Tether CTO Paolo Ardoino Says PayPal’s New Stablecoin Won’t Affect USDT

Paypal’s newly launched stablecoin, PYUSD will not affect Tether’s USDT, Tether Chief Technical Officer (CTO) Paolo Ardoino has said. Ardoino mentioned this while speaking with The Block concerning the launch of PYUSD earlier today.

He said the launch will not impact USDT in any way, because Tether doesn’t serve users in the U.S. where the PayPal stablecoin was launched.

“We don’t expect any impact on USDT,” Ardoino said during the interview. However, concerning the wider global crypto industry, he said it will be a positive addition to the crypto space.

“It’s interesting. Another stablecoin in the U.S. It could lead to the erosion of revenues for payments that have been mainly fueling Mastercard and Visa. It will also help the industry to grow further and push for sensible regulations,” he added.

PayPal launched its first stablecoin today. Backed by the U.S. Dollar, PayPal USD is “designed to reduce friction”, providing faster and cheaper cross-border payments in the virtual spaces.

rather than compete with USDT, Ardoino added that PYUSD could help decline Tether’s U.S.- based competition instead.

“It might mean an additional decline of our competition that is very much focused on the U.S. Tether instead focuses on emerging markets and developing countries,” he said.”

The stablecoin will for now be used for crypto-related and web3 applications, but PayPal hopes to make it more relevant in the mainstream as its customers opt for stablecoin payments in the future. However, the stablecoin will soon be available on Venmo as well, in order to reach more users.

“The shift toward digital currencies requires a stable instrument that is both digitally native and easily connected to fiat currency like the US dollar,” said PayPal CEO Dan Schulman

Providing real world value for blockchain

PayPal is a leading payment company based in the U.S. Though it took a while, it has become a big pro crypto company in the last few years. In 2020, the company announced support for buying, holding and trading of cryptocurrencies.

With the launch of an Ethereum-based stablecoin, PayPal has proven once again that it believes in crypto and that it wants to use it to bring more to the world.

According to Paxos CEO Charlres Cascarilla, the new token is “the most significant leap forward for digital assets and the financial industry.” He also added that Paxos and PayPal are “proving the real-world value of blockchain technology.”

PYUSD needs exchange listings to compete

As PYUSD cannot compete with Tether’s USDT because it is focused on users outside the U.S., the question is, will it affect USDC which is U.S. – based?

CEO of Enclave Markets, David Wells in an interview with The Block said that PYUSD will likely compete with USDC for customers who prefer to use a U.S.-based regulated stablecoins, but it needs listing on top exchanges to do this.

“It’s unclear when/if PYUSD will be listed on large exchanges, so it may be focused on the cross-platform payments use case to start,” Wells said. “Longer-term PYUSD will likely compete with USDC in crypto trading market share as well, potentially in DeFi marketplaces.

If nothing else, the launch of PYUSD proves that cryptocurrencies are indeed going mainstream and it’s only a matter of time before they become the preferred means of payment because of the affordability and speed of transactions.

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Tether Rolling Out Mining Software to Improve Efficiency and Capacity

The team behind the world’s largest stablecoin, Tether (USDT), has announced plans to release revolutionary Javascript Libraries. The announcement conveyed by Tether developers revealed that the proposed Javascript modules would support sending commands and signals to Bitcoin-oriented mining hardware such as WhatsMiner, Antiminer, and AvalonMiner. 

In a Twitter statement, the chief technology officer at Tether, Paolo Ardoino, announced that the Javascript software will undergo further development. The executive projects that some of the software’s core features will be restructured to open-source platforms in the coming days. 

Tether to Support Bitcoin Mining

Ideally, the Tether team anticipates that launching the Javascript software will increase the mining capacity and enhance effective operations. Reflecting on Ardoino’s tweet, the executive confessed that the Bitcoin mining software, among other latest development by Tether, leveraged the Holepunch technologies.

In his tweet, Ardoino explained that Holepunch technologies enabled developers to create peer-to-peer applications using multiple javascript modules. He reaffirmed that Tethers BTC mining infrastructures utilize the Holepunch technologies to gather data and interact with other software effortlessly.

Previously Ardoino renamed Bitcoin mining technologies as “moria.” In his tweet, the executive outlined Moria’s features, including its cost-friendly elements and attack-resistant components.

Besides announcing Tether mining technologies, Ardoino confessed that the latest development would provide miners with a unique private key to enhance data security. The executive added that the private keys will utilize hyper cores and crucial command reception tools to support data encryption and security. Tether’s latest development aims to minimize firewall configuration complexities and reduce system failures.

Tether to Invest in BTC Mining

Additionally, the Moria development aims to improve Tether’s system maintainability and modularity more than ever. The development will ease the replication process across sites, Ardoino added.

Lately, Tether has focused more on expanding the growth of the crypto mining industry amid the intensive regulatory clampdowns. In May, the stablecoin issuer announced plans to reroute 15% of revenue towards acquiring more Bitcoin assets.

Tether anticipates strengthening its existing reserves through Bitcoin to avoid incuring government debts. A Q2 revenue report issued by the stablecoin issuer revealed that Tether’s excess reserves increased by $850 million. The report demonstrated that Tether’s reserves amounted to $3.3 billion in Q2 of 2023. In the subsequent quarter, Tether owned over $1.5 billion in reserves. 

Afterward, the stablecoin issuer announced plans to launch Bitcoin mining activities in Uruguay. News concerning Tether mining expansion exhilarated the community.

According to Tether, the Uruguay mining site will utilize renewable energy to support sustainable Bitcoin mining. The Tether group confirmed plans to partner with the Uruguay-based licensed entity to support responsible Bitcoin mining.

Despite the efforts made by Tether to support the growth of BTC mining, the stablecoin issuer was sued by the regulators for misusing company funds. The report demonstrated that Tether issued short-term loans to Chinese investors against the law.

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Coinbase Cites Ripple Win Against SEC as Grounds for Case Dismissal

Coinbase has been in court since June, following the securities and exchange commission (SEC) allegations of security laws violation. The exchange has however challenged the SEC case, citing the Ripple win against the agency as a reason to dismiss its case.

Coinbase cited the case throughout a brief on Friday filed in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York, saying that the SEC classifying “a simple asset sale as a security is an unprecedented stretch,” and that a judge’s recent decision with Ripple bolsters their argument.

The SEC lost in a three-year old court case in which it alleged that Ripple and its executives Brad Garlinghouse and Chris Larsen made millions from the sale of an unregistered security, XRP. The case came to a ruling last month in which the judge said XRP blind bid sales did not violate security laws, implying that XRP was not a security.

In its presentation, Coinbase argued that it also sold crypto assets in blind bid-ask process, and should not be charged for security law violations.

“In this case, by contrast, the SEC has charged Coinbase based solely on blind, bid-ask, spot exchange transactions—the very sort of transactions the Ripple court recently held as a matter of law were not investment contracts because the undisputed facts showed no relevant relationship between the parties to the sale,” Coinbase said in the brief.

The top global exchange also mentioned the major questions doctrine in its arguments. It said the major question doctrine which states that “if an agency wants to decide on an issue that has major national significance, it has to be supported by clear congressional authorization” also applies to its case.

“The major questions principle applies directly here,” Coinbase said on Friday. “The wholesale regulation of secondary markets for trading digital assets qualifies as ‘extraordinary,’ and the digital asset industry, worth around $1 trillion, is a ‘significant portion of the American economy.” it stated. “The SEC’s authority is clear as mud,” Coinbase added.

Other cases with the SEC

Coinbase has pleaded the court to dismiss the SEC case against it twice. The first time, it mentioned that the SEC scrutinized the exchange and approved it to go public in 2021, so it can not now accuse it of being an “illegal securities exchange.” It is now citing Ripple vs SEC case in its second plea, but it isn’t the only exchange filing for a dismissal.

Bittrex, another U.S. based crypto exchange that has shut down services in the U.S. has also filed for a dismissal of the SEC case against it. The lawyers in the case argued that the SEC cannot regulate crypto assets as securities with permission from congress.

Binance also recently took a stand, vowing to “vigorously defend against any allegations” leveled against it by the SEC.

SEC may lose

The SEC’s regulation by enforcement approach has been criticized, not just by members of the crypto community, but also by members of congress and of the judiciary. A judge once described the approach as “cumbersome”, showing his disapproval.

Some members of the U.S. congress have also accused the agency of driving away innovation from the U.S., and with the current efforts to draft regulation for the industry, crypto may win at last.

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Digital Bank Revolut Suspends Crypto Services for U.S. Customers

UK digital bank Revolut has announced it is halting crypto services for U.S. customers. The financial services company said it took the “difficult decision” due to the “evolving regulatory environment” and “uncertainties around the crypto market” in the U.S.

Revolut launched eight years ago, and commenced operations in the U.S. just three years ago. Its range of services include money transfer, salary advance, virtual cards, and crypto trading and investing.

However, the crypto industry has come under immense pressure as the securities and exchange commission (SEC) accused the industry of trading unregistered securities. Because of this recent crackdown, many crypto startups have exited the U.S..

Top crypto exchanges Coinbase and Binance were the first to come under the SEC’s scrutiny and are currently in court over allegations of trading in unregistered securities. Though Revolut hasn’t come directly under attack, the company is withdrawing crypto services in the country in collaboration with its local banking partner as a precaution.

The SEC recently labeled Solana’s SOL, Cardano’s ADA and Polygon’s MATIC as securities, a move that forced many top exchanges to delist the assets. According to a spokesperson for Revolut,

“This decision has not been taken lightly, and we understand the disappointment this may cause. This suspension does not affect Revolut users outside of the U.S. in any way, and impacts less than 1% of Revolut’s crypto customers globally. Revolut customers in all other markets can continue to sign up and enjoy using our crypto services,”

Revolut not giving up

Revolut has 25 million customers worldwide, most of them being in Europe. Even though the U.S. customer base isn’t more than one percent of the global customer base, it is a significant contribution to the company’s revenue.

A spokesperson for the bank told Decrypt that the company is still exploring alternative ways to offer crypto services to U.S. customers.

“Revolut is actively pursuing alternative means of providing access to crypto products and we hope to offer crypto in the U.S. again in the future,” the spokesperson said.

In the meantime, U.S. customers can still enjoy non-crypto services that the platform offers. The suspension also does not affect Revolut users in any other locations, and U.S customers have until September 2 to buy digital assets, and until 30 October to sell all their assets as the complete withdrawal will happen after then.

Poor regulation killing U.S. crypto industry

Revolut is just one of many crypto companies that have withdrawn their services in the U.S., citing regulatory uncertainty. Many have done so, including U.S. crypto exchanges like Bittrex which is still in court for allegedly violating security laws.

Coinbase, one of the indigenous U.S. exchanges has filed for a dismissal of the SEC case against it, citing the Ripple case in which it was ruled that XRP isn’t a security. The exchange’s CEO Brian Armstrong had earlier this year said the company is open to relocating outside the U.S. if the regulatory climate continues to be hostile.

Binance has also considered focusing on the Middle East, where regulation favors the crypto industry. The exchange recently obtained an MVP proprietary license in Dubai, one of the leading crypto hubs in the world.

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Coinbase to Integrate Bitcoin Lightning network for Faster Transactions

Top global crypto exchange Coinbase has announced its intention to integrate the Bitcoin Lightning network on its platform. The exchange’s CEO Brian Armstrong, in a statement on Tuesday said Coinbase supports the efforts to facilitate payments on Bitcoin through the Lightning Network.

Armstrong’s statement came as a response to a tweet by former Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey, criticizing Coinbase for neglecting the lightning network. 

“We are looking into how to best add Lightning. It is non-trivial, but I think it is worth doing,” Armstrong said.” I am all for payments taking off in Bitcoin.” 

The Coinbase CEO further stated that US-based cryptocurrency exchange had onboarded more users to Bitcoin than probably any other company globally. 

“Not sure why you think we’re ignoring Bitcoin—we’ve onboarded more people to Bitcoin than probably any company in the world. Let’s build it together,” he said.

The exchange is one of the biggest crypto exchanges in the world, with over 100 million users worldwide. It also supports hundreds of crypto assets including Bitcoin, and is known for its beginner-friendly nature. 

As you may already know, Bitcoin transactions have a speed and cost problem, making it frustrating to carry out transactions. The lightning network is a layer two network built on Bitcoin that allows users to settle transactions without going through the congested Bitcoin blockchain.

This makes the transactions faster, and cheaper since transactions only go up when there’s network congestion forcing minors to prioritize transactions with higher fees. By integrating the network to its platform, Coinbase will be encouraging the use of Bitcoin significantly.

Lightning network getting popular

The Bitcoin lightning network has become more popular over the years. The technology now has many more users, with close to 70,000 channels opened, and capacity reaching 5,000 BTC. Many top companies have shown interest in the technology, one of which is Microstrategy.

Interestingly, Coinbase isn’t the first crypto exchange to integrate the Bitcoin lightning network. Other top exchanges like Binance, Kraken, and a few others have already integrated the technology on their platforms. It’s no wonder that Dorsey criticized the crypto giant for neglecting the technology.

With a lightning network, Bitcoin transactions can be settled almost instantly every time, unlike in conventional Bitcoin transactions that can take hours for transactions to finalize. 

Coinbase challenges

Coinbase has been in court for more than a month now trying to defend itself against allegations of surety laws violation. The exchange has also filed a suit asking the court to dismiss the allegations by the securities and exchange commission (SEC).

Coinbase claims that the SEC scrutinized and approved the exchange to go public in 2021, so it can not claim that it violates security laws now. Similarly, Binance, the top crypto exchange in the world by trading volume is facing allegations from the SEC in court, also on issues of security laws violations. 

This may therefore be the wrong time for Coinbase to consider integrating a lightning network, even if it had the intention to do so. However, from Armstrong’s response, the company is already looking at it, so it may integrate it eventually even if it’s not at this moment when it is under pressure from the SEC. Hopefully, proper regulations will get the SEC out ot the way soo.

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Coinbase CEO Unveils Integration of Bitcoin Lightning Network to Boost Global Payment

A statement issued by the chief executive of Coinbase, Brian Armstrong, revealed that the crypto exchange plans to integrate the Bitcoin Lightning network on its platform. The CEO explained that the layer 2 payment protocol on the Bitcoin network has massive potential to transform the crypto payment sector.

In a Twitter report dated July 28, Armstrong expressed optimism the crypto sector has huge capability to improve the global payment sector.

Coinbase Eyes for Bitcoin Lightning Network Intergration

Even though it might require much work, the Coinbase team plans to integrate layer 2 protocols on the on-ramping platforms. Responding to the tweet, the chief executive of Square, Jack Dorsey, highlighted that the Bitcoin lightning network had enabled users to make fast and cheap transactions through the off-chain transaction networks. Dorsey requested the Coinbase CEO to clarify the significance of integrating the Bitcoin Lighting protocol on the crypto exchange.

In his report, Dorsey demanded for a clear explanation on whether there was a better money transmission network other than Bitcoin. Addressing Dorsey’s inquiries, the Coinbase CEO confessed that the crypto exchange still had plans to support the growth of Bitcoin. Armstrong affirmed the second largest crypto exchange brought millions of people, to the Bitcoin network, compared to other trading platforms.

Despite the efforts made by Coinbase to improve the Bitcoin ecosystem, Armstrong announced the need to strengthen the exchange using Bitcoin Lightning protocol. The CEO restated that the Bitcoin Lightning network will support crypto related payments.

High Adoption of Bitcoin Lightning Network

In his report, Dorsey praised Coinbase for supporting the mainstream adoption of Bitcoin. In his tweet, Dorsey announced plans to work with Coinbase to integrate the proposed Bitcoin Lightning.

He stated the need for an exclusive open protocol for digital money transmission. The two internet entrepreneurs agreed to collaborate to improve the crypto payment system.

Despite the bullish trend in Bitcoin prices, the Bitcoin Lightning technology has gained momentum in 2023. The interesting growth of the layer-2 payment solution has inspired firms to integrate the Bitcoin Lightning protocol to increase transaction speed.

A few weeks ago, the world’s largest crypto exchange Binance announced the completion of the integration of the Bitcoin Lightning protocol. Earlier in May, the Binance team had announced that the development aim at addressing the challenges facing the crypto exchange such as transaction congestion and high gas fees.

According to Binance, the network experienced large volumes of pending transactions that prompted the exchange to invest in the fixing the technical issues.

Besides Binance, its top rivals, including Bitfinex, OKX, Kraken, CoinCorner, and River Financial, have launched the Bitcoin Lightning network on their platforms. The attempt to increase the transaction capacity has inspired  Bitcoin Lightning developers such as Voltage and Google Cloud to agree to work together. As the Bitcoin Lightning network continues to gain traction, customers are shifting to these platforms.

According to Glassnode, the total value of assets (TVL) locked on the Bitcoin platform increased to 5000 BTC in July.

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Nomura’s Laser Digital Secures Virtual Assets Services Provider License in Dubai

The digital arm of Nomura, Laser Digital has successfully obtained a license as a virtual asset services provider in Dubai. The firm is set to launch services including over-the-counter crypto trading services and investment products for institutional investors in the coming months

The license granted by the Dubai Virtual Asset Regulatory Authority (VARA), allows Laser Digital to offer crypto trading and asset management services. The firm will henceforth provide crypto broker-dealer and asset management services from its Dubai office.

Commenting on the granting of the license, CEO of Laser Digital, Jez Mohideen said the license will enhance the firm’s growth over the coming years.

“We are very grateful to VARA for approving our Operating License. VARA’s thorough and consultative process provides institutional investors with the assurance they require to engage in this asset class. With the license now in place, we are looking forward to Laser’s growth over the coming years,” he said.

Laser Digital was founded last year by Steven Ashley, the former head of Nomura’s wholesale division, and Jez Mohideen, Nomura’s former Chief Digital Officer and Co-Head of Global Markets EMEA. Headquartered in Switzerland, the company operates offices in London and Dubai.

The firm also plans to launch its Trading and Asset Management businesses in Dubai with the main goal of bringing a suite of digital asset investment products and solutions to institutional investors.

Dubai opens doors to crypto companies

Dubai in particular and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) in general has been friendly towards crypto and blockchain innovation. As a result, it has been issuing licenses to deserving crypto companies recently

Nomura, through Laser Digital, is the latest company to enter the crypto-friendly environment of the United Arab Emirates. Just yesterday, world’s leading crypto exchange Binance announced it had obtained the operational minimum viable product (MVP) license from VARA, bringing it one step away from a full license.

There are many other top crypto exchanges such as Bybit and OKX which have received one form of license or another in Dubai this year. These exchanges have succeeded in spite of Dubai’s tightened regulatory laws around digital assets.

VARA increased demands for granting crypto licenses earlier this year in the wake of collapses, including FTX’s. The regulator is said to have asked for more information from license applicants, including Binance, to ensure safety in the crypto industry and to protect its citizens from crypto frauds.

However in spite of this tightened regulations, Dubai remains one of the most friendly destinations towards cryptocurrencies. No wonder, Binance CEO Changpeng Zhao expressed intentions to build a global headquarters in the city years ago.

Dubai provides refuge for crypto

The crypto industry is facing hostility in many countries, particularly the U.S. and in Europe, the pressure is also mounting quickly, making it more difficult for crypto exchanges like Binance to secure operational licenses in countries within the region.

Binance in particular had mentioned that it was considering looking to the Middle East since the pressure is high in these regions. It seems other crypto startups are seeing similar advantages in the UAE and are taking advantage of the situation.

The UAE and Dubai are also using the opportunity to actualize its goal of making the region a global destination for blockchain and crypto innovation.

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