News updates March 3, 2022

• EU is ‘taking measures’ against Russia using crypto to bypass sanctions, say finance ministers

  Economy and finance ministers representing nations in the European Union have said they will address Russia’s potential use of cryptocurrencies to evade sanctions imposed on it following its operations in Ukraine.

  Speaking to reporters through an interpreter following an informal video conference of EU economy and finance ministers on Wednesday, France’s finance minister, Bruno Le Maire, said lawmakers had already worked to freeze “a significant amount of the assets” in Russia’s central bank as part of its efforts to financially penalize the country over its ongoing efforts in Ukraine. However, he added that the 27 member states of the EU had decided on additional measures aimed at stopping Russia from evading sanctions, including extending them to Belarus.

• FC Barcelona Preparing to Launch its Own Cryptocurrency & NFTs Barcelona Football Club, a major professional football club based in Barcelona, Spain, announced on Monday that it is planning to develop its own cryptocurrency and launch a variety of its NFTs (Non-Fungible Tokens). Joan Laporta, the President of Barcelona FC, confirmed the development.
• Ukraine Adds Dogecoin to List of Accepted Cryptos, Prime Minister Asks DOGE Co-Founder and Elon Musk to Donate. Following the acceptance of polkadot (DOT) on March 1, the Ukrainian government is now poised to take dogecoin (DOGE) donations as well. Mykhailo Fedorov, the country’s vice prime minister, announced the government would accept DOGE via the Ukrainian official’s Twitter account. Fedorov even gave a shout-out to the Dogecoin network’s co-creator Billy Markus and Tesla CEO Elon Musk.
• Crypto Market Cap Rebounds, Reaches $2 Trillion. The crypto market has experienced a sudden surge in value, with Bitcoin’s price climbing near $45K to bring market capitalization back over two trillion dollars.

• China’s Digital Yuan Set for Local Adoption, Airport, Banking Drives

  China’s digital yuan is edging ever closer to a nationwide rollout, with banks, airports, and provinces looking to boost their adoption efforts following last month’s Winter Olympics and ahead of the Paralympic Winter Olympics.

  The Paralympics begins on March 4, and overseas attendees will again be invited to make use of the digital CNY at Olympic venues in the capital Beijing and other parts of the country hosting events. But media outlets in the country hinted that the pilot is looking yet further ahead, with multiple Chinese provinces making multiple mentions of digital CNY in their latest five-year plans.

• Hong Kong-listed Huobi Tech launches cryptocurrency OTC service

  Hong Kong-listed virtual asset platform Huobi Technology Holdings has launched a cryptocurrency over-the-counter (OTC) service, the firm announced to Cointelegraph on Wednesday.

  According to the latest announcement, Huobi Technology now allows investors to trade crypto via OTC using crypto block trading services and fiat currencies like the U.S. dollar. The firm plans to expand it to the euro, the British pound and the Hong Kong dollar in the near future.

• Bitcoin Rally Cools Down But BTC Whales Are Becoming Increasingly Active

  After a solid start to the week, the Bitcoin rally has finally called down as the BTC price rests currently at $43,500 with 24% gains on the weekly charts. The Bitcoin and crypto market rally come on the backdrop of the major geopolitical situation panning out with the Russia-Ukraine war.

  On Wednesday, March 2, German Finance Minister Christian Lindner said that members of the EU and the G7 are working to block Russians from evading the monetary sanctions.

  Some lawmakers from Ukraine and the U.S. have also asked crypto exchanges to ban ordinary Russian citizens from trading in crypto. However, exchanges like Binance and Kraken have outrightly rejected the plea.

  Bitcoin Whales Become Increasingly Active:

  On the other, the Bitcoin trading activity among whales has been increasing during the recent price pump. On-chain data provider Santiment reported:

  While #Bitcoin hovers between $43k and $45k and traders await the next big swing, whales are becoming increasingly active in making massive transactions. In the last three days, there have been 13,400 $BTC transactions exceeding $1M in value.

  While reports of Russian rubles trading volumes in BTC going up emerge, Ukrainians are also buying Bitcoin in increasing numbers.

  Along with Bitcoin, the broader cryptocurrency market seems to be taking some rest after the early week’s pump. Last week’s top performer Terra’s LUNA holds at $93.

• S.Korean crypto exchange freezes around 20 Russian accounts

  South Korean cryptocurrency exchange Gopax announced on Wednesday that it has frozen and blocked Russian accounts and IP addresses from its platform.

  * According to local media, the exchange has blocked around 20 accounts belonging to Russian users.

  * Gopax said its restrictions align with the U.S. Office of Foreign Assets Control and the European Union’s sanctions against Russia

  * Hong Kong-based Animoca Brands also announced on Friday that it has shuttered its services for Russian users.

  However, not all crypto exchanges share the sentiment, with Binance and Kraken saying they will not freeze individual user accounts on their platforms.