ChainCatcher news, Bitcoin Lightning Network payment company Lightspark now allows U.S. businesses to send instant payments directly to bank accounts using its network.

ChainCatcher news, the chairman of the Hong Kong Legislative Council's Web3 and Virtual Assets Development Subcommittee, Wu Jietzhuang, conducted a survey of the Web 3.0 industry this month. Today, the survey results were announced, revealing that most Web 3.0 companies based in Hong Kong face difficulties in opening bank accounts. Among them, when opening accounts with virtual banks, companies are often required to have shareholders or directors visit Hong Kong multiple times, maintain fixed deposits, and face high fees, taking nearly six months to successfully open an account. Wu Jietzhuang stated that while opening accounts with virtual banks is easier than with traditional banks, the prolonged delays for these Web 3.0 companies to open accounts are undoubtedly a fatal blow to their business operations in Hong Kong. He suggested that the government and banks relax conditions where feasible.

ChainCatcher news, Malaysian law enforcement recently arrested ten suspects allegedly involved in money laundering using cryptocurrency, with assets worth over $7.7 million seized, approximately $10.8 million in bank accounts frozen, and law enforcement also confiscated luxury watches worth over $3.9 million, 18 luxury cars, motorcycles, and handbags, as well as cash totaling $106,800. Inspector-General of Police Tan Sri Razarudin Husain revealed that the eight men and two women arrested were aged between 28 and 51, and they used unregistered money changers and cryptocurrency exchanges to transfer funds from illegal activities from abroad to Malaysia. It is reported that they have been detained under Section 4(1) of Malaysia's Anti-Money Laundering, Anti-Terrorism Financing and Proceeds of Unlawful Activities Act.

ChainCatcher news, regarding the news "The Central Bank of Nigeria issues a ban on cryptocurrency trading and requires financial institutions to freeze accounts related to Bybit, KuCoin, OKX, and Binance," the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) stated in a publication that the CBN has not officially issued such a notice, and the public should check the official website for the latest information to ensure the reliability of the news.Yesterday, according to Cointelegraph, a screenshot showed that the Central Bank of Nigeria required all banks and financial institutions to identify individuals or entities trading with cryptocurrency exchanges and to set these accounts to "prohibited from debit" (PND) status within six months, meaning that account holders will not be able to withdraw funds or make payments from the relevant accounts.According to the screenshot, the Central Bank of Nigeria listed cryptocurrency exchanges that do not have operational licenses in Nigeria, including Bybit, KuCoin, OKX, and Binance. The Central Bank of Nigeria will investigate illegal purchases and sales of the stablecoin USDT on these platforms, especially those using peer-to-peer (P2P) trading. Additionally, the Central Bank of Nigeria pointed out that financial institutions are prohibited from engaging in cryptocurrency trading or providing payment services for cryptocurrency exchanges.

ChainCatcher news, according to Cointelegraph, the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has instructed all banks and financial institutions to identify individuals or entities trading with cryptocurrency exchanges and to set these accounts to "Prohibited for Debit" (PND) status within six months. When the PND directive takes effect, account holders are prohibited from debit transactions, meaning they cannot withdraw funds or make payments from the affected accounts.The Central Bank of Nigeria has listed cryptocurrency exchanges that do not have operational licenses in Nigeria, including Bybit, KuCoin, OKX, and Binance. The Central Bank of Nigeria stated that it will crack down on illegal purchases and sales of the stablecoin USDT on these platforms, especially for those using peer-to-peer (P2P) trading.In addition, the Central Bank of Nigeria pointed out that financial institutions are prohibited from engaging in cryptocurrency trading or providing payment services for cryptocurrency exchanges.

ChainCatcher news, former Revolut executive Hannes Graah has launched the Zeal wallet, aimed at addressing wallet security issues. It is reported that the Zeal wallet began development in 2022, and the company stated that the Zeal wallet will allow users to transfer USDC to bank accounts for free. Zeal's investors include Galaxy, Framework, Variant Fund, and Northzone.In addition, the company stated that, in addition to Revolut alumni, the Zeal team also includes former employees from Coinbase and Spotify.

ChainCatcher news, according to News1, the Korea Banking Association requires that cryptocurrency exchanges with real-name accounts from banks must reserve at least 3 billion won and up to 20 billion won in reserves starting from September. The Financial Services Commission of Korea will also issue the "Standards for Issuing Bank Real-Name Accounts," which will include this standard.According to the guideline, cryptocurrency exchanges must prepare funds equal to 30% of their average daily deposits or 3 billion won (whichever is higher) as reserves. If the 30% of the exchange's average daily deposits far exceeds 3 billion won, they can accumulate 3 billion won as reserves. If 30% of the average daily deposits exceeds 20 billion won, they can accumulate a maximum of 20 billion won as reserves.

ChainCatchter news, Hong Kong Cyberport CEO Simon Kwan stated in a recent interview with Finance730 that the Hong Kong government is actually "making an exception" to promote Web3 and virtual assets, clearly seeing the disruptive changes that the third generation of the internet will bring to long-term technology. Therefore, it is quite visionary to promote this. Hong Kong Cyberport has become the Web3 base in Hong Kong, with most companies coming from overseas, and over 200 companies are already engaged in Web3 business.Simon Kwan also mentioned that financial institutions may need time to adjust their policies and risk control measures, but there are already two virtual banks within Hong Kong Cyberport, which have helped Web3 companies open bank accounts. In response to former Hong Kong Monetary Authority CEO Norman Chan's statement that "virtual assets are a casino," Simon Kwan replied that Norman Chan mistakenly equated the government's promotion of Web3 with encouraging speculation in virtual currencies, but many Web3 applications are not cryptocurrencies and cannot be considered speculation.

ChainCatcher news, the Vice President of the Hong Kong Monetary Authority, Yuang Guoheng, published an article titled "Embracing Opportunities • Addressing Account Opening," stating that in recent months we have actively discussed with banks and indicated that there are no legal or regulatory requirements prohibiting banks operating in Hong Kong from providing banking services to virtual asset-related institutions.As the regulatory framework for virtual asset activities in Hong Kong is gradually implemented, and as countries around the world strengthen relevant regulations based on international standards, banks' understanding of the virtual asset industry is also deepening. We expect that regulated virtual asset service providers will gradually succeed in opening bank accounts through reasonable procedures. To address account opening demands and streamline processes, the Monetary Authority will issue a circular to banks later today to further clarify some industry questions regarding customer due diligence and share some processed cases and best practices for industry reference.In addition, the Monetary Authority will hold a roundtable meeting tomorrow with the Securities and Futures Commission to directly communicate with the banking industry and some virtual asset-related institutions about the "difficulty in account opening" and share useful information. (Source link)

ChainCatcher news, according to data previously released by Circle, as of March 9, Circle's USDC reserves totaled $43.5 billion, of which $11.1 billion is in cash reserves.Earlier, ChainCatcher reported that of the approximately $40 billion in USDC reserves within the cash reserves, $3.3 billion is still at Silicon Valley Bank. This accounts for about 29.7% of its total cash reserves and 8% of its total reserves.

ChainCatcher news, according to The Wall Street Journal, stablecoin issuer Tether allegedly opened bank accounts using forged documents and "shadow intermediaries." The report states that Tether used bank accounts opened in the names of multiple company executives in 2018 and made slight adjustments to the names of these companies to access the global financial system.Additionally, the "shadow bank" Crypto Capital Corp. held Tether funds before being shut down by authorities in 2018. Bitfinex and Tether "opened at least 9 new bank accounts for Asian shell companies" in October 2018. (source link)

ChainCatcher news, according to Bloomberg, former FTX CEO Sam Bankman-Fried (SBF) discussed the process by which FTX approached regulated banks through Alameda Research. Sources say this arrangement arose because banks were reluctant to do business with cryptocurrency companies, including FTX.One source indicated that to address this issue, some FTX customers were instructed to wire funds through Alameda, which was allowed to open accounts at the cryptocurrency and fintech bank Silvergate Capital Corp. Until this year, some FTX customers continued to wire funds. (Bloomberg)

ChainCatcher news, according to the official ConsenSys website, the financial platform Sardine, which provides instant ACH settlements, has partnered with ConsenSys. MetaMask now allows its U.S. users to purchase cryptocurrency directly from the wallet interface using their bank accounts. It is reported that MetaMask U.S. users must go through Sardine's mandatory KYC process to use ACH bank accounts for purchasing cryptocurrency, and the transaction limits are higher than those of traditional bank cards.Previously reported, Sardine completed a $51.5 million Series B funding round in September this year, led by a16z, with participation from Visa, ConsenSys, ING Ventures, Cross River Digital, Eric Schmidt, and Google Ventures. (source link)

Chain Catcher news, Coinbase stated in its latest announcement that the team is currently investigating the situation regarding the inability to process payments or withdrawals involving U.S. bank accounts, but account holders can still make direct purchases using debit cards or PayPal accounts. (Bloomberg)