Korbit and Shinhan Bank hold seminar to strengthen suspicious crypto transaction reporting

Rather than restrict or ban crypto, the Iranian government appears to have taken on a more positive approach, moving towards embracing the new asset class and regulating it.Photo by Lara Jameson on PexelsRegulatory frameworkOn Dec. 7, Iran’s Nour News Agency reported Minister of Economic Affairs and Finance Abdolnaser Hemmati as saying that Iran is moving towards managing and eliminating the adverse effects of digital currency on the economy and instead harnessing its positive effects, with a regulatory framework being brought in to ensure that positive outcome. Hemmati went on to confirm that digital money falls under the oversight of Iran’s central bank. The minister stated that he hopes that cryptocurrencies would be developed with the objective of boosting youth employment levels and boosting economic assets held within the Islamic Republic of Iran, while helping to nullify sanctions and aligning Iran’s activities in this respect with the global economy. Circumventing sanctionsThe United States first imposed sanctions against Iran in 1979. The Islamic Republic had been the most sanctioned country in the world up until February 2022 when Russia surpassed Iran due to Western opposition to Russia’s special military operation in Ukraine. Sanctions were lifted in 2016 as part of a deal on the limiting of Iran’s nuclear program. That deal was scrapped during U.S. President-elect Donald Trump’s first term in office, with the latest sanctions imposed on entities involved in the transportation of Iranian oil last week. At a BRICS summit held in Kazan, Russia in October, Russia added cryptocurrency to the agenda with a view towards discussing with Iranian and other BRICS country representatives its potential use to bypass sanctions. In July the Bank of Russia set out a recommendation to Russian businesses to use crypto in order to reduce the impact of Western sanctions. Up to $50B in crypto held by IraniansA subsequent report from Nour News Agency on Dec. 8 had good news for Hemmati relative to his aspiration to boost economic assets held within Iran. The report cited Iranian economist Sadegh Alhosseini, who claims that crypto assets to the value of between $30 billion to $50 billion are controlled by Iranians.  The economist provided the estimate after Iranian finance ministry and Central Bank of Iran (CBI) officials outlined that they are looking to make the crypto market in Iran more transparent. If Alhosseini’s estimate is accurate, it would mean that Iranians hold crypto assets to the equivalent value of one-third of the entire gold market in Iran. Alhosseini outlined these findings within a report published by the CBI which provided a summary of proposed upcoming policies relative to cryptocurrencies. The main objective of these proposed policies is to aid crypto traders to remain compliant with anti-money laundering (AML) regulations and local taxation requirements. The CBI has also been working towards launching the digital rial, a central bank digital currency (CBDC). The CBDC project has been running since 2018 and relies upon Hyperledger Fabric, an enterprise blockchain framework that was originally developed by the Linux Foundation. Having been locked out of the SWIFT financial messaging network, Iran has launched ACUMER as an alternative which it hopes to use for trade purposes with Asian partners. Direct payments between Russian and Iranian banking systems have also been enabled. 

Bitmain to Launch Filecoin Token Mining MachinesBitmain, the well-known Chinese manufacturer of Bitcoin mining machines, has made a significant announcement that marks its entry into the Filecoin ecosystem.FIL token miningAccording to that announcement made by the company on social media on Friday, the company is set to launch FIL token mining machines, which are expected to have a hash rate of up to 4,300T each and will be available for purchase at $38,888 per unit.Filecoin, created by Protocol Labs, was originally designed as a blockchain-based collaborative digital storage and data redemption solution. As an open-source, public cryptocurrency and digital remittance system, Filecoin has garnered significant attention in the market.Photo by Traxer on UnsplashDelegated stakingAlong with the mining machine development, Bitmain has introduced a delegated staking service with a low monthly fee of 0.5%. This service offers traders an opportunity to earn more through staking with minimal computational energy. Delegated staking allows users to delegate their staking rights to validators or staking pools, enabling them to partake in the rewards generated by these validators.According to a recent report by crypto market intelligence firm Messari, Filecoin’s data storage market continued to grow in Q2, 2023. Active data storage deals grew 64% when compared with the previous quarter. That deal flow resulted in increased revenue from fees, which was up 91%. Further development of the Filecoin protocol resulted in the recent introduction of the Filecoin Virtual Machine (FVM). That runtime environment for smart contracts has enabled new use cases, including liquid staking, decentralized computing, and perpetual storage.Bitmain’s venture into the Filecoin ecosystem not only supports the development of FIL token mining machines but also offers hope for FIL token holders who experienced losses. The FIL unit price peaked at $190 during the 2021 crypto bull market. The company’s involvement has positively influenced Filecoin’s price.Meanwhile Bitmain continues to be a major player in the crypto mining equipment space. 2021 has not been without its blemishes for the company though, as in April the Beijing-based company was fined $3.7 million by the Chinese authorities for a violation of Chinese tax regulations.Bitmain hashrate dominanceEarlier this month, US bitcoin miner TeraWulf purchased 18,500 mining machines from Bitmain, with a view to deploying them at its 43 MW Lake Mariner mining facility in New York State in the US. The deal had a value of $75 million.A recently published report by crypto intelligence firm Coinmetrics outlined that the majority of the Bitcoin hashrate is being processed by Bitmain’s S19 miner model. Three Bitmain miner models are responsible for 76% of the entire Bitcoin network’s hashrate, the report states.

Cronos Labs launches zkEVM chain testnetCronos Labs, the developer behind the Cronos blockchain ecosystem, is charting a new path in the blockchain space by launching a zkEVM chain.From Cosmos to EthereumThe Cronos zkEVM chain is being launched in the first instance as a test network. The layer-2 blockchain will rely upon ZK Stack, the software kit developed by Matter Labs. In this way, the project will be extending its scaling roadmap from Cosmos to Ethereum. As Matter Lab’s SVP of Business and Operations, Marco Cora put it:“When we introduced the ZK Stack, we opened up the door for anyone wanting to build on top of Ethereum to do so by deploying hyperchains. Whether you’re building a specialized Rollup or a general purpose one, hyperchains allow you to tap into Ethereum’s extensive userbase base and liquidity while preserving its robust security and decentralization.”The journey began with the creation of the first chain in the Cronos ecosystem — a Cosmos appchain developed in collaboration with Singapore-headquartered crypto platform Crypto.com and launched in 2021. Subsequently, Cronos introduced an EVM-compatible chain in 2022, built using the Cosmos SDK. Notably, these new endeavors complement, rather than replace, the earlier established chains.Photo by Kanchanara on UnsplashThe product of collaborative effortsA significant development in Cronos’ evolution is the introduction of zkEVM, a result of collaborative efforts involving Cronos Labs, Matter Labs and engineering teams from stakeholders Crypto.com and existing dApp developers. The zkEVM testnet is a breakthrough, utilizing Ethereum’s Sepolia testnet and incorporating zkSync’s open-source prover, Boojum — a STARK-based zero-knowledge proof system known for its efficiency in the layer-2 rollup space, with low hardware requirements and fees.The decision to launch a native Ethereum chain stemmed from challenges in bridging EVM chains and bridging between Cosmos and Ethereum, according to Ken Timsit, Managing Director at Cronos. Timsit emphasized the richness and robustness of the Ethereum developer ecosystem for building DeFi and NFT applications.Native account abstractionHyperchains within the ZK Stack share components, including a native bridge to the Ethereum mainnet and zkSync’s trustless bridging mechanism, ensuring assets remain secured by Ethereum. The implementation of zkSync’s native account abstraction allows transaction fee payments in various cryptocurrencies, including Cronos’ native token (CRO).Cronos’ zkEVM is anticipated to progress to the mainnet in the second quarter of 2024, marking a pivotal moment in the evolution of hyperchains.The landscape of hyperchains is expanding, with projects like GRVT and Tradable utilizing the ZK Stack. GRVT, a derivatives exchange, and Tradable, a tech firm focused on bringing private credit on-chain, exemplify the diversity and specialization within this emerging sector. Tradable aims to establish an institutional-focused hyperchain, potentially forming a decentralized chain alongside other institutional partners.Matter Labs views the zkSync hyperchain as a superior option compared to app-specific chains in Cosmos, emphasizing the scalability and security benefits. Hyperchains, a potential alternative to private blockchain frameworks like Hyperledger or Corda, offer technical scalability with the benefits of Ethereum. However, practical scalability remains a challenge due to cost considerations and the social coordination problem.