Week in Review: Zelensky signs the ‘On Virtual Assets’ law, and Russia allows local crypto exchanges

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky signed the law ‘On Virtual Assets’, in Russia’s State Duma local crypto exchanges were allowed to be created to bypass sanctions, BAYC carried out an airdrop of the APE token among NFT holders, and other events of the week.

Bitcoin rose on the Fed rate hike

At the conclusion of the March 16-17 meeting, the Fed for the first time since December 2018 raised the key rate by 25 basis points — to 0.25-0.5%. By the end of the year it could reach 1.9% due to inflation at a 40-year high, according to Fed estimates.

Over the past week the price of digital gold rose 6.2% — at times climbing above $42,300 (on Binance). At the time of writing, Bitcoin was trading near $41,230.

Other top-10 assets by market cap also finished the week green. The strongest movers were Avalanche (+22.6%), Cardano (+10.7%), and Ethereum (+10.5%).

According to CoinCodex, over the week among mid-cap assets the token of the blockchain marketplace protocol Origin Protocol rose the most. The price of OGN rose by 121%.

The governance token of DeFi project Anchor Protocol fell the most. ANC price dropped 17.83%.

The total cryptocurrency market capitalization stood at $1.94 trillion. Bitcoin’s dominance index fell to 40.4%.

Zelensky signs the ‘On Virtual Assets’ law

President Volodymyr Zelensky signed the ‘On Virtual Assets’ law, which regulates the circulation of cryptocurrencies within the country. 

Thanks to the document, Bitcoin exchanges can operate legally in Ukraine, and banks will be able to open accounts for crypto companies. Holders of digital currencies are guaranteed judicial protection of their rights.

A detailed analysis can be read on ForkLog.

Since March 16, Ukrainian PrivatBank temporarily prohibited its clients from funding hryvnias to crypto exchanges in connection with restrictions by the NBU. Binance was advised to use P2P trading. Kuna founder Mikhail Chobanian told ForkLog that PrivatBank’s restriction applies only to foreign platforms.

IMF predicts Russia’s near-term default

IMF Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva said that Russia’s sovereign default is no longer a ‘low-probability event’ because sanctions prevent the country from using its forex reserves to service debt.

Russia’s total gold-and-foreign-exchange reserves stand at about $640 billion, but roughly $300 billion of this sum has been frozen due to sanctions by the US, the EU and their allies.

In the Duma, Russian crypto exchanges to bypass sanctions. US response swift

A State Duma deputy, Alexander Yakubovsky, a member of the working group on cryptocurrency regulation, said Russia has all the means and resources for this. At the same time, the Central Bank urged monitoring Bitcoin transactions amid currency restrictions.

A few days later, US Senator Elizabeth Warren introduced a bill that would authorize the US Treasury to prohibit American crypto exchanges from transacting for addresses linked to sanctioned Russians. The document states the president would have the power to impose secondary sanctions on foreign exchanges that deal with such clients.

NFT project BAYC released APE token and conducted an airdrop

The Bored Ape Yacht Club (BAYC) NFT project unveiled ApeCoin. The APE supply is 1 billion coins, 15% of which were distributed via an airdrop to holders of BAYC, Mutant AYC, and Bored Ape Kennel Club NFTs. Listings were promptly supported by all major platforms.

Owners of NFTs from the premium collection received more than 10,000 APE. At peak the token price reached $40, and the value of the airdrop exceeded $400,000. The distribution process was highly engaging — within a day more than 80% or 115 million APE were claimed. It was not without manipulations and losses.

Future plans include launching a MetaRPG metaverse. Yuga Labs has already presented a teaser for the Otherside project — featuring BAYC and MAYC characters, as well as CryptoPunks and Meebits.

EU backs regulation bill for cryptocurrencies

The European Parliament’s Committee on Economic and Monetary Affairs by a large majority adopted the MiCA regulation bill. The document did not include an amendment to ban mining under the Proof-of-Work consensus algorithm. Further discussion will take place at the level of the Council and the European Commission and is expected to adopt a unified approach among member states to regulation.

Sanctions of the week

• Elliptic discovered several hundred thousand crypto wallets tied to sanctioned individuals and entities in Russia.
• DEX aggregator Matcha blocked transactions from Russian IP addresses.
• The Wasabi Wallet team started blocking ‘dubious’ addresses.

Binance and FTX licensed in Dubai

FTX exchange obtained a license in Dubai and plans to open a headquarters in the emirate. The platform will offer ‘comprehensive derivatives with centralized clearing for the institutional market’, according to CEO Sam Bankman-Fried.

Binance also obtained a license in Dubai, a few days after the Bahrain Central Bank approved its operations.

This week Binance also announced the integration of a mini-version of the decentralized exchange PancakeSwap into its mobile app.

Elon Musk on crypto holdings amid inflation worries

The head of Tesla and SpaceX does not plan to sell his Bitcoin, Ethereum and Dogecoin. He stated this during a discussion on inflation he started with followers. The billionaire also advised keeping money in real estate and shares of ‘useful’ companies.

ConsenSys raises $450 million at a $7 billion valuation

The Ethereum-focused company ConsenSys closed a Series D funding round. The funds will be converted into Ethereum.

The ConsenSys wallet MetaMast this week surpassed the 30 million user mark. CEO Joseph Lubin said that a DAO will be launched in the context of MetaMask.

This week funding also attracted L2 solution developers Optimism ($150 million at a $1.65 billion valuation) and Mina Protocol ($92 million).

Over 100 bitcoin-mining firms shut down in Kazakhstan

Following a series of checks in Kazakhstan, 106 mining enterprises ceased operations, some linked to large business interests and former officials. 55 companies voluntarily halted operations, dismantled equipment and moved it out of their sites. A further 51 companies were forcibly disconnected from power.

Bitmain unveils second Bitcoin miner with liquid cooling

The company Bitmain unveiled a new liquid-cooled miner. Antminer S19 XP Hyd delivers a hash rate of 255 TH/s. The device consumes 5304 W with an energy efficiency of 20.8 J/TH.

Alongside it they also unveiled a container to house 210 miners with hydro cooling Antspace HK3.

Also on ForkLog:

• Binance confirmed the cessation of operations in Ontario.
• Hacker stole $790 000 from Rare Bears NFT holders.

What else to read and watch

ForkLog AI has compiled the most important AI news from the past week.

The crypto industry is attracting more and more institutional players. This is reflected in new investments in infrastructure and in the growing attention that companies pay to Bitcoin as an asset class. The most important events of recent weeks are in ForkLog’s overview .

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