Crypto.com

Middle East, Asia and Africa blockchain association launches in Abu Dhabi

A new blockchain body has been launched with the backing of industry leaders in the Middle East region including figures from Binance, Crypto.com and the largest crypto exchange in the region.

A new blockchain and cryptocurrency-focused association has been launched within Abu Dhabi’s free economic zone that aims to further the development of blockchain and crypto ecosystems across the Middle Eastern, North Africa, and Asian regions.

The Middle East, Africa & Asia Crypto & Blockchain Association (MEAACBA) was officially launched on Nov. 8 in the Abu Dhabi Global Market (ADGM), a free economic zone based in the center of the city subject to its own set of civil and commercial laws. The zone was designed to further the growth of fintech companies in the United Arab Emirates (UAE).

The nonprofit organization will aim to facilitate regulatory solutions, create commercial opportunities and invest in education to support industry growth, according to its website.

The association will be spearheaded by board chairman Jehanzeb Awan, founder of an international risk and compliance consulting firm headquartered in Dubai.

Other supporting the association include Binance’s regional head of Middle East and North Africa (MENA), Richard Teng, Crypto.com’s general manager of Middle East and Africa, Stuart Isted, and Ola Doudin, the CEO of BitOasis, a cryptocurrency exchange in the region.

Awan said he hopes the organization will bring about a collaborative and community-based approach to further industry growth in the MENA region and “create wide-reaching benefits for this highly dynamic and exciting space.”

“The industry will benefit from the Association as it provides a coordination mechanism between regulators, government agencies, banks, legal, tax, and advisory firms to address the most pressing challenges,” he added.

ADGM’s chairman Ahmed Jasim Al Zaabi also stated that MEAACBA’s addition would contribute to a much more “progressive financial sector” in the region.

Related: UAE Web3 ecosystem houses almost 1.5K active organizations: Report

MEAACBA’s launch comes as the Financial Services Regulatory Authority (FSRA) — the financial regulator of ADGM’s free economic zone — published a set of “Guiding Principles” on its approach to navigate the regulatory complexities brought to it by the digital asset industry in September.

The principles are said to be “crypto-friendly” while still complying with some of the strict international standards on Anti-Money Laundering (AML) and Counter-Terrorism Financing (CFT) by the United Nations.

The MENA region is also the fastest-growing cryptocurrency market in the world, according to a recent study. During a 12-month stretch from July 2021 and June 2022, transaction volume in MENA reached $566 billion, an increase of 48% from the previous 12 months.

The use case for cryptocurrencies in many of these emerging markets has come in the form of savings preservation and remittance payments to counter the effects of inflation in highly unstable economies.

Fortune did not, in fact, favor the brave: Matt Damon’s Crypto​.com TV spot turns 1

Many in and out of the crypto space have parodied Matt Damon’s appearance promoting the crypto exchange following the market downturn in May.

The crypto industry has had its share of issues with marketing, from projects many authorities labeled scams to high-profile branding with sports franchises, but one ad that has stood out came from crypto exchange Crypto.com featuring Hollywood star Matt Damon.

Many have ridiculed the “fortune favors the brave” ad starring Damon since its release in October 2021, using the TV spot as a creative springboard to criticize the crypto space and celebrities supporting it. The creators of South Park aired two episodes and one two-part special poking fun at crypto users and the Crypto.com ad specifically. Late-night TV hosts including Stephen Colbert also targeted the ad spot with parodies and jokes following the market downturn in May.

Still shot of Matt Damon in the Crypto.com TV spot, since made private on YouTube.

At the time Damon showed his face promoting the exchange, the price of Bitcoin (BTC) was more than $60,000, Ether (ETH) was more than $4,000 and the total crypto market capitalization was roughly $2.6 trillion. Though some tokens have delivered gains to investors since that time, the prices of BTC and ETH have dropped more than 60% since 2021, reaching $20,627 and $1,552 at the time of publication, respectively.

It’s unclear how much Crypto.com compensated Damon for the ad — he also received $1 million in donations for Water.org — but the actor was not the only celebrity promoting crypto firms. Actor and producer Reese Witherspoon’s company partnered with a nonfungible token collection to develop feature films and a television series, and Kim Kardashian promoted the EthereumMax (EMAX) project on her Instagram stories — which later led to charges from the United States Securities and Exchange Commission.

Related: Influential celebrities who joined the crypto club over the past year

Other marketing and regulatory efforts by the crypto exchange seem to be continuing to move forward despite CEO Kris Marszalek announcing layoffs in June. Financial regulatory authorities in Italy, Cyprus, France and the United Kingdom have approved Crypto.com to offer crypto services to their residents, and the exchange proceeded with renovating the former Staples Center in Los Angeles following a $700 million agreement.

While Crypto.com inked many sponsorship deals with sports organizations prior to the market downturn, reports have suggested that the exchange may have reduced the scale of some of these partnerships. Cointelegraph reported in September that the crypto exchange dropped out of a half-billion-dollar sponsorship deal with the Union of European Football Associations Champions League. An October report suggested Crypto.com’s deals with the Los Angeles-based Angel City Football Club, the 2022 FIFA World Cup in Qatar and esports tournament host Twitch Rivals may also have been affected.

Fidelity to beef up crypto unit by another 25% with 100 new hires

The Digital Assets division within Fidelity Investments will have around 500 total staff members by the first quarter of 2023, according to a spokesperson.

$4.5 trillion asset management firm Fidelity Investments is reportedly set to hire another 100 people to bolster the firm’s growing digital assets division — a stark contrast to the recent squeezing out of crypto-talent. 

A Fidelity representative told Bloomberg on Oct. 22 that the firm has begun a new round of hiring, which will bring the Fidelity Digital Asset’s headcount to around 500 by the end of the first quarter of 2023.

A search on Fidelity’s job board currently shows 74 live results for digital asset-related positions, which cover areas relating to blockchain technology, business analysis, customer service, finance and accounting, product development and corporate services, including compliance. 

Almost all of the current listings are based in the United States — with the majority coming from its Boston headquarters, New York, Texas, Colorado and Utah.

The spokesperson told Bloomberg that the new roles would be situated throughout the United States, United Kingdom and Ireland.

Fidelity’s hiring spree comes as BlockFi, Coinbase, Gemini and Crypto.com were among some of the largest crypto-native firms to lay off a spree of employees, having cut 20%, 18% and 10%, respectively.

The large layoffs appear to have opened a fresh supply of crypto talent for traditional firms like Fidelity to take on board.

Related: Fidelity’s crypto ambitions are bigger than expected: report

The digital asset team expansion should be of little surprise given how gung-ho Fidelity has been to offer more comprehensive digital asset-related services amid growing investor interest.

A Fidelity spokesperson recently confirmed to Cointelegraph that they will be offering Ether (ETH) custody and trading services to its institutional clients from Oct. 28, 2022.

In September, industry participants hinted the firm may soon “shift” into offering Bitcoin (BTC) trading services to its 34 million retail customers.

The firm did not confirm the speculation at the time, only noting that “expanding our offerings to enable broader access to digital assets remains an area of focus.”

The firm has already launched a service that enables its 401(k) retirement saving account holders to invest directly into Bitcoin.

Cointelegraph reached out to Fidelity in regard to the firm’s expansion plans but did not receive an immediate response.

Crypto Biz: $43T bank enters crypto — Probably nothing, right?

Another major financial institution has signaled its intent to offer Bitcoin and Ether services to its clients.

As crypto traders debate whether Bitcoin (BTC) is going to $25,000 or $15,000 first, the world’s largest financial institutions are laying the groundwork for mass adoption. The proverbial floodgates are unlikely to open before the United States provides a clear regulatory framework for crypto, but regulators and industry insiders are confident that guidance could come in 2023 at the earliest. In the meantime, megabanks like BNY Mellon, whose roots date back to 1784, are entering the space. 

This week’s Crypto Biz chronicles BNY Mellon’s foray into digital assets, JPMorgan’s ongoing experimentation with blockchain technology and Crypto.com’s new European headquarters.

BNY Mellon, America’s oldest bank, launches crypto services

Arguably the biggest story of the week was news of another established financial institution entering the crypto sphere. BNY Mellon, whose predecessor was founded 238 years ago, announced the launch of a digital custody platform to safeguard clients’ Bitcoin and Ether (ETH) holdings. Initially, the platform will serve select U.S. institutional clients. “With Digital Asset Custody, we continue our journey of trust and innovation into the evolving digital assets space while embracing leading technology and collaborating with fintechs,” said Roman Regelman, the bank’s CEO of securities services and digital. To get a sense of just how massive BNY Mellon is, the bank holds $43 trillion in assets under management as of 2022.

SWIFT action: JPMorgan and Visa team up on cross-border blockchain payments

JPMorgan continues to experiment with blockchain technology and digital assets even after its CEO attempted to dismiss the sector as a Ponzi scheme. Now, the U.S. financial institution is partnering with Visa to streamline the use of its private blockchain for cross-border payments. The partnership centers around JPMorgan’s Liink blockchain, which has been designed specifically for cross-border transfers, and Visa’s B2B connect, a cross-border payment network for banks. As Cointelegraph reported, it seems like the duo wants to develop an alternative to SWIFT, the dominant global network for secure messaging and transactions.

Crypto.com invests $145M in new European headquarters

2021 was the year of sponsorships for Crypto.com. Now, 2022 is shaping up to be the year of regulatory approvals. In light of regulatory traction in Europe, the crypto exchange announced this week that Paris, France, would become its new European headquarters. The company plans to spend roughly $145.7 million to establish its presence in France. Additional resources will be allocated to boosting the exchange’s presence across the region. It looks like Crypto.com is positioning itself for the next bull market. Most of its casual retail users probably won’t open the app until then.

Stellar Development Foundation launches $100M fund to support native smart contract adoption

Stellar doesn’t get nearly as much airtime as it did during the 2017 crypto bubble, but the network is still working to spur adoption and innovation on its Soroban smart contract platform. This week, Stellar Development Foundation (SDF), the nonprofit organization supporting the development of the Stellar network, announced it had launched a $100 million fund to incentivize developers to build on Soroban. Timer Weller, SDF’s vice president of technology strategy, told Cointelegraph that Soroban was developed to overcome the “friction” of existing blockchain networks.

Before you go: $25K or $15K BTC — what comes first?

Bitcoin’s price action is starting to look eerily similar to 2018’s “range from hell.” And we all know what happened after that (BTC would eventually plunge from $6,000 to roughly $3,200, marking the final bottom for the cycle). In this week’s Market Report, I sat down with Benton Yaun to discuss BTC’s price trajectory and how the latest CPI inflation data could impact the market. You can watch the full replay below.

Crypto Biz is your weekly pulse of the business behind blockchain and crypto delivered directly to your inbox every Thursday.

Disclaimer: This newsletter was updated to reflect BNY Mellon’s total assets under management, which is $43 trillion. 

Couple sent $10.5M by Crypto.com claim they thought they won a prize

The duo allegedly went on a spending spree with Crypto.com’s funds, buying four houses, vehicles, art, furniture and gifts, but 7 million AUD has now been returned.

The Melbourne couple who mistakenly sent almost $6.6 million, or 10.5 million Australian dollars, on Crypto.com in 2021 is arguing in court that they thought the funds were won via a competition.

Thevamanogari Manivel and her husband, Jatinder Singh, are currently facing a trial in the Victoria Supreme Court over theft charges, among others, after the duo allegedly went on a spending spree with Crypto.com’s funds last year.

Appearing via video link in Melbourne magistrates court on Oct. 11, Manivel and Singh pleaded not guilty to their respective charges, with the defense being that Singh had thought he had won a contest from Crypto.com and had told his wife as such.

The funds were initially sent to Manivel’s bank account in May 2021, with Crypto.com compliance officer Michi Chan Fores telling the court that the issue arose from an employee based in Bulgaria entering incorrect details into an Excel spreadsheet.

The Crypto.com account itself belonged to Singh, but the funds went to his wife’s bank account, as he had been using her bank cards to purchase crypto. The firm did not realize its mistake until an audit occurred in December.

Singh claims that he thought he had won the money as he had previously received a notification from the company regarding a competition. However, Fores denied the existence of such competition and outlined that Crypto.com did not send any notifications to tell users about competition winnings.

Their charges slightly differ, as Manivel is charged with theft for withdrawing the funds from her Commonwealth bank account, negligently dealing with proceeds of crime and trying to flee the country.

In March, Manivel was arrested at Melbourne airport, after it was alleged that she was trying to fly home to Malaysia with roughly 11,000 AUD.

She was granted bail on strict conditions in the latest hearing, having to surrender her passport and being barred from attending any points of departure.

Manivel’s lawyer argues that she was unaware of criminal charges being brought against her when trying to fly to Malaysia.

Singh is primarily facing theft charges for withdrawing Crypto.com’s funds from the bank. Moving forward, Manivel and Singh are set for a directions hearing in the county court on Nov. 8.

Spending spree

A police officer told the court the funds were allegedly used to buy four houses, vehicles, gifts for relatives, art and some furniture, while 4 million AUD was also sent to a bank account in Malaysia.

Related: French police use Twitter crypto sleuth’s research to catch scammers

One of their four houses included a 1.35 million AUD five bedroom property in Craigieburn, which the Victoria Supreme Court promptly ordered to be sold and the money returned to Crypto.com.

1.35 million AUD property: Nine News

As it stands, around $7 million has been paid back, with $3 million still to be accounted for. Civil action is reportedly underway to freeze properties and get the remaining funds back.

Crypto​.com invests $145M in new European headquarters

The Singapore-based crypto exchange announced Paris, France as its regional headquarters after receiving its French Digital Asset Service Provider license in September.

Digital asset exchange Crypto.com has chosen Paris, France as the center for its European headquarters and has invested $145.7 million in the country to establish the new operations. 

The Singapore-based crypto exchange announced on Oct. 12 that its new regional headquarters reflects its “long-term commitment to France” and that it plans to hire local talent to support its European operations. Additional resources will be allocated to advancing Crypto.com’s brand presence through customer engagement and education initiatives.

Crypto.com selected the French capital as its European base mere weeks after the exchange secured regulatory approvals in the country. On Sept. 28, Crypto.com was officially recognized as a Digital Asset Service Provider by France’s market regulator Autorité des Marchés Financiers. During the same month, the exchange also received clearance from the Autorité de Contrôle Prudentiel et de Résolution, which is responsible for monitoring banking and insurance activity in the country.

Founded in 2016, Crypto.com has grown to become one of the largest digital asset exchanges in the world, with over 50 million users. The exchange’s main interface is a mobile app that lets users easily buy and sell cryptocurrencies with direct fiat onramps.

As reported by Cointelegraph, Crypto.com has hit several regulatory milestones this year, including securing approvals in the United Kingdom, Italy, Cyprus, South Korea and Dubai. During the height of the bull market in 2021, the exchange announced sponsorship deals with the English Premier League, Nascar and Aston Martin’s Formula One division.

Crypto.com downsizes some sports partnership deals amid market downturn: Report

The crypto exchange reportedly cut the scope of sponsorship agreements inked with sports organizations including the Angel City Football Club, the 2022 FIFA World Cup and Twitch Rivals.

Cryptocurrency exchange Crypto.com has reportedly reduced the scale of many of its sponsorship deals with sports organizations amid staff cuts and the market downturn.

According to an Oct. 6 report, Ad Age tech reporter Asa Hiken said Crypto.com cut the scope of sponsorship agreements inked with major sports organizations including Los Angeles’ Angel City Football Club, the 2022 FIFA World Cup in Qatar and esports tournament host Twitch Rivals — in some cases reportedly attempting to pull out of the deals entirely. Hiken cited unnamed former and current Crypto.com employees, who said the crypto exchange had begun considering such actions following the market downturn in May.

“The other shoe has dropped for a crypto firm that marketed really big when number was up,” said Hiken. “Now that number is down, the firm is grappling with its own costly decisions.”

Lawyers for Angel City reportedly claimed the crypto exchange withheld payments and eventually backed out of the deal, first announced in December 2021. In addition, the firm reportedly decided on plans to dissolve its partnership with Twitch Rivals, with both companies agreeing to finish the deal by the end of 2022. A former Crypto.com employee alleged the firm may have cut the number of hospitality packages it planned to issue as part of the FIFA deal by half.

Crypto.com has made a number of highprofile marketing deals in the last 12 months, from recruiting actor Matt Damon to appear in its “Fortune Favors the Brave” ad campaign to signing a $700-million agreement to rename the Staples Center in Los Angeles as the Crypto.com Arena. The crypto exchange has reportedly continued to move forward with the multimillion-dollar renovation.

Related: Crypto.com to roll out Google Pay integration as Big Tech continues to embrace crypto

Cointelegraph reported in September that Crypto.com had dropped out of a half-billion-dollar sponsorship deal with the Union of European Football Associations Champions League. The report implied that other major partnerships with the exchange, including its five-year deal with the Australia Football League and Formula 1, might also be affected.

Although Crypto.com CEO Kris Marszalek had announced the exchange planned to downsize 5% of its employees in June, the report suggested the percentage of staff cuts may have been much higher, with roughly 30% to 40% leaving the firm from June to August — many as the result of layoffs. Since July, financial regulatory authorities in Italy, Cyprus, France and the United Kingdom have given Crypto.com the green light to offer its services to residents.

Crypto​.com scores fresh regulatory approval in France

The digital asset platform was focused primarily on acquisitions and sponsorship deals through the bull market but now seems to have shifted toward expansion, especially in Europe.

Singapore-based digital asset platform Crypto.com scored a major regulatory approval in France. The digital asset platform was approved to register as a Digital Asset Service Provider (DASP) by the stock market regulator Autorité des Marchés Financiers (AMF). The approval was granted after the platform received clearance from the Autorité de Contrôle Prudentiel et de Résolution (ACPR), the financial regulator in the country.

The regulatory approval will help the digital asset platform offer a suite of products and services in compliance with local regulations to customers in France. The platform hopes to bank on the latest approval for expanding its services in Europe.

The mobile-first digital asset exchange platform has managed to obtain more than half a dozen regulatory approval in 2022, spreading across North America, Asia and Europe.

Earlier in July 2022, Crypto.com managed to gain two regulatory approvals in Europe, one in Cyprus and another in Italy. At that time, Kris Marszalek, the co-founder and CEO of the platform, mentioned that the firm was focused on expansion in Europe.

In August, the digital asset platform received the green light from United Kingdom regulators for “certain crypto activities.” Apart from Europe, the digital asset platform has also scored major regulatory approvals in Dubai, Ontario Canada, Cayman Islands, Singapore and South Korea.

Related: Crypto.com’s Cronos launches $100M accelerator for DeFi and Web3

The regulatory approval in France is also special for the digital asset platform as it comes just within a couple of months of the Formula 1 (F1) sponsorship fiasco. Earlier in July, several F1 international racing teams removed or covered up the branding and logos of crypto-related sponsors including Crypto.com. This was done in light of the uncertainty around crypto regulations in the country.

The Singapore-based digital asset platform focused primarily on sponsorship deals and acquisitions through the bull market, the platform has turned to the expansion of services to new regions during the bear market.

Crypto.com backs out of $495M sponsorship deal with UEFA Champions League: Report

The crypto exchange reportedly stepped in as a potential sponsor after the Champions League dropped Russian state-owned energy firm Gazprom.

Cryptocurrency exchange Crypto.com has reportedly dropped out of a half-billion-dollar sponsorship deal with the Union of European Football Associations Champions League.

According to a Wednesday report from SportBusiness, Crypto.com pulled out of a $495-million agreement with the Union of European Football Associations, or UEFA, which was close to being signed due to its legal team citing regulatory concerns with the exchange’s licenses in the United Kingdom, France and Italy. Had the deal gone through, Crypto.com’s branding would have been present for the UEFA Champions League for five seasons at a cost of roughly $100 million per season, ending in 2027.

The sports news outlet reported that Crypto.com had stepped in as a potential sponsor after the Champions League dropped Russian state-owned energy firm Gazprom in response to the country’s invasion of Ukraine. Following Russia’s actions, many parts of Europe announced plans to become independent from the country’s supply of oil and gas in an effort to refrain from helpin its economy during the war.

Crypto.com had previously announced major sponsorships for sporting venues and teams and has paid millions of dollars in advertising costs. The firm had actor Matt Damon appear in its “Fortune Favors the Brave” TV spot, which launched in October.

In 2021, the exchange ​​partnered with Formula 1 for its Sprint series, having previously agreed to sponsor the Aston Martin team in the racing event, and inked a 20-year, $700-million deal to rename Los Angeles’ Staples Center the Crypto.com Arena. In 2022, the exchange launched a five-year sponsorship deal with the Australia Football League for $25 million and became one of the official sponsors of the FIFA World Cup in Qatar.

Related: Crypto winter freezes sports sponsorships for digital asset firms

Amid the recent market downturn, Crypto.com CEO Kris Marszalek announced in June that the exchange would be cutting 260 people from its corporate workforce, or 5% of employees. It’s unclear if the dip in crypto prices could adversely affect the platform’s long-term sponsorship deals.

Cointelegraph reached out to Crypto.com, but did not receive a response at the time of publication.

Crypto licensing roundup: Learn about the most recent approvals in the industry

Here’s where cryptocurrency firms have received the most regulatory approvals and licenses over the past few weeks.

Cryptocurrency companies have been moving to improve compliance worldwide amid the bear market of 2022, with many platforms increasingly securing licenses and approvals. 

As one may find it difficult to track all global regulatory milestones in crypto, Cointelegraph has picked up some of the latest compliance developments over the past couple of weeks.

Global crypto firms have recently been active in growing presence and compliance in North America, with exchanges like China-founded Huobi Tech entering Canada.

Huobi Technology Holdings announced on Tuesday that its subsidiary Hbit Technologies has successfully obtained a Money Services Business (MSB) license from the Financial Transactions and Reports Analysis Centre of Canada.

cuWith the new license, Huobi Tech is officially authorized to engage in regulated activities for foreign exchange, money transferring and virtual currencies dealing in Canada. The new compliance milestone came shortly after Hbit received the MSB license in the United States in July.

Binance.US, the American partner of Binance, another crypto exchange founded in China, has also been actively improving regulatory efforts in North America recently. On Thursday, the exchange received a Money Transmitter License from the Nevada Department of Business and Industry, Financial Institutions Division.

Nevada became the seventh jurisdiction where Binance.US secured the license in 2022, following West Virginia, Connecticut, Wyoming, Rhode Island, Idaho and Puerto Rico. Binance.US said it operates in 46 states and Puerto Rico, offering investment and trading for more than 120 cryptocurrencies.

Clear Markets, a crypto derivatives platform tied to the Japanese financial giant SBI, has secured major approval in the United State as well. Backed by SBI, Clear Markets received approval from the Commodity Futures Trading Commission in mid-August for over-the-counter crypto derivatives trading for its U.S. subsidiary Clear Markets North America.

Among other compliance developments in North America, major crypto exchange Crypto.com completed the Service Organization Control (SOC) 2 Type II Compliance audit on Tuesday. Developed by the American Institute of CPAs, the SOC 2 is an auditing procedure aiming to ensure the secure management of data and confidentiality. Previously, Crypto.com became one of 37 crypto exchanges to register with the United Kingdom’s Financial Conduct Authority.

Elsewhere in the world, Singapore-based crypto exchange Bhex.sg received the Standard Payment Institution license from the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) on Friday. The MAS approval requires licensees to meet a high standard of compliance to protect consumers, enabling the exchange to offer digital payment token services in Singapore.

Related: European Central Bank addresses guidance on licensing of digital assets

Other recent compliance developments also include Socios, a major fan token platform working in conjunction with the fan token cryptocurrency Chiliz. On Thursda, Socios secured regulatory approval as a service provider of virtual currencies and digital wallets for its fan engagement and rewards platform in Italy.

The recent compliance developments in the crypto industry mark yet another milestone in the global crypto regulatory landscape but international regulators are yet to come up with clear rules for crypto companies. Earlier this week, economists from the International Monetary Fund highlighted the need to establish clear guidelines on regulated financial institutions in Asia. Some experts believe that certain regulatory clarity could be detrimental to crypto though.