Weekly Recap: Bitcoin Sees More Adoption Amidst Long Winter
Moroccan Lawmakers Set to Introduce Cryptocurrency to the Country
Morocco is all set to introduce cryptocurrency and Bitcoin regulation into the state. The decision to introduce crypto regulation went public last Monday and has been making the rounds since.
Cryptocurrencies were initially outlawed in Morocco. However, its growing popularity among Moroccans is forcing the country’s authorities to acknowledge its legitimacy and institute an official regulatory framework for crypto assets. Morocco is the fourth largest contributor to crypto trading volumes in Africa, after Nigeria, South Africa, and Kenya.
Abdellatif Jouahri, the governor of the Moroccan Central Bank, Bank Al-Mahgrib, revealed that the bank had been working closely with the International Money Fund (IMF) to set up a structure for the use of digital currency in Morocco. The IMF, being responsible for creating policies that sustain economic growth, is infamous for calling for the regulation of the crypto sector. According to the regulatory body, the lack of proper regulations concerning cryptocurrency could lead to disrupted capital gains flow. The IMF also sent shockwaves throughout the crypto community earlier this year when it urged El Salvador to scrap Bitcoin as legal tender.
Even though the exact clauses in the bill are yet to be publicized, Jouahri hints that the bill will not outlaw crypto assets. It will, instead, fixate on anti-money laundering and anti-terrorism financing regulations.
Ignoring Crypto Winter, El Salvador Purchases More Bitcoin
The Central American state of El Salvador has purchased 80 more units of Bitcoin, despite tanking cryptocurrency prices. Last year September, the Latin American Giant drew the world’s attention when it officially legalized Bitcoin as legal tender in its region. Salvadorean President Nayib Bukele is an avid crypto enthusiast and has openly voiced support for cryptocurrency from the start. Consequently, Bukele went on to mastermind a 150 million USD Bitcoin trust fund that would facilitate the easy exchange of Bitcoin to dollars.
However, recent struggles in the market have plunged the crypto industry into a flurry of panic, with both investors and miners selling off their holdings. As of September 2021, when Bitcoin (BTC) was recognized as legal tender by the country, the coin sold for about 46,000 USD. BTC is now changing hands for about 19,000 USD, shedding about 70% of its value since its all-time high of 69,000 USD in November 2021.
President Bukele, however, appears unfazed by the coin’s seeming devaluation. Bukele took to his Twitter on Friday to announce that the country had purchased 80 more BTC units, a number equivalent to 1.5 million USD. The latest purchase brings El Salvador’s BTC holdings to 2,381 units. El Salvador’s Bitcoin trust fund has currently lost about 60 million USD in value.
MicroStrategy Buys the Dip, Purchases Additional 480 Bitcoin
Major business intelligence agency MicroStrategy purchased 480 new Bitcoin, bringing its total holdings to 129,622 units of the crypto asset. Acting CEO, Michael Saylor, took to Twitter to break the news on Wednesday.
MicroStrategy is the corporate entity with the largest amount of Bitcoin holdings in the world. CEO Michael Saylor believes the coin represents the future of currency, and the firm’s latest purchase confirms his convictions. However, if the company were to sell off its holdings at Bitcoin’s current prices, it would lose about 1.3 billion USD. Last month, before Microstrategy made the recent purchase, Saylor assured that the company would not sell any of its Bitcoins.
American stockbroker and financial commentator, Peter Schiff, hit out at Saylor for his purchase, claiming he was attempting to influence the market with his position.
Argentina Doles Out Crypto Wallet Seizures to Tax Evaders
The Federal Administration of Public Revenues (AFIP), an Argentine body, has authorized and executed the seizure of over 1,200 digital wallets belonging to tax defaulters.
As published by local news media outlet iProHub on Friday, AFIP has worked tirelessly to recover debts to the government. The regulatory body was previously authorized to place an embargo on any kind of asset at all, including credit, movable property, and real estate, among others. In February 2022, the agency updated its list to include digital wallets. Therefore, if an individual has no bank account, or valuable assets, an embargo is placed on their digital wallet. Already, the AFIP has recovered over 800 million USD of debt in this way.
The move comes as more and more Argentines are turning to cryptocurrency to help hedge against inflation in the region.
Cardano’s Vasil Hard Fork Set to Go Live
On July 3, the long-awaited Vasil Hard Fork went live on the testnet. The Hard Fork is an update to the Cardano blockchain that will improve block creation on the protocol and increase scalability for decentralized apps while lowering transaction costs at the same time.
Following the launch, Cardano’s parent organization the Input-Output HK (IOHK), described the event as and "important next step" towards a future transition to the mainnet.
On Tuesday, June 28, IOHK submitted a proposal detailing the impending fork to its partners. Although the testnet version was forked over the weekend, the Cardano mainnet may not see the upgrade until the final week in July.
Vasil will also see smart contract features enabled, and ensure seamless integration between Cardano sidechains, as well as updates to the governance system blockchain. While the smart contract feature is already live, the rest are set to follow in the third and fourth phases of the launch respectively.
Cardano’s Vasil Hard Fork has been warmly received by the cryptocurrency community, with one Twitter user commenting that Vasil brings the network “over the finish line.”
Harmony Intensifies Search for Attackers Behind 100 Million USD Hack
Harmony, an open blockchain, has attempted to negotiate with its hackers, requesting that they return funds stolen from the network. In exchange, the attackers may keep 10 million USD of the funds, and ongoing investigations will be dropped.
Last week, Harmony’s layer 1 protocol was compromised in an attack that saw 100 million USD disappear. The company has since been tirelessly working to apprehend the culprits and recover its stolen funds. The company has enlisted the help of multiple cyber security firms, such as Chain Analysis and AnChain.AI, as well as the FBI.
Blockchain analytics firm, Elliptic, has thrown its hat in the ring at nabbing Harmony’s hackers. The company has suggested that a popular cybercrime syndicate, Lazarus, is behind the hack.
Harmony has issued the attackers a deadline of 00:00 UTC on July 5 to come clean, or face arrest and subsequent prosecution.
Colombia Set to Use Ripple Protocol to Register Land Titles
The Colombian government has launched a service that will allow citizens to secure land using the Ripple ledger. Notably, the Colombian authorities collaborated with long-time Ripple partner, Peersyst to bring its citizens this development.
Peersyst made the announcement on Friday, July 1, on its official Twitter account. The firm then went on to laud Colombian minister, Carmen Ligia Valderrama for her bold and progressive steps in furthering blockchain technology adoption in Colombia.
The service will allow citizens to purchase land, store the records on the Ripple blockchain, and verify land ownership using a QR code.
