Here are some of the latest developments from the world of crypto over the past few days
Robinhood Markets said on February 8, 2023 that it would buy back the shares purchased by former FTX CEO Sam Bankman-Fried, as his 7.6 per cent stake in the company remains a contested factor in Bankman-Fried’s criminal case. Also, the stake is contested in the bankruptcy of the defunct exchange, Decrypt reported.
Robinhood CEO Vlad Tenev told investors and analysts in a meeting that the buyback of roughly 55 million shares would remove a distraction for shareholders. He said the company’s board of directors also hold the same opinion.
Robinhood is a popular stock trading app that charges no fees. Shares of the company popped up over 5 per cent to around $11 in after-hours trading following the announcement. Robinhood did not clarify as to when the purchase might be completed.
“Since there isn’t much precedent for situations like these, I can’t predict how long this will take,” Tenev said.
Through a holding company called Emergent Fidelity Technologies, Bankman-Fried and FTX founder Gary Wang purchased shares in Robinhood last May.
Dubai Clarifies Rules For Crypto Firms
Dubai’s government gave an impetus towards achieving the goal of becoming a financial technology centre when its Virtual Asset Management system Regulatory Authority (VARA) released its 2023 rulebook for regulating cryptocurrency.
Decrypt reports that VARA said any entity issuing virtual assets in Dubai must comply with the rulebook, starting with applying for a licence to operate there.
Chairman of VARA’s executive board and director general of Dubai’s Department of Economy and Tourism said the new rules aims “to establish the Emirate as the capital of the future economy anchored by metaverse, AI, Web 3.0 and Blockchain”.
He said VARA is “the world’s only independent and specialist regulator for Virtual Assets to serve as the accelerator for a truly borderless Digital Economy”.
The new rules state that any entity wishing to do business using crypto currency must seek authorisation and receive a license from the regulatory authority before offering their services.
Licenses may be revoked for a variety of reasons, according to the rulebook, including material violations of any law, regulation, rule, or directive, insolvency, or failure to pay a judgement rendered by a court within or outside the United Arab Emirates.
US SEC May Ban Crypto Staking For Retail Customers, Says Coinbase’s CEO
Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong has said there have been rumours that the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) might ban retail investors from staking cryptocurrency, an income-generating technique that is based on Ethereum and other Blockchains.
“I hope that's not the case as I believe it would be a terrible path for the US if that was allowed to happen,” he tweeted on February 8.
The SEC declined to comment on the matter.