Weekly Update: 28 September 2023

1) Republican candidate Vivek Ramaswamy is drafting a ‘Crypto Policy Framework’ [CoinDesk]

– The Republican candidate Ramaswamy holds strong views on reshaping government’s interaction with crypto, emphasizing concerns about an “unconstitutional fourth branch of government.”

2) US lawmakers call on SEC chair to approve spot Bitcoin ETFs ‘immediately’ [Cointelegraph]

– The members of the House Financial Services Committee are expected to question Gary Gensler during a Sept. 27 hearing on SEC oversight.

3) Bitcoin miners double down on efficiency and renewable energy at the World Digital Mining Summit [Cointelegraph]

– Bitmain rolled out its efficiency-focused Antminer S21 at the WDMS, and Bitcoin miners shared their plans for boosting productivity via green energy.

4) Coinbase sought FTX Europe acquisition after bankruptcy: Report [Cointelegraph]

– To expand its derivatives business overseas, Coinbase attempted to acquire FTX Europe twice since it filed for bankruptcy in November 2022.

5) Google Cloud adds 11 blockchains to data warehouse ‘BigQuery’ [Cointelegraph]

– Google’s BigQuery added 11 new public data sets for blockchain networks, allowing users to obtain a variety of data from these networks.

6) PayPal rolls out PYUSD stablecoin to Venmo users [Cointelegraph]

– The payments platform said PayPal USD will be “rolling out fully in the coming weeks” after announcing its launch on Venmo.

7) South Koreans Hold Around $98B of Virtual Assets in Overseas Accounts, National Tax Service Finds Out [Koreaherald]

– Foreign virtual assets worth W131tr unveiled. Overseas account holdings nearly triple on-year as massive virtual assets reflected.

8) Stablecoin issuer Tether ventures into AI with Northern Data in $427M Nvidia chip splurge [CoinDesk]

– Damoon, a Tether subsidiary in which Northern Group acquired a stake earlier this year, has purchased $427 million of Nvidia chips for generative AI cloud computing.

9) Tether Resumed Lending its $USDT to Customer [Coingape]

– Tether silently started lending USDT stablecoin to its long-term clients customers, delaying loan reduction to zero to 2024.

10) Troubled crypto exchange JPEX applies for deregistration in Australia [Cointelegraph]

– The unlicensed exchange allegedly solicited more than $128 million from users before being reprimanded by the Hong Kong Securities and Futures Commission.