The main thing on the cryptocurrency market.
Tokens worth $800 million will be unlocked in February
In February 2024, tokens worth a total of $800 million will be unlocked, according to TokenUnlocks. The majority are Aptos (APT) and Avalanche (AVAX).
Here are some of the tokens that will be unlocked in February:
- February 11 – 24.84 million Aptos (APT) in the amount of $228.55 million; February 14 – 205.59 million The Sandbox (SAND) worth $90.46 million; February 17 – 15.6 million ApeCoin (APE) worth $21.84 million; February 22 – 9.54 million Avalanche (AVAX) worth $344.65 million; February 29 – 4 million Sui (SUI) worth $5.72 million; February 29 – 24.16 million Optimism (OP) for the amount of $71.51 million.
A sharp increase in the circulating supply of an asset can significantly affect its price. At the same time, some of the above tokens are among the largest altoins.
At the time of writing the news, APT is trading at $8.66. Since the beginning of the year, there has been high volatility in this market.
In Spain, cryptocurrencies will be seized for taxes
The Spanish Ministry of Finance plans to expand control over the monitoring of cryptocurrencies in the country in order to be able to seize digital assets to pay off tax debts. This is reported by local media.
The statement said that the Ministry of Finance will develop reforms to allow the Spanish Tax Agency to identify and seize crypto assets belonging to taxpayers with overdue debts.
Additionally, The country plans to more actively combat tax evasion. The Spanish Treasury intends to force banks and electronic money institutions to report on all card transactions.
Let us remind you that Spanish citizens who own crypto-assets and store them on foreign platforms must declare their funds by April 1, 2024. According to the new rules, only those persons whose balance exceeds 50,000 euros in equivalent must declare their cryptocurrencies.
In South Korea they proposed checking the heads of crypto companies
On February 5, South Korea's Financial Services Commission (FSC) proposed amendments to the virtual asset service provider (VASP) reporting requirements. This is reported by local media.
The rules oblige new CEOs of cryptocurrency companies to obtain regulatory approval before taking on their duties. The initiative expands the FSC's powers to crypto exchanges and firms whose activities are related to digital assets.
The regulator's statement says that the proposal is aimed at improving the current legislation on regulation of the crypto industry. If accepted, the new heads of South Korean companies will not be able to start working until the FSC approves their applications for personnel changes.
In addition, the Commission is seeking the right to stop checking licenses if the company or its management is subject to investigation by the outside local or international regulatory authorities.
It is clarified that the initiative will allow the FSC to revoke the registration of a company if it violated the Law on Corporate Governance when choosing a manager. In fact, this will prohibit persons sentenced to a fine or more severe penalties for any crime from running crypto companies.
The source claims that the amendments have been submitted for consideration by the Ministry of Government Law of South Korea. If approved, they will come into force at the end of March 2024. The ruling will apply to reports compiled in the second half of the year.
India refused to allow Binance to unblock online resources – media
The Indian authorities refused to lift the block on the online resources of the Binance cryptocurrency exchange. The government required the company to fully comply with the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA). This was reported by the Economic Times with a link to its own sources.
It is alleged that the exchange is negotiating with the country's authorities. The company allegedly stated its willingness to pay taxes and fines, asking that the block be lifted while Binance implements processes related to the said law.
However, the Indian government refused to make concessions and give the company time to adapt, the media noted. The country's authorities will lift the block only after the company fully complies with current laws, the article says.
According to unnamed sources, Indian regulators are also collaborating with banks to develop restrictive measures against traders using VPNs. With its help, they bypass the blocking of Binance resources and continue to conduct their activities, the authors say.
Media representatives estimate that there are about 4,000 “top tier investors” in India who use this method of working. They refuse to transfer their assets to domestic exchanges and continue to keep money in Binance accounts, journalists say.
“Compliance with the PMLA is of paramount importance. The companies have been expressly told that any discussion on resuming their services in India will take place only after the government is satisfied with their responses to messages sent by the Financial Intelligence Unit,” said an unnamed government official.
In December 2023 India accused nine cryptocurrency exchanges of operating without registration in the country: Binance, Huobi, Kraken, Gate.io, KuCoin, Bitstamp, MEXC, Bittrex and Bitfinex.
Some time later, information appeared that the applications of the listed companies became unavailable in the application stores of Google and Apple corporations. It was argued that users who had previously downloaded the software could use the services without restrictions.