Friday, August 13. The week is coming to an end, so we can talk about the most interesting news in the crypto industry for this week.
China will continue regulatory pressure on technology companies
The Chinese news agency Xinhua reported that the Chinese authorities intend to continue the pressure of regulators on all corporations that are associated with the digital economy. The State Council of the People’s Republic of China and the Central Committee of the CPC (Communist Party of China) have provided a plan for the next five years. It talks about the tightening of regulation in the areas of national security and techno-innovation.
The act was necessary to ensure the «rule of law». In the next five years, the Chinese authorities intend to adopt a number of amendments. They will target the techno industry, national security, the environment, and the fight against monopoly.
The plan does not mention cryptocurrencies and blockchain as such, but the CPC is going to ensure «healthy development of new forms of business» with «good laws and management». The CPC will affect Internet finance platforms and organizations that work in the areas of artificial intelligence.
The Chinese authorities still continue to approve the blockchain technology, despite the fact that mining and cryptocurrencies were banned. In 2019, Chinese President Xi Jinping stated that China should become a world leader in this industry.
SEC wants new powers to regulate Digital Assets
Gary Gensler considered that the US Securities and Exchange Commission needs more powers and resources to better regulate the cryptocurrency industry.
The head of the SEC wrote this in his letter to Senator Elizabeth Warren on August 5. The senator published it on August 11 without amendments about cryptocurrencies.
Gesler also notes that crypto investors are poorly protected. The head of the SEC explained that residents can trade, lend or lend tokens on the cryptocurrency market. And most of these assets, as he believes, are not registered securities.
Gensler singled out stablecoins as a separate problem, the value of which in total exceeds $ 110 billion. He believes that stable coins can be used for money laundering, tax evasion and other illegal activities.
In the second quarter, Coinbase received $2.2 billion in revenue
Deposits from transfer fees amounted to $1.9 billion. Earlier, FactSet analysts predicted this figure at $1.57 billion, and total revenue at $1.78 billion.
Most of the revenue came from retailers, which is $1.8 billion. The indicator increased by 26% compared to the previous quarter.
The income from institutions is $102.4 million, and from custodial services $31.7 million.
The exchange’s trading volume for the second quarter amounted to $462 billion. For the first time, the share of Ethereum in the total turnover of Coinbase exceeded the Bitcoin indicator — 26% against 24%. The share of other assets in the trading volume was 50%
The number of traders who made transactions during the month reached 8.8 million. The total number of residents was 68 million.
The American cinema chain AMC Theaters will sell tickets for BTC
The AMC Theaters cinema chain plans to introduce bitcoin as a ticket payment. Cryptocurrency acceptance will begin at the end of the year.
Such an innovation was needed against the background of the coronavirus pandemic and is needed to increase the number of customers. At the beginning of 2021, the AMC Theaters network raised $917 million in order to avoid bankruptcy. From March to June of this year, the cinema chain suffered losses of $344 million. At the beginning of the year, AMC Theaters was supported by investors with r/WallStreetBets. Thus, they provoked a rise in the company’s shares by 1600%, from $2 to $34.
It is worth mentioning that in March of this year, the largest cinema chain in Thailand, Major Cineplex Group, began accepting the first cryptocurrency to pay for tickets for a session.