Welcome to Around the Blockchain, Huobi Learn’s daily rundown of the crypto markets.
Coinbase is blocking 25,000 wallet addresses linked to illicit activity in Russia. The company announced the move as a move to align with sanctions and to compbat Russian bad actors, and it is not made in response to the invasion of Ukraine. Coinbase also played down fears that crypto was a risk for evading sanctions, saying that “digital assets have properties that naturally deter common approaches to sanctions evasion” and “can actually enhance our ability to detect and deter evasion compared to the traditional financial system.”
The EU parliament will vote on a regulatory framework for crypto called the Markets in Crypto Assets (MiCA) on 14 March. The version of MiCA to be voted on will omit some text that could be interpreted as banning proof-of-work mining. European Parliament Committee on Economics and Monetary Affairs member Stefan Berger said that EU can “set global standards” with MiCA regulation that signals a EU approach that is “technology-neutral and innovation-friendly”, while providing “legal certainty” and “reliable supervisory structures”. Meanwhile in the US, President Joe Biden is expected to sign an executive order for US government agencies to stody the implications of creating a US CBDC.
Spanish global bank Santander is offering loans backed by tokenized commodities. The bank partnered with Agrotoken, an Argentinian agricultural commodities tokenization platform, to “become the first financial services platform” to use “blockchain technology and crypto to expand the agricultural credit market and unlock farmers’ business potential”, said Fernando Bautista, head of agribusiness at Santander Argentina. Santander expects that in the next 6 months, 1,000 Argentine farmers will be able to get loans collateralized with tokens for soybeans (SOYA), corn (CORA), and wheat (WHEA), with each token representing a ton of the respective commodity that the farmer has sold and delivered to validated grain elevators.
Anchor Protocol (ANC) on the Terra network is now the world’s second-largest DeFi lending platform after Aave. TVL on Anchor surged by over 40% in the last month to $11.5 billion, challenging Aave’s $11.6 billion TVL. This growth also makes Anchor the sixth-largest DeFi protocol, with users attracted by its 20% yield on Terra stablecoin UST. Anchor’s token ANC has also seen strong growth in the last 30 days.
Web3 and NFT startup Immutable (IMX) has raised a $200 million C round led by Singaporean sovereign wealth fund Temasek, according to an exclusive by Reuters. Immutable recently partnered with Gamestop on NFT projects on its Ethereum layer 2 solution Immutable X, which promises “zero gas fees, instant trades, and carbon-neutral NFTs”. Tencent, Animoca Brands, Mirae Asset, and Airtree Ventures also took part in the round, which valued Immutable at $2.5 billion.
Show me the money
Data from Huobi Global shows BTC held up at a 37200 support level to end a strong downward trend. The 4-hour view shows that the MA indicators point to the short side, with low trading volumes. On a longer timeframe of 1 day, BTC seems to have ended its downward trend and returned to a prior trading range from before the Ukraine invasion, with lower volatility, resistance at 39600, and support at 37000. ETH follows suit with a 2620 resistance and 2450 support.
New to Huobi? Register for a Huobi account and receive up to $300 as a ‘Welcome Bonus’ to help you start your investment journey! If you’re an existing user, check out Huobi Earn, where you can start earning interest from your idle cryptocurrencies!
