Cyprus Financial News

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Crypto exchange Bybit has announced a license approval to operate as an exchange and custody service in Cyprus. The world’s third most visited crypto exchange will begin offering to trade between crypto and fiat currency pairs and crypto-related financial services.

Source: AdobeStock / prima91

 

Binance Markets Limited, a UK subsidiary of Binance, has canceled its registration with a UK regulator. 

Troubled cryptocurrency exchange Binance continues to withdraw from major markets amid the ongoing pushback from global regulators.

Binance crypto exchange has decided to withdraw from the Dutch market following an unsuccessful attempt to obtain a virtual asset service provider (VASP) license from the Dutch regulator.

Cyprus unit has applied to be removed from Cyprus' register of crypto asset service providers, the securities regulator website showed on Wednesday, in a move Binance said would allow it to focus on its larger European businesses. It was unclear when Binance applied to deregister. The exchange, the world's biggest, announced its registration with the Cyprus Securities and Exchange Commission in October 2022. A source at the regulator said on Wednesday that Binance never launched its business in Cyprus. The Cyprus registration allowed Binance to offer spot trading, custody and other services in compliance with Cyprus's anti-money laundering and counter-terrorist financing rules, the exchange has previously said on its website. A spokesperson for Binance said it was pulling back on Cyprus to sharpen its focus on its other companies in the European Union ahead of the rollout of the EU's crypto asset regulations (MiCA).

Binance, the world’s largest crypto exchange by trading volume, is seeking to delist itself from the register of authorized crypto asset service providers (CASPs) in Cyprus in order to focus its efforts on complying with the EU’s Markets in Crypto-Assets (MiCA) regulation.

Binance appears to be preparing to exit Cyprus. The Cyprus Securities and Exchange Commission has marked Binance Cyprus Limited as “Under examination for application for deregistration” on its website. 

Crypto exchange Binance announced the launch of new subscription-based could mining products dedicated to Bitcoin (BTC) mining. 

The Singapore-based cryptocurrency exchange, Crypto.com, announced on June 1 that it had been granted a major payment institution (MPI) license for digital payment token (DPT) services by the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS).

The latest banking crisis could lead to “the first-ever extended duration bull market” for Bitcoin (BTC), according to Swan Bitcoin CEO Cory Klippsten.

The European arm of FTX, FTX EU has launched a website to allow European customers to submit withdrawal requests.

Silicon Valley Bank on 10th March 2023, Bitcoin prices have zoomed nearly 40%. «The current BTC rally is driven by the importance of decentralised finance in the global financial system after a series of bank collapses in the US. Bitcoin being the torch bearer of decentralised finance is witnessing a demand from retail and institutional investors amidst the banking chaos as BTC is being deployed as a shield against the ongoing crisis,» Dhruvil Shah, SVP of technology at Liminal, said. Meanwhile, Edul Patel, CEO and Co-Founder of Mudrex, said, «The collapse of SVB and Silvergate was like a Cyprus moment for crypto. As these crypto-friendly banks collapsed, much money flowed directly into the cryptocurrency ecosystem. And a chunk of the smart money usually flows into blue-chip cryptocurrencies, such as Bitcoin and Ethereum.» «With instability in the banking sector, inflation data that exceeded expectations, and renewed optimism about a dovish Federal Reserve, Bitcoin has reached levels unseen in approximately nine months,» Edul added.

The market capitalization of Bitcoin (BTC) has added $194 billion in 2023. Its 66% year-to-date (YTD) growth is vastly outperforming top Wall Street bank stocks, particularly as fears of a global banking crisis are rising.

Financial markets have been engulfed with fear in recent days, as fears that a tumultuous sequence of banking crises could become a contagion in the sector.

Adoption of cryptocurrencies and services based on cryptocurrencies is continuing to gain traction, with an increasing number of businesses bridging the gap between conventional financial (TradFi) solutions and decentralized financial (DeFi) solutions.

Australian residents have been identified as one the primary targets of a sophisticated network of cryptocurrency call-center scammers — which are suspected to be run by Israel-based crime bosses. 

The mainstream adoption of crypto and crypto-based services continues, as more companies are bridging traditional financial (TradFi) solutions with decentralized financial (DeFi).

According to a Feb. 2 report by Turkish news agency Anadolu, Spanish authorities have arrested the CEO, sales executive and marketing director of Hong Kong cryptocurrency exchange Bitzlato. In total, six Russian and Ukrainian nationals related to the exchange were arrested in a joint effort between France, Portugal, Cyprus and United States law enforcement.