A prosecutor investigating Terraform Labs CEO Do Kwon for alleged passport forgery in Montenegro has indicated that he will not be extradited soon. The law enforcement official told South Korean media that Montenegrin authorities intend to indict Kwon within a month, ruling out the possibility of him being handed over to other countries within the detention period....

Fidelity is hiring a lead for its crypto and token research development team, according to a job listing on LinkedIn. The senior position will join the existing quantitative research and investments technology team in Fidelity's asset management business, and will work on data and technical frameworks for evaluating tokens and associated blockchain protocols. Fidelity has had an institutional trading and execution services team since 2018, and recently opened up bitcoin and ether trading to its retail brokerage clients. The new crypto research role will report into the vice president of quant development and partner with other Fidelity business and technology leaders to identify and define strategic priorities based on business value needs.   (By Frank Chaparro) ...

Cathie Wood's Ark Invest continued to purchase shares in crypto exchange Coinbase and payments firm Block on Monday. The firm purchased 32,378 shares in Coinbase for the Ark Innovation ETF, as well as 5,347 shares for its Next Generation Internet ETF, following its acquisition of more than 182,000 shares on Friday. Meanwhile, Ark's Fintech Innovation fund purchased 18,555 shares in Block, following a purchase of more than 288,000 shares across three of its funds on Friday. This indicates Wood's conviction in the two companies, which have faced negative headlines recently. Coinbase received a Wells notice from the SEC, while Block faces accusations from short seller Hindenburg Research.   (By Frank Chaparro) ...

Ethereum's total supply has dropped by over 66,000 ETH since the start of 2023, making it deflationary, as the latest Shanghai upgrade progresses. Currently, just 10.31% of existing ETH is on exchanges, the lowest level since July 2015, according to on-chain analytics provider Santiment. Almost 90% of Ethereum is now off exchanges, as regulators struggle to classify ETH as a security or commodity. The amount of ETH being held in self-custody and away from exchanges is at its highest level since the token was introduced nearly eight years ago, indicating confidence from hodlers.   (By Jordan Major) ...

New anti-money laundering rules being discussed by the European Parliament won't block crypto payments, according to Damien Carême, a leading EU lawmaker. The proposed Anti-Money Laundering Regulation would impose a limit of €1,000 ($1,080) for payments made from self-hosted wallets where it isn't possible to identify the payer. Carême said the rules wouldn't prevent crypto transactions, but rather only apply when identification isn't possible. He also referred to money laundering provisions in the metaverse, and said he didn't want to see dirty money flow into other sectors due to banking controls. The vote will now enter negotiations with the EU's Council to frame a consistent version of the law.   (By Jack Schickler) ...

Over the past century, the number of American banks has significantly decreased, dropping from 30,000 banks in 1921 to 4,997 U.S. banks in 2021, according to data from the Federal Reserve. Recently, the U.S. central bank denied Custodia Bank of Wyoming, a financial institution that holds $1.08 for every dollar deposited by customers. Although there appears to be a need for such a bank after the collapse of three major U.S. banks, the Federal Reserve stated that board members have “heightened concerns” about institutions with plans to focus solely on a narrow sector. (Bitcoin.com)...

Officials from the Group of Seven (G7) leading industrial countries will discuss regulations on cryptocurrencies to improve transparency and consumer protection as part of preparations for the next meeting of the group in Hiroshima, Japan, in May, Kyodo News reported on Sunday. The group aims to take the lead in setting global standards for emerging digital asset industries, the report said. Cryptocurrency-related issues will also be a part of the upcoming G20 meeting of finance ministers and central bank governors set to take place in Washington D.C this April, according to Kyodo. (forkast)...

A number of Chinese state-owned banks’ branches in Hong Kong have started offering services to local cryptocurrency companies, Bloomberg reported on Monday, as the city welcomes a growing list of cryptocurrency and digital asset firms looking to expand or relocate to the city. Local companies in the crypto industry have traditionally had difficulties setting up corporate bank accounts, and the moves of these state-owned lenders reflect China’s backing in trying to boost the digital asset industry in Hong Kong, according to the report. (forkast)...

North Carolina-based First Citizens Bank is set to acquire all deposits and loans of Silicon Valley Bank, according to a statement from the Federal Deposit and Insurance Corporation (FDIC). Under the agreement, 17 former branches of Silicon Valley Bank will open as First Citizens Bank and Trust Company on Monday, March 27, while all depositors of SVB will automatically become depositors of First Citizens Bank. "As of March 10, 2023, Silicon Valley Bridge Bank, National Association, had approximately $167 billion in total assets and about $119 billion in total deposits. Today’s transaction included the purchase of about $72 billion of Silicon Valley Bridge Bank, National Association’s assets at a discount of $16.5 billion," said the FDIC in a statement. (Cointelegraph)...

Optimism-based lending protocol Kokomo Finance has been suspected of a $4 million “exit scam” that has seen user funds plucked out from the platform via a smart contract loophole. Blockchain security firm CertiK alerted its followers to the “exit scam” in a March 26 Twitter post, noting that the Kokomo Finance (KOKO) token has plummeted 95% in value in a matter of minutes. CertiK also noted that Kokomo Finance removed all social media accounts immediately following the alleged rug pull too. (Cointelegraph)...

First Citizens Bank acquires Silicon Valley Bank (SVB) for $500 million. The crypto-friendly Silicon Valley Bank bank was worth $40 billion a year ago, now it’s acquired at a 99% discount. First Citizens BancShares will take over $119 billion in deposits.   First Citizens BankShares holding company of First Citizens Bank was in advance talks to acquire Silicon Valley Bank from the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp (FDIC) on Monday. The news of First Citizens acquiring SVB calmed investors’ concerns about the credit crunch and broader systemic banking crisis.   The 17 Silicon Valley Bridge Bank, National Association branches will open as First–Citizens Bank & Trust Company on March 27, 2023, FDIC revealed in a new release. The FDIC also said Fi...

The total value locked in decentralized protocols on Ethereum’s popular layer-2 scaling solution – Arbitrum – is soaring. This comes shortly after the protocol released its much-anticipated ARB token through an airdrop to early adopters.   Data from DeFi Llama shows that the total locked value (TVL) in Arbitrum is up more than 22% during the past seven days alone. With this, Arbitrum is currently the fourth-largest network by means of TVL, with $2.18 billion, sitting right after Ethereum, Tron, and the BNB Chain. It also accounts for roughly 4.43% of the total value locked across all blockchains.   The ARB token itself is a governance tool, and the team distributed 11.62% of its total supply to early adopters who completed various tasks over th...

Gucci is strengthening its relationship with Web3. On Monday, the luxury brand announced a multi-year partnership with Yuga Labs, the Web3 company behind several well-known NFT collections, including Bored Ape Yacht Club, Cryptopunks, Mebits, and Narrative NFT Project 10KTF.   It also runs the Otherside, a bored app-themed virtual world and game. The deal is meant to increase engagement between each company’s communities “by exploring the intersection between fashion and entertainment in the metaverse,” they said in a release.   ...

Bitcoin and the other top 10 non-stablecoin cryptocurrencies opened the working week with gains in Monday morning trading in Asia, as investors seek to diversify portfolios amid banking turmoil and the Federal Reserve’s latest rate hike. Litecoin led the winners. U.S. equity futures rose this morning as authorities sought to reassure investors the financial system is sound following bank failures and sharp declines in some lender’s stocks. The total crypto market capitalization rose 1.34% in the past 24 hours to US$1.17 trillion. Over the last 24 hours, total trading volume dipped 4.67% to US$31.46 billion. (forkast)...