TL;DR: Welcome to In Case You Missed It (ICYMI), a daily crypto news update. US lawmakers ask Libra to cease development. Cuba is studying cryptocurrencies to evade sanctions. UK FCA considers a cryptocurrency derivative ban. Binance switches to Ethereum-based Tether. Banco BTG Pactual to use Tezos for Security Token Offerings, and the post Hayes-Roubini debate about the debate rages on social media.



US Lawmakers Ask Libra to Cease Development

Maxine Waters' request for Facebook to put an "immediate moratorium" on the development of its new cryptocurrency, Libra, is gaining steam. Here is the letter sent to Facebook today from a bunch of congressional Democrats: https://t.co/mdlkCOuiCq pic.twitter.com/frZKYw5rHU — Nathaniel Popper (@nathanielpopper) July 2, 2019

US lawmakers are formally asking Libra to cease development. An initiative to stop the project is being led by Rep. Maxine Waters and the Financial Services Committee. The committee directed a letter to Mark Zuckerberg, Facebook’s CEO, to “request that Facebook and its partners immediately agree to a moratorium on any movement forward on Libra.” The reason is very simple: Libra is part of a new system “intended to rival U.S. monetary policy and the dollar,” raising “serious privacy, trading, national security, and monetary policy concerns.”

Cuba Studies Cryptocurrency

Cuba announced the introduction of cryptocurrencies as part of their plan to boost the economy. The measure was proposed by President Miguel Díaz-Canel on state-run TV, where he also revealed other measures such as raising the monthly wage of workers in some sectors. However, not much of the plan was announced, and it’s unclear if the creation of an official cryptocurrency would be part of the policy.

UK FCA Seeks to Ban Crypto-Related Derivatives

The UK financial watchdog, the Financial Conduct Authority, is changing rules related to cryptocurrency derivatives and margin trading. The institution declared in a policy statement they were about to publish a consultation paper, banning certain kinds of cryptocurrency-related products and contracts. While the outcome of the consultation is still to be determined, George Morris of Simmons & Simmons stated that “this is the first official policy decision from the FCA on crypto assets, and it is broadly indicative of a negative view of the asset class.”

Binance to Use Only ERC-20 Based Tether

Binance recently informed they will only use Ethereum-based Tether tokens starting July 4, 2019. In a public announcement published on their page, the exchange declared they will swap all addresses from the Bitcoin-based protocol Omni to ERC-20. After this update, no more Omni-based tether tokens will be withdrawn from the exchange. This could potentially impact activity levels on the BTC blockchain and boost ethereum transactions.

Banco BTG Pactual to Use Tezos Blockchain for Security Tokens

Banco BTG Pactual, the largest standalone investment bank in Latin America, is partnering with Dalma Capital, a Dubai-based asset manager, to use the Tezos blockchain as a tool for issuing Security Token Offerings, including the Banco BTG Pactual version, REITBZ. Andre Portilho, responsible of the initiative, declared that “while the bank remains protocol and technology agnostic, and will continue to utilize the Ethereum protocol, we see Tezos as a global player with a robust blockchain for asset tokenization.”

Hayes-Roubini Post Debate Drama Rages

Don’t worry our tapes will exposure your thin grasp of economics and technology. After seeing these tapes, I would be surprised if you were allowed into any higher learning institution. https://t.co/nTDQIUlaHV — Arthur Hayes (@CryptoHayes) July 3, 2019

It seems drama after an intense debate between Arthur Hayes, CEO of BitMEX, and Nouriel Roubini, famed economist and crypto skeptic, is just starting. Roubini claims Hayes has the only tape of the debate, and is purposefully holding it back from the public. Hayes replied by saying he would be surprised if Roubini was “allowed into any higher learning institution” after releasing debate footage. No word on when they will be made available.

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