The first full week under the leadership of the newly-elected Prime Minister Rishi Sunak saw a major landmark for crypto regulation in the United Kingdom. The Financial Services and Markets Bill, made public on Oct. 25, aims to enhance the U.K.’s position as a “global leader in financial services” — but what is more important is that it contains some new definitions for crypto products.
The bill moves stablecoins from the category of crypto assets to digital settlement assets (DSA) — a new category marked by its potential “to develop into a widespread means of payment.” It’s yet to be seen what regulations the DSA will be subject to and if this change of status will guarantee them a green light for adoption. But, even that scope of change brings optimism.
It seems we may witness unprecedently active pro-crypto regulation on the islands, given Sunak’s known ambitions on the matter. The new PM voiced has previously voiced his support for crypto and even commissioned the Royal Mint to issue a nonfungible token (NFT) by the end of the year during his time as the head of the treasury. However, the industry still faces pressure from local banks, which try to block businesses and individuals from investing in cryptocurrency.
Singapore intends to ban cryptocurrency credits
In one of two consultation papers on proposals for regulating the digital payment token service providers, issued last week by the central bank of Singapore, there is a proposition to ban digital payment tokens (DPTs) from providing retail customers with “any credit facility,” whether in the form of fiat currencies or crypto.
According to the regulator, crypto service providers should also not be allowed to accept any deposits made using credit cards in exchange for crypto services. According to the authority, “Any form of credit or leverage in the trading of DPTs” would result in the “magnification of losses,” potentially leading to bigger losses than a customer’s investment.
An agreement on adoption between Lugano and El Salvador
The Swiss city of Lugano and the country El Salvador have signed an economic cooperation agreement based on crypto and blockchain. Speaking to Cointelegraph, former Blockstream chief strategy officer Samson Mow said the agreement was the “next step” in nation-states and cities adopting BTC:
“[El Salvador and Lugano are] going to start working together and collaborating on joint initiatives. I think that’s the way we push each other forward — basically create alliances between places that have adopted Bitcoin.”
Yet another lawsuit for troubled Do Kwon
Do Kwon, the co-founder of Terraform Labs — who may be facing legal actions in South Korea and the United States — is the target of a lawsuit in Singapore along with the Luna Foundation Guard (LFG) and Terra founding member Nicholas Platias.
In a lawsuit filed in Singapore’s high court, 359 individuals allege Kwon, Platias, the LFG and Terra made fraudulent claims, including that Terra’s stablecoin, TerraUSD (UST) — now TerraUSD Classic (USTC) — was not “stable by design” and unable to maintain its U.S. dollar peg. The claimants are seeking compensation for roughly $57 million worth of “loss and damage” combined based on the value of UST tokens they purchased and held or sold amid the market downturn in May.
