Sat - 25 Mar

Good Morning & Happy Saturday! As always you can find your personal referral links at the bottom 🫡. Also, we will be shipping the referral rewards to last month’s eligible subscribers this coming week!!

Algorand foundation announces expansion to India with a new name, crypto companies will legally need to do KYC now, XRP trading is at a high right now and a US state moves to remove incentives from Bitcoin mining. A lot of interesting news today!

🇮🇳 Algorand Foundation Branches Out to India: Algorand, a blockchain protocol, has launched a new project called AlgoBharat in India to support the country's shift from being the back office of the Web2 world to becoming an innovation hub for the Web3 world. The project will focus on developing a real-world utility for blockchain technology in India, with a dedicated team but no registered entity in the country. The term "Bharat" represents the nation of India. Algorand Foundation's India Country Head, Anil Kakani, said that India was once the back office of Web2, and the innovation was led somewhere else, but now the greatest real-world utility for blockchain technology is happening in India. While the team has been engaging with engineering universities and blockchain-friendly states, they have yet to engage with regulators but plan to do so later this year with their track record of working with the National Bank of Italy and the Marshall Islands CBDC project.

📃 All Crypto Companies In India Must Now KYC Users: Last year, India's IT ministry urged crypto companies to store five years' worth of user data, including KYC information, to remain in compliance with regulators. Now, a new directive requires crypto businesses to maintain reporting standards and KYC/AML norms in line with other financial entities such as banks and payment system operators. According to Jaideep Reddy, a counsel at Trilegal, the notification appears to take effect immediately, but there is a need for a transition provision that would specify a period within which compliance should be achieved. Reddy believes the authorities will give covered entities a reasonable time to comply. In summary, KYC norms are now mandatory instead of being just best practices for crypto companies operating in India.

🧾 If Passed, Texas Bill Will Remove Incentives For Bitcoin Miners: A proposed bill in the Texas Senate aims to abolish the perks that entice cryptocurrency miners to set up shop in the state. Senator Lois Kolkhorst sponsored Senate Bill 1751, which underwent a public hearing on March 28th where both supporters and opponents of the bill gave testimony. The bill is currently "left pending in committee." If passed, the bill would prohibit miners from participating in the state's demand response program for electric power, which presently rewards miners for returning power to the grid during peak demand. It would also terminate the tax incentives and subsidies currently provided to crypto miners. Members of the Texas Blockchain Council testified before the Senate, stating that the subsidies had created thousands of mining jobs and should not be terminated.

🔈 XRP Trading Volumes Surge to Billions of Dollars: The frenzy of cryptocurrency trading in South Korea appears to have returned, buoyed by a surge in XRP tokens. UpBit, Bithumb, and Korbit, three of Korea's most active exchanges, saw trading volumes for XRP soar to billions of dollars due to the token's 26% increase in the past week. In crypto circles, South Korean traders are well-known for driving frenzied rallies in tokens. The so-called "Kimchi Premium" is a term originating from the region, where bitcoin prices on local exchanges can trade at a premium of up to 30% compared to their international counterparts due to local demand. XRP's popularity is driven by rumors that the token may be classified as a commodity by the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) after the CFTC classified bitcoin and ether as commodities in a lawsuit against Binance. If Ripple is classified as a commodity, it could boost XRP's prospects, which some traders view as bullish.

🚟 Binance Temporarily Suspends BSC Deposits And Withdrawals: Binance has halted deposits and withdrawals from its Binance Smart Chain (BSC) network due to a node issue, which the team expects to fix within an hour. The exchange had previously announced scheduled wallet maintenance on March 30 at 07:00 UTC, which was expected to last two hours, during which deposits and withdrawals would be suspended. However, at 09:52 UTC, Binance released another statement citing "a node issue" that would extend the downtime. The company said deposits and withdrawals would resume once the maintenance is completed. Binance has extended the wallet maintenance for BNB Smart Chain (BEP20) by approximately 1.5 hours until 11:00 UTC on March 30 and is working on completing the maintenance as soon as possible.

Can NFTs Be Copied?: Although you can duplicate the image of an NFT, you cannot copy the code into a new non-fungible token. When explaining whether or not an NFT can be copied, you do need to have a basic understanding of how these digital items work.

/