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X payments details released: App to become your bank account

X users should eventually be able to use the app’s anticipated payment features to send money to other users, buy things in stores, and even earn interest on their account holdings.

X users will one day be able to use the platform to send money to other users, purchase goods from stores, and even earn interest on the money in their accounts as one would do with a bank account, said the head of payments at X. 

In an April 22 post, X payments chief information security officer Christopher Stanley said the payment capabilities of X would go beyond “just tipping” and expand to include an in-app wallet capable of storing and sending money to any other X users.

“Think Venmo at first. Then, as things evolve, you can gain interest, buy products, eventually use it to buy things in stores (think Apple Pay),” said Stanley.

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Bitcoin Technical Analysis: Resistance at $106K Sparks Fierce Bull-Bear Battle

Singapore regulatory sandbox lacks qualified crypto payment providers

The MAS has said that rising malware scam cases in Singapore have nothing to do with cryptocurrencies. On the contrary, it claimed, such scams are more prevalent in the fiat economy.

The Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) has said that no businesses have qualified to participate in the FinTech Regulatory Sandbox framework as cryptocurrency payment providers. 

Responding to a letter criticizing the Singaporean government’s lack of public consultation and oversight on crypto adoption published in the Financial Times, MAS clarified that the country does not have a “crypto sandbox,” but rather a sandbox that supports a broad range of FinTech experimentation.

The letter criticised Singapore for “unwisely” allowing crypto companies access to Singapore’s FAST (Fast and Secure Transfers) interbank payment system, an electronic funds transfer system that enables customers of the participating entities to transfer Singapore Dollar funds from one entity to another in Singapore.

Singapore’s FAST (Fast and Secure Transfers) overview. Source: fastpayments.worldbank.org

However, the MAS clarified that all businesses with a valid bank account can access the FAST system, which includes crypto businesses, stating that “Payments through FAST are in fiat currencies, not cryptocurrencies.”

The regulator then stated that the rising malware scam cases in Singapore have got nothing to do with cryptocurrencies, claiming that on the contrary, such scams are more prevalent in the fiat economy:

“These scams entail fraudsters taking control of customers’ mobile devices and effecting unauthorized transfers through the banking system in fiat currencies.”

In its fight against money laundering, Singapore provides operational licenses to crypto businesses that can showcase robust Anti-Money Laundering (AML) controls.

“As these measures are progressively implemented from the end of this year onwards, Singapore will have one of the strictest regulatory regimes in the world governing retail access to cryptocurrencies.”

In this regard, the MAS recently consulted the public on a suite of regulatory measures to mitigate the risks posed by cryptocurrencies to retail customers.

Related: Coinbase signals EU, Canada, Brazil, Singapore and Australia as priorities

Former MAS chair, Tharman Shanmugaratnam — who has historically considered crypto as risky investments — won Singapore’s presidential race.

The president-elect reportedly once called crypto assets “highly volatile” and “highly risky as investment products” in 2021 warnings to Singapore-based users in his role as MAS chair.

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Bitcoin Technical Analysis: Resistance at $106K Sparks Fierce Bull-Bear Battle

Indian central bank-backed NPCI begins blockchain recruitment

Singapore, Malaysia, the UAE, France, Benelux countries, Nepal and the U.K. have adopted the NPCI’s UPI payments system to varying degrees.

The National Payments Corporation Of India (NPCI) — an initiative led by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) and 247 Indian banking companies — is on the lookout for a seasoned blockchain technologist to head and investigate opportunities for blockchain in current-day payment systems.

NPCI owns and operates the Unified Payments Interface (UPI), India’s home-grown instant payment system that facilitates interbank peer-to-peer and person-to-merchant transactions. A recent LinkedIn job posting confirmed NPCI’s ongoing drive to hire a head of blockchain.

NPCI’s job posting for a head of blockchain. Source: LinkedIn

The ideal candidate will be a seasoned technologist with at least six years of experience in developing and implementing blockchain, who will be primarily tasked with identifying “avenues wherever blockchain-driven solutions can be used.”

The senior leadership position also demands an in-depth technical understanding of multiple blockchain platforms and previous experience working on at least two pilot blockchain projects. UPI’s success in fortifying the Indian payments landscape has garnered interest from other jurisdictions.

Singapore, Malaysia, the United Arab Emirates, France, Benelux countries, Nepal and the United Kingdom have adopted the UPI payments system to varying degrees. Infusing blockchain elements in the UPI can potentially expose the technology to millions of users in an instant, thus reaffirming the capability of the underlying tech that has continued to power Bitcoin (BTC) for nearly 14 years.

The NPCI job application had over 200 applicants at the time of writing. NPCI’s blockchain hiring drive is expected to increase in the near future once viable blockchain use cases are unearthed.

Related: Amid crypto winter, central banks rethink in-house digital currencies

In August, the United Kingdom’s National Crime Agency (NCA) set out to hire four senior investigators for its Complex Financial Crime Team to work on crypto-related crimes.

Job posting for digital assets investigators. Source: National Crime Agency

The investigators will be tasked with pursuing high-end crypto fraud, money laundering and other blockchain-based crimes carried out by organized crime groups.

The U.K. has been working to establish an investigative team focusing on illicit crypto activities. On Jan. 4, the NCA launched its digital assets team, signaling an increased focus on crypto assets.

Collect this article as an NFT to preserve this moment in history and show your support for independent journalism in the crypto space.

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Bitcoin Technical Analysis: Resistance at $106K Sparks Fierce Bull-Bear Battle

Crypto P2P scams in India show digital asset education is needed

Scammers have made it impossible for Indian crypto traders to conduct P2P trades owing to several police complaints and bank account freezes that follow.

Peer-to-peer (P2P) cryptocurrency trading has been a staple of the cryptocurrency community since the industry’s early days. 

P2P trading refers to the direct exchange of cryptocurrencies between two users without the involvement of intermediaries. P2P exchanges link buyers and sellers while also adding an extra degree of security through an escrow service. Some of the key advantages of P2P over centralized exchanges include global accessibility, a variety of payment alternatives and no transaction fees.

Furthermore, P2P marketplaces have become crucial for crypto traders and enthusiasts in jurisdictions where governments are hostile to formal cryptocurrency exchanges and service providers.

In India, they became a lifeline for many crypto traders when the country’s central bank issued a banking ban on cryptocurrency businesses in April 2018.

Although the banking ban was eventually lifted by the Supreme Court in March 2020, P2P platforms continue to play a crucial role as banks remain sceptical about offering services to crypto exchanges due to a lack of regulatory clarity.

During the bull market in 2021–2022, India saw a significant surge in crypto trading volumes and crypto platforms, prompting the government to take notice of the nascent ecosystem.

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While industry leaders demanded a comprehensive regulatory framework, which has been under development since 2019, the Indian finance minister announced a 30% tax on crypto profits in 2022.

The heavy tax, in addition to the continuing lack of regulatory clarity, has been the bane of the budding Indian crypto ecosystem, deterring Indian investors away from the market.

While mainstream crypto exchanges struggled, P2P platforms saw their volumes skyrocket. 

How P2P scams happen

This rise in P2P trading volume also led to significant uptick in P2P scams. These scams often use stolen banking data or lure customers with fake promises of high profits and then use their banking information to scam P2P users.

Earlier in July, two people were arrested in the Indian city of Ujjain in connection with a Binance P2P scandal. The police recovered several fake bank accounts, ATM cards and documents from the accused, who were allegedly buying fake IDs and personal data for 1,500 Indian rupees ($18) in order to scam users of Binance P2P.

One way P2P scammers steal user data is with the help of fake crypto-centered channels on Telegram that promise high profits or airdrops. Many gullible users looking to make a quick profit often join these channels and share their personal banking information. In many other cases, the scammer simply buys or steals the user’s personal information.

The stolen data is then used to create a P2P account on any popular P2P platform — Binance and WazriX are common in India.

The scammer then initiates a buy order on the P2P platform looking for unsuspecting sellers. Once they match with a seller, they send the money to the seller using the victim’s account. Thus, they complete the P2P transaction on the platfrom where the buyer receives the cryptocurrency and the seller receives the money in their bank account.

The buyer (scammer) then vanishes with the crypto and the victim whose bank account was used to send the money only realizes it after the money has been deducted from their bank account.

The victim then lodges a complaint with the police whose first step is to freeze all bank accounts that the victim has interacted with during the scam phase.

This action from the police triggers an extended account freeze for unsuspected sellers of the P2P platform who only realize they were involved in the scam after they get a call from the police or their bank informs them that their account has been frozen.

In one instance, a seller, who wished to remain anonymous, received a “bank account frozen” message while trying to pay for a taxi. After contacting the bank, the seller learned that the halt was requested by the police’s cyber division responsible for looking into online crimes.

When the seller then followed up on the complaint with the police and enquired about the freeze on the account, they were met with threats of legal consequences from the Enforcement Directorate, India’s economic intelligence agency, for a $40 P2P completed transaction on WazirX in October 2022.

The police complaint was filed by a woman who was scammed out of $30,000 between September 2022 and June 2023. The police started the investigation and froze every bank account that interacted with the plaintiff’s accounts during the mentioned time frame, including the sellers for the October transaction.

The seller tried to explain to the police officer that they had successfully completed the P2P transaction and thus have no role in the scam. Despite this, the police ignored their claims, erroneously claiming that crypto transactions are illegal and stating that they must pay the complainee $40 or face further legal action.

With no other options left, the victim eventually paid the $40 amount to the plaintiff’s account after which the police released an order to unfreeze the account.

The police did not respond to Cointelegraph’s request for comment.

The bank account restrictions limit unsuspected victim’s access to cash, and the complexities involved in getting the issue fixed are significant. The seller — who often is also unaware of the scam until the last moment — could be subject to a legal investigation or be required to provide evidence.

There have been several instances of such P2P scams over the past year where victims noted their fear of authorities, with police often threatening legal actions. The anonymous seller told Cointelegraph that their account was frozen with 50,000 rupees in it, adding that they are very afraid of how to approach authorities and whether they would face legal consequences.

Some advise against P2Ps

Due to a lack of clear guidelines around crypto-related crimes and a lack of understanding of the technology underpinning cryptocurrencies, police investigations often start with freezing the accounts of anyone involved in the situation.

Pushpendra Singh, a prominent crypto personality and educator in the Indian crypto ecosystem, told Cointelegraph that scammers take advantage of the police’s ignorance of how crypto works:

“What these scammers do is they often use platforms, such as international Binance platform, to evade investigation from the Indian authorities, as it becomes quite difficult for the authorities to demand documents from such international platforms. Scammers then take the stolen USDT to Trust Wallet or any other non-KYC’d platform to avoid being tracked. While scammers get away with the money, both buyer and seller in the transaction face financial and legal consequences.”

Singh said that Indian police need to be actively trained on how these scams work. He noted that the “lack of awareness around the nascent tech also leads to victim harassment where many victims are often told by the police that crypto transactions are illegal in India.”

P2P scams have become very common and concerning to the point where the majority of crypto experts in India have now asked traders to avoid P2P trading. Sumit Gupta, CEO of CoinDCX — a major crypto exchange in India — said crypto traders should avoid P2P transations.

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He said that many people in India got a notice from various government authorities just because they unknowingly sent money from someone who wasn’t the right person to deal with.

Other crypto personalities have urged traders to be vigilant and make sure the P2P account one is interacting with has a good history.

What started out as a crypto revolution has turned into a weak spot for the Indian crypto ecosystem.

Collect this article as an NFT to preserve this moment in history and show your support for independent journalism in the crypto space.

Bitcoin Technical Analysis: Resistance at $106K Sparks Fierce Bull-Bear Battle

Bitcoin Lightning on Coinbase agenda, Brian Armstrong tells Jack Dorsey

Armstrong confirmed that Coinbase was looking into adding support for the Bitcoin Lightning Network and reassured its support for Bitcoin payments.

Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong has confirmed that the crypto exchange is “looking into” adding the Bitcoin Lighting network in its quest to advance crypto payments adoption worldwide.

On July 28, Armstrong addressed the crypto community on Twitter (rebranded to X), highlighting the potential of cryptocurrencies to improve global payments infrastructure. He further suggested:

“This will take lots of work from all of us, Coinbase included, getting layer 2’s integrated, better on-ramps, simpler UX/onboarding, etc.”

Armstrong’s vision for global crypto payments was questioned by long-standing Bitcoin (BTC) supporters, including MicroStrategy founder Michael Saylor and Square CEO Jack Dorsey, given no mention of Bitcoin in the post, as shown below:

The Lightning Network aims to make Bitcoin transactions faster and cheaper by allowing users to create off-chain transaction channels. While Saylor simply recommended integrating Bitcoin Lightning on Coinbase, Dorsey questioned, “what ‘crypto’ is a better money transmission protocol (than Bitcoin) and why?” After five days of silence, Armstrong responded to Dorsey, stating:

“Not sure why you think we’re ignoring Bitcoin - we’ve onboarded more people to Bitcoin than probably any company in the world.”

Armstrong confirmed that Coinbase was looking into adding support for Bitcoin Lightning and reassured its support for Bitcoin payments. Dorsey acknowledged Coinbase’s role in spreading Bitcoin adoption, and agreed to partner with Armstrong in putting resources into Bitcoin and layer-2 technologies, adding:

“We want an open protocol for money transmission for the internet that’s not controlled by a single individual, company, or government.”

The open discussion between the two crypto entrepreneurs concluded with both pledging to be on the same team.

Related: Lightning Labs releases tools letting AI transact and hold Bitcoin

On July 17, Binance completed the integration of Bitcoin Lightning Network within a month of sharing its intention to do so.

Screenshot showing users can select “LIGHTNING” as an option when depositing Bitcoin. Source: Binance

Binance has joined Bitfinex, River Financial, OKX, Kraken and CoinCorner as the other prominent exchanges to have embraced the Lightning Network.

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Bitcoin Technical Analysis: Resistance at $106K Sparks Fierce Bull-Bear Battle

Tether signs MoU with Georgia to develop Bitcoin P2P infrastructure

The collaboration intends to bring changes to public administration and the business sector.

Stablecoin issuer Tether has signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with the government of Georgia to develop Bitcoin and peer-to-peer (P2P) infrastructure in the country. The strategic collaboration between the Tether and the Georgian government will focus on building key infrastructure for a thriving startup ecosystem in Georgia. 

The collaborative effort aims to attract international attention and investment toward the nascent decentralized space. The partnership aims to foster the growth of P2P technology at a state level and help build financial tools around it. Some of the key areas of development include education on Bitcoin (BTC) and blockchain technology, building payment infrastructure for merchants, and developing a resilient, open and private P2P communication system.

Tether said the partnership with the Georgian government would also look at creating and implementing a strong, autonomous financial and communication system. This entails encouraging the adoption of P2P technology-based digital payment and communication systems, as well as improving existing infrastructure to ensure its robustness and dependability in supporting blockchain-based solutions. The collaboration intends to bring changes to public administration and the business sector.

Georgia will create a special fund for local startups to help develop blockchain technologies and position Georgia as a country with an attractive ecosystem for tech startups. Irakli Nadareishvili, Deputy Minister of Economy and Sustainable Development, said the collaborative effort “will contribute to the development of local blockchain technologies in the country, as well as the introduction of companies operating in this sector in Georgia.”

Related: Peer-to-peer crypto exchanges struggle to navigate shifting legal landscape

Tether’s collaborative effort in Georgia is not its first. Over the years, many crypto companies have worked closely with governments to advance the nascent technology. In most cases, collaborations translate into a better understanding of the tech by governments, eventually leading to positive regulation.

El Salvador, the first country to make Bitcoin a legal tender, had Bitfinex as its key exchange technology partner and granted the country’s first digital asset license to the exchange. Similarly, crypto exchange Binance signed an MoU with Kazakhstan in May 2022 and received compliance approval from the government a year later.

Tether didn’t respond to Cointelegraph’s requests for comments by publication.

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Bitcoin Technical Analysis: Resistance at $106K Sparks Fierce Bull-Bear Battle

Money stored on mobile payment apps may not be FDIC insured, US watchdog warns

Deposits on mobile payment apps may not be insured by the FDIC, and customers may not know whether their money is insured or not.

Keep your money in an insured account, not on an uninsured payment app, the United States Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) warned Americans in a report released June 1. The increasing popularity and utility of nonbank peer-to-peer (P2P) payment apps, including for crypto asset transactions, makes the risk of loss in the event of a crisis ever more concerning, the watchdog said.

Public awareness of Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) coverage has grown since the bankruptcy of crypto platforms like FTX, Voyager and others last year, and this year’s banking crisis led to the loss of hundreds of millions of customer dollars, CFPB said. Nonetheless, billions of dollars are being stored on payment service apps without the benefit of FDIC coverage.

Many P2P apps — the CFPB lists PayPal, Venmo, Cash App, Apple Pay and Google Pay as examples — offer stored value services “that closely resemble deposit accounts.” Meta Pay does not offer services of that type.

Payment service providers are motivated to encourage customers to store funds with them because those funds can be used by the provider for investment purposes, subject to legal constraints, while the services rarely pay interest on stored funds. Providers are subject to the risk of those investments losing value.

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Even in the event that customer funds were held in an FDIC-insured account, the customer’s eligibility for pass-through deposit coverage is only determined after a failure has occurred, CFPB said. Furthermore, the insurance protects against the failure of the bank, not the payment service, which is typically regulated at the state level and not subject to federal supervision. Most state regulation was designed for money transfer, not storage.

Thus, funds held by PayPal or Venmo in their program banks may be eligible for pass-through insurance, but funds that have been invested by the providers are not eligible. Customers may not know where their deposits are stored.

Mobile payment services are increasingly enabling crypto asset transactions. Crypto assets are not insured, although services like PayPal and Venmo allow customers to hold crypto in their accounts.

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Bitcoin Technical Analysis: Resistance at $106K Sparks Fierce Bull-Bear Battle

Bitcoin Lightning Network is 1,000x cheaper than Visa and MasterCard: Data

Glassnode data demonstrates that the Lightning Network outcompetes traditional payment networks in terms of commission costs.

Fresh data from Glassnode demonstrates that Bitcoin's (BTC) Lightning Network is significantly cheaper to use than legacy payment networks.

The median fee rate, or the cost of sending value across the Lightning Network, is 0.0029%, 1,000 times cheaper than that of MasterCard of Visa payment processors. 

James Check, lead analyst at Glassnode, told Cointelegraph that the median fee rate, or the fee charged per 1 BTC sent across the Lightning Network, is currently 3,000 Satoshis (the smallest unit of Bitcoin). That is “equivalent to $0.84 to send $28,800 worth of value [...] which is a fee of 0.0029%.”

“Pretty remarkable when you think about it.”

In a post on the Nostr social media protocol, Bitcoin analyst Dylan LeClair noted that this rate is many times less than that charged by major credit card companies. 

The Lightning Network, a layer-2 payments solution built atop the world’s largest cryptocurrency was first proposed as a way to make Bitcoin effective as a payment method. These data points demonstrate that it is not only fast but low-cost,  with the mean fee rate has been steadily trending lower since November 2021.

Source: Glassnode

Legacy payment networks such as Visa and Mastercard charge merchants a fee of around 2-3% per transaction, making them an expensive option for businesses. In an upcoming Cointelegraph documentary shot in Cape Verde, the business owner of one of the few businesses to accept Bitcoin explained that accepting foreign Visa and Mastercard costs over 8%.

Moreover, Glassnode's Check referred to users who run their own nodes and manage their own channels. Many Lightning users take advantage of custodial wallets, such as Wallet of Satoshi and Alby to make micropayments on social media apps such as Nostr.

Some Bitcoin early adopters have noted the growing preference for custodial solutions (as the Bitcoiner mantra is “not your keys, not your coin”), although semi-custodial solutions such as Fedi and Cashu could undermine reliance on fully custodial solutions. 

Related: MicroStrategy’s Saylor fuses work email address with Bitcoin Lightning

Furthermore, the throughput of the Lightning Network could be called into question. Check explained:

“Of course, we must also consider that the typical channel is smaller than 1 BTC. The median channel size is 0.02 BTC and the mean is 0.08 BTC, so overall the Lightning Network remains well suited to payments below $1,000.”

In the below graph, the channel size is trending higher but still well under $10,000. In such an environment, payments over $1,000 may be better suited to the Bitcoin base chain in order to avoid payment failure or misfire. 

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Bitcoin Technical Analysis: Resistance at $106K Sparks Fierce Bull-Bear Battle

Peer-to-peer crypto exchanges struggle to navigate shifting legal landscape

Two major P2P platforms announced their closure in the first quarter of 2023. Many blame it on growing regulatory scrutiny, but experts call for better alternatives.

A peer-to-peer (P2P) cryptocurrency exchange is an online marketplace that connects buyers and sellers of cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin (BTC). The platform enables them to conduct direct business with one another without the need for intermediaries. 

When purchasing cryptocurrency on a P2P exchange, a buyer transfers the agreed-upon amount from their account to the seller. The payment is not made between a consumer and a money services company but between two distinct customers.

P2P exchanges were once the lifeline of the crypto ecosystem, owing to the ease of exchange and privacy features that these platforms offered. However, in 2023, some of these key features have driven them to fall under increased scrutiny from regulators.

On Feb. 9, 2023, Finland-based P2P exchange platform LocalBitcoins announced it was closing after 10 years in service. The platform cited tough market conditions owing to the ongoing crypto winter, along with increasing regulatory pressure and declining market share.

The abrupt closure of one of the oldest P2P Bitcoin trading platforms came within weeks of the United States Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) naming the platform as one of the largest Bitcoin counterparties to the Russian-affiliated exchange Bitzlato.

Bitzlato was the target of a significant enforcement action by U.S. officials who accused the platform of violating of Anti-Money Laundering rules and aiding in the evasion of Russian sanctions.

Another prominent P2P Bitcoin exchange platform Paxful, founded in 2015, suspended operations on April 4. The platform cited the ongoing regulatory environment and staff departures as the reason behind its closure. In a Twitter space, CEO Ray Youssef dwelled more on their decision and said even though American regulators have done a lot of catching up in the past five years, they “still don’t get it. They grow more suspicious every day.”

The ongoing court battle between Artur Schaback and Youssef over the control of the firm was also seen as a prominent reason behind its downfall. According to court filings, the two co-founders are currently at loggerheads over who will manage the business and have made a number of charges against one another. The accusations include, among other things, the theft of corporate finances, money laundering and circumvention of U.S. sanctions on Russia.

In an interview with Cointelegraph, both Schaback and Youssef continued their blame game and pointed fingers at the other person. Youssef claimed his co-founder’s legal tactics “bordered on terrorism” and cost Paxful many employees and directors. On the other hand, Schaback said Youssef took unilateral action to shut down Paxful on April 4, and he had no say in the day-to-day operations of the company for almost 18 months.

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Richard Mico, chief legal officer of global on- and off-ramp crypto platform Banxa, told Cointelegraph that the breakdown of relationships between the co-founders resulting in litigation could be one of many reasons behind the downfall of Paxful. He added that the ever-evolving regulatory scrutiny in the U.S. had made it difficult for the decentralized crypto platforms and P2P exchanges to thrive:

“Paxful has faced regulatory scrutiny in the past over claims of money laundering and fraud on its platform. In May of 2021, the New York State Department of Financial Services (NYDFS) ordered Paxful to bolster its KYC/AML processes. It is very possible that Paxful is fearful of future ongoing investigations and remediations,” Micro told Cointelegraph.

He said that, aside from concerns over shifting regulatory requirements, market conditions are driving significant consolidation in space. However, he is hopeful that “more transparent regulation in the U.S. will enable both P2P and other exchanges to flourish in a manner that strikes the appropriate balance between consumer protection and innovation.”

P2P shutdowns impact emerging economies the most

P2P platforms have been instrumental in flourishing crypto adoption especially in developing nations and offering banking services to the unbanked. Paxful was a pioneer of crypto adoption in Nigeria, and its shutdown hit many users in the country hard.

Freelancers often used the platform to convert their wages to and from Bitcoin and make payments to each other, while traders made use of its escrow service to conduct business. As such, the closure has left many of these users in Nigeria wondering about the future of the domestic crypto marketplace.

The Indian government imposed a banking ban on crypto exchanges in 2019 cutting all banking facilities to such exchanges. However, WazirX, one of the early crypto exchanges in India, introduced its P2P platform to ensure people were still able to trade their assets. Indian crypto traders turned to P2P platforms again in 2021 after the government imposed a hefty 30% tax on crypto transactions.

Former WazirX CEO Nischal Shetty seemed more optimistic about the future of P2P platforms, particularly in the developing world. He told Cointelegraph that P2P platforms with proper Know Your Customer protocols “help onboard users, especially in developing countries without banking access, and will continue to exist.”

Nick Saponaro, CEO of decentralized payment platform provider Divi Labs, told Cointelegraph that the closures will be painful for unbanked and underbanked traders, hindering their ability to transact locally and globally.

“Countries like Malawi, where citizens are well-capitalized but have restrictive banking practices that only allow customers to withdraw a few USD daily — P2P exchanges are necessary for those individuals to interact with the global financial infrastructure,” he explained.

Ben Jorgensen, co-founder and CEO of Web3 interoperability platform Constellation Network, told Cointelegraph that the closure of P2P platforms is, unfortunately, a massive blow to developing nations, but most likely, these developing nations will see more and more native P2P exchanges crop up.

The rise of better alternatives to P2P

The declining popularity of P2P platforms and the recent closure of some of the oldest P2P platforms are also attributed to the new availability of better alternatives, as there are now more practical on-ramps that enable users to buy cryptocurrency using their bank accounts and credit cards.

The costs of doing business are also important. For example, exchanges like Coinbase spend millions of dollars just to comply with local regulations. The unbanked communities throughout the world stand to gain the most from P2P exchanges, but given the growing regulatory compliance requirements, it is unlikely that they will produce the volumes required to support them on a large scale.

Saponaro told Cointelegraph that the only way new and existing P2P exchanges will survive is as ancillary services offered by licensed operators:

“For example, Binance has a P2P platform; however, the business model is not profitable enough to be the sole revenue stream in a fully regulated environment.”

Marc Taverner, a founding member of Swiss-regulated crypto and fiat on-ramp platform Xerof, told Cointelegraph that users often switch from P2P platforms to other trusted solutions because they need to minimize counterparty risk. Users are naturally migrating to providers that can address these risks:

“We are seeing increasing demand for trusted, transparent and compliant solutions, and it will be operators with licenses from established and respected jurisdictions who will onboard most of these users. P2P markets will still exist. The long-term question just remains how they will cope with heightened regulatory requirements,” he said.

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Jorgensen said that P2P platforms will continue to evolve just like decentralized exchanges and explained, “Although DEXs [decentralized exchanges] are technically peer-to-peer exchanges, they are catered more to a trustless state with much better fees. In terms of regulation now and in the foreseeable future, cash-to-crypto and crypto-to-cash will likely end up where most if not all regulation will be enacted. Think about it. It makes sense that when entering and exiting crypto, like when you are entering and exiting stocks in trade, these cash-in and cash-out points are documented [...] Ultimately governments want to tax these transactions, and this approach is the least complicated way to do so.”

The shutdown of major P2P platforms in 2023 has become a sign of evolving regulations, especially in the United States. However, experts believe that P2P platforms will still play a key role in developing nations, and these nations will move toward launching their native platforms to overcome the closure of popular global platforms.

Bitcoin Technical Analysis: Resistance at $106K Sparks Fierce Bull-Bear Battle

Circle exec to join US Congressional committee hearing on stablecoin payments, legislation

The Financial Services Committee issued a memorandum to announce an upcoming hearing titled “Understanding Stablecoins’ Role in Payments and the Need for Legislation.”

The United States House Committee on Financial Services a.k.a the Financial Services Committee will hold a hearing on April 19 to discuss stablecoins’ position as a means of payment and whether or not the ecosystem needs supporting legislation.

The Financial Services Committee issued a memorandum to announce an upcoming hearing titled “Understanding Stablecoins’ Role in Payments and the Need for Legislation.” The hearing will be based on the information collected over the last year demanded by the Federal government.

List of individuals testifying at the upcoming Financial Services Committee hearing. Source: house.gov

The above list shows the participants who will be testifying at the hearing, which includes Circle’s chief strategy officer and head of global policy, Dante Disparte. Last month, on March 11, Circle’s in-house stablecoin offering, USD Coin (USDC), depegged from the US dollar after the company revealed that Silicon Valley Bank did not process its $3.3 billion withdrawal request.

However, following an intense intervention, USDC managed to repeg its value to the dollar. During this timeline, hackers managed to gain access to Disparte’s Twitter account and started promoting fake loyalty rewards to long-time users of USDC.

The upcoming Financial Services Committee hearing will focus on the various stablecoins and their use in the payments landscape. Moreover, the committee will explore the need for stablecoin legislation depending on their underlying collateral structures.

Related: Circle and BlockFi questioned on banking with SVB by Warren and AOC

Just days before the upcoming hearing, a draft bill providing a framework for stablecoins in the United States was published on the House of Representatives' document repository.

Speaking about the draft bill, Circle's CEO Jeremy Allaire said that "there is clearly the need for deep, bi-partisan support for laws that ensure that digital dollars on the internet are safely issued, backed and operated."

As Cointelegraph reported, the draft further allows the U.S. government to establish standards for interoperability between stablecoins.

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Bitcoin Technical Analysis: Resistance at $106K Sparks Fierce Bull-Bear Battle