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Here is the latest news on daily trends and events impacting Bitcoin price, blockchain, DeFi, NFTs, Web3 and crypto regulation.
The European Central Bank is still cold on Bitcoin, despite recent exchange-traded fund (ETF) approvals in the U.S. The firm behind Tether was silent on whether it would consider junking Tron after competitor Circle ceased minting on the blockchain on Tuesday. Meanwhile, Terraform Labs co-founder Do Kwon will reportedly be extradited to the United States, where he faces fraud charges and Ripple’s boss has given his views on ETFs.
ECB not convinced by ETF approval in the U.S., still dislikes Bitcoin
Despite generating excitement on the other side of the pond, the European Central Bank still has a downer on Bitcoin and the latest slew of U.S. ETF approvals
In a blog post, Ulrich Bindseil, the Director General of the ECB’s Market Infrastructure and Payments division, and Jürgen Schaaf, an adviser to the same division, disagree with the claim that the approval of spot Bitcoin
BTC $51,725 ETFs in the U.S. confirms that BTC investments are safe and the preceding rally was “proof of an unstoppable triumph.”
The ECB executives agree that the expectation of the ETF approvals drove the price of Bitcoin, but they believe it could turn out to be “a flash in the pan:”
The text concludes that the ECB’s job to control Bitcoin has not been done yet. Authorities should stay vigilant and protect society from money laundering, cybercrime, financial losses for the less educated and extensive environmental damage, they state.
Tether won’t confirm or deny if it’s dropping USDT on Tron
Stablecoin issuer Tether has yet to provide a definitive answer on whether or not it would cease support for the Tron network after its rival Circle ceased minting its stablecoin on the blockchain on Tuesday.
“Tether tokens are issued on several blockchains, which are simply transport layers for such tokens,
“Tether retains the ability to freeze transactions on each directly supported transport layer to accomplish its compliance duties. Nevertheless Tether actively monitors the safety of each one of the supported transport layers to ensure the highest standards to our community,” the firm said.
The Tron network is home to over 51.8 billion
USDT $1.00— over half of the nearly 101 billion USDT tokens issued across multiple blockchains, according to Tether’s transparency report dated Feb. 21.
Do Kwon to be extradited to U.S.
The co-founder of Terraform Labs, Do Kwon, will reportedly be extradited to the United States to face fraud charges.
According to news reports, Kwon, who’s been in Montenegro since his arrest in March 2023, will be extradited to the U.S. after the High Court of Podgorica rejected a request to have him extradited to South Korea.
The decision followed an appeal by Kwon’s legal team, which argued that Montegro’s Justice Minister had the final say in where the Terraform co-founder would end up.
The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission has a civil case against Kwon and Terra, with a trial set for March 24. Both parties have been accused of orchastrating a “multi-billion-dollar crypto asset securities fraud.”
