ChainCatcher news, the Director-General of the Nigerian Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), Emomotimi Agama, stated that the regulatory body plans to issue the first licenses for digital services and tokenized assets this month.Agama said in an interview with Bloomberg Television: "As a cryptocurrency enthusiast and fintech advocate, I can tell you without a doubt that this will happen faster than you think. We must support the youth of this country so they can benefit from fintech. The market size is huge and still growing."Previous news, the Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS) of Nigeria plans to submit a bill to Parliament in September for taxing the cryptocurrency industry.

ChainCatcher news, the latest "List of Virtual Currency Platform Operators that Have Completed Compliance with Anti-Money Laundering Regulations" published on the website of the Financial Supervisory Commission of Taiwan, has appointed Lin Zhi-Chen, the general manager of the major telecommunications company Taiwan Mobile, as the person in charge. "Fu Sheng Digital Co., Ltd.", represented by Taiwan Mobile as the legal entity, has become the 26th VASP (Virtual Asset Service Provider) in Taiwan and has naturally become a member of the VASP association.

ChainCatcher news, according to the Hong Kong Commercial Daily, HKbitEX co-founder and Chief Strategy Officer Lu Tingkuang stated that the license for crypto assets in Hong Kong can simultaneously provide trading for cryptocurrencies and security token offerings (STO). This is actually more convenient than in Singapore and the United States, as licenses in most other countries and regions can only offer one of the services, rather than both. For example, Coinbase, which is already listed in the United States, can only provide cryptocurrency trading with its license.Although some may believe that Hong Kong has been relatively conservative in the development of the virtual asset market in the past, which has led some crypto giants to feel disheartened and exit the Hong Kong market, in fact, Hong Kong has been carefully observing before deploying, and thus has seen results in recent years.In addition, the Securities and Futures Commission has made it clear this year that STO investments may be open to retail investors to attract more funds and fintech talent to Hong Kong.

ChainCatcher news, according to The Block, UK-based large crypto trading firm B2C2 has obtained registration from the Luxembourg financial regulatory authority through an acquisition. According to the registration website of the Luxembourg Financial Industry Supervisory Commission, B2C2 has become the 12th officially licensed cryptocurrency company in the country.After registration, B2C2 will be able to offer over-the-counter spot cryptocurrency trading to institutional clients and collaborate with local cryptocurrency service providers and traditional financial institutions. As part of its expansion in Europe, B2C2 recently acquired the French cryptocurrency liquidity provider Woorton. The company stated that the Luxembourg branch will be led by Denzel Walters, the business manager of B2C2's London office.

ChainCatcher news, according to CoinDesk, OKX Middle East Fintech FZE has announced that it has obtained a license from the Dubai Virtual Assets Regulatory Authority (VARA) and will commence full operations in the coming weeks. The Dubai Virtual Asset Service Provider (VASP) license will support fiat trading and allow the company to offer spot services and spot currency pairs to institutional and qualified retail clients through its exchange and application.Rifad Mahasneh, General Manager of OKX Middle East, stated that OKX Middle East Fintech FZE will provide local currency trading pairs such as AED/BTC and AED/ETH in the coming weeks.

ChainCatcher news, digital asset custody provider BitGo announced that it has received in principle approval for a major payment institution license from Singapore's top financial regulatory authority through its local entity.BitGo stated that once fully licensed, its subsidiary BitGo Singapore Pte. will be able to offer regulated digital payment token services in Singapore and allow customers to buy and sell cryptocurrencies from its cold storage custody solution built within a Tier III vault.

ChainCatcher news, according to CoinDesk, Henri Arslanian, former cryptocurrency head at PwC, stated that the digital asset fund Nine Blocks Capital Management established in Dubai is the first cryptocurrency hedge fund to receive a license from the Dubai Virtual Assets Regulatory Authority (VARA) and plans to make Dubai its global headquarters.

According to ChainCatcher news, Hong Kong media Dongwang reported that the license application submitted by the cryptocurrency platform HashKey Exchange Business to the Hong Kong Securities and Futures Commission "received positive feedback," and it is expected to be approved in the coming weeks, with plans to launch a virtual asset trading platform application in the short term. (Source link)

ChainCatcher news, Greenland Holdings' subsidiary plans to apply for a virtual asset license in Hong Kong. Geng Jing, Chairman of Greenland Financial Investment Holding Group, revealed during a visit to Hong Kong last week that Greenland Financial Technology will establish a new company focused on virtual asset trading. The new company will concentrate on trading cryptocurrencies, NFTs, and products related to carbon emissions.It is reported that 46.4% of Greenland Holdings' shares are held by the Shanghai municipal government. (source link)

ChainCatcher news, cryptocurrency lending institution Amber Group is weighing various options regarding its Japanese subsidiary, including a sale. Additionally, Amber Group is planning to apply for a digital asset license in Hong Kong.Amber's managing partner Annabelle Huang stated that the evaluation of the Japanese business is part of its strategic decision to focus more on institutional business rather than retail business. (Bloomberg)

ChainCatcher news, El Salvador has issued the first digital asset license to Bitfinex Securities under the newly implemented Digital Assets Securities Law (DASL).The clear rules established by the DASL will allow Bitfinex to raise funds through token issuance in a regulated market, and it also sets rules for new types of tokenized securities, such as tokenized stocks, revenue assets, and other investment products. (source link)

ChainCatcher news, according to PR Newswire, OKX exchange announced the establishment of a Hong Kong entity to launch virtual asset services in Hong Kong. In addition, OKX is applying for the Hong Kong VASP license under the new regulatory regime and Class 1 and Class 7 licenses under the Securities and Futures Ordinance. (Source link)

ChainCatcher news, according to The Block, a document from the Cayman Islands court shows that the Cayman Islands Monetary Authority (CIMA) rejected the virtual asset service license application of the crypto lending platform Nexo on December 20, 2022, stating that the company's business model was not compliant and posed risks to market confidence, consumer protection, and the reputation of the islands as a financial center. Currently, Nexo hopes the court will order CIMA to revoke its previous decision and successfully obtain the virtual asset license.Nexo's lawyers stated that CIMA's decision was procedurally unfair, as the regulatory authority did not inform Nexo of the detailed reasons for the rejection, which also violated its constitutional and statutory duties, while Nexo had already provided corresponding explanations to the regulatory authority regarding the concerns raised during the application process. (Source link)

ChainCatcher news, according to CoinDesk, cryptocurrency exchange OKX has obtained a digital asset license in the Bahamas and established a new subsidiary, OKX Bahamas, led by Jillian Bethel. OKX Bahamas also announced the opening of a new office in Nassau and plans to hire up to 100 people in the next 12 months. (source link)

ChainCatcher news, during the Twitter Space discussion on the new virtual asset policies organized by SQUARE DAO, Dr. Xiao Feng from HashKey Group revealed that the application for virtual asset licenses No. 1, 4, 7, and 9 will take about 2 years and cost around 20 million USD. He also pointed out that after the Anti-Money Laundering and Counter-Terrorism Financing Ordinance is passed in March next year, there is hope for related simplifications regarding virtual asset licenses.

ChainCatcher news, cryptocurrency trading platform Blockchain.com announced that it has received in-principle approval from the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) to offer digital payment token services in Singapore.On October 11, Coinbase also announced that the Monetary Authority of Singapore has granted in-principle approval for Coinbase Singapore to provide regulated crypto services locally under the Payment Services Act. It is reported that since 2020, approximately 180 cryptocurrency companies have applied for this digital asset license, with Blockchain.com being the 18th cryptocurrency company approved to operate in Singapore. (CoinDesk)

ChainCatcher news, Coinbase announced on Tuesday that the Monetary Authority of Singapore has in principle approved Coinbase Singapore to offer regulated crypto services locally under the Payment Services Act. Since Singapore launched its licensing regime in 2019, about 15 companies have obtained such licenses, including Coinbase's competitor Crypto.com. (Bloomberg)