Circle
Circle, GitHub Comply With Tornado Cash Sanctions
Circle freezes blacklisted Tornado Cash smart contract addresses
Stablecoin issuers can blacklist interactions with the Tornado Cash dApp on the Ethereum smart contract level.
According to crypto data aggregator Dune Analytics, on Monday, Circle, the issuer of the USD Coin stablecoin (USDC), froze over 75,000 USDC worth of funds linked to the 44 Tornado Cash addresses sanctioned by the U.S. Office of Foreign Assets Control's (OFAC) Specially Designated Nationals and Blocked Persons (SDN) list. Tornado Cash is a decentralized application, or dApp, used to obfuscate the trail of previous cryptocurrency transactions on the Ethereum blockchain.
All U.S. persons and entities are prohibited from interacting with the virtual currency mixer's USDC and Ethereum smart contract addresses on the SDN list. Penalties for willful noncompliance can range from fines of $50,000 to $10,000,000 and 10 to 30 years imprisonment. An estimated $437 million worth of assets, consisting of stablecoins, Ethereum, and wrapped Bitcoin (wBTC), are currently held in Tornado Cash's smart contract addresses. As a result, issuers are expected to take steps to prevent the transaction or redemption of such assets.
Both the entities behind USDC and Tether can freeze their stablecoin transfers to and from Tornado Cash on the Ethereum smart contract level. Meanwhile, Palo Alto, California, based BitGo, would also, theoretically, need to restrict access to Tornado Cash to comply with such sanctions. One possible method is suspending the redemption of Tornado-Cash linked wBTC.
As told by DeFi educator @BowTiedIguana, the new Tornado Cash sanctions goes across the board for U.S. individuals and entities. Simple interactions such as Gitcoin donations, working for the project, running or downloading its software, visiting its website, and depositing/withdrawing from smart contracts could be interpreted as violations.
Circle just frozen 75,000 USDC belonging to unsuspecting Tornado users, as well as 149 USDC donated to the project. pic.twitter.com/GBS41FtZvB
— banteg (@bantg) August 8, 2022
Bitpay Adds APE and EUROC Support — Luxury Retail Giant Gucci Accepts Apecoin Payments
On August 2, the Atlanta-based crypto payment services provider Bitpay announced that it has expanded its crypto asset support with two different crypto assets. Bitpay revealed the company has integrated apecoin and euro coin into the firm’s platform and the luxury retailer and designer Gucci has announced it will be the first merchant to accept […]Tether supply starts to increase after three-month decline
The Tether printers have been fired up again as the USDT circulating supply has started to tick up.
The world’s largest stablecoin, Tether (USDT) has expanded its circulating supply following almost three months of reductions, in what could be a sign the crypto markets are slowly recovering.
The first mint in almost three months occurred on July 29, and there have been three more, with the latest on August 2, according to CoinMarketCap. The USDT injections have been small, however, lifting Tether’s market cap by just 0.7% or just under $500 million.
According to the Tether transparency report, there is now 66.3 billion USDT in circulation. This gives the stablecoin a total market share of around 43%.
Tether supply reached an all-time high in early May when it topped 83 billion USDT. The collapse of the Terra ecosystem, resultant crypto contagion, and large-scale redemptions forced the company to reduce the circulating supply, which fell 21% to a low of 65.8 billion in late July.
This has enabled rival company Circle to increase the market share of its stablecoin USDC, which now commands a 36% slice with a $54.5 billion market cap. As reported by Cointelegraph last month, USDC volume on Ethereum actually flipped Tether’s for a period as the number two stablecoin continues to catch up.
Over the weekend, Binance CEO Changpeng Zhao commented on the amount of stablecoins poised to re-enter the markets, stating:
“3 of the top 10 are stablecoins, meaning there is a lot of "fiat" sitting sidelines, ready to get back in. If people wanted to get out of crypto, most won't hold stablecoins.”
Stablecoins currently represent 13.6% of the entire crypto market capitalization, which is close to its all-time highest levels
Related: Circle's USDC on track to topple Tether USDT as the top stablecoin in 2022
A cost of living crisis caused by surging global inflation may have put the brakes on crypto investing and speculation for retail traders. However, those living in countries with extreme inflation levels, such as Argentina, have held onto to USD-pegged stablecoins as a hedge against their own currencies.
Tether acknowledged the benefits of holding stablecoins, stating that USDT “allows Argentinians to access a market that is truly global and liberates them from local black markets,” adding that it also “empowers them to hold Tether in ways that cannot be confiscated by the government, unlike local bank accounts.”
The Number of Euro-Pegged Stablecoins Has Swelled 1,683% Since 2020
While the stablecoin economy is worth roughly $153 billion today, euro-backed stablecoin issuance has increased 1,683% from $31.9 million worth of euro-based tokens on January 3, 2020, to today’s $569 million. Since November 2021, the number of euro stablecoins swelled by 85.34%, but from January 2022 to today, euro stablecoin numbers dropped 14.17% during the […]Circle CSO lays out policy principles for stablecoins in US
Dante Disparte hinted the U.S. could take a leading role in stablecoin regulation in an effort to “avoid trans-Atlantic or global misalignment."
Dante Disparte, Circle’s chief strategy officer and head of global policy who has previously testified at congressional hearings, has called on United States lawmakers to balance the risks with developing a regulatory path for stablecoins.
In a Monday blog post, Disparte named 18 principles Circle had established as part of its effort to shape stablecoin policy in the United States. Circle, the company behind USD Coin (USDC) with a reported $54 billion in circulation, highlighted privacy concerns, “a level playing field” between banks and non-banks over a U.S. dollar-pegged digital currency, how stablecoins can coexist alongside a central bank digital currency, and the need for regulatory clarity.
“Harmonizing national regulatory and policy frameworks for dollar digital currencies advances U.S. economic competitiveness, job creation and payment system optionality, while averting a harmful domestic ‘fintech constitutional crisis,’ and global regulatory arbitrage,” said Disparte.
The emergence of #Stablecoins (noting that not all are created equal) has triggered an important global policy and regulatory conversation. With a front row seat in this work since 2019, I'm pleased to share @circlepay's stablecoin policy principles.https://t.co/GGPFBgJ0AL
— Dante Disparte (@ddisparte) July 18, 2022
The Circle CSO cited the European Union in June passing the Markets in Crypto-Assets Framework, or MiCA — legislation aimed at harmonizing regulations for crypto among EU member states. Disparte added that the U.S. could take a leading role in an effort to “avoid trans-Atlantic or global misalignment” on stablecoin regulation.
In the United States, the President's Working Group on Financial Markets issued a report in November on stablecoin regulation in the country. The policy recommendations include having stablecoin issuers subject to “appropriate federal oversight” under Congress’ purview, as the digital asset could grow to a point it would fall “outside of the regulatory perimeter” of the Securities and Exchange Commission and Commodity Futures Trading Commission.
Related: Cryptopedia: Learn the concepts behind stablecoins and how they work
Disparte was part of Facebook’s Libra stablecoin venture — later renamed Diem — before leaving for Circle in April 2021. Circle CEO Jeremy Allaire has also previously testified at congressional hearings on the digital asset space, addressing the House Committee on Financial Services in December 2021 and a Senate hearing in 2019.
Stablecoin Issuer Circle Reveals Comprehensive Breakdown of USD Coin Reserves in Push Toward Transparency
Stablecoin issuer Circle is unveiling a full breakdown of its USD Coin (USDC) reserves as part of its commitment to increase transparency. According to a new company blog post, Circle is issuing its first ever monthly breakdown of USDC reserve assets to demonstrate the stablecoin’s full backing and peg to the US Dollar. “Today we […]
The post Stablecoin Issuer Circle Reveals Comprehensive Breakdown of USD Coin Reserves in Push Toward Transparency appeared first on The Daily Hodl.
Circle discloses full breakdown of $55.7B USDC reserves
As of June 30, about 75.6% of Circle’s reserves were held in U.S. Treasuries and 24.4% were held in cash at regulated financial institutions.
Circle Internet Financial has released a full breakdown of its USD Coin (USDC) holdings for the first time — a move designed to offer transparency and instill greater trust ain the stablecoin issuer.
As of June 30, Circle’s $55.7 billion reserves were comprised of $42.12 billion in short-term United States Treasuries and $13.58 billion in cash held at regulated financial institutions in the country, the company disclosed Thursday. The weighted average maturity of its Treasury assets was 43.9 days.
“The USDC reserve is held solely in cash and 3-month U.S. Treasuries, held in segregated accounts for the benefit of USDC holders, and is entirely separate from Circle’s operations,” Circle chief financial officer Jeremy Fox-Green wrote in an accompanying blog post.
Circle continues enhancing our transparency and today we shared a detailed look at the assets backing the USDC reserve. https://t.co/1tuaFWZhIO
— Circle (@circlepay) July 14, 2022
Circle said the report is the first monthly breakdown of its stablecoin reserve assets and that it plans to eventually provide daily disclosure of its holdings, pending approval from its custodians.
USDC has climbed the stablecoin rankings for much of 2022 thanks to the continued rise of decentralized finance and Circle’s ongoing commitment to regulatory clarity. According to ConsenSys, the stablecoin’s growth has been linked to a positive market perception that Circle and crypto exchange Coinbase will “issue USDC appropriately.”
Related: BIS Committee and IOSCO issue guidance for regulation of stablecoin arrangements
Circle is expanding its stablecoin operations beyond the U.S. dollar, having only recently launched a fully-reserved euro token. As Cointelegraph reported, Euro Coin, also known as EUROC, will be fully backed by the common currency. Interestingly, the euro recently fell to parity against the U.S. dollar for the first time since 2002.
KPMG to audit new pound-backed stablecoin GBPT
In terms of daily turnover, the British pound (GBP) is the fourth most traded fiat currency in the world, according to the Bank for International Settlements.
Fintech firm blackfridge has launched a new stablecoin that is fully backed by the British pound (GBP), potentially opening the door to wider adoption of digital assets in the United Kingdom and its Crown Dependencies.
The newly launched “poundtoken,” which trades under the ticker “GBPT,” will be available for trading on Gate.io, Bittrex Global and Unisawp, blackfridge announced Monday. GBPT is said to be fully backed by the British pound, which means that every token issued will have an equivalent value held in reserves.
GBPT’s reserve status is regulated by the Isle of Man Financial Services Authority, which oversees deposit and investment businesses in the self-governing British Crown Dependency. Big Four accounting firm KPMG has been appointed to audit poundtoken’s reserves.
Nicholas Maybin, poundtoken’s chief operating officer, said stablecoins have become an “integral part of the crypto sector.” Stablecoins were initially established to give cryptocurrency users reliable onramps to trading services. Over the years, their use cases have grown to include payments, remittances, lending and escrow services. As such, stablecoins play an integral role in the decentralized finance, or DeFi, market.
Related: Crypto Biz: Stablecoins are paving the way for mass adoption of crypto
The British pound is one of the most widely traded currencies in the world, according to the Bank for International Settlements, or BIS. The BIS’ 2019 Triennial Central Bank Survey found that pound Sterling’s share of global over-the-counter foreign exchange turnover was 12.8%, placing it fourth among active currencies.
In addition to a pound-backed stablecoin, the crypto market recently saw the launch of a euro-pegged stable asset. As Cointelegraph reported, USD Coin (UDC) issuer Circle Internet Financial now has a fully-reserved euro-pegged stablecoin available for trading.