to a report from the BBC on Friday. However, a spokesman for the president later played down the allegation. If the exchange fails to meet the summons, the committee will take appropriate measures Onwusibe said according to Punch. “You cannot run a company with over 10 million Nigerians on your platform without paying tax and having a physical office where Nigerians can lodge their complaints when they experience any challenge with your

Following the demise of its stablecoin, USDR, last year, Tangible changed its name to re.al. In two weeks, the redesigned layer-2 blockchain is anticipated to be online. Can one of the most well-known failures in the real world assets (RWAs) space become a pillar of support for one of the most popular financial products in

The coin with a frog theme saw trade volumes rise to $3.6 billion, a record high. Despite the introduction of ecosystem upgrades by the developers of other meme tokens like as Floki, Dogecoin, and Shiba Inu, its increases exceeded those of these tokens. A rally in meme coins, led by the likes of dogecoin (DOGE)

A U.S. court determined on March 1 that the trading of certain cryptocurrency assets on a secondary market, like Coinbase, constitutes a securities transaction in an insider trading lawsuit involving Ishan Wahi, the former product manager of Coinbase, his brother Nikhil Wahi, and their friend Sameer Ramani. Despite Ramani’s token trades on the secondary market,

In the cryptocurrency space, MAGA coin—a joke coin with a Donald Trump theme—has become a prominent competitor.The meme coin is headed for the ranks of illustrious canine-inspired tokens such as Dogecoin (DOGE) and Shiba Inu (SHIB), as seen by its remarkable spike of about 400% over the past month, according to CoinGecko data, with a market valuation exceeding $285 million.Popular YouTube talk show personality and MAGA coin project director Steven Steele anticipates that the cryptocurrency will become as well-known and have the same market capitalization as these legendary meme coins. In a recent interview, Steele discussed his lofty objectives for the project and stressed how “PoliFi,” a portmanteau of decentralized finance (DeFi) and politics, has the ability to unite the domains of politics, finance, and community.Meme coins are sometimes criticized for being speculative and linked to the “degenerate” parts of the cryptocurrency industry, while some contend that they capture the playful spirit of trying to change the world financial system.For example, the Avalanche Foundation has said that it will be investing in meme coins because it believes that these coins have the ability to promote fun and community development in the cryptocurrency world. Steele contends that the Trump-themed coins serve a unique purpose beyond mere speculation.  He contends that the value of the coin essentially acts as an investment prediction market, with its value strongly correlated with significant events affecting Donald Trump.The accuracy of these coin motions amuses Steele, he said. Steele makes the case that traditional prediction markets are inferior than meme coins in terms of return potential and liquidity, with TRUMP being one example.Meme coins have the potential to yield exceptional returns; some tokens have grown by 100x or even 1,000x, while prediction markets offer a helpful hedge against macroeconomic disasters.This crucial distinction has drawn investors looking for high-risk, high-reward prospects in the cryptocurrency market.Upon closer examination of the political scene, it is clear that memes related to President Trump have become considerably more popular than those related to President Joseph Biden. Compared to the vibrant TRUMP community, the largest Biden meme coin has a market cap of only $340,000 and little activity, according to on-chain data.This disparity, in contrast to the more serious prediction markets, begs the question of whether meme coin performance actually reflects a candidate’s chances. Steele highlights that in order to sustain momentum and attention, the MAGA coin project’s roadmap coincides with election season and takes advantage of developments affecting Donald Trump.Decentralized autonomous organization (DAO) of the project actively promotes Trump’s official non-fungible token (NFT) series, drawing attention to the official NFT collection as well as the unofficial meme coin.Furthermore, a portion of the money raised from the sale of MAGA coins is donated to worthy causes like supporting homeless veterans and victims of child trafficking.Buying meme currencies, such as the MAGA token, is motivated by factors other than political support or affiliation. Given the attention economy that surrounds celebrities like Trump, many investors are lured to these assets because of the possible financial benefits that they bring.In a recent post on X, Mechanism Capital’s Andrew Kang stated that the investing thesis for the Trump token centers on Trump’s ongoing media appearances rather than his likelihood of winning the election. According to him, investors—both ardent MAGA supporters and seasoned token investors—find Trump’s ability to command attention to be an attractive aspect. In the future, Kang sees a “sell the news” reaction in response to Trump’s likely election triumph, much to the consolidation stage that Dogecoin went through following its connection to Elon Musk.Whatever one’s political stance, Trump is a desirable figure in the cryptocurrency industry due to his intriguing and unpredictable persona.

Richard Teng, the CEO of Binance, has been invited to appear before the Nigerian House of Representatives Committee on Financial Crimes due to allegations of money laundering and terrorism financing.Punch, a local news source, reports that Ginger Onwusibe, the chair of the committee, gave the Binance management until March 1 to come before the committee by March 4, 2024, at the latest.On February 27, the governor of Nigeria’s Central Bank (CBN) expressed worries regarding Binance, citing “suspicious flows” of funds through the exchange in 2023. Onwusibe issued a warning, stating that the committee would use its constitutional authority and take appropriate action if Binance disregarded the summons.In a letter dated December 12, 2023, and signed by Onwusibe, Punch claims that the committee requested that Teng show up for a hearing on December 18, 2023. Onwusibe voiced his disappointment in Teng for declining several offers to attend.Onwusibe underlined that it has to do with the regulations that currently regulate the nation’s financial and corporate operations being completely disregarded.Reiterating the committee’s resolve to fight financial crimes, Onwusibe emphasized that they are empowered by the constitution to protect Nigerians against financial crimes, especially those involving foreign corporations. In an effort to quell speculation over the country’s fiat currency, the Nigerian naira, the National Security Adviser’s office is also said to have detained two senior Binance officials in Abuja, the capital of Nigeria.Amid an ongoing crackdown on the cryptocurrency exchange, Binance suspended the naira from its peer-to-peer (P2P) service on Wednesday, February 28.Users can transact without the involvement of a third party by using the P2P capability.Under the administration of former President Muhammadu Buhari, it gained popularity in Nigeria in 2021 as a result of the government’s prohibition on the country’s booming cryptocurrency business. But in December 2023, the CBN simultaneously released regulations for virtual asset service providers and repealed a two-year restriction on banks doing cryptocurrency transactions.In 2022, Nigeria became the second nation to introduce a digital currency issued by its central bank.The cNGN stablecoin, pegged to the naira, was also introduced by the Africa Stablecoin Consortium in February under a CBN regulator sandbox.

Users of cryptocurrencies whose holdings were impacted by FTX’s insolvency expressed their worries and demanded an answer from FTX on the social media site X. Claims for popular cryptocurrency assets like Bitcoin (BTC), Ethereum, Solana, and BNB were priced substantially less than their current market prices when FTX established a claim window. According to Wu

Following the upcoming development in the cryptocurrency industry, real-world asset tokenization, Chainlink creator Sergey Nazarov highlighted the importance of this new crypto buyer group. According to Chainlink founder Sergey Nazarov, the current cryptocurrency market cycle is distinct because of the volume of new investors joining the market. This could accelerate the adoption of real-world asset

Civil recovery orders for the seizure of cryptocurrency assets will be part of the UK’s economic crime laws starting of April 26. As at the end of April, UK law enforcement officials will have the authority to freeze cryptocurrency assets used in criminal activity without needing to secure a conviction, according to recently disclosed Statutory

The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) requested an extension of time to file a submission that would conclude Ripple Labs’ legal dispute, and Judge Analisa Torres granted the request.The SEC was given an extension to file its discovery papers pertaining to remedies that Ripple had offered, according to court records filed on March 1.The regulator has until March 22 to submit its opening brief thanks to the delay.Additionally, Ripple’s opposition brief deadline has been extended to April 22, and the SEC’s new reply deadline is May 6, 2024.A document outlining prospective legal remedies and actions that might be taken into consideration or pursued in connection with the dispute is known as a remedies-related briefing. The SEC filed a lawsuit against Ripple Labs in December 2020, alleging that the company, its co-founder Chris Larsen, and CEO Brad Garlinghouse had conducted an unregistered securities offering through sales of the XRP coin, worth $1.3 billion. The SEC claims that the token ought to be categorized as a security and be governed by stringent laws.Conversely, Ripple contended that XRP is not a security and that they were not given adequate notice by the SEC about its classification.Over the years, the lawsuit has witnessed a number of developments and court battles.The debate around the “Howey test,” which establishes whether a transaction meets the requirements to be classified as a “investment contract” under US law, is one important component.The SEC claims that XRP satisfies the Howey test requirements, although Ripple disputes this. Judge Analisa Torres made a significant ruling in July 2023, partially supporting Ripple Labs by ruling that XRP was not a security in relation to its programmatic sales on digital asset exchanges.But the judge also decided that when XRP was offered to institutional buyers, it was regarded as a security.After contacting Ripple, Cointelegraph has not heard back as of yet.

The study, according to the Texas Blockchain Council and Bitcoin mining company Riot Platforms, was politically motivated and a threat to American innovation and economic expansion. The Texas Blockchain Council (TBC) and Bitcoin mining company Riot Platforms have reached a deal with US energy officials to cancel the proposed emergency survey that was aimed at

The nation’s 0.11% VAT on cryptocurrency transactions and 0.1% capital gains tax have both been called into question by the Indonesian Commodity Futures Trading Regulatory Agency. According to reports, the Ministry of Finance in Indonesia has been urged to evaluate its position on cryptocurrency taxation by the country’s Commodity Futures Trading Regulatory Agency (Bappebti). Executive

The president of Nigeria’s advisor, Bayo Onanuga, stated that no choice had been made on a fine for the cryptocurrency exchange. A spokesman of the Nigerian government has denied rumours that cryptocurrency exchange Binance would be fined $10 billion. The claims made by the BBC, according to Bayo Onanuga, the Nigerian president’s special advisor on

Giovanni Vicioso, the executive director of equity and alternative products at the CME Group, told Cointelegraphin an exclusive interview that the impending introduction of Bitcoin and Ether futures products denominated in euros would increase institutional cryptocurrency adoption in the eurozone. “I think when you look at our current suite of United States dollar-denominated products, we

In the midst of a crackdown on cryptocurrency exchanges, the Nigerian government is requesting $10 billion in reparations, thus cryptocurrency trading site Binance has withdrawn the naira from its peer-to-peer (P2P) service. The special adviser to President Bola Tinubu, Bayo Onanuga, provided an update on the compensation demand in a BBC interview on March 1.

During a cross-examination on Friday in the U.K. trial concerning his claims to have invented Bitcoin, Craig Wright accused detractors of eavesdropping his house and spoofing an email he has been accused of doctoring. Spoofing is the process of altering an email’s information to appear as though it was sent from a different address, among

Brazil is now able to trade the iShares Bitcoin Trust ETF (IBIT), a spot bitcoin ETF offered by BlackRock (BLK). On Friday, the fund began trading on the B3 stock exchange in Brazil. The company said that BlackRock’s iShares Bitcoin Trust ETF (IBIT), which has been the most successful out of the ten spot bitcoin

The Worldcoin WLD token fell during Friday’s European morning trading when it was revealed that a connected firm, OpenAI, was the target of a lawsuit. WLD fell 2.2% in less than an hour after Reuters revealed that, in a filing on Thursday, tech billionaire Elon Musk had filed a breach of contract lawsuit against OpenAI

According to a study report released on February 29 by blockchain security company Immunefi, over $200.4 million in cryptocurrency has been lost to hacks and rug pulls in 2024 year-to-date (YTD), spanning 32 separate events. Comparing the over $200 million loss YTD to January and February 2023, when digital assets valued at $173 million were

  The developers of the dog-themed cryptocurrency platform Floki (FLOKI) will put out a proposal to burn 2% of the token’s current supply in order to boost network security and create scarcity. Lead developer B posted on Telegram, stating, “We’re proposing a burn of 190,918,585,431.84 $FLOKI tokens.” That equates to about 2% of the token’s

According to Reuters, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has expressed disapproval of a $166 million retainer payment made to Terraform’s attorneys. Furthermore, the article stated that the SEC has stated that Terraform should not be permitted to retain the legal firm Dentons or cover employee litigation expenses. The SEC claims that Terraform transferred

A spokesman for Shiba Inu said in a recent announcement on Wednesday that the company intends to launch a new privacy-focused network on top of the Shibarium blockchain, which will improve the value proposition of SHIB tokens. On the network that isn’t yet named, Shiba Inu is collaborating with open-source cryptography company Zama. The network

The world’s biggest cryptocurrency exchange, Binance, has announced the launch of a new program that enables new users to become eligible for its VIP Invitation Program based on the total volume of their traditional assets or cryptocurrency from outside trading venues.The enlarged VIP program was unveiled by the exchange on February 28. It was dubbed the “first of its kind” by a major cryptocurrency exchange serving high-volume traditional asset traders.In order to qualify for the incentive, new platform users must meet the trading volume requirements of the Binance VIP Program, which are equivalent to a 30-day aggregate spot or futures trading volume in cryptocurrencies or traditional assets.These users will, per the announcement, be “instantly upgraded” to a VIP level higher on the exchange for a period of two months. Catherine Chen, the head of Binance VIP and Institutional, commented that the evolution of crypto mainstream acceptance has played a big role in expanding user opportunities. “The successful listing of bitcoin spot ETFs and their inflows not only demonstrates that there is clear market demand for cryptocurrencies, it also shows any gap between traditional

Following Bitcoin’s peak since 2021, Daniel Yan, co-founder of the Singaporean crypto services company Matrixport, predicts an impending market drop. “The sentiment of the market has come to a level where I think we should be cautious,” the co-founder wrote on February 28. “I think we should see another healthy ~15% correction by end-April.” In explaining his rationale, Yan said that the month of March is a “tricky one” from a macroeconomic perspective, pointing

Bitcoin (BTC) surged past $59,000 for a fifth consecutive day of gains on Wednesday, boosting U.S. stocks tied to the cryptocurrency industry in pre-market trading. The largest cryptocurrency by market value, which was approximately 14% below its record high of roughly $69,000, saw a 4.8% gain over the course of a day, bringing it to

Sen. Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts, a Democrat, has criticised the cryptocurrency sector once more, claiming that they are hesitant to abide by the laws. “I wanna collaborate with the industry, what I don’t understand is why the industry seems to be saying that they only way that they can survive is if there’s plenty of

One of the first businesses to bring non-crypto assets to blockchains, Centrifuge, will allow Finoa, a regulated German cryptocurrency custodian, to provide its clients with tokenized real-world assets (RWA). The initial RWA token comes from one of Centrifuge’s Anemoy funds, which is an on-chain pool of short-term US Treasury bills that is actively managed and