Week In Crypto: 650 US Banks Gain BTC Exposure| Binance’s Regulatory Woes| Coinbase Enters Germany| India sees19900% Rise in Crypto Investment

Bitcoin price continued its consolidation phase under $35K this week, but apart from the price the crypto market remained quite active in terms of new announcements and bullish news. A new partnership between the enterprise giant and a crypto custody firm has enabled 650 US banks to offer bitcoin to their 24 million customers. The week hasn’t been as good for the world’s largest exchange which faces regulatory snub from 5 countries, however, its competition Coinbase continued to make regulatory headway and international expansion. India saw a massive jump in crypto investment this year despite regulatory woes. Let’s take a closer look at some of the most important crypto headlines this week.

650 US Banks to Gain Bitcoin Exposure

The enterprise payment giant NCR has partnered with institutional crypto custodian NYDIG to open the gates for 650 US banks to offer Bitcoin and crypto investment services directly from the banks. The decision was made based on the growing client’s demand and will allow 24 million users to gain Bitcoin and crypto exposure.

NCR spokesperson revealed that their banking partners revealed customers were buying crypto from third-party exchanges and that compelled them to offer direct services. NYDIG would act as the custodian in this partnership.

Binance’s Faces Global Regulatory Snub

Binance the world’s largest exchange faced regulatory and compliance warnings from the Cayman Islands Monetary Authority, UK’s FCA, Japan’s FSA, Thai SEC, and Singapore regulatory watchdog all in under a week. Many regulators have raised concerns against Binance’s lack of any physical headquarters. However, the crypto exchange claimed its decentralized nature of work is the reason behind the lack of a country of origin.

The regulatory warnings varied from nation to nation with the most strict one coming from the Thai SEC who initiated a criminal probe against the exchange.

Coinbase Gets Germany’s First Crypto Custody License

Coinbase Inc. the Nasdaq-listed crypto exchange has become the first crypto exchange to get BaFin approval for a digital asset custody license in Germany. The Binance competitor has managed to expand its international reach and was cleared by Japan’s FSA as well to enter the Japanese crypto market.

Yesterday the exchange announced the expansion of its international institutional payment services by offering new trading pairs and fiat onboarding.

Indian’s crypto investment grew from $200 million to $40 billion in one year

India is currently facing a regulatory crisis, even though uncertainty looms large in the Indian crypto ecosystem with continuous friction between crypto exchanges and Indian banks, the investment in crypto by Indians has soared by 1900%, rising from $200 million a year ago to $40 billion.

The Indian tax authority is also planning to impose an additional 18% GST tax on foreign exchanges offering their service in India.

About Author

An engineering graduate, Prashant focuses on UK and Indian markets. As a crypto-journalist, his interests lie in blockchain technology adoption across emerging economies.

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