The Pulse of the Crypto-Finance Industry: Updates and Insights"

Hey there! Have you heard about Damus, the new decentralized social network that's making waves? They've just announced an exciting new feature for their app that lets users earn Satoshis - the smallest unit of Bitcoin. Pretty cool, right? The team hasn't given a specific timeline for when this feature will be released, but they're definitely teasing us with the possibility on their social media channels. And honestly, I can't wait to see what they come up with. What's really neat about Damus is that it's built on Nostr, an open-source protocol that uses cryptographic keypairs to create a censorship-resistant platform. That means users can't be banned and posts can't be censored - everything is managed by the community. It's like Twitter, but without the fear of getting kicked off for saying the wrong thing. And the potential of decentralized social networks like Damus is huge. Not only do they protect your data, but they also let you earn ...

The SEC has voted in favor of a proposal that could increase the difficulty for cryptocurrency companies to serve as digital asset custodians in the future. The proposal, which still needs official approval, seeks to amend the "2009 Custody Rule" for custodians of all assets, including cryptocurrencies. According to a statement from SEC Chairman Gary Gensler, some crypto trading platforms offering custody services are not qualified custodians. A qualified custodian is usually a federally or state-chartered bank or savings association, trust company, registered broker-dealer, registered futures commission merchant, or a foreign financial institution. Under the proposed rules, U.S. and offshore firms seeking to become qualified custodians will need to ensure proper segregation of all custodied assets, including cryptocurrencies, and comply with additional transparency measures such as annual audits from public accountants. In a recent announcement, SEC Chairman Gary Gensler ...

The United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has recently faced criticism from one of its own Commissioners, Hester Pierce, regarding the shutdown of cryptocurrency exchange Kraken's staking program in the country. In a statement titled "Kraken Down," Commissioner Pierce expressed her disappointment with the regulator's decision to shut down a program that she deemed as having served users effectively. She described the SEC's approach to regulating the emerging cryptocurrency industry as inefficient and unfair, and suggested that the regulator should have engaged in a public process to establish a registration process that provides useful information to investors, instead of relying solely on enforcement actions. The SEC charged Kraken with failing to register its staking-as-a-service program and imposed a $30 million USD fine along with a cease and desist order for staking operations in the US, which the exchange has agreed to, according ...