While the situation in Europe is making front-page news, Russia has released a bill that aims at legalizing crypto, just like we expected. Speaking of adoption, the world's largest cryptocurrency exchange by volume is determined to expand the service worldwide, establishing a new customer center in Turkey and MasterCard is entering the NFT and metaverse party with 15 trademark applications. Also, Opera just made its crypto wallet available to iOS users!
I don’t recall such a busy week since last December, so let’s dive in!
Russia to Legalize Crypto
The Russian Ministry of Finance has announced a draft bill titled "On Digital Currency" which was sent to the Russian government for approval before becoming law. This proposed bill aims at creating federal outlines and restrictions governing cryptocurrency trade and mining in the world’s most crypto influential nations.
BREAKING: The Russian government and central bank have just reached an agreement on cryptocurrencies, according to Russia's Kommersant.
— Pomp ? (@APompliano) February 9, 2022
Both organizations will treat bitcoin and crypto assets as currencies.
Recently, Russia appears to have changed its mind about crypto planning to take the regulatory high road acknowledging that it would be difficult to ban crypto transactions or crypto mining. The President of Russia Vladimir Putin has encouraged the country to have distinctive characteristics like “power surplus” and “well-trained manpower” hinting that Russia should start capitalizing on this.
MasterCard Applies for 15 NFT, Metaverse related Trademarks
Mastercard, a multinational payments company, has followed VISA and American Express in filing 15 applications for NFT and metaverse trademarks. The filing includes creating an online marketplace for digital commodities, virtual reality events and communities, and Mastercard payment processing in the Metaverse. Furthermore, the company intends to use tokenized text, audio, and video to virtually trademark it's "Priceless" motto.
According to Cointelegraph, the document highlights Mastercard's desire to have its logo and name appear on sponsorship arrangements for metaverse-based sporting events, concerts, and festivals.
Fortnite Creator Epic Games Sacks $2 Billion for Metaverse Expansion
Epic Games, the company behind the famous PC and console game Fortnite, has announced a $2 billion investment round, with hopes to advance the business's vision of making its impact in the Metaverse.
Announcing a $2 billion funding round with Sony and KIRKBI to build the future of digital entertainment. https://t.co/V0bcFftNkg
— Epic Games Newsroom (@EpicNewsroom) April 11, 2022
Existing investors, the maker of PlayStation systems, Sony Group Corporation and KIRKBI, the holding company behind the LEGO Group, each contributed $1 billion to this round.
Opera Crypto Browser Available for iPhones and iPads Users
After being available for Android users, Opera finally published a beta version of its Web3 browser for iOS devices, including the iPhone and iPad, that includes a built-in crypto wallet. Mac and Windows desktop users have had access to Opera's Crypto Browser since January. This was a part of Crypto Browser Project, a Web3-focused endeavor for simplifying browsing between decentralized applications (DApps), games, and metaverse platforms.
The Opera Wallet will support the Ethereum, Polygon, and Celo ecosystems. Also, users can also use the native Opera Wallet to recover any Ethereum Virtual Machine (EVM) compliant Wallet and combine their current assets and balances.
Binance Moves to Turkey
Binance has launched its first customer service center in Turkey after establishing centers in Both Dubai and Abu Dhabi. Turkey contributes for approximately 7% of desktop browser access to Binance's principal platform, according to data shared by Cointelegraph. According to an announcement published with Cointelegraph Turkey, Binance will provide 24/7 customer service to its Turkish consumers through its app.
Malaysian Crypto Exchange Fasset Secures $22 Million in Funding Round
Fasset, a Malaysian-regulated digital asset and crypto exchange that had previously applied for a license in Bahrain, has raised $22 million in a Series A fundraising round as MENA firms were among the most prominent institutional investors led by Liberty City Ventures and Fatima Gobi Ventures, with participation from Soma Capital, MyAsiaVC, and others.
Mohammad Raafi Hossain, Co-Founder and Chief Executive Officer of Fasset, commented “Fasset is all about bringing multi-faceted digital asset use cases that connect home markets to their diaspora. We’re extremely passionate about financial inclusion and democratizing access to opportunity by enabling a new wave of digital asset owners in our target emerging markets. Asset ownership is the strongest way to power healthy livelihoods and economies. Digital asset-driven remittance corridors can unleash a new wave of socioeconomic prosperity through unique product offerings that we’re diligently building. We are excited to work with regulators to enable this flow of capital, products and opportunity in our markets.”
