Tether leads the way in Oobit’s $25M funding round

Paxful’s Ray Youssef heads up Noones financial app startupNoones, a financial communication app launched in 2023, has officially appointed Ray Youssef as its CEO with a visionary goal of reaching a billion daily active Bitcoin users within the next seven years.Empowering Global South financial freedomThis announcement aligns with Noones’ mission to empower financial freedom in the Global South by streamlining the movement of money, liberating users from traditional banking constraints. Youssef believes that “Africa alone has the potential to make NoOnes a trillion dollar company but when you factor in the rest of the global south the sky’s the limit.”Founded on the belief that peer-to-peer systems constitute the world’s only true free market and that Bitcoin represents the new global financial architecture, Noones seeks to uplift individuals in Africa, Latin America and Southeast Asia.Startups in the digital assets space tend to be more international in nature than in any other sector. According to the firm’s LinkedIn, Noones is headquartered in Dubai. Notwithstanding that, many of its team appear to be Estonia-based while its website’s terms of service specify Panama as being the relevant jurisdiction, making for a truly international setup.Photo by Arpit Rastogi on UnsplashMoving on from Paxful turbulenceYoussef, the former CEO of peer-to-peer crypto platform Paxful and a seasoned expert in strategic planning, product innovation, growth hacking and operations management, brings his wealth of experience to lead Noones. Youssef’s tenure at Paxful, where he played a pivotal role in the company’s success, underscores his ability to drive transformative change in the fintech industry.However, Youssef’s departure from Paxful in April, amidst a legal dispute with Co-Founder Artur Shaback, marked a turning point. Paxful unexpectedly closed its operations amid a broader trend in the industry. Youssef attributed Paxful’s closure to the legal action initiated by Shaback, alleging a pursuit of significant financial gains. Shaback countered, stating that the dispute arose from differences in business direction and governance, accusing Youssef of migrating Paxful’s assets to his new venture, Noones.Promoting prosperity through bitcoinDespite the turbulence at Paxful, Youssef remains resolute in his commitment to leveraging Bitcoin for social good. While Noones, with its focus on decentralized financial opportunities, requires a Know-Your-Customer (KYC) onboarding process, Youssef continues to champion Bitcoin as a tool for poverty eradication and empowerment in the Global South.Noones, under Youssef’s leadership, aspires to simplify financial transactions and provide decentralized, borderless opportunities to its users. Youssef envisions Bitcoin playing a crucial role in promoting prosperity in the Global South, with Noones aiming to create an interoperable pan-African clearing layer. This initiative aims to elevate intra-African trade, bringing it to levels comparable to intra-European trade.In a statement, Youssef expressed his confidence in the transformative power of Bitcoin, stating:”For the past 8 years, I have fought for financial sovereignty for the Global South. Finally, I am glad to be able to fulfil the mission I began almost a decade ago. I’m confident that Bitcoin will play a crucial role in promoting the prosperity of our continent, and I’m thrilled and privileged to contribute to the company’s ambition and growth.”

Taiwan’s Financial Supervisory Commission (FSC), the independent government agency that regulates activity within Taiwan’s securities, virtual assets, banking and insurance sectors, is planning to invite applications from financial institutions to participate in a crypto custody services pilot program, scheduled to commence in Q1 2025. The Central News Agency (CNA), the national news agency of the Republic of China, published a report on Oct. 8, outlining the FSC’s intentions with regard to this crypto custody pilot program. The media outlet confirmed that three Taiwanese banks had expressed an interest in participating in the program.  The Director of the FSC’s Comprehensive Planning Division, Hu Zehua, outlined at a press conference that the regulator is planning to provide further information relative to the pilot program 15 days in advance of inviting applications from prospective participants. Photo by 張 峻嘉 on UnsplashPublic consultationAdditionally, the FSC executive outlined that the regulator intends to collect feedback from the public relative to the proposed pilot program, and fine-tune the process based upon that feedback. Hu stated that he recognizes that based on crypto custody activity carried out overseas, operational security is of paramount importance. Therefore, the FSC is interested in placing emphasis on this aspect of the activity as part of the pilot program.  Illicit funds and money laundering is another area of concern. With that the FSC executive outlined that financial institutions must proactively block virtual assets that are found to originate from illicit sources. In August a Taiwanese couple was indicted for laundering around $50 million in illegal funds through cryptocurrencies. Earlier this month, the FSC revised Taiwan’s regulatory framework relative to anti-money laundering (AML). The update now requires digital assets firms to register with the Taiwanese government by no later than September 2025. Failure to do so may result in these crypto companies being fined up to $156,000 or company executives facing up to two years in prison. Bitcoin, Ethereum and Dogecoin mentionedPilot program applicants will be expected to specify the type of digital assets they intend to custody. Explanatory information released by the FSC gave Bitcoin, Ethereum and Dogecoin as examples. Additionally, applicants are required to outline the type of client they will cater towards in providing a crypto custody service. Among the examples mentioned were virtual asset platforms, professional investors and general investors. The FSC announced at the end of last month that professional investors are now permitted to access foreign virtual asset exchange-traded funds (ETFs) and invest in them through a re-entrustment method. Taiwan has been making progress recently in bringing about regulatory clarity and establishing conditions within which Web3 companies can develop. The FSC had been working towards the production of draft crypto regulations over recent months. This followed a move by Taiwanese legislators in October 2024 to introduce the Virtual Asset Management Bill to parliament, with the objective of strengthening customer protections and establishing industry supervision. In September, the regulator released guidelines, including a measure which bans overseas crypto platforms from operating within the country. 

BitGo CEO Emphasizes Separation of Trading and Custody to Prevent Crypto BankruptciesMike Belshe, Founder and CEO of digital asset trust company BitGo, emphasized the importance of separating cryptocurrency trading and custody to prevent incidents similar to those involving Mt. Gox and FTX in his keynote speech at Impact, the main conference of Korea Blockchain Week (KBW) 2023.Established in 2013, BitGo is currently the world’s largest provider of virtual asset custody services, serving more than 1,500 institutions in over 50 countries, including the US, Switzerland, and Germany. Major exchanges like Bitstamp, Korbit, Bullish, Gate.io, and Crypto.com entrust BitGo with safeguarding their virtual assets.Clear divisionDuring his speech, Belshe repeatedly stressed the need for custody services for the sustainability of the virtual asset ecosystem, asserting that separating trading and custody can enhance trust in the industry and attract traditional financial institutions.Unlike stock markets, where payment institutions and custodians are separate entities, this kind of separation does not exist in the virtual asset market. To steer traditional financial institutions toward the virtual asset ecosystem, this issue needs to be addressed, Belshe said.He went on to cite the Mt. Gox hack in 2014 and the FTX collapse last year as examples that underscored the importance of virtual asset custody. Mt. Gox, once the world’s largest Bitcoin exchange, reportedly lost some 650,000 to 850,000 Bitcoins — worth more than $450 million at the time — due to a hacking incident, leading to its bankruptcy. FTX also faced insolvency after it was revealed that it inflated its assets using its native token FTT and that its management was misusing customer investment funds.Photo by Melinda Gimpel on UnsplashBelshe suggested that when Mt. Gox employees discovered the Bitcoin theft during the hack, it was already too late. If custody had been treated separately, the theft could have been detected much faster. Regarding the FTX debacle, he argued that even with just a few auditors, the problems in that situation could have been apprehended. FTX’s ability to provide custody of customer assets themselves led to unauthorized activities, including cross trading and insider trading, ultimately resulting in the misuse of customer funds.Korea’s favorable conditionsBelshe also assessed that South Korea is well-positioned for the establishment of virtual asset custody systems due to its high trading volume and a solid commitment to drafting crypto-related legislation. Seven such bills are currently underway, reflecting the authorities’ determination to address problems in the ecosystem. Korea thus has the potential to establish itself as a hub in Asia, he said.Indeed, BitGo’s partnership with Hana Bank to establish a joint venture for digital asset custody services in Korea is driven by these factors. Through its entry into Korea, BitGo aims to share its extensive knowledge and experience in digital asset business institutionalization and investor protection. It will also apply the expertise and strategies it has accumulated through close communication with regulatory authorities and supervisory agencies in various countries, including the US, to support the integration of virtual assets into the regulated framework in Korea.Belshe commented that through this partnership, BitGo will seek to enhance its understanding of Korea and utilize its technology and expertise to boost confidence in the Korean cryptocurrency market.