Here are some of the major developments in the world of crypto over the past few days.
The Oobit mobile payment app will make transactions with Tether's USDT and XAUt on The Open Network (TON) smoother, providing merchants with a more convenient user experience. In addition to TON, USDT is issued on 14 other blockchains, including Tron and Ethereum. It also joined the Celo network in March.
Oobit's Tap & Pay technology will allow merchants to receive payment in fiat currency even when the customer pays in USDT. In February, Tether and Solana participated as investors in Oobit's Series A funding round, which raised $25 million.
Oobit rolled out its first crypto-to-fiat mobile app in April 2022 and introduced tap-and-pay functionality in September 2023. Tap & Pay uses Near Field Communication (NFC) technology. Tether is expanding in many ways. In early May, the company increased its investment in Georgia-based payments provider CityPay.io, with plans to expand into Armenia, Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, and Uzbekistan.
The French Financial Markets Authority reported Bybit has been blacklisted since May 2022 “for non-compliance with current French regulations. In a May 16 notice, the AMF reminded the French public that Bybit was an unregistered crypto platform operating illegally in the country, offering digital asset services on behalf of third parties.
According to the AMF, Bybit has been blacklisted since May 2022 “for non-compliance with current French regulations. Hong Kong’s Securities and Futures Commission issued a similar warning in March regarding Bybit as an unregistered crypto trading platform.
In response to regulatory scrutiny, Bybit left Canada and the U.K. markets in 2023. The exchange has continued expanding its service globally, launching a regulated crypto trading platform in the Netherlands and Kazakhstan. Founded in 2018, Bybit is one of the world’s largest crypto exchanges. On Feb. 27, the platform reported more than $71 billion in trading volume.
U.S. President Joe Biden said he intended to veto the joint resolution aimed at overturning an SEC rule requiring banks to keep customers’ digital assets on their balance sheets. A majority of lawmakers in the United States Senate have passed a joint resolution calling for the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) to strike down a rule affecting financial institutions doing business with crypto firms.
On May 8, before the resolution passed the U.S. House of Representatives, President Joe Biden said he intended to veto the bill to protect investors in crypto-asset markets and to safeguard the broader financial system. The threat of a presidential veto denies the fact that there is a growing awareness among the voting public, particularly young people, that crypto is something our elected officials should care about, said the Blockchain Association.
The U.S. Senate, with a 51-49 Democratic majority, passed a bipartisan bill clarifying the regulatory roles of the SEC and the Commodity Futures Trading Commission for digital assets. The bill, which cleared the committee in July 2023, is expected to be voted on in the House in May.