ChainCatche news, the encrypted trading platform Legend Trading's subsidiary Legend Financial Ireland Limited has been approved by the Central Bank of Ireland as a Virtual Asset Service Provider (VASP). Additionally, Legend Trading is applying for a Crypto Asset Service Provider (CASP) license under the Markets in Crypto-Assets Regulation (MiCA). In Ireland, VASPs registered and operating before December 30, 2024, can continue their business under the transitional provisions set by MiCA while submitting their CASP authorization application.

ChainCatcher news, according to CrowdFund Insider, the board of the crypto bank Custodia Bank voted this week to further scale back operations and preserve capital in response to the significant upcoming crypto policy reforms from the new Washington government. The bank stated that this move will preserve its core businesses, including its banking license, API-based real-time payments, Bitcoin custody platform, and patented bank-issued stablecoin.Custodia Bank founder and CEO Caitlin Long expressed satisfaction with the team, customer service, and team resilience, despite facing multiple unwarranted delistings from banks.In August of this year, influenced by the Biden administration's crypto asset regulatory policies, Custodia Bank laid off 9 out of 36 employees to conserve resources in response to legal actions with the Federal Reserve. The bank is seeking to obtain master account access, which would allow it to directly access the Federal Reserve's liquidity tools and avoid additional costs incurred through other institutions.

ChainCatcher news, Bankless co-founder Ryan Adams posted in Chinese on X "Ethereum is money".

ChainCatcher news, according to Bloomberg, informed sources revealed that Singapore's Gulf Bank is seeking to raise at least $50 million and plans to acquire a stablecoin payment company next year.This startup bank was founded by Singapore's family office Whampoa Group and has been licensed in Bahrain since February. The bank is currently in negotiations with Middle Eastern sovereign wealth funds and other investors, planning to sell less than 10% of its equity before early 2025.Informed sources stated that the proceeds will primarily be used to accelerate product development, enhance the bank's payment network, and hire more staff. They mentioned that Gulf Bank plans to acquire a stablecoin payment company in the Middle East or Europe in the first quarter. A bank spokesperson declined to comment on the financing, valuation, or acquisition plans.

ChainCatcher news, European Central Bank Governing Council member Kazaks said in a television interview with Latvian public broadcaster on Monday that the European Central Bank should lower interest rates next month. He stated, "Of course, there will be discussions, but I firmly believe that given the current state of the European economy, we must lower rates again in December." The European Central Bank has already cut rates three times and is expected to do so again next month. The PMI data released last Friday showed an unexpected contraction in the eurozone's private sector economy, with the market betting that the bank may further cut rates by 50 basis points. However, data expected to be released later this week is anticipated to show that the inflation rate in November will be above the European Central Bank's target of 2%.

ChainCatcher news, according to Ming Pao, Hong Kong digital bank ZA Bank announced today the launch of cryptocurrency trading services on its app, becoming the first bank in Asia to offer such services to retail users. Users can buy and sell Bitcoin and Ethereum using Hong Kong dollars and US dollars.The entry threshold for this service is 70 USD or 600 HKD, with a commission of 1.99 USD or 15 HKD per transaction, and a platform fee of 1.5% of the transaction amount. ZA Bank will implement promotional policies by the end of June 2025, including waiving commissions and reducing the platform fee to 0.8%. ZA Bank's acting CEO, Wu Zhonghao, stated that the bank achieved monthly profitability in July this year, and this new business is expected to further drive revenue growth.

ChainCatcher News, the U.S. House of Representatives will address Congressman Mike Flood's recent statement: "Despite widespread opposition, SAB 121 continues to operate as a regulation, even though it has never gone through the normal Administrative Procedure Act process."Flood stated: "I look forward to working with the next SEC Chair to rescind SAB 121. Whether Chair Gary Gensler resigns on his own or President Trump fulfills his (promise to fire Gensler), the new administration has a tremendous opportunity to usher in a new era post-Gensler."He added: "Gensler's opposition to the bipartisan digital asset regulatory framework passed by the House earlier this year should come as no surprise. 71 Democrats joined House Republicans in passing this commonsense framework. Although the Democrat-led Senate refused to accept it, it represents a breakthrough moment for cryptocurrency and could inform the work of a unified Republican government when the next Congress begins in January."

ChainCatcher news, according to Jin10, Deutsche Bank's head of currency research George Saravelos stated that the market previously believed that the impact of Trump's election as president was somewhat priced in before he took office, but in fact, the market's pricing of the Trump effect has not been excessive at all.He explained: "In our model, the dollar's safe-haven premium is only 3%, while during the first trade war it was as high as 10%. The bottom line is that the market's pricing of the Trump effect has not been excessive at all."

ChainCatcher news, according to The Block, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) finalized a rule this Thursday that grants it the authority to regulate "large non-bank companies," but explicitly excludes crypto assets. The CFPB stated that this rule only applies to transactions denominated in U.S. dollars.The new rule is titled "Defining Larger Participants in the Market for General Digital Consumer Payment Applications" and applies to non-bank financial companies that process more than 50 million transactions annually, requiring them to comply with the same rules as large banks and credit unions. The CFPB emphasized that the definition of "annual covered consumer payment transaction volume" is limited to transactions denominated in U.S. dollars and does not include digital assets such as Bitcoin and stablecoins.The crypto industry and some Republican lawmakers had previously expressed concerns about the potential impact of the rule on crypto assets. The DeFi Education Fund welcomed this and stated that the regulation of digital assets should be led by Congress, not regulatory agencies.

ChainCatcher news, European Central Bank board member Patsalides warned that if U.S. President Donald Trump follows through on his threatened trade tariffs, the European economy could ultimately fall into stagflation. The Central Bank of Cyprus governor stated in Nicosia on Thursday, "Trade tensions are escalating, and if trade restrictions become a reality, the result could be inflation, economic recession, or worse, stagflation."He noted that while there is room to continue lowering borrowing costs, it should be done "at a steady pace and magnitude."

ChainCatcher news, Bankless co-founder Ryan Sean Adams posted on X that the current market is at the beginning stage of the second half of the crypto bull market.

ChainCatcher news, according to Ledger Insights, UBS and Deutsche Bank announced that as part of the European Central Bank's wholesale DLT settlement experiment, the two parties simulated tokenized deposit payments between banks.The Bundesbank's Trigger solution enables blockchain-based systems to connect to the Trigger Chain, allowing payments to be initiated in central bank money on the Target2 payment system. In terms of tokenized deposits, tokens are destroyed on the sending blockchain and minted at the receiving bank.A total of two experiments were conducted, one involving time-sensitive euro payments. The second simulated transactions in pounds and Swiss francs between Deutsche Bank's London branch and UBS Group in Switzerland, with these transactions settled in euros.

ChainCatcher news, the Bank Negara Malaysia (BNM) recently stated that it will focus on the research of wholesale central bank digital currency (wCBDC) and will not consider issuing retail CBDC for the time being. The bank believes that the existing system is sufficient to meet retail payment needs.BNM stated that wCBDC will be used for interbank settlements of tokenized deposits both domestically and internationally, and has participated in Singapore's multi-CBDC project "Project Dunbar" and the cross-border CBDC project "mBridge." Although technical preparations and policy research are underway, BNM plans to continue researching wCBDC and distributed ledger technology in 2024-2025, but there are no immediate issuance plans.Several Asian central banks, including those in Hong Kong, South Korea, Singapore, and Taiwan, are also exploring wCBDC to support tokenized deposits. A report by Ledger Insights indicates that there are currently over 70 tokenized deposit and bank stablecoin projects in progress.

ChainCatcher news, the Hong Kong Association of Banks published an article in the Hong Kong media outlet Ta Kung Pao titled "Digital Banking Integrates into the Web 3.0 Wave," revealing that Hong Kong digital banks have completed over 100 "Fintech Regulatory Sandbox" tests through the Monetary Authority in the past four years, accounting for more than 40% of the total sandbox test cases.In addition, some Hong Kong digital banks have begun to provide reserve banking services for stablecoin issuers, and there are also digital banks capable of acting as settlement banks for licensed virtual asset trading platforms, offering services such as timely processing and settlement of transactions.

ChainCatcher news, according to Fox Business reporter Eleanor Terrett, the Wyoming-based crypto bank Custodia Bank will further lay off employees to save costs.The oral arguments for Custodia's lawsuit against the Federal Reserve will take place on January 21, coinciding with the second day of Trump's inauguration.Custodia CEO Caitlin Long stated, "I am incredibly proud of the Custodia team, the services we build for our clients, and our resilience during multiple innocent 'debanking' incidents. I especially thank Custodia's clients and shareholders who help us continue to fight for lasting banking access for the compliant U.S. crypto industry."

ChainCatcher news, ECB Vice President Guindos stated that the European Central Bank's interest rates will be further lowered, but due to escalating trade tensions and global conflicts, officials should not act hastily.Previously, the European Central Bank warned in its "Financial Stability Assessment" that trade now poses an additional threat to the economies of the 20 Eurozone countries. Guindos expressed confidence in achieving the 2% inflation target next year and dismissed claims that inflation would fall below this target. With less than four weeks until the last interest rate meeting of the year, investors expect the borrowing costs to be lowered for the fourth time since June. Although further easing of monetary policy seems possible in 2025, the pace and extent of rate cuts remain uncertain, and disputes among policymakers are increasing.

ChainCatcher news, the virtual asset custody platform Haru Invest was officially declared bankrupt by the Seoul restructuring court in South Korea on November 20.The operating company of Haru Invest, Haru Management Limited, was previously filed for bankruptcy due to its inability to pay debts. The court stated that although the company is registered in the British Virgin Islands, it has an office and operates in South Korea, giving the Korean court jurisdiction over the case.The court plans to hold the first creditors' meeting on February 11, 2025, to liquidate and distribute the company's assets through the bankruptcy administrator. It is reported that Haru Invest attracted investors by making false promises to guarantee principal and high returns since 2020, and suddenly stopped withdrawals in June last year, causing over 16,000 investors to suffer losses.It is reported that from March 2020 to June last year, Haru Invest deceived investors by falsely promising to guarantee principal and pay high returns, suddenly stopping withdrawals and absconding with approximately 14 trillion won worth of cryptocurrency.